Waking up, the musty smell of water-damaged moldy wood permeates my senses. Where the hell am I?

It is then that my aching head recalls what happened.

Stella.

I had just hung up with Gregory, contemplating whether I had heard his words correctly. He loves me, and I love him. Trai's trauma didn't give us time to share our feelings, and it didn't feel right when my friend was having such a difficult time.

The next thing I knew, Stella popped out of the hall closet with a knife.

While shocked, I quickly braced myself and dodged her first attempt to attack me, knocking me into the shelving unit.

Unfortunately, she recovered quickly and took me down from behind. I turned my body just in time to avoid her stabbing me in the shoulder. Using my legs, I was able to push her off of me into the planter. Dirt flew everywhere, and it gave me time to stand back up and grab a statue off of the floor where it fell when I crashed into the shelves.

I was ready for Stella and able to find my voice. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She snarled at me with hatred and insanity gleaming in her eyes, then jumped at me. I got out of her way, but not before she slashed the knife across my right arm.

There was no time to feel the pain because Stella was able to keep her balance as she twisted back around and stabbed me in the back. I fell to the floor from the momentum of her pushing the knife through me.

Hearing her wicked cackle, I turned just in time to see the knife, slick with my blood, slipping out of her hand.

We both looked at each other wide-eyed and then at the knife that was just out of our reach before we lunged for the knife. I reached it before Stella but could not get a good grip on it, so I took my statue and slammed it into her shoulder, giving me time to scramble away and grab the knife.

I took off out the back sliding door, running down the steps, into the night with the knife in my hand, and threw it as far as I could into the ocean.

The next thing I knew, Stella tackled me into the sand and hit me over the head. I immediately blacked out till waking up in this shack, water dripping through the roof onto my head, which did nothing to help my pounding headache.

I assess my juries, surprisingly, I'm not bleeding as badly as I thought a knife wound would be. The sand impacting the puncture the knife left behind must be slowing down the bleeding; I use my shirt to wrap around my midsection and tighten it over the wound as tight as I can, grunting with the pain it's causing.

What the hell happened? Stella is insane. Remembering how her wild eyes looked at me gives me the shivers.

A few deep breaths are needed to clear my mind, I try to think straight. I must have lost a significant amount of blood, or the knock to my head is causing me to be too weak to get up and leave this hell hole.

I pause; is that the ocean I hear? This place must be the little fishing shack a mile up the beach from our house.

Stella must have dragged me here and left me to die.

I've got bad news for you, Stella; I don't plan on dying anytime soon.

Does she think that getting rid of me will get Gregory back? How delusional is this woman?

I attempt to move into a more comfortable position and grimace from the pain that shoots down my spine from my head. Shit! Maybe Stella caused more damage to my head than I initially thought.

Think, Ama, think.

My head hurt too much to think. Leaning back, I close my eyes and try not to panic.
Someone will find you, Ama. Maybe Old Man Baron will go fishing today. I thought, drifting back into unconsciousness.

The smell of freshly laundered sheets replaces the wet, moldy wood from the fishing shack.

Blinking away the fog surrounding my brain, I hear the rhythmic beeping sound of a machine close to me.

Hospital. I'm in a hospital. Tears fill my eyes with relief. Someone found me.

"Ama?"

I painfully turn to see Gregory's puffy eyes and tear-stained face looking at me. Emotions overtake me, and I cry uncontrollably. He rushes to me, gently embraces me, and cries, too.

Several moments pass before we regain control.

"Stella," is all I say.

"We know. I found out Stella was on the island after you went missing. The police apprehended her right before she boarded a flight back to Chicago," Gregory informs me.

"How did you know it was her?" I ask; the pain in my head intensifies, causing me to groan.

Gregory's forehead creases with concern. "Ama, I'm going to call the nurse." He then pushes the nurse's button.

"Okay. Tell me, how did you know it was Stella, and how was I found," I request, then close my eyes, listening intently to Gregory's voice.

"I'll start from the beginning. After hanging up with you a few nights ago."

I interrupt him, and ask, "How long was I unconscious?"

He took my hand into his. "Ama, you were found by a Mr. Baron three days ago. He immediately called an ambulance, and they brought you here. They kept you in a coma for two days to allow the swelling in your brain to go down. They stopped the medication yesterday and told me it could take some time for you to wake up."

At this, a nurse entered my room. "Oh, good. You're awake. I'll check your vitals and let the doctor know."

She begins to check my blood pressure. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," I tell her.

"That's to be expected. You took quite a hit to your head, but the swelling has subsided. I'll get you some medication to ease your pain. The doctor will be in shortly to talk to you."

She finishes checking my vitals and smiles sweetly before leaving Gregory and me alone again.

"Do you want me to continue," he asks.

Before answering him, the doctor enters my room.

"Hello, Amancia, I'm Dr. Allan. How are you feeling?"

"Other than my head feeling like it could explode at any minute, I think I'm okay."

He took some notes on my chart. "Yes, the nurse should be here in a moment to give you some medication for your pain. The good news is there is no evidence of permanent brain damage. You should fully recover. It will just take some time. Your other injuries are healing nicely."

He checks my pupils, listens to my heart, and inspects my wounds. The nurse returns to give me my medication and redress my injuries.

After letting me know that he was pleased with my progress and that he'd like to keep me for another few days for observation, the nurse and he left the room.

"Maybe you should rest, Ama. We can talk later."

"No," I say, a little too stern. I soften my voice. "I'm sorry; I just need to know what the hell happened."

Gregory hangs his head in defeat, pulls up a chair, sits, and retakes my hand.

"Okay. As I said, after hanging up with you a few days ago, I did not feel good about you thinking someone was watching you, so I took the first flight out of Chicago, arrived around 11, and went to your work, where I found Trai. She said you never showed up for work and did not call off.

We immediately went to our house and found it in disarray, with blood splattered throughout. Trai called the police. After answering a few questions, Trai and I left and conducted our investigation. She checked on Tom's whereabouts, and I checked on Stella's. We discovered she had arrived in Jamaica a few days before, and Tom had already left the island.

We returned to the house to let the police know our findings. That's when we found out that the police located a blood trail leading out the back and down the steps.
I'm surprised Trai and I missed that. I guess we were in such a hurry to get in the house.

There was proof of a disturbance in the sand, but that's where the trail ended. The tide must have come in and destroyed any other evidence.

The police immediately began looking for Stella and found her at the airport. She had cuts on her hands, a bruise on her shoulder, and sand in her hair. They arrested her and took her to prison, but she wouldn't tell the police anything.

You were discovered by Mr. Baron the following morning. The police have been waiting to talk to you."

"This is a lot to take in, and I'm starting to feel the effects of the medication," I say before closing my eyes.

"Please rest, Ama," Gregory requests, brushing his lips softly across my forehead.

"You said you loved me," I mumble as I doze off.

But before sleep takes me, I hear Gregory say, "I love you so damn much, Ama."

I smile and fall into a deep sleep.

The sounds of voices wake me from my slumber.

"Muma, Trai?"

"Oh, my darling daughter," Muma cries as she brushes tears from her eyes.

"Muma, don't cry. I'm going to be okay. I'm safe now," I say, giving her a calming smile.

I hear sniffling coming from Trai. "Come here, Trai," I tell her as I extend my hand, and she takes it.

"I'm so sorry, Ama; I should never have left you alone after you admitted to feeling like someone was watching you. If I wasn't so damned wrapped up in my drama, I would have been thinking less about me and more about your feelings. Instead, I brushed your feelings aside and told you it was your imagination," she says through tears.

I squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Don't think like that, Trai; we could have both suffered at the hands of that insane bitch. I don't blame you, not one bit. I also thought it was my imagination. Please don't beat yourself up over Stella's craziness."

"I'm going to get help, I promise, Ama. Between Tom and Stella hurting you, my mind is a mess. I now know that I can't get through this trauma myself," she admits, and I feel like a weight is off my shoulders.

"That's excellent news, Trai. I'm so proud of you. Of course, I'll have to join you to work through my own experience of getting attacked by an asshole," I say, smiling at Trai.

Her face lights up, and she nods her head, agreeing with me.

I take this moment to look around. "Where's Gregory?"

"We finally convinced him to go home and rest. He hadn't left your side for days. We had to promise him we wouldn't leave you till he returns," Muma explains. "That man truly loves you, Daughter."

I can't help the grin that spreads across my face. "I know, and I love Gregory, too."

I relax into my pillow. With all the love surrounding me, my head no longer feels pain but is at peace. It doesn't hurt that the nurse had quietly came in and gave me another dose of medication while I was talking to Muma and Trai.

"Now rest, my daughter; we will be at your side till your love returns," are the last words I hear from Muma before drifting back into a peaceful sleep.

Total Words: 31,424