A man awakens to discover that he has been in the hospital for 12 years due to a terrible car accident – only to find out that it was all a ruse planned by his wife to teach him a lesson.
When Jerome Smith married Caroline, he promised her he would give her and their future child all his time and be the best father and husband in the world. But just a few years after welcoming a son, he had forgotten his promise.
Because what mattered most to Jerome was his work. His priorities had quickly shifted from being a family man to being the best employee, and as long as Caroline and their 6-year-old son Robert could remember, they’d always seen him talking about work, working, or drinking because of WORK!
According to Caroline, Jerome was such a workaholic that if God had asked him about the last thing he wanted to do before he died, he would have said he wanted to finish the last piece of work he could. Given the kind of obsession he had developed for working all the time, Caroline was constantly irritated with him. But Jerome didn’t care.
He was frequently the first to arrive at his office and the last to leave. He would sometimes drink all night to keep himself awake and working, which had resulted in several instances of him driving drunk at night.
Caroline used to have sleepless nights worrying about what would happen if he got into an accident while drunk driving, and she had advised him not to. But Jerome’s response to her worries was, “Oh come on, honey! Nothing like that is going to happen. I’m not the only one who works and drinks late at night!”
Caroline reminded him that it wasn’t just about him working and drinking but also about drunk driving, but Jerome ignored her and went straight to bed.
Caroline noticed that these occurrences were becoming more frequent with time. When Jerome brought Robert home from school one afternoon, he smelled strongly of alcohol, and the next day, he didn’t get home until late at night.
She was terrified that night because he wasn’t even returning her calls or texts, but luckily, before she could call the cops, she heard the sound of his car’s engine and saw his car outside their house.
However, when she went outside, she noticed he’d been drunk to the point where he couldn’t even stand on his own, and his car had a few scratches on the bonnet, implying the drive hadn’t been particularly safe.
When these things kept happening in a row, Caroline lost her cool and decided to confront him one day.
“Jerome!” she said sternly as he approached the table for breakfast. Robert had already left for school by then. “We need to talk about what has been going on recently!”
“Sure, honey, but please be quick. I have to leave for work,” Jerome said, quickly settling into a seat and frantically reading the newspaper while eating his toast.
“That’s the whole problem, Jerome! Your work!”
“Work?” Jerome paused and put the newspaper down.
“Yes! Do you remember what happened two days ago? You came home drunk, the car had scratches, and you couldn’t even stand on your feet! Will you stop overworking and driving drunk?”
“Relax, Caroline. You’re making a big deal out of absolutely nothing. I already brought the car back from service. There’s no need for you to act like that!”
“Really, Jerome? That’s all you’ve got to say after you created the mess?”
“Look, Caroline…” Jerome had just started to speak when his phone rang. “Yes, Brian. I’m about to leave the house. I’ll be there soon,” he said. “I’m sorry, honey, I’ll have to leave. I’ll talk to you later!” Jerome whispered before leaving the house.
Caroline had had enough at this point. She was tired of trying to explain to Jerome how he’d been bothering her and Robert, so she stopped nagging him about his work and his drinking. She did, however, have a plan in the back of her mind to teach him a lesson.
A few days later…
Jerome was driving to Robert’s school to pick him up when he was involved in a minor car accident. He wasn’t seriously hurt, but he was unconscious and had injuries to his right arm and face. Luckily, a passerby had noticed his car and called 911.
When Jerome was brought to the hospital, Caroline received a call about the accident and rushed to the hospital, asking her neighbor to pick up Robert from school. The doctor in charge of Jerome’s case turned out to be Caroline’s friend, and he informed her that Jerome’s condition wasn’t bad, but he would be monitored until he regained consciousness.
Caroline was relieved that Jerome was safe, but she decided it was the right time to teach him a lesson!
Jerome awoke around 8 p.m., holding his head in pain. He looked around the room and was taken aback when he realized he was in a hospital.
He couldn’t remember how he got there, but he could see his arms and legs were bandaged, and an IV drip was attached to his right hand. “What the hell happened?” he pondered, trying to remember what had brought him there.
A doctor soon entered his room, his face pale as if he’d seen a ghost. “Mr. Smith! That’s a miracle! You’re finally awake!”
Jerome was perplexed. “A miracle? What happened to me?”
“There’s no easy way to say this…but you’ve been in a coma for 12 years. We didn’t expect you’d wake up, but you’re awake. And that’s a miracle.”
“12 YEARS?!” Jerome couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Yes, sir. We’re really glad to see that you’re fine now.”
“But doctor….” Jerome had just started speaking when Caroline entered the room. He was taken aback when he saw her with gray hair and a wrinkled face.
“Oh, Jerome!” she said.” You have no idea how much I have missed you all these years!”
Jerome was silent for a while, then spoke up. “Where’s Robert, Caroline? He was in the car with me! Why isn’t he here?”
“Well, Jerome,” Caroline said after a brief pause. “Our son is no longer with us! Don’t you recall him being in the car with you? He died in the accident… Our boy… He just…..”
Jerome couldn’t contain his tears at this point. “My son…I killed him. I’m a terrible father.”
Both the doctor and Caroline exchanged a quick glance and burst out laughing at this point.
“What the hell? What’s wrong with you guys? Why are you laughing?” Jerome inquired, perplexed.
“You can come in, Robert,” Caroline said.
When Robert entered the room, Jerome was even more confused.
“You are really confused, Jerome, aren’t you? You were going to pick up Robert from school. He was not in the car with you,” Caroline said as she told him the whole story.
Caroline was a doctor, and she had decided that if Jerome came home drunk again, she would take him to her hospital and pretend he was in a coma for 12 years to teach him a lesson.
However, when he met with the accident, she decided she wouldn’t get a better opportunity and staged everything to make him realize his mistakes. She had gone to a beauty salon before coming to the hospital, and the beautician applied just the right makeup and hair color to make her appear older.
“Did you realize now what Robert and I have gone through every time you come home drunk?” Caroline snapped. “Sometimes you don’t even answer the phone! I can’t sleep because I’m worried about whether or not you’ll make it home alive! I tried talking to you, Jerome, but nothing worked. I didn’t have a choice!”
When Caroline said that, Jerome realized he’d been wrong. His heart had pounded just thinking about losing his son, and then there was Caroline, who had spent so many sleepless nights waiting for him to return, wondering if he’d return safely.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Jerome said. “I should have listened to you. I promise I will be a better person from today.”
“I hope you do, Jerome,” Caroline said. “But first, we need to talk to the cops. You were drunk last night, and they’re waiting outside to speak with you.”
Since Jerome was a first time offender and no other party was harmed, the cops asked him to visit the police station after discharge and pay a basic fine, but they warned him that if he did it again, he would face serious consequences, including having his license revoked and possibly being imprisoned.
Jerome assured the cops he wouldn’t do it again, and he kept his word.
Since that day, he stopped drinking. He has also stopped being a workaholic, and he now spends more time with his family.
Caroline claims Jerome is an entirely different man now, and when she revealed she was pregnant a few months later, Jerome promised her he would do everything to be a good father to their newborn.