The Wrath of Carl Gerald

“What the heck is going on here?!”

“Why isn't his body already in the cremation service center as I had requested?!”

“What kind of poor hospital service is this?!”

Tiffany Raymond asked angrily, her heavy gold plated circular earrings dangling in the rhythm of her anger as she stared into the face of Nurse Diana.

“Ma'am…I can't just pass his body off to the cremation services, we have to wait for some hours after his death confirmation.It's standard hospital procedures” Nurse Diana explained.

The scent of disinfectant and the usual hospital aura filled ward three where Carl Gerald's lifeless body was lying in a fully zipped body bag.

“Are you kidding me right now?!”

“Tell me, who is in charge here?!”

“You’ve been doing nothing but wasting my time! I know you have a supervisor or something, get him or her immediately! ” Tiffany Raymond ordered impatiently.

Cough!

Just then, with that abrupt cough, Carl Gerald suddenly sat up in the body bag he was being covered.

“Oh my God!...Mr Carl Gerald…is alive!”

Nurse Diana yelled in shock as trepidation and shock washed all over the face of herself and Tiffany Raymond.

She immediately raced towards Mr Carl Gerald. 

Frantically she unzipped the body bag and Mr Carl Gerald immediately let out a heavy gasp for air.

“What happened…where am I?”

His voice quaked as he spoke, his sight was still blurry.

His head still ached as he tried to recollect his thoughts, he tried to stand up but fell back onto the table.

“Calm down Mr Carl I will go and get the doctor immediately!”

Nurse Diana said her voice was laced with a mixture of anxiety, exhilaration and curiosity as she raced off to get Doctor Thompson, the doctor in charge of Mr Carl Gerald's case.

Carl Gerald's sight was still blurry, he slowly took a deep breath and stared at the woman almost close to him.

“Tiffany?”

But there was no response from Tiffany Raymond who still had her face etched in bewilderment.

Carl Gerald immediately recalled what had just happened earlier.

He recalled having left the building construction site where he doubled down as a labourer after working on his pizza delivery job, on returning home, he met the back door open which was unusual.

Entering the house, he heard his sister Sara’s scream. 

He rushed outside to see a thug dragging her into the street while their mother, Mrs. Amber Gerald, desperately tried to protect her.

Carl had grabbed a crowbar to intervene, but before he could even react, a sharp blow struck his neck from behind. He remembered a surge of power running through him as his vision went black.

As Carl Gerald tried to recollect his thoughts, his head ached him even more.

The room was quiet as Carl stood up slowly, his eyes fixed on his wife, Tiffany.

"Tiffany, what really happened to me? Where are my mom and my sister, Sara?"

Carl’s voice was weak, laced with a mix of confusion and urgency.

Tiffany Raymond who was still in shock immediately snapped out of it and snorted indifferently.

“Your mom? She’s dead, killed in the struggle.”She paused for a moment, her lips curling slightly as if the words left a bad taste in her mouth, ”And your sister, I don’t know, perhaps taken away by those thugs.” 

There was no shock in her eyes, no empathy.It was almost as if she were discussing an insignificant event in a stranger’s life.

Carl’s heart sank, his entire body freezing. 

"Tiffany... that’s impossible..." Carl’s voice trembled, desperation creeping into his words. He could hardly breathe, the pain suffocating him. "Tell me it’s a lie! Please, tell me it’s a joke!"

Carl Gerald couldn't take it as he plopped back into the table.

Tears slowly welling down his eyes as he beat himself up emotionally for not being there for his family.

“It should have been me!”

“It should have been me! Why did I have to pass out and let my mom die?!”

Carl Gerald yelled into the empty air.

His fists slammed against the table, the sound of his pain deafening in the silence. But Tiffany didn’t even flinch.

She simply stood there, emotionless, her arms crossed as she glanced at him briefly, a hint of impatience flickering in her eyes.

Slowly Carl Gerald took a deep breath, with tears still streaming down his eyes.

“ I will find those bastards and I will make them pay dearly for everything they did!” His voice was colder now, but filled with a quiet rage.

Just as Carl’s words hung in the air, Tiffany broke the silence with her chillingly calm voice.

"Well, enough for crying? Now I have something to say."

Her eyes, devoid of compassion, glinted coldly as she threw a brown envelope in his direction. It landed softly against his chest, and Carl looked down at it, confused and trembling.

Tiffany’s voice was ice-cold. "I want a divorce."