Clockwork [final]

Nineteen

Half an hour later, their room was full of cops asking what seemed to them an endless list of questions. Derek shifted uncomfortably in his seat as if it were made of nails. Even though he no longer had anything to hide from them, it still made him nervous to be in the same room. As far as he was concerned, the sooner they left the better.

As usual, Adette did most of the talking, aside from the occasional confirmation from Derek.

“Well, Miss Winters,” one of the policemen said, looking at the notes in his hand and gravely rubbing his forehead, “There certainly is evidence of your case here. We will investigate for you. Thank you for your cooperation. We will let you rest now.”

Adette nodded wearily, exhaustion beginning to creep in. “Thank you. Please make sure that justice is done.”

After they left, she turned to Derek and smiled weakly. “Guess another hour really did make a difference, didn’t it?”

“Hey, no,” he said softly, resting his hand over hers, “Don’t think of it like that. That psycho would’ve got to us eventually anyway, one way or another. Just be glad we’re both alive and relatively well.”

She sighed and then stiffened with sudden realization. “Derek, where is Lassie?”

“I…” he mumbled hesitantly, “I don’t know.”

Panic ignited in her eyes. “They said she was okay, right?”

“Yeah, I don’t know where they’ve put her.”

The same nurse from earlier was still meekly lurking in the corner of the room. “She’s fine, miss,” she called, “Your friend Melinda has been looking after her for you. She must’ve forgotten to tell you.”

With that discovery, Adette let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, leaning back on the pillow.

“So, what now?” Derek asked.

“Well, we shouldn’t be able to go home for a few days, the entire laboratory is in ruins. The insurance company should be able to cover any costs, but… I don’t know what I’m going to do about the loss of my robots. They’ll probably pull Kevin in for questioning and a court case should be organized at some point, I guess. From there… I don’t know.”

Derek hated seeing the look of pain and exhaustion in her eyes; he knew how much those robots had meant to her and now she’d lost all of them. He felt a stab of anger towards Kevin. He’d known that he was delusional and psychotic, but this was beyond what he’d ever expected.

Focusing on Adette again, he could see that the medication was beginning to sink in its claws. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

“I should let you rest,” he said quietly, gently stroking her hand. She smiled softly back at him. The situation was a disaster, but when he looked at her like that it reminded her of how lucky she was. If he wasn’t here right now, she didn’t know what she’d do. She’d lost all her robots and half her house was destroyed, but they were still in one piece.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “I should let you rest, too.”

He smiled. “I don’t know if I can after today, but I should probably try.”

Reluctantly, he got to his feet, casting one last look at her over his shoulder. “Good night, Adette,” he says. It would be the same as any other night if it wasn’t for the edge of sadness in his tone.

“Good night, Derek,” she replies, the edge of sadness in hers too.

He lays his head down on the pillow of his own hospital bed and stares at the ceiling. Despite the fact that he is almost as exhausted and heavily drugged as Adette, he can’t seem to fall asleep. He can’t help it, he’s too worried about her. What could the court actually do to prevent Kevin from causing them any further damage? Would they throw him in jail? Or would they do something much less useful, like give him a fine, a home detention or a restraining order? He scowled to himself in the dark; with all that he’d seen from them so far, it certainly wasn’t below them. All he wanted was to see that freak locked up somewhere far, far away where he couldn’t hurt her anymore.