Remember This✔

Chapter Fifteen

Charlie sits silently against a window in the reception of the mental health unit. He has seen doctors, visitors, crazy people and more crazy people coming out of the unit but not Molly. That must be good, it must mean that they believed him.

His arm is in a sling after a physical examination concluded that he's torn a muscle in his shoulder. He's been given painkillers to ease the pain and the police have been waiting until he's ready to give his statement. They're still talking with Molly's foster parents and the couple seem too lost to speak. The lady hasn't stopped crying since she got here. They must really care about her.

Charlie yawns and closes his eyes. It only takes a matter of seconds before he's asleep.

"Are you ready for me to take your statement now?"

Charlie flinches and opens his eyes. The attractive, blonde policewoman is hovering above him with a notepad at the ready. He nods.

"Thanks to you we were able to trace Molly's guardians through the school," Jo says. "They're talking to the doctor now. She isn't going to be alone anymore. I just thought you should know that."

"That's good," Charlie says. "The statement?"

"Right. So can you tell me in your own words what happened last night on the bridge?"

Charlie takes a deep breath and starts talking. He just wants to get it over with. He explains that he was walking home from a night in town and was crossing the bridge when he saw Molly climb up onto the ledge. He explains that something didn't feel right about it and that he was acting on instinct. He talks for so long that his heart begins to race as he recalls the details. He's reliving it all over again when he just wants to forget it ever happened.

"Did she say anything about why she was up there?" Jo asks.

"Something about her family," Charlie says. "She said they wanted her to do it or that they were okay with it. Obviously, I didn't know at the time that her family was. . ." Charlie swallows, glancing away.

"How did she seem?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was there anything she was doing or saying that seemed erratic?"

"She was standing on a fricken' bridge readying herself to jump from it," Charlie says through clench teeth. "Isn't that enough clarification?"

"Yes," she says quietly. "But was there anything else that stood out? Did she say anything that could point to her being a risk to other people rather than herself? How depressed did she seem?"

"I just told you everything that happened," Charlie says angrily. "She said that hands let go and then her hands let go. They let go of the wall and I saw a girl believing one thousand percent that dying was her only way out. So I'm sorry that I didn't pay much attention to her state of mind but I was too concerned with the water beneath her body."

"I think I have all I need," she says, rising from the chair. "Thank you for your cooperation. If you remember anything else don't hesitate to call."

"She isn't a danger to anyone," Charlie says. "She's just broken."

The policewoman smiles, ignoring that. "You should be proud of yourself. Your actions saved that girl's life. You're a hero."

Charlie's nose twitches. There it is. That word. The word he was dreading. He doesn't feel a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He doesn't feel glad or proud or anything else he should feel. He just feels like a fraud.

Charlie stares down at his fingers and whispers one thing. "I didn't save her."

The policewoman doesn't hear it, no one does. It wasn't meant to be heard but it's the truth. As he watches the police finally leave the hospital he wonders what he's still doing here. What purpose or right does he have to still be here? And yet he can't seem to get up or move or leave.