The Ghost Face Murders in Fall River

Ch. 29

Autumn awoke to find herself in a very familiar setting. It hadn't been that long ago since she had been in this predicament. Her mind was certainly foggy and she couldn't remember much except... That familiar ache in her heart. That empty place, that deep, dark void that Danny used to reside in. Autumn now remembered why she had wanted to kill herself. She also remembered the regret she felt for trying to do so. It may have hurt, but she was glad that she hadn't succeeded even though she was by herself in a darkened hospital room. Autumn couldn't help but to cry though. She wished she felt the comfort of Danny sitting next to her, watching over her, but that wouldn't happen. He was probably with Victoria without any inkling she had tried to kill herself.

"Autum... you awake?" came a familiar voice. It was Kim and she had been asleep on the couch, but Autumn's weeps had awakened her from a restless sleep.

"K-Kim? O-Oh, Kim!" Autumn cried seeing her friend on the couch next to the bed.

The blonde immediately got up and embraced her friend who wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. "I am so glad you're awake!" Kim beamed with a quivering voice.

"I-I'm s-sorry... I-I'm so s-s-sorry..." Autumn wept. "I-I j-j-just wanted the p-pain to go away..."

"Don't apologize, I'm just relieved you are okay!"

"B-But y-you and Richard... Y-You both already h-have e-enough problems..." Autumn continued weep.

Kim came away from her friend. "Don't worry about that, okay? Yeah, you had Richard and I scared to death, but we're both just glad you're alive. He told me the first thing you did was apologize to him when you were literally dying," she told her. "You actually died, Autumn, but they brought you back... we're going to move forward now, okay? You're not alone, you've got me and Richard. We're going to help you heal. I've been suspended from work and Harold let Richard have some time off so we decided that we're going to use this time to do whatever we can to make you feel better."

"Y-You two d-don't need to do that... R-Richard lost his friend... h-h-he n-needs time to grieve..." Autumn said wiping her nose.

"Richard wants to do this though, not only will it help you, but he feels it will be good for him. Seriously, Autumn, let us help you... you are going to need a lot of support... because you're pregnant," Kim confessed.

Autumn gasped and her mouth dropped open slightly. Had she heard Kim correctly? She was pregnant? How was that possible? Danny said he was sterile. "I'm... I-I'm pr-pregnant..." she uttered faintly with glistening eyes.

Kim nodded. "Yes, I got to see the ultrasound photo."

Autumn broke down and wrapped her arms around her abdomen. "I-I didn't know... I-I-I d-d-didn't know! I-I wouldn't... I w-w-wouldn't have h-hurt m-myself if I had known! I s-s-swear, Kim!" she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry... I'm s-sorry... I-I wouldn't h-h-hurt you f-for nothing..." she apologized to the speck in her womb.

Kim rubbed her friend's back to comfort her. "It's okay, Autumn, you didn't know," she consoled softly. It was safe to assume Autumn was keeping the baby. Kim didn't dare discuss any other option.

When Autumn finally calmed down she wiped the tears from her eyes and asked, "Y-You s-said there was a ph-photo?"

"Uh, yeah, Jed has it..." Kim told her.

Autumn's heart dropped into her stomach. "H-He was here? H-He kn-knows about everything?"

"Yeah, he does. He seemed upset over your condition, but I think it's because he feels guilty because he knows he's a piece of shit... sorry," the blonde shrugged. "He... definitely wants you to have the baby... in case you were wondering. He seemed quite protective of it."