Sun On My Face, Wind in My Hair

Chapter Six

Penny listened to the messages Chris left and sobbed. April held her friend as she listened to his message again.

“Penny, he really sounds devastated at the thought of losing you and the kids. Maybe he’s telling the truth. Maybe he was set up. Maybe nothing happened and he’s innocent. I mean, has he ever lied to you before?” April asked.

“I don’t think so…but now, I’m so confused. I don’t know anything anymore,” Penny admitted.

“Call him, Sweetie. Give him the chance to tell you what happened,” April encouraged.

Penny tried multiple times to call but got the voicemail every time. She was getting concerned that maybe he was with that woman Josie and looked defeated.

“Call his friend. What’s his name? Jordan,” April suggested.

Penny wiped the tears from her face and tried Jordan’s number. To her surprise, Jordan immediately picked up the call.

“Penny, he left this morning to come home. He was torn up because of this whole Josie mess,” he told her.

“Listen, he was so out of it last night, I doubt very seriously if anything happened between those two. That woman was always after him. She knew he was married; he was always pushing her away and telling her he loved his wife and family, but it never stopped her from making moves on him,” Jordan informed her.

“He should be coming home soon. You guys have been so good together. Listen to him and believe in him, Penny. I’m absolutely sure he would not betray you. Work things out with him, okay, friend?” Jordan pleaded.

Penny assured Jordan that she trusted him and that he had eased her concerns.

Thanking Jordan, she ended the call and hugged her friend, feeling confident that this woman had set him up to cause trouble.

Penny, April and the children dined on lasagna and salads and engaged in happy chatter. Penny did not tell the children that their dad was coming home, because she wanted to have time alone with him to discuss things.

Chris continued to be unconscious. The nurse came in and did her neuro checks and assured Josie that there was brain activity, and he would come around soon.

Josie continued to stay by his side, caressing his arm and his face as his loving “wife”. She told the staff to list his name anonymously and not to relay any information about him to anyone, so they took the necessary precautions.

The nurse tried to complete her admission documentation, but not having an old medical record, the patient unconscious, and Josie not knowing the answers to many of the questions about his medical conditions made it a difficult task.

Josie sensed that the nurse was suspicious of her, so she told her that they had not been married long, and that he was on the road a lot with his job as a “truck driver”. She didn’t want to let on that he was a pilot in case it reached the news that a pilot was missing.