Chapter 2

THREE MONTHS LATER

Joe blinked his eyes opened after a long coma, he glared at the hospital ward which he was in and attempted to sit up.

“What happened to me?” He questioned, no one in particular, for he was all alone in the room.

Joe tried recollecting the previous incidence, but couldn't get a recap of it.

“Vroom! The door opened, and a nurse walked in.

“Oh! Master Peter you are awake” she retorted with a smile, she dropped the tray in her hands on the table that sat near the bed.

The nurse dashed out happily from the room on her way to inform the doctor of Joe's state.

The tray she had left on the table had a content of sandwich, orange juice and drugs.

Joe reached out to the sandwich immediately for he was hungry, he ate like a mad dog and flushed the cup's content at once.

He wondered why his name was interchanged to Peter? was they a mistake somewhere?

Shortly enough the doctor arrived, he stared for a while and ask Joe how he was doing.

Joe replied he was fine and asked what he was doing in the hospital, but instead of answering the doctor was carried away with a phone call.

“Don't worry Peter your parents will be here any minute” the doctor assured.

For a fact, Joe only recalled he had a single parent which was his mom.

Nothing seems to make sense to him.

Indeed, a few minutes sooner than later a young lady ran in giving Joe a tight hug.

She had beams of smile on her cheeks and tears prevailed toward her cheeks.

“I thought we'd lose you” she cried.

“Ho ho! My boy is back” another man rushed in griping confused Joe tight.

“Eric!” The lady called, and a teenager walked in.

“Brother is really okay” he commented.

“Who are all of you” Joe questioned after succeeding to free himself from their grip.

This question left the family in shock as they all move their gaze to the doctor.

The doctor drew nearer to Joe and felt his skin.

“Am perfectly fine” Joe retorted, “All I need is my mother's presence” he added.

“Am here peter” Lucy said to Joe.

“No you are not my mother, her name is Vera” Joe sparks out with fury.

“Doctor, what is going on?” Mr. Mike asked with great concern, seeing that the son he was informed to come and see was overreacting.

Joe was tied to the hospital bed as he struggled to get out.

After much examination, the doctor concluded that he was mentally ill which led to loss of memory.

Lucy almost fainted at the sound of that, thanks to her husband Michael, who supported her balance.

Eric bowed his head to the floor, he had pains in his eyes but looked more of a faked.

***

Mrs. Vera handed over an envelope to Mr. Franklin at the police station, her eyes burned with terror as she gave him a disgusting look.

“Count yourself lucky that my daughter Imelda fell in love with your old man” Franklin spoke out, intending to offend Vera.

“Oh! Really, I knew you had something to do with his disappearance” she accused.

“But I promise you if my son doesn't return home before tonight you'll go-to jail” Mrs. Vera promised but not without calling Franklin a nincompoop.

They both exchanged harsh words at each other, it got worse to the point where the police had to send them out.

They didn't stop at all, even with Emily's plead, rather Vera saw this as an opportunity for a fight and this time around she kicked Franklin hard on his cock mentioning that he was a loser.

After words, she left with her daughter.

Franklin tried hard to stand to his feet, but he couldn't as his hands held tight to his privacy, which wasn't any longer as a common woman had launched in.

Was he going to survive that? He thought as he took two steps forward.

“I don't believe I actually gave my savings to that fool” Mrs. Vera confessed to Emily who kept rubbing her back constantly.

It was the second day after the wedding disaster, but still, they can't yet figure out Joe's whereabouts or the reason for him not showing up anymore.

Mrs. Vera tried as much as possible to hold her hopes high, but was discouraged as no news trooped in from the police about her son.

“That demon is responsible for my son's disappearance” Mrs. Vera spoke out referring to Mr. Franklin.

***

The hospital securities struggled hard to catch Joe as he ran swiftly across the gate to the road.

Lucy could not catch her breath properly, she held her husband's hand tight, rubbing her wet face on his shirt as he parted her head.

“They will find him” he assured her.

Eric watched from a distance seeing how Joe ran across moving vehicles, he watched until he was out of sight and nodded negatively.

“Will he really survive?” Eric muttered to himself.