Chapter 5 Alone in the Echoes

Chapter 5: Alone in the Echoes

Central Health Hospital smelt of antiseptics. Nurses moved about in their crisp uniforms. Henry could not focus on the beautiful therapeutic paintings on the wall of the lobby as he rushed to the nurse at the reception desk.

"Where's Jimmy?" He asked. His breathing was unstable. The nurse was experiencing in meeting families and friends of patients who were restless like him. It was the fear of losing a loved one.

"Calm down sir and tell me the full name of the pa..."

"Jim Lono is the name" He interrupted.

"Okay. His doctor has been waiting for you" The nurse announced after a few moments and turned to dial a number I'm the phone. A lady with a blind hair tied into a ponytail emerged few minutes later.

"You must be Henry James. I'm Laura Smith, Mr Jim's doctor" Henry nodded impatiently.

"Where is he? How is he doing? Was it an attack? Did you find his inhaler on him?" Many questions were flowing outat the same time.

"He had an attack and he could not reach out for his inhaler on time. He was in critical condition when he was brought her and we tried all out possible best to revive him but unfortunately, we lost him" The doctor said calmly. It was as if she had rehearsed the lines.

Henry looked about as of he was not the recipient of the message. He turned to look at the receptionist nurse who had a sorry look on her face and then to the doctor.

"Jimmy" was all he could mutter

"I pray God gives you the fortitude to bear the loss. The nurse will give you the forms to fill." The doctor said and and turned to leave.

The reception nurse stretched a tissue to him before turning to receive a call. He took the tissue but could not wipe the tears on his face. He felt his life flashing before his eyes. He was now completely without anyone on his side.

Memories of him and Jimmy since high school flooded him at once. He could see the tan face of his beloved friend smiling at him, encouraging him, telling him what to do and how to cope with Isabella and her family. Then he felt angry. Why was the world so unfair to him and to his poor friend. He wiped the tears away from his eyes with an anger sponsored resolution to be ruthless. There was no point enduring the painful life when tomorrow was not even sure.

He filled the necessary forms to have Jimmy's corpse moved to the hospital morgue. He could not bear to look at his face in death but he did amidst throaty sobs as he bidded him goodbye and thanked him for being a great friend to him.

"Where the hell is that idiot?!" Mr Richards was screaming at the Hotel Receptionist who was looking at him clueless of the answer to the question. "He left work and you have no idea? Interesting."

"Here he comes Mr Richards" The receptionist said on seeing him, a smile of relief playing out on her face.

"Oh! Here comes the idiot" Mr Richards clapped

Henry was in no mood for his boss's backlashes at that moment. He just wanted to be on his own, away from the world.

"See me in my office" Mr Richards said.

"I'm sorry for leaving work during work hours sir. I promise it won't repeat itself." He said softly on getting to the office.

"Do you think this is a playground huh? A place where you can do as you wish. Are you not aware of the rules and regulations of this establishment?" Mr Richards said

"An emergency came up sir, I..."

"It's not of my business what thing came up. You just have to follow the rules. I'm sure you are aware of the penalty for what you have done"

"Yes sir" He was more than ready for any penalty that may be there for him at that moment. He was about to walk away from the office but he was stopped

"Go to Room 307 and get the customer comfortable. He's a VIP so put on your best behavior.

The last thing Henry wanted to do at that moment was work but he had no choice. He trudged to the stairs. He needed enough time to gather himself so he would not break down in front of the customer so he decided not to take the elevator.

At the door of the room, he pressed the door bell for what seemed like forever but got no answer. He was about to leave but he remembered he was already on Mr Richards' black list so he had to stay there and wait for this customer who was already getting on his nerves. After pressing the door bell a fewore times, he turned the door bell and found out the door was open.

He was so surprised at the magnificence he was beholding. It was a different level of luxury he had never seen in his several years of working at the hotel. As he stepped into the ample living area, the first thing that caught his attention was the glistening crystal chandelier dangling from the beautiful blue ceiling. The window had a beautiful view of the skyline, the sun was setting and it was casting a lovely shadow unto the king size bed. The bed sheets were ruffled, an indication that the customer was on the bed not too long ago. He could hear the calm splashes of water coming from the bathroom.

The beautiful scenery brought memories of him and Jimmy planning out their lives. He remembered how Jimmy had told him he would build his house in the western area of the city because of the sunset. The memories brought tears go his eyes. A bottle of the wine Jimmy had always dreamt of buying was standing on the table, he walked towards it forgetting why he was in the room. He was just staring at the chapel red wine in the cup. The tears were gushing out of his eyes and he was not even when a man walked out of the bathroom.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Came the husky voice.

Henry was startled so he knocked down the glass of wine on the table. The man's eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry. I will clean this up"

"Clean this up? Do you know how much that costs? Will you give me a refund for the wine, you idiot?" The man was getting angry and that was something Henry wanted to avoid.