CHAPTER 13 Emily, Where Are You?
We didn’t get home till early the next morning and I went straight to Emily’s. Again, she wasn’t home. I racked my brain for the name of her school and couldn’t come up with a name nor an address. Then I thought of a contact number for Sarah or Charlie or even Max. I didn’t have one. A call to Jane was a better option than throwing my phone against the wall.
“Jane, has Emily called you again?”
“No, not since she texted yesterday to say she got home. Are you at her house right now?”
“Yeah. She’s not home. I don’t know where she could be. She’s never out this early on a Sunday.”
“I’ll call you if I hear from her. You’ll find her, don’t worry.”
“Thanks.”
I went home and tried to occupy myself while calling Emily over and over again.
Monday, I got an early call from Uncle Henry while I was at Emily’s doorstep again.
“Jake, where are you?”
“Why?”
“You do know you have to be in Seattle tomorrow morning? The rest of your team is here getting ready for the trip.”
I had forgotten. This surgery up in Seattle was a last minute heart transplant. There was no choice but to go. A man’s life depended on me.
“Chief, is there any chance you can go for me? I need to find Emily and clear up our misunderstanding.” I probably sounded like a love sick fool.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Your team is counting on you as well as the team up in Seattle. Stop by the hospital and make sure all preparations are going well. I’ll see you off tomorrow morning.” There was no reasoning with the Chief. He hung up on me before the conversation was over.
I stopped by Emily’s throughout the day and one last time before I left for Seattle. She was nowhere to be found. During the week, I called, I texted, Mom dropped by but Emily couldn’t be found. Finally, I was home on Monday and I went straight to Emily’s house by late afternoon.
Ding Dong.
Thank God… footsteps. She was finally home. This madness was done.
“Can I help you?” A strange woman answered the door.
“Is Emily home?”
“Emily doesn’t live here anymore.”
“What do you mean? She was just here a week ago. Where did she go?” My outlook on life got even bleaker.
“I’m not sure where she went but I just moved in a few days ago.”
“How long are you here for? Can you give me a contact number for Emily? There must be something wrong. I’m Emily’s boyfriend and I was away for a week. She couldn’t have moved during that time. Please, can you give me her contact number?” Desperation engulfed me.
Emily, where have you gone?
“Well, if you’re really her boyfriend, then you should already have her contact number and it shouldn’t be a surprise that she moved. Good bye.” Both hands, almost in a pleading manner, stopped the closing door. “Please leave or I’ll call the police.”
“Can you please tell me where she went? Please!”
She took pity on me. “I honestly don’t know where she went. We’ve never met. I’m supposed to route a check to her account every month and we have a contract till the end of summer. She won’t be back here for at least six months.”
“Thank you.”
Defeated, despondent, wretched – all emotions whirling in my head, my heart, my entire self. I had no idea why this was happening. Why would she move out of her house and where could she have gone? I called Jane again.
“Hi Jake. Are you back from Seattle? Have you heard from Emily, yet?”
“Jane, did Emily talk to you about moving out of her house?”
“No. She never mentioned any such thing. Why?”
“She’s not here. I just talked to some woman who’s living in Emily’s house and she told me Emily moved out for at least six months. Where could she have gone?”
“I have no idea. Do you think she went to go live with Sarah?” That was a possibility. “Have you called Sarah?”
“I don’t know her number.”
“What’s her last name? Search her on the web.”
“I don’t know that either.” I started to panic. Emily didn’t want to be found. I had pushed her deep into a corner because she was scared to face me.
“Jake, think about everything you and Emily talked about and you might be able to come up with a last name or the name of anyone’s workplace. Calm down and think things through. Go home and rest. You must be exhausted.”
I went home and thought as Jane told me to do. No information came to me that would help me find Emily. I contemplated hiring a private investigator to find Emily but decided against it. All I could hope was for Emily to call me when her anger and hurt died down or for her to call Jane to give her a new contact address. That’s when I would go and make amends.
A week had gone by and I had nothing. As hard as I tried, it wasn’t easy hiding my despair from my family. Mom and Dad worried. The Chief felt bad after I angrily told him what had happened while I was up in Seattle. It wasn’t his fault – this was all a result of my selfishness.
Desperate for a phone call, I tried to go about my day without too much hindrance to my patients. I was done with morning surgery on Tuesday and thought about going out to lunch with the Chief to break myself out of this dark haze. I walked towards the nurse’s station to page the Chief when I saw Emily’s shadow darting into the elevator. I ran over to the elevator and caught a glimpse of my girlfriend on the verge of tears. That was her. Even though I saw her for a fraction of a second, there was no mistakening her beautiful face.
I turned to Linda, the head nurse. “The girl who just jumped into the elevator… where was she going?”
“I’m not quite sure. Chief Reid brought her here but she left this and ran off when she saw you coming.”
As fast as I could I ran down the stairs to the lobby. I saw another glimpse of her leaving the hospital. “Emily!” I shouted her name but she didn’t hear me. When I got outside, I couldn’t find her. I had lost her again but was encouraged she had come to see me and even more encouraged she was communicating with me. Cheerfully I opened her letter.
January 27
Dear Jake,
I'm sorry we had such an abrupt ending in New York but it makes me happy to know I saw you one last time. You're probably wondering why I'm writing you a letter all of a sudden. With much hesitation, I thought it’d only be proper to say goodbye. Since you don’t answer any of my calls, I decided to send you a letter instead.
By the time you get this, I'll be on my way to Japan. I got a wonderful job teaching English in a small village. My Principal was kind enough to let me take off the rest of the year.
Please accept my apologies one last time. You were truly the one person who understood me like my mom and dad. I will miss that sense of belonging. Please thank your family for their kindness towards me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt like I was part of a family. I will miss that as well.
I hope you found the eternity band. I’m sorry I threw it at you in New York. I'm also sorry I kept it so long. That ring made me feel like I was still a part of your life. I know now it was inappropriate to think this way. Although the band couldn't hold true to its name for us, I hope you will find someone who will wear the ring with confidence knowing that you two can love each other eternally.
Thank you for loving me. You’ve touched my heart deeply. I take many beautiful memories of us to a foreign place. Be well.
Fondly,
Emily
My world went completely dark.