Hope

Chapter Six

I waited in a small room with white tiles and small glass windows by each corner of the room. A nurse told me the doctor will attend to me soon but I've been sitting on these uncomfortable plastic chairs for about thirty minutes and my patience is wearing thin. Finally a doctor came in to talk to me and asked a nurse to take me to the room where I'll be meeting her.

The room was no different from the waiting room. It too has white tiles and the walls were painted with white. The only difference here was that there were no windows.

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with as much air as possible to ease the knot in my stomach.

It didn't help, the knot only grew tighter.

The nurse told me to sit down and that Sophia will be here soon.

As soon as the nurse walked out of the room, in came a large man wearing a lab coat, he looked like he was in his mid-thirties and with him was a pale blonde woman wearing a purple bathrobe.

Sophia.

My breath hitched in my throat and I made a sound that sounded like a mixture of a groan and a cough.

The man sat her down on the chair across the desk and walked to stand near the door, his black eyes on Sophia.

"Kathryn." She said with a wry smile.

"Sophia." My voice came out better than I expected.

"How have you been, Kathryn? How's Jeff?" Her eyes lit up when she said her ex-husband's name.

I feel my eyes widen when I notice that her right eye is green and her left is brown.

"What-" I clear my throat. "What happened to your eye?"

She smirked. "It's wearing off.

"What is?"

"I don't believe it's my place to tell you."

I shake my head. She's crazy anyway. She probably got contacts.

"How are you, Kathryn? How is Jeff?" She asks again.

"Like you give a damn." I spit.

"Not about you." She ran her fingers through her hair, which is in a better condition than I expected. "Why are you here, Kathryn?"

I straighten up. I try to find the right words to explain why I'm here but nothing comes up.

"This is about your parents, isn't it?" She raises her eyebrow.

"Sort of. And about Jeff." I say.

Her eyes blaze. "Why? Is he okay? What did you do?" She hisses, leaning forward, clenching her teeth.

I drag my chair back causing the male nurse to step forward. "Is everything okay here?" He asks.

"Uh..." I bite my lip as I try to get my confidence back.

"Yes, Fernando, everything is fine." Sophia says, her icy gaze fixed on my face.

"Miss?" Fernando turns to me.

"Yeah, everything is fine." I force a smile and drag my chair back to the table.

Fernando steps back and his gaze returns to Sophia.

"I asked you a question."

I am not supposed to be scared of her, I'm supposed to be strong. For my parents.

I dig my fingernails into my palm. "Jeff is fine, Sophia. But I have a few questions."

"Of course you do."

"Why did you do it? Did Jeff tell you to? Did you plan this together?" I don't take my eyes away from hers, which looked cold and menacing.

"I wish!" She exclaimed. "I didn't tell him what I was planning to do. I knew he wasn't going to like it, he has a good heart." She crossed her hands over her chest. She looked up hopefully. "Is he here?" She looked around the room, as if he'll see him.

"No." I said sourly. "He wants nothing to do with you."

"It's because he doesn't understand!" She screamed. Fernando stepped forward again but she held up her hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Understand what?" I ask.

"That I was doing this for him." She placed her shaking hands on the table.

"How? How was killing his own brother going to benefit him?" I'm finding a hard time keeping my voice low.

"In so many ways. It was going to benefit both of us. We were suppose to be happy."

My fingers dig deeper into my skin. I f I release them they might find their own way to her pretty face.

"I would say you're crazy but that goes without saying." I say through clenched teeth.

"I didn't think it through." She looked away, placing a finger on her chin. "I should've started with you. Or maybe all of you at the same time, except Jeff of course. I should have placed a bomb in the oven or something. Then BOOM! Jeff and I would've been happy." She smiled but then the smile faded when her icy gaze returned to me.

"What are you talking about?"

"He was next in line. But because of you and your obnoxious aunt, that didn't happen!" She balled her hands into fists.

"What are you talking about?" I raised my voice. My sight is blurry with unwanted tears.

She jolted up and pointed a shaking finger at me, her face red with anger. "I should finish the job now." She whispered. Then louder, "I should've started with you and Magnolia. I was so stupid! It should've been you!" She launched herself over the table to me, wrapping her cold hands around my throat, preventing me from breathing.

I fell backward with her on top of me, hitting my head painfully on the tile floor. Everything went white and my ears started ringing.

Suddenly she was off of me and my vision returned. Fernando held her hands behind her, hauling her towards the door.

I scrambled to a sitting position and touched my throat, gasping for air.

"My girl, are you alright?" A hand touched my shoulder and I jerked back.

She tried to kill me. She tried to kill me.

"Yes, I just- I..." I stumbled over my words.

"Can I bring you some water?" Her brown eyes were soft and full of worry. Her brown hair was pulled up into a tight bun.

"No, thank you." I scramble to my feet and stumble towards the door. I don't want to stay here any longer.

I started sprinting down the corridors, earning protests from doctors and nurses. I finally reach the exit and I push the large door open.

I didn't realize I was crying until I touched my cheek; it's wet.

I ran to the nearest bush, doubled over and threw up.

"Kathryn?" I hear Harry's voice behind me.

"I want to go home." I said, turning around. I looked up at him. "Please take me home."

He nodded and held out his hand. I took it. I don't think I'll make it to his car without support.

His hand is warm and it engulfs mine. He doesn't ask what happened, much to my relief.

I did get my answer though; Jeff was not part of Sophia's plan to kill my parents. I was stupid to even think about it.

I did, however, leave that hospital more confused than I was. What did she mean when she said I had an aunt? Last time I checked, Jeff was the only family I have left. Who is Magnolia? What ways was killing my parents going to benefit her and Jeff? There are a thousand questions swimming in my head and there's no one to answer them except Sophia and I'm sure as hell not going back to see her.

Jeff knew Sophia better than anyone, perhaps he has the answers. Or maybe Sophia was messing with my head. She's in a mental asylum for crying out loud!

"Kathryn? Are you okay?" Harry asks, glancing at me.

"No. No, I am not."