CHAPTER FIVE: A LIFETIME AGO.

Ian thought he had heard wrong, he had to have heard wrong because it made no sense that his wife, the absolute love of his life, the woman  he had known since forever was dead…just like that?

She was with him the night before, they made love that night, the passion of their love making had lasted till the nest day.

He had held her, kissed her…she had smiled at him and told him goodbye before heading out this morning.

It made no sense that someone who he had touched and kissed and held closer just some hours ago, was dead.

The news did not seem real but it had to be, her death certificate was being presented to him, her name: Ava Lyn Smith was written boldly. Her time of death: 5:44 pm was also written there.

He held on to the death certificate with every Fibre of his being, hoping to finally being the sharp pain of grief, hopefully to give his only love the last respect of a tear drop but no tears came…it did not feel real even though it was, even though the sad looking doctor had just told him so.

“Can I see her?” Ian asked, his voice held unimaginable pain that his eyes refused to shed.

“I'm sorry, you cannot stop right now. It's a federal investigation so the FBI is still trying to conduct some investigation to ascertain what caused the accident,” Simon said. 

This was just dome jumbled up nonsense that he had stringed together, he hoped and prayed that bereaved husband would not ask any other further questions.

His prayers seemed to be answered as Ian said nothing, he just stood up to leave.

His back was slumped, he seemed to age a thousand folds because of grief. He sighed as he thought about picking Ian up from his play date. 

He dreaded the thought of explaining to their son that his mother had been involved in an accident and did not make it out alive.

How does one explain to a three year old that he would never see his mother again?

How does one explain the death of a loved one to a little child?

Ian left the hospital, all he wanted was to be close to their son, to hug him, and cry.

He decided that he would return the next day to sort out whatever formalities was needed for him to take his wife's body home to bury.

Body? Ava being referred to as a mere body felt odd to Simon. As he walked out, he had this lingering thought: what if Ava is still alive? 

What if all this is just a big misunderstanding?

What if the person that is dead is not her?

All these mysterious questions lingered in Ian's mind but the finality of the doctor's words put these questions to rest.

Ava had died, oh God!

***

“Congratulations Mr. Crown, the surgery went really well! Your daughter is okay now!” Mr Sandals, the president of St. Catherine hospital announced to the stressed father.

Mr. Frederick Crown felt like he was finally able to breath after holding his breath for days.

The days prior had been the hardest ones he had ever had to face. 

News about Melanie's health came in fluctuating wave. One minute they would say she would be okay and then the next, the report would not be as encouraging as it had been before.

Frederick Crown who had not been inside a church in years, spent hours in the Santa Maria grotto begging for his daughter's life and finally his prayers were being answered.

“C…can I see her now?” He stuttered.

“Yes sir. She's stable right now,” the president said and then escorted the wealthy CEO to his daughter's ward which was a whole floor in the hospital.

Frederick Crown's bodyguards were made to wait at the entrance as he walked in to be with his precious daughter for the first time since their huge fight, for the first time since the horrible accident.

As he held her limp hands in his shaky ones, he vowed to never fight with her ever again.

 He would give in to her every request because having her here with him, alive, even if she ends up spoiled rotten…that is far better than the pain that he would have to bear of she dies.

“Melanie, my little girl,” Frederick said as he stared at her face which was puffy from the stress of the surgery that the doctors had insisted was conducted.

“I'll never ever come this close to losing you again, this is a promise,” he said and kissed her forehead.

As Melanie laid next to her father, still unconscious but with the certainty of waking up, there was someone else receiving treatment at a small more secluded part of the hospital…Ava Smith.

The hospital's president had asked Simon to threw the woman's body far into the woods but the man's conscience did not let him.

He already felt bad enough for the evil him and the president had done, for the life-altering conspiracy they had caused, he was unable to toss the woman's body away so instead he took her into a less-active part of the hospital and attended to her until she got better.

He performed a surgery on her without anyone else present. He wore her the face of Ava smile even though she was nothing like the humble house wife, even though she had lived a completely different life a lifetime ago.

Simon sat at the bed side of Ava Smith, he stared at her puffy face.

“I'm sorry, please forgive me,” he cried. He did not know that she had gained consciousness until she spoke.

“Calvin? Where the hell am I?” She asked in her usual spoiled-saucy way.