In The Darkest Hour

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Five: Person to Blame

Isla sighed looking around her hospital room, she didn’t know how to feel about still being alive and her parents weren’t leaving her alone; she crossed her arms staring at the boring white wall ahead of her.

The last thing that Isla wanted was to be babied and it was clear that things weren’t going to change anytime soon; she had tried to end her life and her parents were going to be protective of her.

“How about some lunch?” Tracy mused smiling at Isla, she was thrilled that her daughter was recovering and she hoped that things would be okay now that she was.

Isla had been informed of everything that had happened in the two weeks that she had been unconscious, she had missed Christmas but her parents didn’t care as long as she was okay now.

The doctors were keeping a close eye on her and they’d had her assessed for mental health issues leading to Isla being diagnosed with depression that would easily be treated.

“I won’t be long,” Tracy mused not wanting for Isla’s answer, she was sure that she would finding something good for her and she doubted Isla would be able to get into any trouble.

Isla watched her mother leave, she wrinkled her nose knowing that she could murder a bacon sandwich right about now; however her mother refused to bring her one since it wasn’t good for her.

Leaning back in her hospital bed, Isla stared at the cards that sat around the room from people that had turned their backs on her when she had needed them most; of course they had felt guilty when she was on her death bed.

Isla closed her eyes, she was going to need to speak with a therapist again when she was released from hospital and she could only imagine the measures that her parents would put in place when she was allowed to go home.

“Knock, knock,” Montserrat said stepping into the room, she smiled glad to see that Isla had a bit of colour in her face and was starting to put some weight back on; she didn’t look like a corpse anymore and she was glad.

“How are you feeling?” Montserrat asked walking over to Isla’s hospital bed, she hadn’t had the chance to come and see the brunette since her parents were keeping people away.

Montserrat could only imagine what they had gone through and she feared what they would do when Isla was released; she wanted to make things right and she hoped the brunette would listen to her.

“Better,” Isla replied with a shrug, she was tired of people asking her that question and she hoped it would stop soon; she wasn’t made of glass and she guessed it was going to take time for her to be trusted again.

Montserrat sighed moving to sit down next to Isla, she hated to see the brunette like this and she wished that she could help in some way; she might have tried to end her life but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t handle herself.

“I hear you cleared my name,” Isla murmured looking at Montserrat, she was curious about what had happened and her parents refused to answer any of her questions.

Isla wanted to know what had happened and her mind had lingered on Gerard a lot since she had woken up; she didn’t blame him for how he had reacted not when all the evidence the hospital had released had pointed to her as the killer.

The only thing that Isla was angry at Gerard for was not trusting her or listening to her when she told him that she was the nurse; it would have saved them both so much heartache.

“Gracias,” Isla said smiling a little, she didn’t know where she would have been without Montserrat; the woman was a saint and she had made things so much better for her.

Montserrat shook her head, she didn’t deserve the thanks that she had gotten from Isla not when she could have ended this months ago; now things were in such a terrible mess after what had happened.

“How is Gerard?” Isla asked softly, she had been thinking about him a lot since she had woken up and she looked down at her hands while she started to mess with the blanket that she had.

Montserrat stared at Isla for a moment, a small smile on her face realising that deep down Isla still had feelings for her son and she hoped that there was a chance that they could move past this.

“He’s good,” Montserrat confirmed knowing that Gerard wanted to speak to Isla, she wasn’t going to push her to talk with him but she was sure it would help them.

Gerard had feelings for Isla and he regretted the way that he had acted when she had told him; he wanted to make things right if he was ever given the chance.

“He’s sat in the waiting room… has been since he found out you were here,” Montserrat revealed gently, she didn’t want to say too much since Tracy and Theodore had made it clear that he wasn’t welcome in the hospital and wanted him gone.

Isla stared at Montserrat, her stomach filled with butterflies at the idea of Gerard being so close; she wondered why he hadn’t come to see her when she had woken up.

“Why hasn’t he come to see me?” Isla asked softly, she wondered for a moment if he just felt guilty for his actions nearly causing her to kill herself; she had a lot of reasons for what she had done but Gerard wasn’t one of them and never would be.

Montserrat frowned, it was clear that Tracy and Theodore hadn’t been entirely truthful with Isla and she knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to explain after everything that had happened.

“He’s not allowed to,” Montserrat replied hoping that Isla would let it go, she didn’t want to alienate Isla from her parents not when she had almost died; it was for the best that she knew what was going on.

“Not allowed,” Isla murmured confused, she had mentioned to her mother that she wished to see him and to explain things but Tracy had told her that Gerard didn’t care; she didn’t know what had happened while she had been out of it.

Montserrat nodded her head, she wanted Isla to get better and locking her away wasn’t going to fix what had happened; it would only make things worse and Isla needed a good support system to recover from her attempted suicide.

“Your parents banned him from the room after what happened,” Montserrat mumbled hoping that Isla wouldn’t be upset, she didn’t want to cause problems only for Isla to get better and get the help that she needed.

Tracy and Theodore were very clearly planning something and Montserrat feared that Isla’s time in Barcelona was running out; they would do anything to keep Gerard away from her after what happened.

“They blame him for what happened,” Isla guessed shaking her head, she had tried to explain why she had tried to end her life and her parents hadn’t wanted to listen; they had made up their own minds and it was clear that Gerard was the centre-point of their blame.

“I didn’t kill myself because of Gerard…” Isla revealed to Montserrat with a shake of her head, she had a feeling that her letters hadn’t been handed out like she had wished; she wondered what her parents had done with them while she was in a coma.

Montserrat blinked surprised, she had thought that Gerard had been the reason and the way that Isla’s parents acted it was as if she had blamed him in her suicide note for what she had done.

“Did he get my letter?” Isla asked already knowing the answer, she was going to be having a serious talk with her parents; she had written that letter to Gerard for a reason.

There was only one person that had given Isla the push to do what she had and that was R, even if she didn’t know who it was.