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“I
have good news and bad news. We checked the surveillance footage from the time that she entered the hospital.” Detective Ocon was here with Nathan to brief me about the case. “Here.” He paused the video to show a woman wearing a mask with long hair passing by the hallways. Nothing about her stood out except the turquoise heels. "I interviewed the guard, the receptionist, and Nurse Kamala. Every single one of them has described her voice and attitude differently. She knew we would go after her.
She thought everything out." I let out a sigh. She was smart. She planned everything out. “What about the good news?” He smiled at the question. "The good news is I checked the CCTV footage of the parking lot when she arrived. She arrived on the last commute of the day.
After this, I will go and question the driver who was driving the bus that day. It has to give us some leads. Not a lot of people travel that late at night, and her heels would have made her stand out either way. I will inquire about what bus stop she got on, and from there, we can possibly figure out her place of residence." Finally! Some good news! I looked up at Nathan to see him grinning at me. “See? I told you things would start going your way!” Nathan said as we high-fived. Detective Ocon then took his leave and walked out the door. Nathan and I were discussing the possible clues that may turn up when the door opened to reveal Annette.
A heavy silence instantly engulfed the room as Annette and Nathan’s eyes met. "I didn't know you would be here. I'll wait out...." "No need. I have been here a while and was getting up to leave anyway. You stay, Annette. I will see you later, Victoria." Nathan immediately got up after saying this and left the room. Annette just stood in the middle of the room for a while, not saying anything, not moving.
She then shook her head, as if clearing it of thoughts, and walked toward me with a smile on her face. "Sorry you had to be here for that. It's just that we haven't seen each other since the breakup." I just nodded my head, trying not to give my opinion. Then Annette asked, “Has he said anything? About me?” “He told me you guys broke up. That was pretty much all.” Annette then sat in silence for a minute.
I didn’t mind the silence. It was peaceful. "I was the one who broke up with him. Everything was getting too much for me. And, as soon as Mom found out that he was your lawyer and what trial you were involved in, she strictly told me to sever ties with both of you. Nathan's presence was just triggering bad memories for me, like with my mom and stuff. I ended up deciding it wasn't worth it, so I gave up on us." It must have been so painful for her. Holding on is hard but giving up snatches a part of yourself and throws it like a ball. “It must have been hard for you, seeing us when Andrew had just died.” I felt my own sadness take over me.
I had never wanted to entertain thoughts that meant to blame their fortune on my misfortune, yet I could not help them. “It was not you or Nathan’s fault. It just happened. It should not mean people around me cannot be happy.” Annette just stayed quiet. "You know how in life we all think we will fall in love, and that would be it? And then it turns out that is not how it works. Love, like everything else, takes practice.
It takes patience, and it takes strength. We end relationships even when we are still in love with the other person. Sometimes we are in love, and there is nothing we can do about it. We watch the person we love live their life happily without us, and there is nothing we can do about it. Why does it all have to be so complicated? Why do we hide our need for love and attention when all of us are desperate for it and lonely? How is one supposed to get used to people leaving? How are you supposed to live with the hole they live behind? That hole never goes away.
It is so scary to love people. Be it relationships or friendships. Sometimes I wonder if the euphoria of love is worth the thorns of heartbreak. Sometimes the answer is no." Annette stopped speaking after that. She was right. I lost Andrew even when I loved her. Losing people is so scary. It can happen at any time, and it can happen to anyone. You are just left there to pick up the broken pieces of yourself and try to put them back together.
You are just supposed to deal with this new self that you don't even recognize in a world where you have lost the one person who might have understood it. How do you deal with it? "Look at that. Silly me. I didn't even ask you how you were and just spoke gibberish about myself. How rude of me!" she said as she tried to laugh off the atmosphere.
I did not think there was anything wrong in admitting both of us were sad. "I am fine, Annette, and it is not gibberish. You are going through a hard time, and as your friend, I am here. Whatever you need. If you want me to listen, I will listen. If you want me to talk, I will talk. If you want a shoulder to cry on, I am always here." Liar. There was no guarantee of me always being here. I am deceiving her again. She gave me a grateful smile.
##
Detective Ocon came back the next day. "I talked to the driver on the bus; he remembered her." I could not stop the grin etching on my face. “What did he say?” I eagerly asked him. He began to walk beside me as I did my exercise routine. "He said he noticed when she got on the bus.
He did not see her face because, at that time, there were quite a few passengers on board as it was the weekend, and most of them were trying to catch the bus out of the city. Anyway, he noticed when she walked in because her ring reflected in his mirror. However, I found something strange. He said she was not wearing any heels.
I asked him twice, and he said since the bus floor was metal, he would have noticed if she was wearing any heels. He said he had no idea what shoes she was wearing, but she most definitely was not wearing any heels.
However, Kamala said when she walked into the hospital hallways, the first thing she noticed was the heels. So in between getting off of the bus and entering the hallway, she first changed her shoes. I am not sure why she keeps wearing heels. I think they may have been to psychologically torture you because she had the choice to walk in the door in her regular shoes. Anyway, I asked the conductor and the driver about which stop she got on. Both of them said that they did not remember.
However, the driver said that the bus had only stopped at two stops. Before that, it was empty. It would have been better if we had found the exact stop she got on, but something is better than nothing. I will now ask for the CCTV footage of the two stops and see if they turn up anything."
I nodded my head in acknowledgment. "I already had the suspicion that she wore the heels that day to mess with my head. I mean, why else would you wear them at 3 am at a hospital? Let's face it; heels are not exactly the pinnacle of comfort, now, are they?" Detective Ocon just shook his head at that. “By the way, how did you rule Doctor Tsunoda’s death as a suicide?” I asked him. How could they not see that he was murdered? Detective Ocon seemed surprised at my question.
"Well, we discovered the body with no signs of struggle. That's why." "But didn't you say that his body had possibly been in the water for days, and it was already decomposing?" He sighed. "In cases like these, events leading up to the death also matter.
He was clearly not in a sound state and was on alert for potential suicide. There were no enemies we found who would want to hurt him. So, we ruled it as a suicide." She was clever. Really clever.
She chose her victims carefully. Of course, there is a pattern there. But how did she get Doctor Tsunoda to relapse like that? I had no clue. "Alright then, carry on with your exercise; I will return to my duties." I bid him goodbye as he turned around and left. I knew she was going to get caught someday.
I just did not know how long it would take and what more it would extract from my life. But how did she get away with killing Doctor Tsunoda? As terrified as I was, a part of me wanted to meet her. To ask her all of these questions that have been branded in my mind. I wanted to know why she was tormenting me.
As I was reading in bed, the doctor entered my room. He was smiling; it must be good news. “Hello, Victoria, how are you doing today?” he asked as he sat down beside me. He had a naturally smiling face; it was quite rare. "I am doing well, Doctor; how about you?" "I am doing great too, thank you for asking. So, I have good news." I held my breath. "I have been monitoring your recovery. It pleases me to say that it is going quite well.
Since your head injury was simple, you may not experience any long-term effects. If all goes well and you stay on your current track, you will be released from the hospital in a week." I wanted to leap out of bed and hug him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” He smiled at me as he got up and wished me a good day as he turned around to leave. I was on cloud nine. I would finally be leaving the hospital.
However, I descended back to earth when a thought struck my mind. She can as easily come back to my house. If history has taught me anything, then it is how cunning she is. She will be back as soon as I return. She could do nothing to me in a hospital, so she resorted to only scaring me, reminding me of what she was capable of.
But, when I return, that will not be the case. She will be back in a position of power and lurking around. I know Detective Ocon said that my personal security would be with me 24/7, and in case I still did not feel safe, he would not hesitate to increase it, but somehow that did not do much to soothe my fears.
Worst of all, I had no idea what she wanted for me or what her next move would be. Suddenly, my happiness from leaving the hospital morphed into an ugly face of despair upon going home. Nathan crashed my string of thoughts like he crashed through the hospital door. I looked at him with wide eyes as he tried to stabilize his staggered steps. “Nathan, what the hell? Why did you just barge in here? Are you okay?!” His expression worried me the most.
He had a wild look in his eyes, like a deer caught in headlights. He looked around frantically before running toward me. I sat up straighter in bed, knowing something was terribly wrong. “Annette called.” I knew it wasn’t about their relationship. He would have never made such a big deal if it was only about that. “She received a hibiscus flower in the mail.” My heart stopped dead.
