Pillow Talk

Chapter 23

Rain pelted down heavily as Freya stared ahead. They'd probably been in the car for just over 10 minutes, in complete silence.

She had no idea where her father was taking her and it took everything in her not to ask. Sadly, Freya had hardly ever spent time with him in all these years they lived together, in fact this was probably the longest they had shared the same space. Pitiful indeed!

Robert had called Debra before they left to check up on Sara, she was still in a coma, the swelling had come down a bit but she was not out of the woods yet. Doctors were hopeful other parts of her brain had not been damaged. So for now the induced coma was the safest option until the swelling subsided.

Freya felt awful! She'd been so caught up in her own life, she was neglecting her sister completely but she was at a crossroads, stuck between knowing about her mother or choosing to continue on living an ignorant life, she knew which choice appealed more to her. So she tried her best to push the feelings of guilt to the back of her mind. Trying to maintain her focus.

Freya glanced at her phone, the text she'd sent Nixon remained unread. She was so tempted to call him but not in front of her father.

She noticed her father making a turn onto a long winded driveway, that led up to massive iron gates.

St. Allistairs' Nursing Home.

Was placed on a large metal board above the gates. Freya began to feel anxious, she most certainly was not expecting this.

As the car pulled up to the gate, a guard approached them with a clipboard in hand, Freya watched as her father greeted the guard, explaining that he was here to meet someone. Robert than filled out the form on the clipboard and handed it back to the guard as the gates opened allowing them to drive in.

Freya's mind began to work overtime. Trying to come up with reasons as to why they were at a nursing home.

"A nursing home, why?", she finally broke the silence.

Robert glanced at his daughter briefly, "Just follow me.", he answered sounding a lot more calmer than earlier. He opened his door as Freya released her seatbelt and moved to climb out of the car.

Her fingers dug into the straps of her sling bag as her father rounded the car, to shield her with an umbrella he'd retrieved from the trunk.

Robert gently ushered Freya along with his hand placed lightly on the small of her back. To say Freya was surprised, would be an understatement. She had never seen him behave this way before, especially towards her.

They neared the double doors leading into the building which resembled an old Victorian style house. Robert closed the umbrella as they entered. The place was quiet, almost eerily so. And Freya wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold. In her haste, she'd slipped on a skater dress and flats, grabbing only a light cardigan for cover.

A man sat seated behind a reception desk, thick black rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, he looked to be middle aged and completely bored.

Robert laid a hand on the counter, "Hello.", he began", "Is Caroline in?", he asked, addressing the man.

The man looked up, "Are you here to see a resident?"

Robert shook his head, "No, I'm here to see Caroline Atkins. Tell her Robert Lorden has come. She'll know.", Freya did not miss the slight annoyance in her father's voice.

The man remained unconcerned and just shrugged before picking up the reception phone, Freya watched as he pressed a button and waited for the person on the other side to answer, "Amy, is Caroline there? Yes, tell her a Robert Lorden is here to see her."