Three weeks after Natalie told me she had shared her number with her mother, I planned a small vacation for us to look at homes in Niagara Falls. We had talked about moving there after discussing our future together, and I decided it was time to finally go and look. We booked a hotel room for a four-day weekend and began our journey from New York City to Niagara.
As we got ready to leave, Natalie spoke to her mother on the phone and gave her little to no details of our trip, but I did not ask her to not tell her mother. I decided after the night Natalie came home and told me this news that I would keep a close eye on her mother, but not tear her away from her.
After our rigorous lovemaking, Natalie had another call from the unknown number, and we found that Natalie's mystery caller was her mother. I thought it very presumptuous of her mother to just call her after she barely arrived home, but I didn't mention it to Natalie. They only spoke of a possible wedding ceremony for us since we didn't have the ideal wedding. I asked Natalie if she wanted to have an official ceremony with friends and family, and she merely shrugged with pouting lips and said," What for?"
I chuckled at this since she doesn't like her family and she has hardly many friends. Although she has experienced many new things and met new people, she is happy just being with me, and I am the luckiest man alive. However, her mother has a strange perspective of how Natalie should rule her life, and luckily, because of my influence, Natalie brushes off her mother at every turn and every argument.
And now, here we are, driving a rental car three hours into our journey to Niagara Falls. I smile as I quickly glance at my sweet angel fast asleep in the passenger seat. The sun peeks through the thick clouds and softly falls on her face, making her look angelic as she glows in the sunlight. I return my attention to the road, and the long journey ahead of us. As the sun begins to set, I notice a large SUV type car speeding up behind us, and move my car to the right, to let him pass. However, he follows right behind me, and I think it strange. The road is practically empty, and it's a Thursday night, so why would someone want to follow behind a slower car? I try to brush it off, but it is alarming me enough to grab my phone and find a rest spot. I found a rest area just two miles down the road and decided to take the next exit to get to a local diner. Natalie moans and wakes up after I've slowed down the car.
"Are we there yet?" Natalie asks in a raspy and tired voice.
"We're almost there, I just want to stop and rest, we still have almost four hours before we get there," I answer. Natalie grunts in disbelief.
"Why didn't we fly there again?" Natalie asks as she stretches her arms out with a large drawn-out yawn. I simply chuckle and give her a reprimanding look.
"You did say you wanted to see the beautiful landscapes of New York, it was either this or the bus ride," I slyly answer her.
"Oh yeah," Natalie rolls her eyes and sighs, "I guess I missed the views." I pat her hand and give her a kiss on the cheek. She smiles and rubs the sleep away on her eye, reminding me of her childlike ways.
"You hungry?" I ask her as I rub her leg gently. Her eyes open wide with a pouting smile.
"Starving!" I chuckle softly and open the passenger door. Making my way to the door, I look up to see the SUV that had followed us minutes earlier parked in front of us in the large parking lot. My heart begins to pound hard against my chest and Natalie opens the door and immediately stares at what I am staring at, and I can barely hear her voice as the ringing in my ears begins to get louder.
"Babe!" Natalie breathlessly calls. I revert my attention back to her concerned face. "What's wrong?"
"I...," I look back at the SUV which has turned on its lights and begins to drive away. I sigh a breath of relief and hold my hand to my chest. I don't know why, but I can't help and think that we are being followed. I don't want to alarm her if I'm wrong and just being paranoid. Ever since she told me her mother had arranged to have me killed, I have developed large bouts of paranoia, which I thought would dissipate after moving from Los Angeles to New York. And it did. But now that Natalie is in contact with her mother again, I have felt it come back. When Natalie and I spoke of moving again, it was two weeks ago, after I had a panic attack. Natalie was worried and said she would limit her calls to her mother, but this didn't help my increasing paranoia. So, we spoke of moving again and not telling her mother. Natalie said that her biggest fear was losing me, yet she knew it meant cutting off her mother completely.
I didn't ask her to do any of this, but she insisted our lives were much more peaceful before her mother came into the picture. And so, I agreed, and we planned our trip to Niagara.
I look up into her large, concerned eyes as she holds my hand.
"I'm sorry, I finally answer, "I'm fine, I swear."
Natalie holds my hand tightly, "Is it another attack? Tell me about it." I clasp both her hands in mine and look at her deep brown eyes.
"I thought someone was following us, but I was wrong, I think it's just paranoia again," I answer, almost losing my breath while my heart rate goes back to normal. Natalie looks over to the SUV that is making a left turn out of the lot, and doesn't take her eyes off it while she asks me:
"That car, it has all tinted windows, I think anybody would be paranoid, don't you think?" I wrap my arm around her shoulder and kiss her forehead. Natalie plants a kiss on my lips and hugs me tightly. "Don't worry, we'll leave from here soon enough, and I promise I won't tell her anything." As we stand there for a few minutes, I contemplate how we can leave our home after we've just settled in and realize I should probably get professional help for my newfound paranoia.
"Come on," I finally say breaking the silence, "Let's have some grub." Natalie laughs softly and we resume to walk into the diner. We enjoy a delicious meal, chatting and laughing as the sun completely sets and it's time to continue our trip to Niagara Falls.
"We should get there in time to check in to the hotel, if we stay on I-90, I think the traffic is clear by now," I say as I scroll on my map app to check the route. It's almost 6 o'clock in the evening, and the route I have made for our trip says we should arrive by 10 pm tonight. Luckily, the hotel I booked for us allows us to check in as late as 2 am, so that we didn't need to rush. We planned to go to work today and leave early so we could avoid the rush hour traffic. I created the itinerary for our entire trip, and I was more than ecstatic to go on a small vacation with my lovely wife.
We drive down the road to get back on the highway, and there are a few cars here and there on the road, Natalie and I are talking about what kind of place we should get if we find one, and in the corner of my eye, I see the same SUV driving up behind us. My heart stops and I immediately grip the steering wheel, my eyes glued to the rearview mirror.
"What's wrong?" Natalie asks since I suddenly went quiet. My hand is gripping so tightly on the steering wheel that my knuckles are white. I take a short breath and look over to her quickly.
"That SUV is behind us again," I feel Natalie's mood shift, and try to think of a way to keep calm. Natalie looks behind her shoulder, and then straightens herself in her seat.
"You're right, it's the same SUV, it's the same plate number," Natalie finally says after taking a long breath. I realize after she said this that she was memorizing the plate number back at the diner and am relieved that she doesn't dismiss my paranoia. "Maybe they're going the same route as us, let's not get carried away," Natalie continues, "it might just be a coincidence."
I try my best to believe her and just let him follow us. The SUV was black, a newer model, with LED lights and heavily tinted windows. It continues to follow us, but I can't shake off the feeling that it may be someone trying to hurt us. So, I make a decision then and there, and take the first exit I see without signaling, and we lose the SUV. A little jarred from the light reckless driving, Natalie takes a long breath and agrees that it was the right decision.
"What do you think they wanted? If they were following us?" Natalie asks. I begin to drive back onto the highway and shake my head. I'm almost certain it was someone her mother hired to follow her, since she has refused to divulge any information to her mother on where she is living now. But I refused to admit that to her and carried on with the drive. As I continue to cross the intersection that leads to the on-ramp, a bright LED light flashes next to me, and crashes into us at my side.
I'm now in darkness. I don't hear anything except for the cries of Natalie shouting, "Look out!" Over and over in my mind.
I wake up in a bright white room. I feel pain all over my body and am completely disoriented. There are beeping noises next to me, and needles and wires in and all over my body. I taste blood from a busted lip and blink several times to try and figure out where I am.
"Natalie...," I manage to say through a dry mouth and raspy voice.
"Oh God!" I hear a familiar voice cry out and see the image of my mother appear through the illuminating brightness. She is tired and looks as though she hasn't slept in days. She softly touches my body and cries out for the doctor to come in. "Oh, my son, I'm so grateful to God you are alright," my mother begins to cry out large tears, and I can't concentrate on anything else but Natalie.
"Mom, where is Natalie, is she okay?" I ask as clearly and as calmly as I can, when the doctor and a couple of nurses walk in.
"Do you know your name?" the doctor immediately asks. But my stubborn need to know if Natalie survived the crash is making me dismiss his standard protocol.
"Natalie, where is she?" I ask again, trying to get up. I wince at the pain. I finally realize that I have a cast on my left leg, my arm, and my torso. I feel the bandages on the left side of my face and ear. It's difficult to move, but I try my best to get up.
"No Jackie, don't get up, you're still healing!" my mother gently pushes me down.
"Mom, I need to know if Natalie is okay!" I practically shout, not even realizing I've never shouted at my mother, she hesitates, and she takes a seat back into the chair. The doctor then proceeds with his questioning, and I start to lose my patience.
"I know who I am you goddamn assholes! Where is my wife?!" I finally shout impatiently as I witness their eyes grow wide with shock. The doctor takes a step forward and after a deep breath responds.
"Mr. Ramos, you've been in a coma for nearly four weeks, the crash fractured three of your ribs, broke your left arm and leg and I'm afraid we were unable to reconstruct your left ear, however we can direct you to a plastic surgeon and arrange it after you've recovered. As for your wife, Natalie, I'm afraid there was a mix-up at the scene of the crash and she was taken to a different hospital, where she was tended to her wounds, but -" before he continues, I feel my eyes begin to swell with tears as I take in the news. "She eventually succumbed to her injuries, which the report says was severe internal bleeding, I'm very sorry for your loss, Mr. Ramos."
I start to scream, even through the pain of my fractures, I wail and lose consciousness. I hear my mother cry out and my last memory of Natalie's smiling face flashes across my mind as the pain knocks me back unconscious.
How can this be happening now? This can't be real.