Outburst

Chapter 30 - Burst Out

I felt a slight relieve when I saw Uncle Luke opened his eyes. His right hand powerlessly tried to reach his chest, which I was sure felt a little sting after his sudden breakdown last night.

He tried to sit, so I put a pillow behind his back for him to lean on. He didn't say anything and just stared at me with his glazed eyes. They weren't threatening like usual. "Are you okay?" He finally spoke. "He hit you, didn't he?"

I guessed he noticed the bandage on my forehead. He was the one with a bullet wound on his chest, but he asked me if I was okay or not. I just smiled. "Yeah. It's... It's nothing."

"Why aren't you at school?" He asked again after glancing at the clock in the room.

My eyebrows furrowed—not because I forgot it was Monday already. "Do you... remember what happened last night?"

"Of course. My assistant tried to kill me and my niece."

"No, I mean after that—after the surgery," I corrected, but he still seemed lost. "What's the last thing you remember?"

It took him ten seconds to jog his memory. He then replied, "I was in the ambulance. My whole body was in pain... and I blacked out."

"You don't remember waking up and acting crazy?"

"What?" He looked surprised. "I... I have no recollection of that..."

This was even worse than I thought. Last night, Uncle Luke woke up from the coma that was supposed to be longer than just 3 hours—that was what the doctor told me after the surgery. But, no, he didn't just wake up. He woke up and shouted almost at the same time, like someone just inserted a nightmare to his head.

Maybe someone did. Kurt Roman. He was talking about the day Lori died, and all of the sudden, a new name came out of my uncle's mouth.

Dr. Irving.

What happened after that was out of everyone's control. He started shouting and moving, no matter how painful that was for him. We didn't need to call the nurses because the beep sound was loud enough for everyone outside the room to hear.

Roman and I watched the scene through the glass door as the doctor and nurses wandered around the room, doing something to help him. Uncle Luke looked like he was in a great pain, but still struggling and trying to get the cables and those hands off of his body. I just wanted to get in the room and told them to listen to him, but looking further at the situation, his action could cause something more serious.

When I told him that, he wasn't just surprised. He was shocked.

"The doctor said your blood pressure was dropping because of the sudden shock and there was internal bleeding that could cause your lungs to be filled with blood. They had to redo the surgery to save you," I continued. "B-but you're fine now, so..."

"You really heard me saying that?" Apparently, his mind was still on the 'I-saw-you-woke-up-and-shouted-crazily' part.

"Loud and clear," I lowered my voice. "Uncle Luke, I don't understand how you could forget it, but I called Detective Banks last night, and we just met this morning."

"What did he say?"

"He wasn't really sure if he had to reopen and reinvestigate Lori's case just because of that. The case is fifteen years old and was actually ruled as accident," I replied. "But, like he always says, he's open to any possibilities. He just needs to wait for Grant—I mean, Sean—to give his statement. And then, they will see if reinvestigation is necessary."

Uncle Luke altered his eyes to the window. I couldn't really find out what he was thinking—was he happy or disappointed by the detective's decision. But then again, he didn't remember the exact words he blurted out last night. He didn't even remember if he did that.