Chapter 104: Wake Up

Peter was asleep on the hospital bed after his little episode with the doctor and the nurse. He had been out for almost twenty-four hours since he was given the anaesthetic.

Spencer had gone back to his hotel, while Chris remained in the hospital, sitting beside Peter and waiting for him to wake up.

Chris wasn't happy about the situation and wanted desperately to fix it. He wanted to be the first person that Peter saw when he woke up, but he also wanted to give him good news as soon as his eyes were open, except he didn't have any good news.

Some policemen had come to the hospital to ask Peter some questions about the accident, but since he wasn't awake yet, the policemen left, promising to be back later. Chris got up from his seat and sat beside Peter on his bed, and held his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Peter! I'm sorry I can't find her,"

Feeling the need to reach out, Chris went outside to make a call to Mrs Karen, so he could inform her of the situation. He went over to the hospital landline and took out the little phone book in his pocket and dialled Mrs Karen's home address.

She picked up, not knowing that she was about to receive some awful news.

"Hello!"

"Hello, Mrs Karen. This is Chris, Peter's friend and best man at the wedding."

"Oh, yes, of course, Chris! Have the newlyweds reached Costa Rica already? Is that why you called?" She asked happily.

"I'm calling about them, yes, but I'm afraid I don't have good news,"

Mrs Karen's heart froze up in her chest. She could already feel it in her old bones that what Chris was about to say was serious and terrible.

"Peter and Sharon had an accident on their way to the airport. I'm not so sure that it was an accident though. I think someone ran them off the road on purpose," Chris said.

"Are they okay?" Mrs Karen asked, barely able to catch her breath.

"Peter is badly hurt! He's in very critical condition and still under observation by the doctors. They said it's a miracle that he's still alive but he's not out of the woods yet."

"...and Sharon?" Mrs Karen asked, her heart was pounding furiously.

Chris was silent after the question which made Mrs Karen more anxious.

"What about Sharon?" She asked again, louder this time and already in tears.

Douglas walked into the room and noticed the worried look on his mother's face. He went over to her to ask what was wrong but Mrs Karen held out a finger, needing to hear the news about Sharon first before answering his questions.

"Sharon... is missing! She hasn't been found yet. The police were able to get the wrecked car out of the river but she wasn't in it. They searched around the river for her body but they didn't find anything. She's nowhere to be found, Mrs Karen,"

"You don't think she's..." Mrs Karen couldn't bring herself to say the word.

"I don't know. I really hope she made it out somehow because when Peter wakes up, he's going to want to know if his wife is okay and I don't know what I'll tell him," Chris said.

"Oh, my God! This can't be happening!"

"You try to take it easy, ma'am. I'll call you if I hear anything else, okay?"

"Okay Chris, please keep me posted."

"Will do, Ma'am!" Chris said and hung up.

"What is it, Mom? What's happened?" Douglas asked his shook-up mother.

Mrs Karen just sat quietly, still trying to process the information. All she could hope for was that Sharon was okay.

.

.

.

Chris went back into Peter's hospital room and just as he entered, Peter was starting to wake up.

"Hey, Bud! How are you feeling?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Like shit!" Peter replied with a little smile.

"Glad to see you awake," Chris said and returned the smile.

"Wh-where am I?" Peter asked.

"You're in the hospital, Peter. You had an accident and suffered some serious injuries but it looks like you're going to be fine." Chris said, his voice carrying some comfort.

Peter laid back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. Then, he opened them back up after he remembered Sharon.

"Where's Sharon, Chris? Is she okay? Is she here? Where is she?" Peter began to ask in a frenzy.

"Call down, Peter. If you do this again, the doctor will put you under. Please, try to relax," Chris said, holding Peter's shoulders.

"Just tell me where my wife is!"

"We don't know. She wasn't in the wreck when we found you. She wasn't in the car or the river. The police are still trying to find clues that may lead to her, but so far, nobody knows where she is. I'm sorry, Peter, but she's disappeared!" Chris said to a bewildered Peter.

**********

***Sharon was running through the meadow, trying to escape being caught by her pursuers. She was breathing heavily but she kept running until she arrived at the river.***

***She went over to the bushes where she had left Peter and was shocked to discover that he wasn't there anymore. She was standing between the bank of the river and the edge of the road.***

***She looked around but she couldn't see him. He was just... gone!***

***"Peter? Peter, my love, where are you?" She called out to him.***

***"Sharon?" Peter said from behind her.***

***Sharon turned around and saw Peter standing in the middle of the road, battered and bruised. He looked like he was in a lot of pain and she decided to go to him but realized that she couldn't move.***

***Just then, a car was heading down the road and it was going to crash into Peter***

***"Get out of the way, Peter!" Sharon warned him.***

***"Peter, move, please!" She shouted, trying to free herself but couldn't.***

***The car reached Peter and ran over him.***

***"No!" Sharon screamed and fell into the river and began to drown.***

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and was thankful that it was just a dream. However, she remembered that not all of it was a dream because she was kidnapped by Will, which meant that Addicus wasn't too far away.

Sharon sat up on the huge bed that she was on. She looked around the room, wondering where she was. The room had no windows or furniture in it except just the bed. She got off the bed and tried to walk, but she was still a bit drowsy from the tranquillizer. She managed to carry herself to the door and began hitting it, calling for help.

She was tired and weak, and she collapsed by the door with one word escaping her lips as she passed out.

*"Peter!"*