The rubber wedding band

Cleo woke from that scary and reoccurring dream. This time it went a little further than the last two times. She sat up with a start, and as she rubbed her right hand over her face to be sure she was awake, she realized she was sweating. This confused her even more; the weather was 5 degrees, it was already winter, and the heating in her apartment was off. She programmed it to always go off at midnight. She could feel the cold, so why was she sweating? She asked herself as she got out of bed, wore her slippers, and went to her kitchen to get a glass of water. Once again, it was surprising to her that her throat was parched. She gulped down the water she poured to fill her glass in a few gulps. She did a refill and took that back to her bedroom. As she placed it on the bedside table, she checked the time. It was about a quarter past 1 am.

She picked up her phone and opened her WhatsApp, checking when Dave was online, and she noticed he had just gone offline fifteen minutes ago. She briefly contemplated whether to call him or not then she decided she would.

Dave saw Cleo’s call coming in, and she was his precious. He smiled as he answered her call; however her trembling voice took the sail out of his winds before she even started talking, he knew she wasn’t in a good place, but he allowed her to speak without interrupting her. Then he reassured her that she shouldn’t get so upset about a dream. As he had done twice before, he told her it was just a dream and that she should calm down and think nothing of it all. However, when he wanted to make small talk with her, she told him it was the middle of the night and that she would instead try to get some sleep since she was working a long shift later on.

After the phone conversation, Dave was no longer sleepy as well. He, however, reclined his bedside chair, closed his eyes for a bit, and must have drifted off to sleep because when he opened his eyes and checked his bedside clock, it was almost 4 am in the early morning hours. He could feel the strong presence of Debbie in the room, which was why he had never slept with the lights off since she died a year ago.

The only thing he felt was that, unlike Cloe, who always seemed to dream about her regularly.

He was worried about Cloe, and because he loved her deeply, his concern for her safety was paramount.

He believes her fears are unfounded; he considers what is probably happening to her guilt and nothing more.

His love for Cloe was instant; he knew she was unique from the first day his wife introduced her younger cousin to him, which was in the third year of their marriage.

Their secret affair started three months after that faithful day; in the fifth year of his marriage to his wife, it was discovered that she had cancer. It was advanced, and it baffled everyone that it wasn’t found earlier.

Initially, Dave was devastated but after a few weeks knowing that he would finally be able to be with Cloe made it a lot better.

When Debbie was going through the end of life, Dave and Cloe spent quite a lot of time together, and no other family member raised eyebrows. It was expected that they were supporting each other as a family.

Debbie became quite emotional towards the end, and everyone felt it was expected because she was dying. When she had just a few more days left, she knew and requested Cloe to stay with her for a few hours. When everyone else had left, it was just the two of them. Debbie was weak and seemed a bit delirious, so when Cloe told Dave that Debbie asked her twice why she betrayed her but that she asked with her eyes closed, Dave discarded Cloe’s fears that Debbie knew about them. He felt she was babbling due to the pain and medication.

However, Cloe has had that same pattern of dreams for quite a while.

When it was a few minutes to 8.00 am, Dave set up his workstation since he was working from home before he started. He sent his ritual text to Cloe, wishing her a great shift. An hour later, he had yet to receive a response, which was quite unusual. He continued with his work, believing she was probably having a hectic shift.

At eleven o’clock, a call came in. It was Cloe’s mum crying and incoherent, but he could grab that Cloe was on admission.

Dave got up quickly, grabbed his coat, and ran out to his car as if his life depended on it.

His life was on the line because Cloe was his life; it was a bit difficult getting a parking space as he searched; he swore under his breath. Eventually, he got an open place to park and rushed into the hospital where Cloe works as a nurse, which was also the same hospital where Debbie died. He knew he was too late. Cloe’s parents were in the hospital's reception, and Cloe’s mother was crying in her husband's arms.

Dave overheard one of Cloe’s aunties saying she was stabbed in the car park by a 50-year-old drug addict who said she looked like his ex-wife, who took all his money and rendered him homeless.

The sinking feeling that overcame him was almost unbearable; in a voice that seemed to be coming from a distant place, he asked to see her. She had already been transferred to the morgue. As Dave took each step, it was as if it would be his last. After what seemed like an eternity, he stood beside the covered corpse. The attendant asked if he was ready; when he nodded in the affirmative, the sheets were pulled back.

Dave took a sharp breath, his precious Cloe was still, and she hadn’t yet lost the color on her cheeks. It was as if she was asleep. He knew she was gone forever; he couldn’t bring himself to touch her. He was overwhelmed with guilt and grief. He remembered how she had called him at midnight and that she had the usual dream where Debbie was chasing her with something. Still, unlike other times when she kept running until she woke, she had waited, ready to face Debbie, and that was when Debbie had taken off her wedding ring, and as Cloe wanted to collect, it became a rubber band ring. and that Debbie’s sinister laughter was what she heard until she opened her eyes. Dave wished he had taken Cloe’s dreams more seriously.

As he slowly walked towards the reception, he looked at the reflection on the inner windows along the hospital corridors. He saw the image of two women. However, when he turned around to check, there was no one.

When he summoned enough courage to look at the reflection again, he saw the image of the two women walking past him. He felt the sudden urge to close his eyes.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a hospital bed; he was told he had passed out on the corridor and that they even thought they would lose him too.

Under his breath, he whispered that would have been for the best. Dave said this because he knew two unreachable women would probably torment him for the rest of his life.

THE END