Ally waits patiently the following day for Benson to come visit. She is not sure what time he usually comes; she was asleep the previous day when he arrived. She only woke when he was already here. She stays in her room for the entire day.Ally is not really sure if she is allowed to leave the room. Even if she could, her legs do not carry her very far. Gayle checks in frequently with snacks and drinks. Ally found a book that she liked and started reading it. She sits in the winged back chair where Bennet fell asleep and read while listening to the birds and horses outside. The atmosphere is peaceful and even though her loss of memory makes her nervous at times, she feels at peace.Ally puts the book down on the table and stands up slowly. She still finds it a bit difficult to walk the entire stretch of the room. There is a soft knock on the door and she slowly turns her head to see who is there.A strange man is standing in the doorway. He is wearing a denim pants and white sneakers.
Ally goes to sleep with a heavy heart that night. Benson never came to visit her. She asked Gayle to call him and ask why he didn’t come. Gayle only told her that she could not reach him. Ally lays in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark room. She tries to remember anything she possibly could about her life with Benson. Ally finally falls asleep just after midnight. Her mind is tired of thinking about the life she cannot remember.Ally wakes just as the sun rises. Her heart feels heavier than before. She gets out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom. She is glad that, even though she is in a hospital of some sort, she is still able to wash herself in a private bathroom. She pours herself a hot bath and adds bubbles in the water. Ally lays in the hot water for a few long minutes. She feels her body relaxing in the hot water as the tension seeps out of her body.When she leaves the bathroom, she feels a lot fresher than when she woke up. She wraps a large towel around her body an
Ally spends the rest of the day trying to keep her mind busy. She tries not to think of the dream she had. It upset Benson and the details in the dream is nothing what their wedding was like. She wishes that Benson could show her some pictures. Maybe if she saw some pictures she would remember something.Gayle comes in with snacks and drinks.“It’s time to eat something.” Gayle says as she puts the tray down on the table. “Ronald will be by later today, also. You will need to start moving around a little more.” Gayle tells her with a smile. Gayle is always smiling. Ally cannot imagine how it must feel to smile all day long. “This afternoon you have a checkup with the gynaecologist. He will check if the baby is okay. You will be able to get little sonar pictures.” Gayle tells Ally as if she needs to make her excited to see the doctor.Ally listens to Gayle as she picks something from the plate and eats it slowly. She does not really feel like talking to Gayle. Gayle can tell. She takes
Ally looks down at her feet. Her ankles look puffy. She frowns at them. She didn’t realise they were swollen until Ronald said so.“It’s okay. It is a common occurrence during pregnancy. You can just lay on your bed and raise your feet a bit. The swelling will go down.” Ronald tells Ally. He rubs her calves and feet with oil and massages her ankles for her. They do not talk a lot during the session. Ally feels a little under the weather. She closes her eyes and lays back, enjoying the massage her feet are getting. It does not long before Ally drifts off to sleep.She wakes when there is a knock on the door. Ronald is gone. Her legs and feet feel cold from the oil cooling on her skin. She raises herself onto her elbows and looks at the woman standing in the doorway. She is dressed in a neat, white uniform. There is no doubt that she must be a nurse. Ally looks at her as she enters the room.“Good day. I am Nurse Clayton. I will be taking you to your next appointment.” She says, her han
Ally is still a little shaken by the flash image she saw of the dark-haired man with the greying temples. She tries to remember who he is as the doctor helps her onto the bed next to the sonar scanner. She lays down and tries to relax.The doctor first asks her some questions that she does not really know the answers to. He presses on her stomach and makes notes on his clipboard. A little bit later he takes out a large tube and squeezes some of the contents onto her stomach. Ally sucks in a deep breath when the coldness touches her skin.“Yes, it is a bit cold. We will now see if we can find your baby.” The doctor jokes. Ally wonders if it is possible to not find the baby though. The doctor puts the scanner from the sonar machine onto her skin and rubs it around a bit. He looks at her and smiles.“Uh oh. Mommy, did you know?” Doctor Clayton looks at Ally with a surprised expression on his face. Ally looks at him and wonders what he is referring to. She looks at the screen of the sonar
Ally wakes the next morning feeling worse than the day before. She waits for Benson to come around but he never does.Ronald comes to give her therapy but she cannot find the light heartedness to enjoy his banter today. She also cannot really joke back towards him. Ally’s heart feels heavy and it shows.After Ronald left, Gayle came to bring her food. She took a few bites but wasn’t really hungry enough to eat a whole meal. Gayle checks that Ally takes her medication and tells her what the events for the day are. Ally listens to everything that is available for her to do but she does not feel like leaving her room today. Gayle leaves eventually and Ally lays back down in her bed.Ally has no energy to take on the day. She spends most of the day laying in bed and waiting for Benson to come visit her. By late afternoon, Gayle comes back to check in on her.“Are you feeling sick?” Gayle asks Ally. She is worried. Ally turns around and looks at Gayle.“I am just tired.” Ally tells Gayle.
“What if you need to reach someone?” Ally asks Mike. She finds it hard to believe that there is not one single cell phone in this place.“You ask a nurse to contact your loved one.” Mike answers without hesitation.“You have got to be kidding me.” Ally mutters under her breath.“Why are you frustrated with this?” Mike asks Ally. He looks at her thoughtfully.“I just want to call my husband. I want to speak to him myself. I don’t want to ask someone else to call him because I want to do it myself.” Ally sulks out loud. Mike frowns a little and then slides to the edge of the bed.“Listen. You have to be very careful around here. They will not let you leave if you have a negative attitude.” Mike whispers to Ally. Ally immediately looks up at Mike. She knew something was going on here but she couldn’t talk to anyone about it.“Does it have something to do with the incessant smiling?” Ally asks Mike in the same hushed tone he used to talk to her. Mike does not answer. He only nods and keep
“Yes, that is my caregiver. Gayle.” Ally answers uncertainly. Gayle seems nice enough. Although Ally felt that she also smiled too much, she seemed to genuinely care.Mike raises his eyebrows and shakes his head slightly.“Why, what is wrong with Gayle?” Ally asks a little exasperated. Mike widens his eyes even further. Apparently, whatever this news is, it is only Ally that is unaware of the facts.“Gayle only looks after the wealthiest patients.” Mike whispers. “And I may as well tell you, that most of these patients, no, all of these patients are pretty damn wealthy.” Mike chuckles slightly. “You know how wealthy you have to be to be wealthy amongst the wealthy?” Mike asks. Ally cannot help but chuckle with him. She has no idea. She cannot remember ever being wealthy a day in her life.“Tell me.” Ally tells Mike.“Who is your husband?” Mike asks Ally.“Benson Ash.” Ally answers without hesitation. To her he is just a man. Apparently, he has a lot of wealth from the looks of it.“Wh
Megan waits in her room most of the day. She looks up when she hears a soft knock on the door. Agatha stands in the doorway, waiting for her to acknowledge her. Megan stands up and takes a few steps towards Agatha.“Morning.” Megan tells her.“Good morning, Mrs Symons. The doctor is here to see you. Would you like to meet him in the downstairs room or should he come up here?” Agatha asks her. There is no emotion on Agatha’s face. She does not let it be known what she is thinking or feeling.“I will see him in the downstairs room. Thank you.” Megan tells her.Agatha nods and turns to go to the downstairs bedroom. Megan follows her in silence. Megan cannot ignore the pounding of her heart as she approaches the bedroom. She does not know how she will be able to get the doctor to keep her secrets. Agatha stops next to the open door and indicates with a gesture of her open hand for Megan to go in. Megan nods at Agatha and enters the room before Agatha pulls the door closed behind her.The
Eric wakes up the following morning. The first thought that crosses his mind, is that Ally has not been for a check up since she came back. He wonders how the baby is doing. When he found out she was pregnant, he was so excited to become a father. He could never share this excitement with her because she was not in a good place and when she was discharged from hospital, she was taken. Even when she came back, he couldn’t share his excitement with her. She was just not the same person anymore.Eric gets out of bed with effort. He will have to arrange someone to go see her at the house. He cannot trust her to go to an appointment. Eric takes a hot shower to force himself to wake up fully. He steps out refreshed and ready for the day. He gets dressed and ready for work. He smiles as he steps out of his hidden bedroom into his office. No commute today. He missed staying here. He lived here for a long time after he had a fallout with his father. He only moved back to the house after Ally w
After dealing with the staff member, Benson goes to Ally’s room. He unlocks the door and opens it slowly. He never knows exactly where she is. She may be behind the door. He enters to find her laying in bed. She has her back turned towards the door and is staring towards the window.Benson walks up to the bed and waits for her to acknowledge his presence. She does not.“Good afternoon, Ally” Benson tells her. She does not move or respond. He stares at her for a few more seconds. It irritates him that she treats him like this. If she only knew what he had to do to keep her alive after the stunt she pulled with Ronald. He was able to deal with Ronald, having him fired at the facility. He is not afraid that Ronald will ever come into her life again. He also got word that Doctor White was in on the plan and have dealt with her too. She will never be able to practice again in this country.“I would like to show you something.” Benson tells Ally. Ally lays in her bed. Not moving at all and
Benson sits at his desk in his home office. He watches the screen of his laptop. The security cameras he installed to keep an eye on Ally is displayed on the screen. He watches her lay in bed. She does not move around much. After he brought her home, he placed her in the same room Megan was in.She was distraught after Eric and Megan left the hotel, crying for days. She refused to eat and she spent most nights walking around in the room. Today, when her meals were taken to her, she ate some of it but not really enough to call it a healthy meal. If things go on like this, he will have to bring a doctor in to see her.Benson sees the screen of his mobile phone flashing on his desk. He takes the phone in his hand and reads the number on the screen.“Yes?” he answers. He waits a second before the person on the other side starts talking.“It’s Megan. We have a problem.” She tells him.“What is the problem?” Benson asks. He is a little tired of having problems. Nothing worked out the way it
Eric is furious. He cannot stand the way Ally does not care about anything. This selfish nature of hers is driving him up the walls. Eric looks at his desk, he already finished his work early this morning. There is nothing left for him to do in here. He refuses to go home and he cannot sit in this office all day with nothing to do. He cannot stand going back to Ally’s restaurant.Eric goes into his hidden bedroom and gets his chef jacket from his closet. He puts it on and takes the bandana from the pocket. Wrapping the bandana around his head to cover his hair, Eric heads out of his office towards his own restaurant kitchen. When he enters the kitchen there is a moment of quick silence. Eric walks straight to a young chef that is busy chopping vegetables. Her work is neat and her station is tidy. He holds his hand out to her.“May I?” Eric asks. The young chef looks at his hand and then at the knife in her own hand. She carefully hands him the knife she is holding. Eric nods and the y
Eric and Jane sort out most of the issues that Jane had within an hour. Jane looks a lot happier when Eric is done talking to her. He applies himself to sorting out the mess on Ally’s table. There are unpaid bills on her table. He looks through them and can now understand why some suppliers refused to deliver to the restaurant. Eric sorts out everything that needs attention. When he leaves the office, there is nothing left to do. Eric shakes his head as he enters the elevator. Ally could have sorted out most of these problems yesterday, if she had not laid on her sofa playing games.Eric stops by the kitchen to check on the mood. The kitchen staff is seemingly working harder than before. All the work surfaces are clean and the head chef is doing his rounds and making sure everyone is ready for tonight’s service. Eric is happy with the immediate change in personnel morale. It was a problem for him when he walked in here and saw all the doom and gloom in the world under one roof.Eric w
Eric walks into the dining area. He finds one of the waiters who are standing next to a wall with her hands behind her back. She stares out in front of her. Eric takes a stance beside her and stares in the direction she is staring in. There is nothing there.“Oh! Mr Symons!” the young girl exclaims when she realises that he is standing beside her.“Why are you so absentminded?” he asks the young girl.“I was just thinking how much everything has changed since I started working here.” The girl answers. She immediately regrets telling this to him when she realises that she is speaking to her boss’ husband. Why did she not think of this sooner?“How long have you been working here?” Eric asks in a soft tone. He has long since realised that when speaking to women, you cannot use your demanding voice. Except when you are in the kitchen. Those women expect you to speak in a strong demanding voice.“I have been here since the restaurant opened.” The girl tells him.“What is it that changed?”
Eric takes the number and dials it from his personal phone.“Good day, Mrs Johnson. This is Chef Symons. Your husband works in our restaurant.” Eric introduces himself. There is an immediate sense of panic from the woman on the other side.“Oh, no! Did something happen to him?” she asks quickly. Eric can hear the dread in her voice.“Not at all. Please do not worry. Your husband is fine.” Eric assures her as quickly as possible. He hears the sigh of relief over the phone. To Eric, this is a positive sign that this woman still loves this man. Eric is somewhat surprised that he is so invested in saving this relationship. Ally would do exactly this. Well, Ally that he married, would have done this.“Mrs Johnson, it has come to our attention that you and your husband has had a couple of difficult years. And to add to that, we have had an admin issue in our offices in the last few days that caused salaries to pay out late. I apologise for that inconvenience.” Eric tells her. He hears how s
Eric watches as all the staff members who have not received their salaries quickly take out their phones. Most of them receive their messages as they unlock their phones. The looks of relief on their faces gives Eric a sense of guilt. He did not know that these staff members were under so much pressure.Eric straightens his shoulders and claps his hands once to draw everyone’s attention.“Good morning chefs.” Eric says. He takes the stance he usually would in his own kitchen. His feet slightly apart and his hands behind his back. He looks at each of them, making eye contact.“Good morning, Chef!” they all greet in unison.“I apologise for any inconvenience regarding the late payment of your salaries. If you were affected negatively in any way, by paying penalties or anything of that sort, please report it to Mrs May. I will gladly compensate you for any of your losses.” Eric watches as some of the staff members start to smile with relief. There is always something that causes chaos wh