Don't tell me bye bye (mystery/ thriller)

Chapter 22

I walk down the corridor to the only place I could think to go, relieved to see that there isn't a nurse sitting at the desk in front of the ward where I first saw Tae. I open the door and close it gently behind me; most of the patients are sleeping in their beds, just a few reading books by lamplight, or reaching out to the outside world with their tablets or smartphones.

Tae is still in the same bed as when I first visited, but he doesn't look the same. His cheekbones are almost cutting through his skin, and his eye sockets are just shadows of a previous life. He looks older, weaker.

I walk to the side of his bed and look down at his body, so decrepit cocooned inside the white hospital sheets. I stare at him, this person that I hardly know but have been through so much with.

I close my eyes, reaching into the deepest memories inside of me, trying to remember playing with Tae when I was little, to remember walking through the woods with him the day he was attacked, the babysitter, anything. But my mind just feels like a black hole, a deep chasm where I can't grasp anything or get a foothold onto a seedling of a memory or a clue about what happened.

"Tae," I whisper, willing him to open his eyes. "What happened?"

"What are you doing here?"

I jump and look up at Jennie on the other side of the bed, her hands on her hips.

"I just....I just wanted to see him, Jennie. Please don't start with me, I'm not in the mood."

Jennie rolls her eyes and sits down next to Tae, folding her arms. "Okay, princess. I didn't ask for your life story." She looks up at me. "Well? Sit down if you must."

I keep my eyes on her as I pull a chair up and sit down. "How's he doing?"

"How do you think he's doing? Look at him. There's no improvement. They've taken some of his bandages off and there's minimal scarring, but apart from that..." She looks down her nose at me. "Not that it's any of your business."

"If only you knew," I whisper.

"What does that mean?"

I shake my head. "Never mind."

"No, tell me." Jennie pulls herself up, uncrossing her legs and shuffles forward on her chair.

"Nothing," I look at her, and there's something in her eyes makes me decide to tell her. "I found out that I knew Tae from before. Apparently I used to live here."

"Who told you that?" she says, her voice louder than it should be in a room full of dozing patients. Not the reaction I was expecting from her, but anyway.

"Tae's Dad. And my mum."

Jennie shifts further forwards, putting her hands on Tae's bed. Her blue eyes are round in their sockets, drinking in my words. "What else did they tell you, Y/n?"

I frown. It's weird hearing her say my name without stringing it out like it's an offensive word. "They told me what happened to Tae, and that I got a concussion. Why?"

"Is that all?"
"Yes, but I think-"

Jennie's face has turned the same colour as Tae's bed sheets, and she locks her eyes onto mine. "They're lying to you, Y/n."

Her expression makes me shiver, her usually firm jaw wobbling as she swallows a few times. I wait for her to go on, but she doesn't seem to be able to find the words.

"Who's lying to me?" I ask.

Her head jerks up at the sound of footsteps, and I turn in my seat, my heart sinking as Dan walks between the rows of beds towards us.

"You should go," whispers Jennie. "I'll talk to you later."

I start to stand up. "Where?"

"I'll come to your house; just wait for me there." My head feels like it's floating off my body as I try to nod at the one person I never expected to get answers from. She frowns at me. "God, could you be any more obvious? Just get out of here and I'll see you in a bit."

I trip over my feet and walk towards the door, ducking my head down as I pass Dan, but he puts a hand on my arm and I have to stop.

"Y/n, I'm glad to see you. Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. I wasn't sure after you left the church. You've just seen Tae?"

"Uh-huh."

He frowns at me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh-huh." Oh, Y/n, you need to do better than that. "Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. I'm just, I'm just tired I guess. I should get home."

"All right then, I won't keep you. You know where I am if you need me." "Thanks," I squeak and hurry to the door.

I look back just as Dan sits down in my chair, and Jennie blinds him with one of her Hollywood smiles. He holds Tae's hand and starts talking to him, just as Jennie catches my eye and nods at me.

I guess I'll see her later.