Jakes Dilemma ( Part 12)

Jakes eyes opened but were out of focus; he could see shapes and lights in front of him but was unsure of what they were, he could he a voice.

“Mr Roberts, Jake Roberts, can you hear me?”

Jake tried to speak but no words came out, he looked around him, things were still muddled, confused.

“Mr Roberts can you hear me!”

Jake heard the man’s voice, it sounded loud and urgent, he tried once again to speak.

“Yes,…I… can…hear you”

“Good, do you know where you are Mr Roberts?”

“At… work, in the….. warehouse?”

Jake was trying to remember and that’s the last thing he remembered, he spoke quietly almost in a whisper.

Someone was now leaning over him.

“No Mr Roberts, you’re in Hospital at Whitechapel, you have a gunshot wound, you’ve lost a lot of blood”

Jake tried to speak again but no words came out. Then it went black.

Jake felt as though he was floating in darkness, there was a high pitched noise around him, it sounded like a dentist’s drill, loud and piercing! Jake was trying to speak but no sound came out, he felt like he was gasping for breath, then the screeching noise stopped and he began to hear a voice, distant at first then getting louder. Jake opened his eyes and saw a blurred vision of a man standing over him.

“Mr Roberts, Mr Roberts!”

Jakes vision began to focus, he was in pain but wasn’t sure where, it seemed to be everywhere.

“Yes” was all he could say.

“Mr Roberts, you are in Whitechapel Hospital, you’ve had an operation and you’ll be fine, you just need to rest”

Jake tried to smile then closed his eyes and went into a drug induced deep sleep.

When Jake woke up it was dark, he was confused as to where he was. He glanced around the room, there seemed to be equipment everywhere, he was hooked up to at least three machines and had a drip feed into his left arm. There was something on the bed that looked like a small microphone, he reached over to it and pressed its red top. Within seconds a young Nurse appeared.

“Welcome to the land of the living Mr Roberts, you had us worried there for a while; let me get you some water”

Jake said nothing as the Nurse poured him out a small glass of water. She put it to his lips and he drank. It tasted wonderful. Better than any fancy lager.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you, how long have I been here?”

“This is your fourth day, it’s Wednesday today, I’m going to open the curtain a little to let some light in, that Ok?”

Jake nodded.

As the light came into the room Jakes eyes began to adjust.

“How did I get here?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say any more, I have to notify certain people that you have regained consciousness”

She smiled at Jake then left the room. Almost immediately a doctor appeared.

“Good morning Mr Roberts, my name is Doctor Treadwell, how are you feeling?”

Jake tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and chest.

“Sore, very sore on my left side, what happened?”

“You were brought in early hours of Sunday morning, you had a gunshot wound to your left shoulder, this had caused your left lung to collapse and you had lost several pints of blood, you were lucky Mr Roberts you were shot at close range and the bullet passed straight through”

“That’s lucky?”

“Trust me Mr Roberts if the bullet had stayed in your body the infection would probably have killed you, you need to rest for several weeks till your body recovers then there will be some physio to get your shoulder muscles working again, there shouldn’t be any long term damage, but it’s important that you rest and take your medication, now there’s a couple of people outside that have been waiting for you to come round, I’ll show them in”

Jake was relieved, perhaps everything had turned out ok after all, he was looking forward to seeing his Mum and Dad.

The Doctor returned but had two other men with him; they were dressed smartly in suits, one stood at the foot of the bed and the other one stood beside Jake.

“Jake Roberts I am arresting you for the murder of Ivan Gregorvich, you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if………………………………………………………..”

Jake closed his eyes, he had hoped that this nightmare had ended, unfortunately it was just about to begin!