Alive at Sunset (Rituals of the Night Series Book 2) (9 page)

W
hen they got to the hospital, Rose was waiting outside for them. She had stopped crying, but red torrents marked both sides of her face. Her napkin was still clutched in her tight fist in case the tears started again.

Luna ran up to her mother, eager for her to fill her in on the past hour, and Amanda trailed a little bit behind. Not being related to either of them, she felt a little awkward being in such an emotional situation.

Rose hugged her daughter tight, taking no notice of the presence of Luna’s roommate, and Luna felt her breath stop for a minute under the force of the hug. Finally, Rose let go, and Luna looked at her wanting to unleash all of her questions.

“Mom, what happened to Dad?” Luna asked the first one that came to mind. She found that bad news always came with an arsenal of questions.

“He had a seizure, and I called 911 right away. The EMTs brought him here of course. After he went into the coma they ran some tests trying to figure out what was wrong with him. About an hour later, they found out what the cause of the seizure was,” Rose said sounding despondent.

Luna stared at her. “What caused it?” she asked.

“They said it was unnatural causes,” Rose said.

“Did they tell you exactly what unnatural causes gave him his seizure or are they not sure?” Luna asked frowning, feeling even more desperate to know. From the moment she had gotten the call she had assumed his illness had been natural, but a sinking feeling of despair was rising in her chest.

“It was arsenic poisoning,” Rose said, and her face contorted in grief as tears flowed freely down her face once again.

“W-what?” Luna stuttered shocked at her mother’s news. “You mean he ingested metal chips?”

Rose nodded solemnly. “They found traces of it in his bloodstream. They said the high amounts triggered a seizure.”

“How did that even happen?” Luna asked still feeling shocked. She felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water directly on her head. “How did he get so much of it into his system?”

“The doctors don’t know right now. We think someone at work has been feeding it to him somehow,” Rose admitted wiping at her eyes. “They told me that there’s no way to breathe the stuff in.”

“Is there any other way it can get into the system?” Luna inquired remembering that she had read something about arsenic poisoning years ago but couldn’t seem to remember the little important details.

“I think the doctors also said that contact with the skin can be dangerous,” Rose told her.

“Ho-how do you know he wasn’t just touching some at work?” Luna asked hoping that her father’s condition was inadvertently caused.

“They said the traces they found in his blood were too high amounts for that. His levels matched previous cases of people that have actually eaten metal chips,” Rose said reciting what the doctors had probably told her only minutes before Luna and Amanda had arrived.

“That’s horrible!” Amanda spoke up from her place behind Luna. For the initial meeting she had stayed silent, trying her best to stay out of it, but she couldn’t hold her tongue.

Rose looked at her like she noticed her presence, and in her grief-stricken state she probably had. Her face lightened of her sorrow a little, and Luna had to admit she was relieved. Rose always treated Amanda like her second daughter. Luna guessed that in that situation the comfort of her “adopted” daughter would help her feel a bit better than if Luna had come alone.

“Hello, Dear, I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?” Rose asked hugging Amanda as well.

“I’ve been managing alright. My grades were decent, less impressive than Luna’s, but good for me,” Amanda said truly sounding like Luna’s sister.

“That’s good, Dear,” Rose said. She was still sniffling as she tried to hold the normal conversation.

Luna watched her mother carefully. She found herself glad she had avoided telling her about Lucky yet. The weight of her dog’s death and her husband’s coma would be too heavy of a load for Rose to bear. She knew Rose would feel as grief stricken as Luna did if she knew. She didn’t wish that on anyone.

“Can we see him yet?” Luna asked Rose after her mother was done talking to Amanda.

“We can visit him, but he’s still in the coma,” Rose said, another tear trailed from the corner of her eye as if saying it made her suddenly remember.

Luna nodded. “That’s alright, Mom. I just want to see him.” She wouldn’t add that she wanted to see him still
alive
. Just hearing about his condition without the evidence made her feel as if her father was dead instead.

Rose nodded as if she understood and turned to lead the way inside the hospital. Both girls followed behind her though Amanda was able to keep up easier. She stuck beside Rose, which Luna knew that she should’ve been doing, but she couldn’t muster the energy.

Luna trailed behind them. Her head was bowed as she walked. She was trying to block out the images of the sick people all around her. She wasn’t surprised that it was hard for her to do. Being in the hospital had always made her uncomfortable in the past, and she had a brand new reason for it.

The building was large and between all the twists and turns down random halls, Luna knew she was already lost. Her head was throbbing at the thought. After a few minutes, the trio gathered outside of a hospital room. The door that Rose stood beside was closed so Luna couldn’t see inside. She took in a deep breath, knowing full well that once she got in the room her emotions would hit her the hardest.

“Before we go in, I just want to say your father looks pretty ill. If he’s woken up from his coma, which honestly I doubt, then try not to make it obvious that he doesn’t look well, please,” Rose said.

Luna and Amanda nodded at the same time. Going into the medical field, they were both smart enough to know that anyone who had had a full body seizure wasn’t going to look good.

Luna also didn’t mention that if her father was awake, that meant he would be okay. Luna wouldn’t be criticizing him; she’d be overjoyed. Rose was the one to open the door and was once again in the lead. Luna was glad that she was being so strong.

Amanda kept pace with Luna as if she had finally noticed her falling behind. She looked as if she had something that she wanted to say, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to actually say it. Finally, they got across the room to the last bed against the wall.

Luna could see her father. He was still unconscious, and Luna was glad because prepared or not, she instantly flinched at his rugged, sickly appearance. She knew that the two women beside her did the same.

David had deep black half circles under his eyes, and his porcelain cheeks looked hollowed and extremely sunken in. His skin was ghostly white like he had been dipped in white paint. The veins in his forehead and throat were bulging, a noticeable deep bruise color, looking as if he had embossed tattoos running the length of his neck up the side of his face. At his sides, his hands were clutched in a painful bind, and Luna guessed they had been stuck that way since his seizure.

He looked like a newly deceased corpse, and Luna might have believed that he was if it wasn’t for the monitor beside him that claimed he was still alive. The heart monitor beeped every few seconds, the green line tracing a sharp hill on the monitor. The sound drew Luna’s attention to the emotionless, hollow, ringing that the machine produced. She couldn’t help but wonder if the empty sound was an omen meant for her to decipher later on.

“Oh, my God,” Amanda said quietly and then realized that she was speaking. She put her hand over her mouth to silence herself.

Luna felt the same way as her roommate, but she was too numb to speak; too numb to acknowledge that her roommate was even there. The sight of it was horrible…everything was horrible. She knew that it would be when her mom had warned her that the sight would be awful, but she didn’t know it would be
that
awful.

Luna felt as if her karma was trying to get back at her. She didn’t know why she deserved to suffer so much, but she guessed that in a past life she must’ve been a truly awful person to deserve it. Karma was late to getting back to her was all. She didn’t want to think she actually
deserved
it, because nobody did…except maybe Chance.

“Is he going to get better?” Luna asked, glancing at her mother in fear of the answer.

“Eventually, yes, he will. He’ll have to be kept here for a while though,” Rose said stating the obvious. “So they can monitor his vitals.”

“I still can’t believe somebody poisoned him,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “Why would anyone do something so awful to a good person?”

Luna didn’t respond. She knew of a lot of cases where bad things had happened to good people. For all of her experience, she still had no answer for it.

Rose shook her head. “I don’t know why people do the things that they do. All I know is that there are some truly awful in this world.”

Luna nodded in agreement; she had a lot of experience in that area. Max, Amy, and Sarah did too. Trying to put the past behind her to get clear perspective on her situation, she didn’t understand why anyone would poison her father. She didn’t understand why anyone poisoned anyone. What would his assailant gain if he actually died from the poison? Was there a real reason behind it; a method for the madness that was her life?

Luna frowned. She was smart, easily one of the smartest of her home town, but for all of her thinking, she couldn’t figure it out.

To her David’s poisoning was a purposeless crime.

But then again, so were all of Chance’s crimes.

W
hen Luna got home that night, she was out of words. David hadn’t woken from his coma in the three hours they had spent there. She knew that was a sign that he would probably be under for a long time. About halfway through their visit, Rose had broken down sobbing and ran from the room. Amanda had followed her out, but Luna hadn’t been able to move her legs. She stood rooted in her spot, staring at what was left of her father.

The whole time she was there, Luna could only think of Max’s ominous words;

I haven’t been feeling right lately, Luna,
he had said,
I know to trust my gut. Something’s wrong.

Luna, don’t you see?

It’s happening again!

She closed her eyes, wishing the voices would stop whispering, wishing more than anything that they would go away. Was there something to Max’s warnings? All Luna could do was hope that Max was paranoid. Lucky’s death and David’s arsenic poisoning were merely accidents. For the sake of her sanity, they had to be.

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chance liked that within a short period of time he had managed to earn the trust of all of his colleagues. He was a smooth talker, always had been. He was good at getting his own way -his words were his best weapon. Even though he had only started working there a few weeks ago, he was the only nurse working the nightshift in the hall on the third floor. He was trusted enough to run it all on his own.

The hall that he was in charge of was the same part of the hall where Luna’s father was staying; the same place where he remained in a coma. Chance had easy access to him…and no witnesses. He made his way to the supply closet, and his footsteps echoed down the darkened, empty hallway. He glanced over his shoulder once to make sure that no one was following him. He looked around to see that the nearest thing to him was a sterilized needle.

He grabbed it quickly and tore the package off of it. He glanced at the needle, watching the gleam of the metal under the light. Quietly, he made his way to David’s room. He threw another careful glance to make sure that he was completely alone. Usually two or three patients occupied a single room, but due to David’s critical condition, he had his own room.

Chance made his way to the side of David’s bed. He watched him for a moment to make sure he wasn’t awake. Luna’s father was still in his deep coma; everything was absolutely perfect for him. Chance found the nearest IV line (which was embedded in the crook of his arm) and ran a finger along it to the IV bag. The soft material was unmarked and unbroken as the saline solution ran down it to the unconscious patient. He held the tube between his fingers and held the needle carefully.

He pulled back the plunger and filled the barrel with air. He looked at it for a moment preparing his next movements. Quietly, he pushed the tip of the needle into the thin plastic tube. He made sure to only puncture one side of it. When it was in place, he pushed down the plunger, shoving the air into the water solution in the tube.

A large bubble formed in the middle of it from the tip. Instantly, it began to move. He watched the bubble inch towards David. Work done, he pulled the needle out and watched as the bubble connected with David where the IV was connected in his skin. Instantly, David gasped and thrashed on his bed before he fell still once again. The heart monitor rang out one long and continuous eerie, monotone beep.

Chance merely watched his work with careful triumph before tucking away the needle from sight.

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day Luna was sitting in her room, folding her laundry and trying as hard as humanly possible to not think of her life. She tucked away her clothes into her dresser, reorganizing them several times before she felt as if they were perfect. She pulled her last shirt out of the hamper when her cell phone chimed suddenly. She looked up from her laundry. Idly she wondered if it was Max calling her again. If it was, she wasn’t sure if she would answer it or not. She set down the shirt and got up before she picked up her phone and answered it warily.

“Hello?” Luna said into it.

“Hi, this is Tim Raven, manager at
The Burger Shack
calling in response to your application,” the voice replied to her.

“Oh,” Luna said unsure of how to respond at first. Then she felt herself perk up a little bit. “It’s really nice to meet you.”

“I see you filled in an application the other day. Are you still interested in getting a job here?” Tim asked.

“Yes, sir, I am,” Luna replied doing her best to sound polite. No matter what she felt inside, she still wanted that job more than anything.

“Could you come down to the restaurant for an interview today at three o’clock?” he asked.

Luna glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 2:00.

“Yes, I can. Thank you for considering me,” Luna said.

“You’re welcome. See you at three o’clock. Good luck,” Tim said and then hung up.

After the line went dead, Luna stared at the phone. She couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or not. She needed to desperately distract her mind, and of course she had to find out what it was that Sarah knew.

She had to do it.

Luna sighed as she set her last shirt aside and stood up. She straightened out her joints and tried gauging her emotions. She still didn’t feel well, but she knew that she would be able to handle it with some preparation.

“Amanda?” she called as she walked to the hallway. She wasn’t sure if her roommate was home or not. Maybe if Luna acted fine, Amanda would believe that she was.

Her friend popped her head out of her room a few doors down. “Yes, Luna?”

“I got a job interview at three so I’ll be heading out now,” Luna said tossing a thumb over her shoulder toward the door.

“Good luck, girl, I hope you get it!”  she said.

To Luna it was hard to tell if her roommate was sincere or not. Luna nodded in response to her, but once again, didn’t speak.

Amanda’s face disappeared back into her room, and Luna continued to head towards the door. She tucked her phone into her pocket and grabbed the keys off of the counter. She twirled the keys in her hand for a moment before deciding that she still didn’t want to drive quite yet. She set the keys back down before she left the apartment.

She shot Lucky’s grave a disgruntled look before she hit the sidewalk. Lucky’s grave casted a shadow over the grass like it was warning her that there would be more bad to come.

Stop it!!
Luna shouted inside her head.

Where had her sanity gone? Why was it that everything made her think of warnings and hidden signs? Why was it that when something went wrong she assumed the absolute worst? Accidents happened and bad luck was a part of good. She wasn’t a victim, she wasn’t being targeted. Yet no matter how many times she ran that through her mind, a part of her always knew better.

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna was glad when the interview was over. The past hour and a half had been the most uncomfortable of her life. She had been forced to hold in her emotional trauma and act as if everything was fine. On the outside, none of her feelings showed, she made sure of that.

But it had a price.

She felt like she was going to crack by the time she stood, shaking Tim’s hand at the end of the interview. He promised her a job starting on the upcoming Monday so she knew that at least her acting hadn’t been for nothing. She felt listless. Luna went to leave when she saw Sarah mopping the floor by the door.

“Hi, Sarah. What’s up?” Luna said to her, not surprised when her voice came out toneless.

“Hey, Luna,” Sarah said without stopping her work.

She seemed like she was distracted, overworking to take her mind off of it. Luna narrowed her eyes for a minute wondering if Sarah had gotten a job for the same reason that Luna herself had.

“How’d your interview go?” Sarah asked her suddenly, glancing up from her half-bent position.

“I got the job,” Luna told her.

“That’s great! I’m really happy for you,” Sarah said, looking back at the mop before Luna.

“I guess your recommendation really did help. Thank you,” Luna said smiling though inside she was disappointed. She had expected Sarah to mention something about her lost sister. Instead, she was making small talk. She finally understood why Max got upset when he had a topic in mind and all Luna wanted to discuss was her grades.

Sarah stared at Luna; it was obvious that she could see the distance in her eyes. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I didn’t forget. I’ll still gonna tell you what I know, but not here and definitely not now. There’s just too many people,” Sarah whispered suddenly to her.

Luna nodded, surprised at Sarah’s swing from casual talk to seriousness.

Sarah nodded back at her and continued mopping the floor as if she hadn’t stopped. Luna watched her for a moment wondering if she was done talking before she left the restaurant. She heard her phone go off suddenly from its secure place in her pocket. Part of her worried it was Max again. She plucked it out quickly and looked at it to see Rose was calling her again.

“Hello?” Luna said. She crossed her fingers hoping her mother had good news. She needed that more than anything.

“It’s horrible!” Rose screeched.

Luna winced from the high pitched sound; it hurt her ears and her spirits. She let her mom run out of steam before she risked setting the phone to her ear again.

“Mom, what happened? What’s horrible?” Luna asked feeling panicked.

“D-David’s dead!” Rose screeched, more grief-stricken than ever before.