MISSING TIME.

CHAPTER ONE: BROOKSDALE. As Grayson drove through the little town of brooksdale his gut felt heavy with emotions. A quaint little town with more than twenty thousand residents with serene views that attract tourists when spring comes. It's been twelve years since his last stepped foot in brooksdale not since the unsavory incident. Grayson followed his memory of the town and found the general hospital. He parked his truck and rested his head on the steering wheel as he took a moment to himself. He opened his door to embrace the biting winter air as he pulled his coat tighter to himself and made his way to the lobby of the hospital. Grayson to a look around and found the general hospital different from twelve years ago, brighter her thought. He approached the receptionist's desk and rang the little buzzer drawing the attention of a nurse whose face was buried in files. "Hello, can I help you?" The nurse said before looking up. Grayson knew he was handsome, at seven feet with a lean figure gray eyes, and dark hair. Women found him dreamy, something he took to be a curse. The nurse flashed him a cute smile and pushed her chest forward. Grayson ignored such a blatant attempt at seduction and asked her with a sense of urgency, "Miguel Lopez, room number." "Miguel Lopez? Give me a minute." She clicked away at the system In front of her to pull up Miguel Lopez's file. "Room 301." She said as she raised her head only to find Grayson missing, already on his way. "Is he a relative? Or friend?" A voice asked behind the nurse. "I don't know" the nurse responded. "And you gave him a patient's information?" ***** Grayson stood by the elevator waiting for the doors to open. His feet tapping rapidly on the floor, nervously. The elevator finally opened letting out doctors, nurses, and patients before Grayson stepped on. He pressed the button for the third floor and stepped back. The elevator slowly made its way to the third floor. Walking out of the elevator Grayson kept his eyes on the room number as he walked down. He finally reached room 301, to find someone outside the door. Peering into the room. When he took a closer look he realized that it was Gina, Miguel's wife and mother to his twelve-year-old son. "Hello Gina," Grayson said after squaring his face to one of indifference. "Hello, who are you?" Gina responded, finally realizing that the was someone standing next to her. "I'm a friend of your husband, he called me," Grayson answered before reaching out for the door and pulling it open. Thereby the bed lay Miguel Lopez Grayson's best friend, at least on this side of the hemisphere. Grayson walked into the room and closed the door leaving Gina confused as throughout her fifteen years of marriage she had not heard of him nor seen Grayson who claimed to be a friend of her husband. "Aren't you going to let her in?" Grayson asked the rousing man. "Oh you are here, took you long enough," Miguel said. Miguel is a Latino man of 6"4 with chisel features and wavy dark hair and eyes that would be making women go crazy. Miguel pushed himself up to take a good look at Grayson who just watched him in silence. "You got to stop doing that man, it's creepy. Can't be all staring at a dude with smoldering eyes. Not cool." Miguel broke the short silence which earned him a smile from Grayson. "So you've made up your mind huh?" Grayson asked as he pulled a seat and sat beside Miguel who had laid his head back down. "I have, you know how much I loved her man...." Miguel paused between sentences to catch his breath, his voice choked with emotions. "I did everything for her, bore through the pain and humiliation. She thought she had everyone fooled but they knew. They knew she was sleeping around. They knew Carlos was not my son. Even I knew." Miguel turned his head to the other side of the bed towards the window to hide his tears. "Must be hard to accept, I won't claim to understand what you're going through but like I said two weeks ago I'm here for you man." Grayson patted Miguel's leg as he spoke. "I mean I even came down here. But what I want to know is how you ended up in the hospital?" Grayson asked. "I came home from Carlo's school some PTA meeting about a little fundraiser for the kids, Gina took a sick day saying she was running a fever. When I came home I noticed a truck a few houses down from mine, a familiar one at that. Grayson, I picked up chicken soup from her favorite place and went into the house I...." Miguel choked, as he tried to find words to express his anguish and pain. "I heard the sounds first, the moaning and her giggle. The bed we both shared was creaking repeatedly. At that moment I knew what was happening but I kept hoping I was wrong when I opened the door what I saw was my wife who claimed to be sick jumping about in bed with another man." "Is she not pregnant? That was what you told me weeks ago." Grayson chimed in. "She is and it turns out that the man is the father Carlos and the unborn child. It turns out that I've been a fool all along." "What did you do?" Grayson asked with a slight frown. "What could I do, burst in there? Fight it out with him with a pregnant woman in there? You know what happened to Val. I couldn't risk it. But as I was trying to escape the house I tripped and fell down the stairs." Miguel said slightly embarrassed. "Don't tell me," Grayson grunted with a scowl. "Yeah, they heard and took me to the hospital, tell you the most awkward ride of my life. I need you, man, Can't go back home. Not in this state, I have to check me out tomorrow." Miguel pleaded. "Hahaha," Grayson laughed as hard as possible. It took a while before he could calm down, while Miguel was watching with an increasingly annoyed look. "Sorry about that, I can help you out but I kind of told Val all about this so you should brace yourself," Grayson said with an apologetic look. "How could you do that man, I trusted you. You know how she gets, she is going to blow this out of proportion. You bastard." Miguel growled in anger. "Hey don't....." Grayson was interrupted by a loud sound of flesh hitting flesh followed by another. Then a loud voice shouted out loud, "You b***h, I knew you were a w***e but..... Where are you going Maldito coño" Both men turned their heads to the door, their expressions couldn't be any more different. Grayson's face was a picture of amusement while Miguel's face was fixed in pure terror. A few more words were said then the door was pulled open as Miguel's little sister walked in. "Ah, estás despierto. bueno." She said then dut the door behind her.