Sun On My Face, Wind in My Hair

Chapter Seven

Penny waited up for hours, anxious to see Chris, but he never returned and was still not answering her calls or texts. She was confused and concerned now, wondering if something had happened.

Deciding she needed to know where her husband was, Penny called the airline, asking them to track down what plane he took and find out what happened to him.

To her shock and surprise, Chris was not listed on any plane. Penny hit the location button for his phone. It showed up at Sharp Memorial hospital in San Diego.

Penny dialed his number again, and a janitor answered the call. He told her that he heard the phone ringing as he was gathering the trash.

She thanked the man and asked him to try and find out if her husband was a patient there and return his phone if so. The man assured her that he would try to do that.

Finding the number for the hospital, Penny tried to get information about Chris, but was told that they could not even tell her if he was a patient there or not.

Frustrated, Penny decided to call and report her husband as a missing person, telling the officer what information she had. Unfortunately, until Chris was gone for more than 72 hours, he could not be listed as a missing person.

Penny ended the call and fell to her knees. Tearfully, she cried out to God to keep Chris safe from harm, and if he was sick or injured, to heal him completely. She asked the Lord to let her know where he was and what was going on soon.

Trusting God to answer her prayers, she decided she needed to try and get some rest. Exhausted, sleep finally took over about three in the morning.

Jeffrey, the janitor who found the phone had asked for Chris’s passcode in case he needed to call her back. He decided to hold on to it in case he found the man. Penny knew that all of Chris’s apps required a facial recognition and thumbprint, so she felt safe giving him the code. Jeffrey seemed to be an honest man, sincere about helping her find her husband.

Jeffrey’s girlfriend was a patient care tech on the floor that Chris was on. He told her about finding the phone and how concerned his wife was to find her husband. Rachel was assigned at the opposite end of the hall, so the name did not ring a bell for her. She looked at her census sheet, but Chris was listed as “John Doe” on the sheet. Only his nurse was privy to his real name.

“No, he’s not on my unit, but I will ask around and see where he might be,” she promised. Jeffrey kissed her cheek as she got up from their smoke break and they both returned to their duties.

As she got on the elevator and pushed the button for fifth floor, Rachel began to wonder if the John Doe on the census sheet could be the man in question.