“No, as I was leaving, Caleb came in and handed him a bottle. Jake gulped it down in a few seconds.”
“Then what happened?”
“I left. I had to deliver the pictures to the hall manager. I went back to the room, but Jake was already gone.”
“Thanks, Ang. You’ve been a big help.”
“Well, dear Lord. What’s going on, you two?”
“Ang, it’s Jake again. You know me. Just remember that. Everything you hear, everything you see, it’s all lies. I don’t know how it happened, but I know deep inside it can’t be true.”
“Jake?”
“Listen, Ang, I’ll call you later. Jake and I have to go.”
After the call with Ang, Rob probed Jake’s memory. The more Jake tried to think, the more confused he became as he tried to separate reality from dreams. He told Rob about his dreams. About feeling his clothes being pulled off. About the room spinning as his eyes felt too heavy to keep open. About thinking he was in the hospital. About hearing voices, like maybe a nurse.
As soon as he said the word “nurse,” Jake leapt from the bed. “Fuck, Rob… She was here. It was her voice I heard. It was Allison. She was in the room.”
“Okay… good… we’re getting somewhere. Then what happened?”
“I woke up with sun in my eyes. That’s all I remember. My head hurt like it’d been hit by a sledgehammer. Caleb said it might have been the flu. Caleb…” Jake slid down to the floor.
Jake proceeded to tell Rob everything Caleb had told him about the events of the night. “Rob, you’ve got to know, I’d never hurt her like this. I don’t know what happened or how to explain it, but I would never willingly cheat on her. I love her. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my whole life.”
“I know you do, Jake. I believe you. I really do believe you.”
“You do?” Jake questioned, surprised but also relieved. “I don’t know why you do. It makes no sense to me.”
“It makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it’s pretty damn clear. You were drugged.”
***
