She puts her arm around my shoulder and says, “That’s what friends are for.”
We make our way to the first address that Monica wrote down and quickly find out this is going to be harder than we think. We walk up to the entrance of the hospital it looks like Fort Knox. It has doors that open when you walk up to them and you walk into some sort of lobby. You can see the reception part through the glass and the woman sitting at the desk stares back at us as Monica bangs on the glass. She shakes her head at us and points in our direction so I take a glance around and find an intercom with buttons to press and one button saying reception. I press the button and we watch as she picks up a phone and speaks into it and we hear her prim and proper English voice say, “Good afternoon, how may I help you?”
Monica stands right in front of the intercom and bends so her mouth is near the speaker. “Good afternoon, we are hoping you can help us. My friend here has had a falling out with her family and she has been told that her brother is at this hospital. She didn’t even know he was ill, so it has come as a bit of a surprise. Can you please tell me if you have a Mr. Noah Blaise in your care?”
I do feel bad that Monica has to lie and I get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of being caught out. Her stern voice comes back to us, “I’m sorry, I can’t give that sort of information out without any identification.”
Monica bangs her head on the intercom out of frustration as she knows we don’t have any, “Can you please look at this photo and tell us if you recognize him.” Monica turns to me, “Peppa hold the photo up to the glass so she can see.”
I do just that but the woman puts the phone down and turns her head away from us. Monica continues to press the button but we are ignored and when the security guys turn up, I pull a fuming Monica away.
When she gets in the car she shows her annoyance by slamming her hands down on the steering wheel. “What is wrong with these people? It will take less than a minute to see if his name is in their database?”
I remain quiet and I open the piece of paper in my hands and focus on the next address. A part of me thinks of giving up as I can see we will probably get the same reaction that we have just received from these places too. I glance over at Monica and I'm about to tell her we should go home when she says, “Right, we can’t let this deter us. Give me the address for the next one.” I don’t argue with her as she has that determined look on her face so I give her the address for the next location.
We stand for a good ten minutes pressing the button at the next hospital but no one answered it. Once again Monica loses her temper. I will admit to getting agitated as it seemed everywhere we turn, we come up against a brick wall.
When we get back into her car I turn to her and say, “We should head for home. This isn’t getting us anywhere and you’re about to blow.”
She shakes her head, “One more ok? Let me look at that list to see which place is nearest from here.”
I hand it over and it’s not long before we are on our way. This time there is no buzzer to be let in, we walk straight in and walk over to the receptionist. Monica doesn’t waste any time and once again I find myself surprised by her actions. She takes the photo of Noah from me and puts it down on the desk so the woman behind it can get a good look. Monica points to the photo, “This is Noah Blaise, he’s a good friend of mine and my friend here is his girlfriend. He was taken from our local hospital and we were told he has been transferred here. Would you mind telling us which room he is in so we can visit him please?” At least this time most of what comes out of her mouth is true.
I notice the woman frown and then you see her put two and two together and I know we are in trouble when she says, “You are the second person to ask me about Mr. Blaise today. If I remember rightly, she said she was his sister. And you sound just like the woman I spoke to and you were very rude.”
Monica slaps her hands down on the desk, “Look, it will take two minutes of your time to put Noah’s name in your damn computer, so you can tell us if he is here or not. Why is that so bloody hard for you to do?”
Oh shit
, I grab Monica’s hand and try and pull her away but she isn’t having any of it and squares off with the woman.
“I can’t do that. You are not family and you have lied to me twice now about who you are.” She picks up the phone, “I suggest you leave before I phone the police.”
Monica once again slaps her hands on the desk then throws them up in the air, huffs out a “bitch” and walks out.
I glance over at the woman who has put the phone down and I mouth “I’m sorry.” to her and leave.
We are both quiet on the journey home. When Monica parks the car she finally speaks, “I’m sorry Peppa. I didn’t handle that very well. It’s so frustrating that no one will help us.” She opens her mouth to say something else but closes it again.
“I know, but I’m not giving up Monica. I will start phoning hospitals again tomorrow.” My phone rings and it’s Juan, I didn’t even realize the time. “Hi Juan, I’m ok.”
At this point Monica taps my arm and mouths “key” to me and I dig in my jeans pocket to pull it out for her. She gets out of the car and I follow her.
“You’re not coming tonight? No, I understand. He did, please don’t upset Detective Payne. Oh nothing much, just phoning a few private hospitals.” I go on to explain about this afternoon too. “I’m not sitting here doing nothing Juan. I want Noah back.” I hear something in his voice but it’s gone with his next words. “I love you too. I do understand it’s only one night and I will see you tomorrow. I love you.” And he ends the call.
I make out that I'm ok with him not showing up tonight but he’s my rock, I need him to lean against, especially after today’s fiasco. I let out a sigh when I sit down on the sofa. Monica stands in the kitchen door and I glance over at her when she asks, “I take it Juan’s not coming tonight then?”
“No, Cruz has them practising before they go on stage tonight. They are at a new venue about an hour away and he has to be at the police station tomorrow so he said he will come after that.”
She nods her head and turns back to whatever she is doing in the kitchen. I haven’t felt like eating since Noah disappeared. I just didn’t feel hungry and the smell of food is making me feel sick, but Monica pulled a blinder when I thought she is handing me a cup of tea and I find it to be soup instead. I manage to keep it down and I feel the squeeze of my arm from Monica to show she is happy with me.
The rest of the night I use Monica’s laptop to write down numbers for private hospitals all over the UK. I didn’t care if they won't give me the info I need, it is for my own sanity that I'm doing this. I need to feel that I am doing something to help him.
I toss and turn most of the night. Every time I close my eyes I would see Noah lying on the mortuary slab. Then it would be Juan, standing waving at me as he turns and put his arm around another woman and walks away. I wake in tears feeling helpless and so alone. It truly feels as if I'm losing everything good in my life. The alarm on my phone starts going off,
what day is it?
It’s then I realize that it’s Monday and I should be getting up for work. I'm in no fit state to deal with the public and I can’t ask Lara as she is in the same mental place as I am. There is nothing I can do. The café will have to remain closed for the time being.
A knock comes at the door and it opens and Monica sticks her head around it. “Morning, I’m off to work now, so I will see you later. If you need me ring me.” She moves to leave but then her head appears again, “I’m popping in to see my sister and nephew after work, so I will be late, but like I said ring me.” I don’t get time to answer her as she disappears out of sight.
I drag myself out of bed, still half asleep, and I find myself in my dressing gown sitting on the sofa, with the phone in one hand and a list of numbers in the other. I’m not good at lying, like Monica seems to be, but I know I have to tell a few white lies to find out if any of them have Noah.
I dial the first number and I use Monica’s line about being Noah’s sister. It didn’t get me anywhere. Out of six calls I made, I only managed to get one to tell me he isn’t in their care. By the time I reach the tenth call, I get emotional. And by the time I’ve phoned the twentieth number, I’m in tears begging them. I end up throwing the phone across the room in resentment and defeat. I have had enough. There is only so many times I can hear, “I’m sorry, we can’t give out that information.”
I lie down on the sofa and wrap my arms around myself and cry. I cry for Noah, but most of all I cry for the loss I feel inside of myself, and for the uncertainty of what the days, weeks and possibly months will bring. I guess I fell asleep as I awake with a jerk and sit upright to find Monica bent down in front of me offering me a cup.
“I’m guessing you have been sitting there all day and haven’t had much luck by the look of it. Drink this then maybe a shower, isn’t Juan coming tonight?”
I peek at her still half asleep and shake my head trying to wake up a bit. She takes my hands and wraps them around the mug and tells me to, “Drink, then shower.” And she walks into the kitchen. My brain finally catches up with me and I take a sip of soup and move my ass from the sofa to the bedroom to take a shower.
When I walk back into the lounge Juan is sitting there talking to Monica. He looks over at me and smiles. Even in my misery, I can’t help but take in how beautiful he is. His smile widens and he shakes his head, and pats his knee, “You’re the beautiful one. Come here so I can hold you.”
I walk over to him and his arms reach out for me and he pulls me down onto his lap. His lips find mine and he places a few soft kisses to them and whispers, “I’ve missed you.”
And I whisper back, “I’ve missed you too.”
He pulls back, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’ve been hearing all about your adventures yesterday and the lack of help you received.”
I glance over at Monica and she lets out a huff, “That’s an understatement.”
I make eye contact with Juan again, “Today wasn’t much better. I even begged at one point but no one would tell me anything. I was so mad, I threw the phone and ended up in a right state.”
Juan’s hold on me tightens and for some reason I can’t fathom he says, “I’m sorry.”
I frown at him, “It’s not your fault and I’m not giving up. I will think of something else.”
It’s at this point Monica stands up and says, “I will leave you two to it. See you in the morning.” She walks away and Juan shouts out to her, “Thanks for taking care of Peppa.” Her hand goes up in the air and she waves.
Juan’s hand comes to my face and I lean into his touch. He runs his thumb across my lips and he opens his mouth to say something but I’m dying to know how his visit was with the police, so I ask, “How did it go with Detective Payne?”
He growls when I mention his name and runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t like that man. He’s narcissistic and basically insinuated that I had something to do with Noah’s disappearance. He even implied that Cruz and Saul helped me in some way.”
I sit up straight at that bit of information, “Really? What does he think you did? Oh god no, he thinks you killed him?
Juan shakes his head, “No, I read his thoughts. He doesn’t think that, he was trying to get a reaction out of me by hinting at it.”
I rest my head on his chest. “Did he get one?”
“A reaction? Yes, he got one, but not one he was expecting. I gave him a piece of my mind about the way he treated you.”
“I bet that fell on deaf ears.”
He huffs, “Yes, something like that. You will be hearing from him soon so they can search the house, and he thinks you are beautiful.”
I scrunch my face up in a frown, “He told you that?”
Juan shakes his head. “No, I caught that thought from him. Like I said I don’t like the man.”
There is nothing I can say to that, so we both remain quiet for a while. I break the silence when I mutter, “Can you still feel Noah? Is he…”
Juan didn’t let me finish before he answers me, “Yes Peppa, he’s still alive and yes, I want him here too.”
I’m so caught up in my own self-pity that I forgot that Juan would be feeling the loss too. We both needed comfort and we have each other for that so I ask Juan to take me to bed. He didn’t answer me, he carries me to the bedroom. At the foot of the bed he places me on my feet. I undress and get into the bed. My eyes rest on Juan as I watch him disrobe and instead of ignoring the energy between us, I let the heat flow and for the first time since the night the three of us were together, Juan makes love to me. And through each touch, each moan and the meeting of our bodies, we find the solace we need from each other. I fall asleep in Juan’s arms and a promise of, “All of us will be together again soon.”
Chapter 7 (NOAH)
When someone asks you to describe your pain level using the numbers from 1-10. At this moment I would probably fucking say, “Add a few more noughts onto the end of that ten and that will give you some idea of the excruciating pain that circulates my entire body.” What makes it worse is I’m tied to the bed and the rope is cutting into my wrists and ankles. Whiffs of my own blood find their way to my nasal cavity and I lose my mind for one taste to ease the pain. The hunger is the worst, it’s like someone has taken a sharp object and is having great pleasure in shredding my internal organs and setting them on fire. The pain is so intense that it wouldn't surprise me if I spontaneously combust.
I can hear Jade walking around. She even comes in and offers me some of her blood to take the edge off, but it’s not her blood I want. I find myself screaming out the pain and I actually think I’m going to die.
I know when Juan has arrived as my whole body buzzed with energy. I called out to him begging for his blood. He rushes into the room, this stunning man who sits down beside me. Offering me his blood sets every fiber in my body into action. I want to fuck him hard and take his blood at the same time. I’m distracted by the smell that covers his body, it’s Peppa’s, and I go fucking crazy. Juan tries to calm me down by kissing me and I get my first hit of blood when I bite his lip then his wrist is suddenly forced in my mouth. I feast like a starved man. Peppa’s name is mentioned and I tell myself to ask Juan what’s going on in her life.