In Honour of the Heart

Chapter 18 : There is so much to be said and done.

Isabelle yawned and tried to open her eyes. What was wrong? Who put weight on her eye lids? With strength, she didn’t possess, Isabelle succeeded in opening them. What was this odor? She clinched her nose again. It flared her nostrils.  A disinfectant? 

 What she noticed made her hair curl.

As her focus became more precise; her heart sank to her boots. She did not imagine it.

Isabelle didn’t have the stomach to find herself in blue thin gown, lying on a wheeled bed in a strange room. She saw few tubes attached to her. Oh boy! How did she end up at the only place which she hated forever?

When she tried to move, her left side thudded with pain and she screamed. Her head was spinning .This made her flesh crawl. Why was she in hospital? She was stiff as poker. Isabelle gulped saliva to forget the acidic flavor.

She bit her lip in the course and put her brain in gear.

There were things in her mind and she wanted to get it off her chest.

“So you are up. Take it easy.” Who said it?

She dreaded to glance around at the thought of pain the action could cause.

With her heart in her mouth, she moved her head to the side.

Thank God, she had not lost her marbles. She was able to recognize Isaac.

He was sitting near her bed in a chair. His face was tired and his perfect office wear crumpled. The man looked devastated. She couldn’t help notice a flicker of worry in his eyes. Did few of his hair turned gray overnight or she failed to spot it before?

She looked over his shoulder.  Several medicines were lying on a nearby table. A small TV was wall mounted in one corner of the room. She expected to see tired, dull, depressing colorless surfaces, which were not repainted since a decade.

Instead of that, there were soothing colors around. Even the art hanging in front was good.

Still she, sure, was in knee deep trouble.

“What happened? Why am I here?” Isabelle found her voice.

“Hey, don’t worry.”

“But why I am having stabbing pain in my head, as if someone is pounding nails inside my skull?” Isabelle cried her heart out.

“Honey, you fainted and hit your head on the pavement.”

“What? How? When?” She cleared her throat.

“Do you remember you went out in the morning?” Isaac extended his hand and touched her.

How she recognized that touch like a back of her hand.

“Yes, I remember that.” Her voice sounded too hoarse and shaky to herself.

“While coming back, you fainted on the road.”

Isabelle was sick to the stomach now. She threw her arms in horror. “Faint? But I never faint.” She tried to sit up as Isaac lent a helping hand. He moved few pillows and settled her.

“How did I end up here?”

Somebody checked your clutch. He found my card and called me. The same man contacted ambulance as you hit yourself on pavement."

Nurse interrupted their conversation. She kept her finger on her pulse and checked vital statistics.

The smart woman moved without noise amid floors covered with wall to wall carpeting.

“I am so glad that you are up. It’ time. You took a frightening blow on your head. You sure terrified this handsome man.” She winked at Isaac while making notes in her chart.