Chapter 5

Jessica stared at the door for a long moment after they had left. Her thoughts drifted back to the day's events. Her phone suddenly rang in her bag, startling her. She walked over to the table and retrieved it. A quick glance at the screen revealed that it was her mother calling. She answered the call.

"Hello, Mum."

"Sorry, this number was saved as 'My Baby girl,' so I assumed you'd recognize the owner of this phone," a deep male voice came through the phone. Jessica double-checked the phone to ensure it was indeed her mother's number displayed on the screen. Why was someone else calling her with her mother's phone? She wondered.

"Hello, are you there?" The man's voice broke the silence.

"Yes… yes, sorry, what did you say?" Jessica replied, her confusion evident.

"Are you related to the owner of this phone?"

"Yes, she's my mother," Jessica's eyes darkened, "who are you, and why are you calling me with my mother's phone?"

"Calm down, Miss. Your mum was knocked down by a driver. It was a hit and run. I was at the scene and had to rush her to the hospital unconscious."

"What?" Jessica was utterly bewildered. "A… are you sure you're talking about my mother? My mother who I was with just a few hours ago?" Her heart began racing, beating rapidly against her ribcage.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you have to come to Le Santos Hospital right now. I can't stay any longer."

"Wait!" Jessica said, "Please just hold on and wait for me. I will be there in a few minutes." Without waiting for the man to say anything else, Jessica hung up, grabbed her bag from the table, and rushed out of the room. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

The receptionist, seeing her leaving hastily, called out to her, "Hey, Madam, you can't leave yet; you still have bills to settle." Upon hearing her, Jessica halted. She knew the lady was right. She had medical bills to pay. She went to the counter and pleaded with the young lady.

"Please, hold on to my bag. It's a designer bag worth about $10,000. I will be back, but if I don't come back, you can sell it and settle my medical bill with it," she stuttered through her words as her hands frantically opened her bag and picked her purse from it.

She dropped the bag on the counter and ran out of the hospital doors without glancing back. The receptionist had her mouth gaped open in shock, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. She looked at her colleagues who were just as surprised as she was before taking the bag and placing it beside her chair.

Jessica, who was already outside, hailed a taxi. None seemed to be stopping. They were all too busy moving past her as it was already getting late, a quick glance at her wristwatch showed it was past 2pm. She didn't know what to do. Pacing back and forth, looking extremely agitated, only one thought occupied her mind, thoughts of her precious mother.

Finally, a taxi pulled over. She opened the back seat and got in.

"Please take me to Le Santos Hospital," she requested. It was a very popular hospital in London, almost everyone knew where it was.

The taxi driver looked at her through the rearview mirror. "That will be $200, ma'am."

"$200 dollars to Le Santos Hospital? That is ridiculous!" she snapped, venting her pent-up frustration on the driver.

He turned off his car, "You can get out, ma'am, if you can't afford it."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!" Jessica cursed beneath her breath and opened her purse. She found five hundred dollars in it and motioned to the driver.

"Let's go!" The man started the car's engine again and drove.

"Please go faster, please!" Jessica begged. If she could fly, she would already be at the hospital beside her mother. She was still confused about the whole thing.

All the while, the only thing playing in her head was the man's words, "your mother was knocked down by a driver, it was a hit and run." Jessica shut her eyes. This had better be a big joke. This had better be one of the pranks her mother played on her whenever she wanted her to come home early, except her mother wasn't at home but at the hospital.

Jessica shut her eyes and lay back against the back seat. "Oh Lord!, please don't let anything happen to my mother."

A few minutes later, they arrived at the hospital. Jessica immediately paid the taxi driver and rushed into the hospital. She was out of breath when she got to the reception.

"I am looking for Mrs. Rebecca Smith." The receptionist searched through her book as Jessica waited patiently. She looked up, "I am sorry ma'am, we don't have any Mrs. Rebecca Smith here."

Oh right, Jessica thought. Her mother had been brought unconscious, making it impossible for her to give her name. Also, her mother's bag didn't contain any means of identification, except her phone.

She dialed her mother's line. After the second ring, the stranger picked up again, "Where are you? I am running late!" The man said irritably. Jessica did not react to that because she knew he had every right to be irritated; he had paused all he had to do just to bring her mother to the hospital, and for that, she was very grateful.

"I am at the reception. Please, which ward exactly is she in?"

"Don't worry, I am coming to get you." The stranger heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the call ended and got downstairs. He had been at the hospital for well over 2 hours.

When the hit and run had happened, everyone had been going about their business. No one wanted to help the aged woman. Even those who gathered around them were just taking pictures but not willing to offer any help.

"She is already old. What if she dies in my car?" one man had said when the stranger scolded him for standing by and watching when he had a car that could have easily been used to rush the woman to the hospital.

"No one wants blood on their hands," another person chided.

The stranger had carried her into his SUV and sped to the hospital.

He looked around as soon as he got downstairs. The reception was empty.

"Wasn't that where the young Miss was supposed to be waiting?" he thought, getting visibly annoyed.