BLACK IS THE WARMEST COLOR

Chapter 29

"Dianne escaped from the hospital" she needed answers and she thought the most reasonable one to get it from would be Jacob.
"What?" he was holding a cup of coffee in one hand still dressed in his nightrobe. Maybe she came a little to early.

"I'm sorry to have come this early but I had to. The police still have no lead."

"So what do you need me to do?"

"Dianne is a smart girl. She wouldn't have gone to a friend if she had any knowing it would be the first place they'll look, but I just needed to know if she had anyone she'd contact"

He thought for a while.
"Dianne and Candace were the only things closer to friends I knew. She might have had other friends but you know how it is, I wouldn't really know. She was more of the reserved kind"

"But Gwen might have more idea of this" he added. Mary sighed.
"I went here a week ago, she didn't even want to talk to me. So chances of finding Dianne would be pretty slim" she slouched her back on the chair.

"Either way, we have to try__" before Mary could ask what he meant, he went inside and came out few minutes later. Dressed. Mary immediately understood as they both got into her car and hit the road.

Once they got there, she knocked on the door, like three times but there was no answer. She was about to sigh in defeat and turn back but she hadn't tried one thing. She turned the door knob and surprisingly it came open.

"Looks like no one is home" she said softly. Maybe Blythe took Gwen to the hospital or something.

Mary went straight to Gwen's room. She met a figure lying on the bed in the dark. The window blinds were down so it was hard to see. She quickly went to the side to raise the blinds.

Much better.

"Hey Gwen!" Mary softly called. But Gwen said nothing. She used the opportunity to look at her, maybe scan her. Gwen's eyes were puffy, not teary maybe lack of sleep or keep late nights. She still held onto the blanket.
She hadn't had breakfast__Mary guessed.

Gwen then looked at Mary again.
"I Know you. Who are you?" she asked at once getting up. She used her pillow as a stand.

"Um.. I'm Blythe's friend. Remember. She introduced me to you"

"Blythe's. Not. Here." She said almost inaudibly. Gwen was talking, not much, but it was better than last time. The only thing that could ruin this would be Jacob.

"Is s.. someone with you?" she asked.

"No. I'll go lock the doors" Mary said as she left to the sitting room. She let Jacob make breakfast for Gwen.
Once she came back to the room, she tried using her eyes to look for anything at all but there was nothing. The room would have been a mess if not for Blythe.

"Blythe isn't here" that meant she needed to leave.

"I know. Maybe I could wait for her" Mary persisted. This was definitely not going great. She had already started picturing all the things that could go wrong with the plan, like Maybe Gwen insisting on her to leave or her seeing Jacob and loosing it.

"Hold on. I'm a bit thirsty" she said as she went to the kitchen to check on Jacob. She must give it to him, he made good breakfast.

"How's she?" Jacob asked

"She's talking. That's good" Mary said as she took the tray upstairs.

"While I was down, I quickly made this." she said placing it by Gwen's table. Gwen threw her face away.

"Why? I never asked you to do so" she looked irritated now. Mary took a bite of the bread
"See. It's not poison. I could tell you hadn't eaten, so i had to make this" Gwen took another look at the food, then at her.

"I'm actually here because of Dianne" Mary finally said. Gwen's eyes grew wide.

"Dianne? You know Dianne? She's my daughter."

"And I'm her therapist doctor. She... She actually escaped from the hospital, and you might be the only one to know where she could be." Suddenly Gwen started crying. Sobbing infact.

"Dianne is a strong girl" Mary added in a way to console her.

"I can't lose her" Gwen said inaudibly.

"And you won't. She's going to be fine."

" Candace". Gwen raised the blanket.
"This is hers__ she's going to come back too right?"

Mary stared. Poor woman.

She's going to come back too right__ those words echoed in Mary's ears. She felt a surge of emotion. It was a mixture of frustration, anger, guilt and pain all at once. She wanted to help the Lane family, she really did.

There was nothing she could do about Gwen and Jacob. It wasn't even her business but there she was roped in. She felt connected to Gwen and Dianne who both dealt with grief differently.

So now, she could only come to the conclusion that Dianne was safe wherever she was and would come back when she was ready. Her job had come to an abrupt stop.
"Dianne would return Miss Lane. I know it."

"Gwen. Is. Better." Gwen finally said as she took a bite off the bread.

"Please take care of yourself. Maybe try going out for a walk or something." Gwen gave a weak nod, as Dianne carried her purse and headed for the door.

"By the way, Jacob sends his unapologetic love. He says it would mean the world to him if you could forgive him one last time"

As Mary left the room, she finally took a look at the corridors separating the different rooms. But something on the wall caught her eye. It was a portrait. It was in black and white, so she guessed it was an old picture of Miss Lane and maybe her friend. She looked at it carefully. Below was a date reading ;

12th September 1999

They looked so happy in the picture. She touched the picture. Where has that happiness gone to now? She was so engrossed in the picture that she didn't notice a purse on the table there. When she did, she instinctively opened the purse. In it, she found an identification card. It was Blythe's purse. But something else was there, a paper. It was tucked in the corner. She opened it. It read ;

Left yesterday. Heading there now.

Mary in shock closed the purse and kept it back where she saw it. Could Blythe know the whereabouts of Dianne. If so, why is she hiding her? She must have heard about Dianne's escape on the news. And why would Dianne trust Blythe enough to tell her?

There was more to this and she knew it.