A Wicked Web

Chapter Two

It was a busy day for Jonathan, the ambulance driver of City Hospital. He hardly had a minute to himself since morning. But he was used to this routine. He has been doing it for the last 7 years. However, something about that accident in the morning was bothering him. 

A young man, a pizza delivery boy, was trying to beat the traffic by speeding on the footpath. Jonathan who was on his way to the hospital, waiting in the opposite lane, witnessed the entire misadventure. There was a telephone cable hanging low, that the young man probably didn't see. Everything happened in a second. The bike crashed onto the railings, and the young man hadn't anticipated it. He was thrown forward by the force. The helmet took most of the damage, yet Jonathan could easily tell that the extent of injuries wasn't simple. 

The Hospital wasn't far. It took Jonathan hardly 5 minutes to dash through the traffic. The young man was unconscious all along. He was rushed to the ER as soon as they reached the hospital. 

As he was being attended to, the duty nurse was searching his pocket for a wallet or phone. It was crucial that they knew his identity so that someone responsible could be alerted. It was a standard procedure that the hospital followed in the case of unidentified patients. But they turned to be empty. It was going to be difficult to provide further medical attention without knowing the identity of the patient. Even Jonathan knew this. That's when he remembered that someone had also thrown the young man's bag too, into the ambulance. 

The crushed pizza had made a complete mess inside the bag. The cheese and toppings had oozed out. Jonathan carefully checked inside the bag. But there was no phone or wallet. 

"Maybe it fell on the road, or maybe it's on that bike" Jonathan wondered.

Apart from what was left of that chicken cheese pizza, there were a few books in the bag, along with what looked like some college assignment. Jonathan opened the book to see if there was a name on it. 

"Jacob Gerald", Jonathan read. "At least they have a name, to begin with", he thought. He went through everything once again quickly, to ensure that he hadn't missed anything. He dumped the pizza into the dumpster and took the bag to submit at the ER.