Blood Money

12

Danielle gets to her apartment and has managed to shake her guard dog.  She is however, shocked to see Jeremiah there with a couple of his men.

"Jeremiah, what are you doing here?" Danielle has a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Trevor told me that he thinks you're going to do another disappearing trick."

"Trevor's a very smart man, sometimes." Danielle thinks about that a minute, "when he wants to be, which isn't often.

"How's your head?"

"Other than a stinging pain it's fine. Danielle, just who the hell are you? I'm not sure that I could have made those shots that you did yesterday. You're no fucking innocent when it comes to guns and shooting."

"Are you going to kill me?" Danielle doesn't get her hopes up when she asks this.

"No, I owe you my life."

"Then leave and pretend that you didn't find me here. I'll be gone by night fall."

"I can't do that." Jeremiah says and Danielle feels a prick as something is injected into her.

"This is how you treat those you owe your life too? Shit, I'd hate to be on your shit list."

"Charming Danielle. I wouldn't have done that if I could trust you to not run. I owe Trevor even more. He's asked me to make sure you don't leave. He was pretty sure you'd be able to lose your guards. It appears that he's right."

Danielle doesn't say anything and soon the drug takes over and she falls into a deep sleep.

When she wakes she remembers everything and she decides that the best course of action is no action.

"Have you been awake long, Danielle?" Jeremiah asks coming in with a tray of food. The smell of which makes Danielle sick.  She doesn't quite make it to the garbage can before she loses her food or what remains from the day previous. Or whenever her last meal was. She doesn't know how long she's been out.

"Get the doctor in here!" Danielle starts convulsing.

She's getting really tired of what that damn illness does to her. It would be so much better if they would just let her die. Those are her last thoughts before she's pulled back under.

This time when she wakes up there is another IV in her arm. She's getting tired of having those damn things in her arm.

"I'm sorry, Danielle. It wasn't my intention to make you even more ill than you already are. Like I said I owe you my life." Jeremiah says from her bedside.

Danielle doesn't say anything. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters.
"Danielle?" Jeremiah says starting to get worried at her lack of response. The emptiness in her encompasses her. Nothing matters, not any more.

A stranger comes into her line of vision and checks her responses.  He checks her vitals, but Danielle just has no energy or desire to respond to his questions.

"Danielle, you need to eat." That's Jeremiah's voice, but Danielle doesn't even look at him, she hardly even blinks.

Danielle just doesn't respond. She's too tired, maybe if she goes to sleep she won't ever wake up. She tries that. She closes her eyes, but annoyingly people force her to wake up.

"Danielle, you need to eat." This time it's not Jeremiah's voice, but Doug's. Still Danielle doesn't respond. "Come on, Max wouldn't want you to be like this. You need to eat." Doug's voice is somewhere between pleading and ordering.

Danielle doesn't care. She just closes her eyes once more. Why won't they just let her sleep forever?

She wakes up again but this time she can't swallow properly and she starts to panic. "Calm down Mrs. Williams. You fell unconscious for lack of food. To make sure that there would be no problems we put a breathing tube in as well as the feeding tube. I'll take out the feeding and breathing tubes now that you're awake."

She looks around her, as her tears leak down her face. The hospital. She's back in the damn hospital. She narrows her eyes, this is Trevor's doing. The anger she feels spikes then falls, it doesn't matter. They can force the food down her, but that won't make her live.

Once the doctor is finished he tries talking to Danielle, but she remains silent. After sighing the doctor finally leaves.

"Danielle, what are you doing?" Trevor demands. He had his body guard bring him down in a wheelchair. "Just who the hell are you?"

Trevor gets angry as Danielle ignores him. She just stares up at the ceiling letting him vent out his anger. 

Not even the gun at her temple makes her look at him. "Give me something Danielle, some reason to trust you."

Danielle in answer just closes her eyes. Despite her best efforts a small smile comes onto her face.

"Fuck, this is what you want. You want to die." Trevor says shocked. He hadn't believed it, not really. He falls back to his chair and nearly doubles up in pain. 

As soon as the pain passes he looks over at Danielle. "What the hell, Danielle? Tell me what's going on. Do you know who killed dad?"

"If I knew that, I'd find and kill that bastard myself. Just let me die, Trevor. It's what you want anyway." She had told him that before, but he had never believed her, now he does.

"Who are you Danielle?"

"I'm nobody. A nobody that married an incredible man. A nobody that wishes that she had died with that man. Why won't you let me die, Trevor?"

"I can't, father wants me to look after you." Trevor says with a dry mouth. He tries but can't seem to wet it very much.

"From the first you've wanted to kill me, now there's nothing to stop you. Why won't you just finish what you want to do?"

"Why won't I? Because my father loved you more than life, Danielle. He left me a letter begging me to take care of you. To make sure that you are alright for the rest of your life."

"Then kill me, and I'll finally be alright. The pain hurts beyond belief, Trevor. Everyone that I've ever loved has been taken from me. Yet here you are, the one person I know hates me and you won't kill me. What have I done to deserve this?"

"Danielle, how do you know how to shoot like you did?"

"I'll only tell you if you promise to kill me afterwards." Trevor wants to make that promise, but he knows if he doesn't keep it that she will kill him. He can't keep that promise because of the wish of his father.

"Yeah, well nothing for nothing in this life, Trevor. Isn't that the first thing you were taught in the mafia?"

"Are you mafia, Danielle?" That makes sense to Trevor. How she would know how to shoot. How to disappear, all of it. Perhaps the seduction of his father as well.

"Like I said, nothing for nothing. You want that answer then you have to give me your promise." After that she refuses to say anything. She refuses to even look at him even as she can feel him glowering at her.

In time her eyes close and she finds relief in sleep.