The next day, I was discharged. According to the doctor (Dr. Dembo, not Felix), there was nothing wrong with me. I got home, and the headset was just as I had left it.

When my mom inquired what it was, I told her it was for gaming. She didnt know how close she was when she threw a tantrum saying that this new technology might be what caused the episode. But I assured her that it was nothing.

For the following week, all I could do was think of Kaprice and the last words she said to me,

Help me

When I finally convinced myself that my laptop wasn't a death trap, I logged onto Instagram and looked up Donald Steinfield, Kaprice's older brother. He looked like her; he had her round face and small eyes (but obviously not her burn mark). He knew me and was glad that I reached out.

According to him, the police kept telling him the same thing.

They were trying their best to find her.

I asked him for their address, and he sent a Google Maps link with a location. I opened the link on my phone, and it told me that Glenfield Heights was just 20 kilometers southwest of UH, Clinton's school. I called Clint and asked him if he could let me crash at his dormroom just for a couple of days.

***

Tara West seemed to have misplaced her Bible. After searching through the whole house, it dawned on her that she must have left it at the hospital.

On the drive there, she listened to the sermons Gladys had shared with her at bible study. The point of preaching was to cultivate a praying culture in children.

At times like this, which were all so frequent since John senior left her, she felt like she was failing to do this parenting thing. But the word gave her peace; she had tried, she really had. But when man tries his best, only God's power is left.

When she arrived at the hospital reception, she saw her Bible safely sitting in a large red tray at the end of the curved desk. She told the receptionist that it was hers and thanked her for keeping it safe.

As she made to leave, she nearly bumped into Felicity, the nurse who had tended to John.

"Mrs. West! How are you?"

"As fine as fine goes, sweetheart."

"Don't worry, it happens to the best of us," said Felicity with a look that it didn't.

"Is John admitted again?" she asked after an awkward silence.

"No," said John's mother while clutching her bible. "I had forgotten my bible here."

"Oh, okay, I thought that... you know"

"I can't say I do."

"Well, I was surprised that he was discharged so early given his condition."

"Panic attacks happen all the time."

"Yeah, but," she hesitated, but Tara's piercing gaze urged her on. "Well, last time I heard him talking to himself."

"I'm sure he was just thinking out loud," said John's mother. "Stress will do that."

"Yeah, but this was different." She said, "I had gone to check on his IV when I heard him talking to someone named Phillip...no...Felix."

Tara at first thought that Felicity was just a nosy nobody who was trying to find something to talk about in the lunch room. But her curiosity was greatly piqued by the mention of John's therapist.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said. "It was just the two of us in the room. But he was actually having a full-on conversation with someone, apparently only he could see."

"I see," said Tara.

"Well, I'm sure it's the medication for his condition that causes hallucinations," said Felicity. "I told Dr. Damba, and that's what he said."

John's mother walked away without responding. She returned to her car, slamming the door so hard that it shook the small Toyota Vitz. She reached for her phone and dialed Dr.Felix.

There's no way John could've been experiencing hallucinations from his medication when he wasn't even taking the capsules.

"Mrs. West, how are you?"

"Did you visit John at the hospital?"

"What? Is John in the hospital? What happened"

Her heart stopped when he confirmed that he hadn't. She already knew it, though. There was no way Dr.Felix would've visited John and left without telling her.

She told him what the nurse had told her.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. West, but I've been at a seminar in Harare for the past four days."

NOTE FROM AUTHOR:
THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR READER FOR STICKING AROUND. PLEASE VOTE AND LEAVE ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IF POSSIBLE.

-EMOLYON