“From up here you can literally see everything on The Island, isn’t it beautiful?”
Bill turned to look at Tiffany to see if she had heard but all he caught was a glimpse of anger hiding behind her eyes.
“Tiffany, what’s wrong?”
“Bill, you told me you’d tell me this morning why I was here. You said you knew. Instead you’ve done nothing but drag me all around this island showing me things that I don’t really care to see. I’ve never really been a fan of nature, if you had paid more attention when we were together you would have known this. Now enough games….Why am I here?!?!”
Bill realized she was right. He had promised to tell her in the morning and then somehow convinced her after breakfast to go on a tour of The Island. It was now the afternoon and he hadn’t told her anything. They had been tramping from one location to the next like they were on a vacation.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize just fucking tell me already.”
“Alright, but you should sit down because you might not believe me.”
Tiffany took a seat on a log and waited for Bill to tell his unbelievable tale of why she was here.
“Okay…well I don’t know really where to begin.”
“At the beginning dumbass.” she interjected. “You begin at the beginning, now hurry up and tell me.”
Bill was becoming rather annoyed at the way Tiffany was talking to him.
“Look Tiffany, if you keep calling me names and talking to me like this I’m not going to tell you and you can walk around on The Island by yourself, but I’m not going to deal with your shit anymore.”
Tiffany thought for a minute, “Okay Bill, you’re right. It’s just that I don’t know what this is, why I’m here, why you’re here, and I miss my family. If you’re holding something from me that will help me get back, I’d really like to know.”
Bill began to narrate the story of the warehouse, Azrael, the concept of The Island, the 5 rules, and why she was here. When he was finished he sat there looking at Tiffany waiting for her to say something.
“So…..let me get this straight Bill. You brought me to The Island under the presumption that you could form the perfect relationship with me?”
Bill was slight shocked by the question. After what he had just told her about demons and magical islands, her first response was this. “Umm…yes?”
“And the only way I can leave this island to get back to my family is if you kill yourself or let me go?”
He hesitated before answering, “Yeah…or we could have a perfect relationship here.”
“So what is it you’d like for me to say to you that you’ll let me go then?”
“You mean…you mean you’d like to leave? I thought we could start over on this island and fix all the things that were wrong with our relationship.”
Tiffany sighed and began laughing, “Bill, how do you propose we fix the fact that you got drunk one night, came home to tell me that you had fallen out of love with me, and you were moving out.”
Bill was ashamed. He had forgotten that part of the ending.
“Did you forget about that Bill? You packed your bags that night and I never saw you again. All I got was divorce papers in the mail. You left me Bill, how do we fix that. I don’t even know what the problem was.”
“I’m sorry Tiffany…I…”
“You’re sorry? Why are you sorry Bill? It’s what you wanted. Did you forget how much you hurt me or did you not even care?”
“Tiffany, I…”
“It doesn’t matter Bill. It took me awhile to get over it, but I moved on…I’m happy now Bill. I really am.”
Bill sat down on the log next to her. It was silent for quite a long time. The sun was getting low on the horizon and it would be dark in a few hours.
“I guess I didn’t think about all of this before I brought you here Tiffany.”
“It’s fine Bill, just send me back please and it will be ok. I’m glad that you thought of me and you wanted to try to fix things, but I need to get back to my family.”
Staring at the ground and moving nothing but his lips, Bill’s voice was void of emotion and full of hopelessness.
“I’m sorry Tiffany…but I can’t let you leave.”
“What…?? What do you mean you can’t let me leave?
Bill continued, “I only get 5 chances Tiffany, I told you that. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay. We are going to create a perfect relationship. I know we can. I am sorry about your family, but I’m afraid you’ll never see them again until we at least try. I won’t send you back, I refuse.”
Horrified by what she had just heard, “Bill you can’t fucking do this to me. We were done a long time ago. I have a husband and two beautiful kids that depend on me. You’re so fucking selfish Bill! You haven’t changed one bit. It’s always about you. What about my kids Bill??”
“They’ll have get on without you. I’m sure eventually they’ll give up looking for you and move on, just like you claim you did. But Tiffany, I haven’t moved on, so I’m afr….” Bill felt a sharp pain on the left side of his head and then his body went limp. His last thought was of him falling and hitting the ground.
“You stupid son of a bitch!” Tiffany screamed at him. “I fucking hate you!”
While Bill was busy telling her that she couldn’t leave Tiffany had picked up a big rock and struck him on the side of the head with it, rendering him unconscious.
She looked around for something to bind him with. Then she remembered passing some vines on the side of a cliff face a mile or so back. She would go retrieve those and use them as rope. “Good thing I watched all those survival shows on the discovery channel” she thought to herself.
She picked up the rock and hit Bill again as hard as she could in the head to make sure he was still unconscious when she returned. “That ought to do it” she said to herself. She turned in the direction of the vines and took off jogging.
*********
“You’re still here Sheriff?”
Bill was awakened by the sound. He was laying on a bed attached to a wall. To his right was a toilet bolted to concrete in the middle of the room. He sat up on his bed and looked around. He was in what appeared to be a prison cell at the county jail.
“Yes, it was a long night last night. I had to bring in some crazy guy that claims his wife just vanished. You might want to keep an eye on him, a real lunatic he is. I had to taser him and bring him in.”
Bill thought the voice sounded familiar, he got up and looked through the bars. “Is it…” he thought to himself. “Yes it is, it’s Sheriff Ryan.”
“Sheriff Ryan!” Bill began yelling, “Sheriff Ryan, it’s me Bill let me out of here.”
He received no response.
“You’ve got to fucking believe me Sheriff. She just disappeared. I’m not crazy!! I swear!” shouted a voice that came from behind him.
Bill turned to look and there on the top bunk above the bed he had just woken up on was a man. He looked upset and tired.
“Yeah yeah Fred, she just disappeared into thin air right? Like a magic trick?” shouted Sheriff Ryan back at him.
Both the Sheriff and Deputy looked at each other and began laughing. “See I told you he’s a real nut job. Anyways, good luck with him. His wife Tiffany hasn’t been found yet. I think he may have done something with her. I ordered a psychiatric evaluation for him later today.”
“Okay Sheriff, I’ll keep a watch on him for you.”
“Thanks deputy. Call me if you need anything, I’m going to go home and go to bed.”
“Will do Sheriff.”
Immediately after hearing this Bill knew that he was in the cell with Tiffany’s husband Fred. He had never really met Fred. He turned and looked at his replacement. Fred looked sad. “Why can’t I have a love like this in my life” he thought.
“Fred, my name is Bill, Tiffany’s ex” he said.
He received no response. Fred didn’t even look at him, it was as if he hadn’t even heard him.
“Can you hear me?” he said in a louder voice.
He again received no response.
Bill walked over to Fred and reached out to touch his arm. Where he should have felt them touch, his fingers, his hand, and then his entire arm passed right through Fred’s arm instead.
“This just keeps getting more and more interesting,” Bill thought to himself, “Apparently no one can see or hear me.”
Suddenly Bill remembered his dream about his mom and him in the hospital. It all came rushing back to him. He closed his eyes to remember the dream. He remembered seeing his mom there asleep holding a hand. As he approached the patient he saw in horror that it was himself. He remembered now. He opened his eyes again.
“What the…” Bill fell backwards in shock.
He found himself face to face with himself again. He scrambled to his feet and looked around. It was indeed him. His mom was awake sitting at the table in the corner. Just then a Doctor walked in.
“Hello Edna, how are you today?”
“Tired Doc. Do you have any good news for me?”
The Doctor hesitated before answering.
“Edna, I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
“What is it Doc?”
“Well, I don’t really know how to say this, it isn’t easy but….Look, we have done everything we could to help Bill recover.”
“Yes you have, but he’s stable now isn’t he?”
“Yes he’s stable, but that’s part of the problem. He’s too stable…meaning he hasn’t shown any signs of recovery. There is no increase in brain activity and it’s obvious he hasn’t gained consciousness. Now, it’s hospital policy and the law to perform life saving procedures without consideration of whether or not a patient can pay, but, for comatose patients, we can only keep them here for a week, unless they show signs of improvement or they have insurance…and I’m…I’m afraid….well…Bills insurance lapsed on him and they are refusing to cover his stay here. I’m sorry to tell you this, but after seven days, if he hasn’t recovered or regained consciousness, he won’t be allowed to stay here, unless someone can pay for it.”
Edna sat for a minute taking it all in. Finally she looked up and asked, “How much does it cost per day Doctor, I have some money saved away, perhaps I can cover it until he wakes up?”
“I’m not exactly sure but I’ll go check and get back to you on it. I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you this Edna.”
Doctor Jacobs lowered her head in sympathy and excused herself from the room.
Bill was horrified. In a week he would be killed in this hospital if he didn’t wake up. “Wait a minute,” he thought, “Is this even real?”
Bill was unable to figure out if he was dreaming here, dreaming on the Island, or dreaming all together. He couldn’t decipher if any of this was real. He searched the room hoping to find an answer to this question. Hanging from wall he noticed a chart. He walked over to it and began reading it.
===
Patient Name: Bill Sanderson
Condition: Comatose
Description: Was brought in by ambulance after falling into Jefferson Pond. Patient was unconscious and suffered from hypothermia. Patients vitals were restored but consciousness was never regained.
===
“Jefferson Pond……” Bill thought to himself, “Oh shit….”
In a frenzy of memories Bill remembered talking to Jim. Jim had left the bar and Bill stayed. When Bill walked outside he decided he had had too much to drink and was going to walk home. On his way home he decided to take a short cut.
The sound of the ice cracking and the cold feeling that over took him rushed back to his memory as if it just happened. “That cold he felt before he blacked out,” he thought to himself, “It was water.”
“Oh my god, I really am in a coma. I am in a coma but I am also on The Island. They both seem so real.” he reasoned to himself.
His heart began racing and he started to sweat. “Oh no,” he thought, “not again…” The blood drained from his face and his vision dimmed.
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