Fallen (Beautiful Book 1) (5 page)

‘Doctor Patterson, we need you over here!’ A doctor called as they wheeled in another patient.

Crystal looked at the head doctor.

‘Go!’ he said, and she rushed over to the next emergency.

‘Thirty four year old female with third degree burns to face, and upper body…’

The hospital was a commotion, people moved fast and tried to save the lives of those that had come to the emergency department. Each life had changed, but three lives had changed forever. Their lives had just been burnt to the ground just like that, and neither of them knew just how important they would be to each other from that point forth. Life had become real, it had become important, and two people had to survive the night to realise just how important that was!

Chapter Three

‘Oh honey, you’re awake,’ Ivy cried.

‘Mum?’

‘Yes honey.’

‘Where am I?’ Her throat felt dry.

‘You’re in the hospital baby.’ She sniffed.

‘Hospital?’ She couldn’t move. She tried to touch her face, but all she felt were rough bandages.

‘Do you remember what happened?’ She gazed at her daughter all bandaged. Only her eyes, nose and mouth were revealed.

Her mouth and nose were swollen, she could barely see out of her eyes. Her mother looked like a blurry screen.

‘No.’

‘Oh sweetie.’ It hurt her to know that someone could do this to her child.

‘What happened to me?’

‘You were burned honey. Someone set you alight.’

Bits and pieces of that night flashed before her. She panicked and her blood pressure fell. She remembered the smell, the pain, the whisper and then it was gone. Hospital staff rushed over to her and asked Ivy to move aside. It was awhile before they could stabilise her again.

‘She’s still in shock. It would be a good idea to keep her calm for the next few days. No questions or police. Just until she’s out of the woods,’ said Doctor Patterson.

‘Yes, yes absolutely.’ Ivy couldn’t lose her only child. It wasn’t normal for a child to go before her mother.

She sat with Faith for the next couple of hours. She prayed. She made sure she was comfortable. She sent the police away, just until she was okay. It had been a horrible couple of days, but soon, bit by bit, Faith began to get stronger.

****

The medical students did rounds with a doctor.

‘Patterson.’ The doctor nodded at her.

She looked at the man and smiled. ‘This is Logan Davenport. He suffered injury to the neck, arm and left leg during an accident. He was also high on cocaine when he arrived. So far his vitals are good, he has no injury to the spine, but will need to keep the neck brace on. He’ll also need therapy on his leg and arm,’ said Crystal.

‘We’ll move him to the recovery ward, he’s out of the woods now,’ said the doctor. ‘Do you have any questions, Mister Davenport?’

‘Could I have a word with Doctor Patterson, in private?’

The doctor looked at Crystal, she gave nothing. He nodded and led the group to the next patient.

‘You’ve been avoiding me,’ he said.

‘I’m at work. I’m not sure what you want from me.’

‘I need to ask you something.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Do the police have a right to see my medical records?’

‘You were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. It’s a criminal case.’

‘I could lose everything, everything I worked for.’

She was quiet.

‘You have to help me.’

‘I can’t do anything about it.’

‘You can change my records.’

‘Are you crazy? I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for if they find out.’

‘Now you know how I feel.’

‘No, that’s not the same.’ She tried to keep her voice down.

‘What will your boss think about your side business?’

‘You want to pull that one on me?’

‘I need your help.’

She took in a deep breath. It had never occurred to her that this would happen. What had been the chances?

‘I’ve got to go,’ she said.

‘Please.’

‘I have to go.’ She left him.

He lay in a panic, but it was short lived when Daryl and Owen stepped in.

‘Man!’ said Daryl.

‘Hey!’

‘What happened man? We’ve been here the past couple of days, but you were out of it.’

‘I know. Things went sour. I’m fucked up.’

‘Don’t sweat it. Your dad will sort it out.’

‘I don’t want him to. He’ll never let it go.’

‘So what? You’ll let them arrest you? You’ll lose your licence. You’ll never be a broker again.’

‘Don’t you think I don’t know that?’

‘Just saying.’

‘I have a plan.’

‘What’s that man?’

‘The doctor, she’ll help me out.’

‘What doctor?’

‘The one I picked up the night of the accident. I could tell her boss what she does.’

‘She could deny it.’

‘Well, it doesn’t look like she would.’

They studied him. It was going to be a long road to recovery.

‘Have the police contacted you yet?’

‘I believe they’ve been in, but I wasn’t awake to answer any of their questions.’

‘You better get ready, it’s not looking good,’ said Daryl.

‘You’re not helping.’

‘Well you need someone to tell you how it is.’

He turned away. He didn’t want to know that. He had his whole career ahead of him, but now it looked bleak. They trio chatted for a while longer. They tried to joke around, but things weren’t that funny anymore. They finally left him, alone, and with his thoughts. Life had taken a huge nose dive, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get out of it.

He was moved to the ward three days later. He would’ve loved to leave, but that wasn’t about to happen. There was still a lot of recovery. Friends and family came and left, but his life didn’t improve. His father had dealt with the police, keeping them away just until he was well enough to deal with it. He was grateful, but he knew that it wasn’t just going to disappear. He was lucky no one had lost their lives, but he knew there would be a price to pay for the damaged caused.

A week later, a woman was wheeled into the ward and placed on the bed not far from his. She was covered in bandages. She was quiet most of the times, and she had a visitor here and there, but nothing really happened more than that.

One Sunday afternoon a red head walked in with a large bouquet.

‘Hey, how are you doing?’ asked Mel.

‘Not to great,’ said Faith.

Logan, bored out of his mind listened in. He’d been doing that a lot lately.

‘I’m really sorry about all this.’

Faith was silent. She’d never been this helpless in her life.

‘He hasn’t come to see me yet.’ She was almost in tears. ‘Jacob, he hasn’t seen me yet.’

Mel took her bandaged hand.

‘What kind of boyfriend does that?’

‘Don’t stress about it. I’m sure he’ll come.’

‘You’d think he’d be the first one to be here.’ She sniffed. ‘But there’s no sign of him. I can’t call him, and he hasn’t called me.’

‘Would you like me to try him?’

‘If you don’t mind. It would be nice to see him.’

‘I’ll call him later today. Perhaps he’s just scared. I’m sure there’s some explanation.’

‘I’m not so sure. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Noah is trying his best to head the company, but without me there, things might just fall apart.’

‘Oh honey. Have more trust in your staff. It will be fine.’

She nodded, she wanted to believe that, but she felt down in the dumps, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to push through.

‘Is there anything you need?’ Mel asked.

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’

Mel was worried. She’d never seen her friend this low. The person who had done that horrible thing to her, deserved to die.

‘The police are coming to see me later.’

‘Are you ready for that?’

‘I’m not sure.’ She took a deep breath. ‘But I guess the person who did this, needs to pay for it.’

‘Yes they should. Do you want me to stay, support you while you talk to the police?’

‘I think I’ll be okay. You don’t have to do that.’

‘I’m not in a hurry anywhere.’

‘I’ll be fine.’ She tried to say bravely.

They chatted for a while longer; Logan continued to eaves drop, he had nothing better to do. Finally Mel said her goodbyes, and promised to visit the following day, and to contact Logan as soon as she got home.

The cops arrived an hour later. She felt worn out, but she was willing to give as much as she could. It would make her feel safer.

‘I’m sorry we have to do this here, but there wasn’t any other place.’

‘It’s fine.’

Again Logan’s ears perked up.

‘Do you remember the night of the incident?’

‘Vaguely.’

‘Tell us what you remember.’

‘I remember hearing rattling. That’s one thing that stands out. When he threw the…’ She took deep breaths. ‘Fuel on me, I heard rattling.’ She was quiet for a while. Bits and pieces flashed back into her mind. Her heart raced, she felt itchy all over. She wanted to free herself of the bandages, but she knew that wasn’t possible. ‘I remember arriving home from drinks with a friend. I unlocked the door to my house, stepped in about to disabled the alarm, but it had already been disabled. I flicked on the light and…’ She panted.

‘And what, Miss Hutton?’

She breathed heavier.

‘It’s okay, take your time.’ The woman cop placed a hand on her shoulder.

‘The light was red.’

‘Red?’

‘Yes, the house was a dark deep red. The person had changed my bulb, I’m sure of it.’ She took deep breaths.

‘Had you noticed anything odd before this?’

The question alerted her. All the odd little things that had happened made sense.

‘Yes, now I think about it.’

She told the police about how her toothbrush had been moved around, the rearrangement of clothes and shoes. She told them everything she could remember. The police took down the details. Faiths house had been searched through by forensics, but they had found no fingerprints out of the ordinary. All the prints belonged to the cleaner and people she knew. They’d ruled out the cleaning staff.

‘What happened after you turned on the light?’

‘He was standing there and staring at me.’

‘Did you see his face?’

‘No, I couldn’t, I was terrified.’

‘Was there anything out of the ordinary you noticed?’

She was quiet a moment. Her mind went back to the awful night, but she couldn’t recall all the details. She shook her head.

‘Okay, take your time. You might remember something later.’

She nodded.

‘Don’t worry we’ll catch the person who did this.’

‘I hope so,’ she said softly. Not that that would bring her life back. The person had destroyed her. He had got what he wanted.

The police finally left. Logan lay back and took a few breaths. It was a terrible thing that had happened to the woman beside him. The curtain that separated them opened. He took a moment to gaze at her, but she didn’t move. Instead she was dead silent. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t, it wasn’t any of his business. The stay in hospital was driving him crazy.

Later that day Doctor Patterson did rounds and checked on her patients. She checked Faith first. She seemed fine, and she was making progress externally, but she was worried about her mental well being. Faith barely said a word.

‘How are you feeling today?’ she tried to make small talk.

‘The same as yesterday.’

‘And how did you feel yesterday?’

‘Miserable.’

‘You’re doing well, don’t give up hope.’

‘I did that the day my body was burned. How can I not give up hope?’ She felt bitter.

‘I understand.’

‘Do you? I don’t think you do. You don’t understand, so please don’t say you do.’

‘Okay, I don’t. Perhaps I could send one of our counsellors to help you through this.’

‘I can’t.’

‘It will help.’

‘Not right now!’ she snapped.

‘Okay, perhaps with time.’

Faith was silent.

‘A senior consultant will come and see you later today, see how everything’s going.’

Faith nodded. There wasn’t more she could do. Her life had become an event of drugs, prodding by doctors and tears. It was hopeless and horrible and she didn’t want to exist anymore.