Dark Secrets

Chapter 8

      I stared at Matt in shock. "Nikita? What accident? What happened to her?"

"I don't know the full details, just that she was found on Friday night in the carpark under her apartment building. She apparently fell down the stairs and suffered some serious injuries. She's in a coma and the doctors are not sure if she'll live or not. Her brother said he'll keep us informed of what happens, but asked us not to visit her in hospital, just family only."

He put his hand kindly on my shoulder. "Hey I know the news is terrible. We're all praying for her."

He walked out the door as I sat frozen on my chair. I broke out in a sweat. Jasmine's ex-boyfriend fell down stairs and was killed after she had found out he was cheating on her. And now Nikita had fallen down stairs and was seriously injured after I had told Jasmine that Nikita had come on to me. Could Jasmine, in a fit of jealous rage, have followed Nikita home on Friday night and pushed her down the stairs, just like with her ex-boyfriend?

No, it couldn't be. Jasmine wasn't a killer. And despite what Morgan Williams had said, I had never seen her do anything violent. Sure she had a bit of a short fuse and got angry easily, but not violent angry. It was a coincidence that Nikita had fallen down those stairs. It had to be. Maybe she was in a hurry and tripped.

I managed to get some work done, and during the morning tea break Janet asked the staff to put in some money for flowers and a gift for Nikita. I gladly gave her twenty dollars.

The day dragged on, but finally it was finishing time and I took the train home to my lonely empty flat, at least that's what I thought.

As I opened the door and walked in I stopped in surprise. There was Jasmine standing in the kitchen cooking what smelled deliciously like spaghetti bolognaise. She turned around and saw me.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Will you set the table?"

I stood there like a complete idiot with my mouth open, gaping at her.

"Y-You're back," I stammered.

She came up to me and put her arms around my neck.
"I'm so sorry, Josh," she murmured in my ear, "I was stupid. I should have known there's no way you would cheat on me. I believe you that it was all the little's bitch's doing. I knew she had the hots for you. Am I forgiven?"

OMG, Jasmine was asking me to forgive her? "Yes, of course you are," I managed to say, still rather baffled at her sudden turn around in emotions, "And do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do, silly, but there's nothing to forgive. She came on to you, it was all her doing, but it's okay now. She won't go near you again. I've taken care of the situation."

What? Did I hear her correctly? I felt a chill run down my spine. Taken care of the situation? That didn't mean? It couldn't mean...could it?

I took a deep breath and managed to ask her in a casual tone, "Um, what do you mean you've taken care of the situation?"

She gave me a quick kiss, then went back to the kitchen.

"Simple, I just sat down last night and cleared my mind, cleared all my hostile thoughts, and I realised that you love me way too much to ever even look at another girl. And she won't dare go near you again after the way I yelled at her the other day in your office, so everything is all right again. The world is back in balance."

I breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there I thought 'taken care of the situation' meant.....
But now I was faced with another problem. Should I tell Jasmine what had happened to Nikita three nights ago? Maybe I would leave it till after dinner. I set the table and helped dish up the food.

After dinner when we were sitting on the couch, each sipping on a glass of wine, I gave her the news.

"So the little tramp fell down some stairs? Ha, serves her right!" she said, not looking the slightest bit concerned.

I watched her expression carefully. It looked like satisfaction at first, but then she turned and gave me an angry look.

"Wait a minute, Josh. I hope you don't think I had anything to do with her accident?"

"No, of course not," I replied quickly, "but the poor girl was badly injured and she's in hospital in a coma. She may not pull through."

Jasmine looked thoughtful. She's in a coma? The fall didn't kill her? Hmmm."

I didn't like the way she said that. It was like she was hoping the fall had killed poor Nikita.

"But let's not talk about her anymore," she continued, "To be honest I don't care if she lives or dies. Come on, Josh, let's go to the bedroom. It's been nearly a week since we've done it and I'm horny!"

So for the next few days things were almost back to normal between us, but although I tried to convince myself that Jasmine had nothing to do with Nikita's accident, I could not get the nagging doubts out of my mind. Almost every day Jasmine asked me if there was news of Nikita. This seemed a bit strange considering she had said she didn't care if Nikita lived or died.

I'm not a religious person, but every day I prayed that Nikita would wake up from her coma and make a complete recovery. Finally the following week there was news.

Matt told me just after I arrived at work one morning. "Hey Josh, good news. I just got a call from Nikita's brother. She came out of the coma yesterday. The doctors say it's too soon to know if she has brain damage or not, but they're optimistic because she is talking almost normally. She is able to answer simple questions. He said the police are going to interview her tomorrow, but he already knows what she is going to tell them because he asked her himself this morning. Josh, she said she didn't trip on the stairs. She was pushed!"

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