His Silence : His Silence - Chapter 89 by Jacob1395 |
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of language.
The steady beep of hospital machinery filters into my ears and I get a strong sense of disinfectant. I sit up in bed, crumpling the crisp white sheets in my hands. My eyes dart about the brightly lit room. Where am I? What the hell? ‘Hey, hey, it’s OK.’ Callum’s sitting beside me, a book in his lap. He smiles and reaches his hand out. I take hold of it, my heart beating hard against my ribs. There’s a bruise on his left cheek. It must’ve been from when he wrestled Mary to the ground back at the house. My beating heart begins to calm. He’s OK. We’re OK. ‘Where am I?’ I say, drinking in every detail of the white washed room: the television playing the rolling news channel in the top right hand corner, the window to my right. ‘Where’s Mary . . . where’s . . .’ ‘Everything’s fine,’ Callum says. ‘You’re in hospital. The doctors said they wanted to keep you in for a couple of nights just to make sure you were well enough.’ I hold my hand to my sweaty forehead and take in a deep breath. I’m in hospital. ‘What happened? I remember . . .’ ‘I managed to get the knife off of Mary, at that moment the police and an ambulance arrived. She was arrested, everyone else in the house was, well they were informed what had happened and taken to a safe place.’ ‘A safe place,’ I say, biting my lip. I think of Abigail, Isaac, Eve. ‘Shit, what about Oliver, he was . . .’ ‘It’s OK. The doctors managed to get to him in time, it was lucky the wound hadn’t pierced too deep. Despite her bravado, I don’t think Mary meant to kill him. He’s been in surgery, it was a bit touch and go, but they think he’ll be OK.’ I wipe my face as relief sweeps through me, my chest rising and falling. ‘What about . . . what about our parents have they been . . .’ ‘They’re here, Emma and Michael will be in to see you in a moment, but I think Sarah wants to have a word with you first. Are you OK to speak to her now?’ Sarah. I nod. He gets up from his seat, placing a bookmark in his book. It’s a historical novel; he always did have a thing for history, mainly books about ancient battles. I kept telling him at college he should’ve pursued history. I watch Callum cross the room towards the door and peek out into the corridor. Sarah must be outside. I grip the duvet tight. Callum steps out and Sarah steps in, closing the door behind her. I swallow. She’s going to be mad at me. I kept this information from her. If I’d told her when she first came to the house . . . ‘Hi Danielle,’ she says, smiling. I get a whiff of her jasmine scented perfume. She’s using my real name. How can she be smiling? I lied to her. ‘Um, hi,’ I say, sitting up straighter. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asks, sitting in the seat Callum was just in, leaning forward. A strand of her hair falls across her face. ‘OK, I guess, bit shaken up, but I’ll be fine.’ ‘Well, the doctors are happy with your progress, so they think you’ll be OK to go home today.’ ‘That’s great,’ I say. God, Emma and Michael are going to be waiting to see me. Callum must’ve already spoken to them. He would’ve explained everything, surely. ‘So, you know who I really am now?’ Sarah nods. ‘I thought something was off when I spoke to you at the house last week,’ she says. ‘You didn’t seem to quite fit in.’ ‘I gathered that,’ I say. ‘That’s why you came back, isn’t it?’ ‘I understand why you didn’t tell me the real reason you were there,’ she says. ‘Callum’s already told me why. We will need to take a formal statement from you as soon as possible.’ ‘Of course, but, what’s happened since . . . since I was last at the house?’ ‘We arrested a seventy-five-year-old woman at the scene. She’s been taken into custody, but so far she isn’t talking. She’s already lawyered up and it looks like her lawyer’s going to be looking at pursuing the grounds of insanity route.’ ‘What?’ Sarah sighs. ‘This is an obstacle we’re going to have to overcome. I know it’s not what you’ll have been hoping for, but as long as we get the evidence together, it will mean that Mary won’t be free to live her life like she has done, and given her age, it’s unlikely she’ll last long.’ ‘But she killed my parents,’ I say, gripping the bed covers, tears forming in my eyes. ‘She told me and she got Harvey to take the blame.’ ‘I know, Danielle, I know, Callum told me everything. We will be seeking to test Mary’s DNA against the sample found at the crime scene, and if it’s a match it’ll help exonerate Harvey. But I have to warn you, Danielle, these things will take time, it may not be plain sailing. Once Oliver’s recovered, we will be taking a statement from him.’ I shake my head. She might not go to prison, the thoughts mad. She must’ve killed Noah as well as my parents. She stabbed Oliver. She knew what she was doing. The bitch. She would’ve planned this. ‘Have you spoken to anyone else?’ I ask, a lump jumping into my throat. ‘We’ve spoken to a few of the residents, many of them are still in shock and are refusing to cooperate right now, but, one of the first people we spoke to was, Eve, the girl who was in the car with Callum.’ ‘What did she tell you?’ I ask, my heart rate increasing again. Sarah glances towards the window. There’s a high rise building directly opposite. I look away, imagining people over there looking in at me, wondering what we’re talking about. How many people know about what’s happened? I close my eyes. The media are going to have a field day. Sarah turns back to me. ‘Did you know her parents have been searching for her for two years?’ I stare at her. ‘What?’ ‘Unfortunately, as it is with many cases, when people go missing, Eve’s case didn’t get a lot of publicity, partially due to the fact that she’d been a drug addict and had gone missing before. Her real name is Rebecca Willis.’ My mouth drops open. ‘She told me her parents threw her out, and that they forced her to live on the streets.’ ‘I believe Oliver and Mary influenced her to believe that,’ Sarah says. ‘Her parents have desperately been searching for her. It’s going to be tough for her; she’s been brainwashed, it’ll be hard for her to overcome that, but, with time, I think, well I’d like to think she’ll be fine. She seems like a strong person.’ Jesus. I sink into my pillows. Perhaps if her disappearance had received some publicity, I might’ve recognised her. I think back to how cut and dry she was about her family, that day we were doing the laundry. I think of her parents appealing for information in whatever way they could. Her mother and father heart-broken. Sarah leans forward. ‘Danielle, Callum did also mention something that Mary told you, about Oliver being your real dad.’ My heart bangs in my chest. ‘She . . . she told me he and Mum had an affair and that, I was the result of that affair.’ ‘If . . . if you want to, we can find out the truth.’ I replay what Sarah’s said over in my mind. Two weeks ago, I was desperate to find out who I was, desperate for the truth. I shake my head. ‘No, I . . . I don’t think I want to know, to be honest.’ What I want now is to go back to the life I had with Emma and Michael. She smiles. ‘Of course, that’s your decision. I’ll . . . I’ll let you rest; I suspect you’ll want to speak to your parents. I’ll come back with another officer to take a statement before you leave and of course we’ll be keeping you updated with the progress of the investigation.’ She gets up from her seat and crosses the room to the door. Before she reaches out for the handle, she turns back to me. ‘Things are going to be a bit crazy for a while, Danielle, particularly with the media, but things will get better, I promise.’ She opens the door and the sound of voices outside trickle in. Once she’s left, Emma and Michael step into the room. My heart rams in my chest.
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