The Silver Lining

FIVE

COUPLE of hours had passed by and Lisa was still in shock.

It was one thing to be attacked by random people at random timing on random streets; but her boss being attacked, probably because of her acting-out behavior, was splendid new level. She knew she would be in hospital one day, especially because of her 'interruptions' and poking nose in many peoples' business. She had used her Police contacts quite a few times now and she knew she had this day coming.

But, there was one thing Lisa was very proud of. No matter how uncanny they might be, torment to people around her was never the aftermath.

NEVER.

Although she did have a big list of people she would love to see injured or even dead, she didn't ever imagine Mr. Spade to be the chosen one; especially when he wasn't even an option. Lisa hoped that he didn't sustain serious injuries, because that burden of responsibility would just kill her.

While she made a lame attempt of shifting to her side, she brooded into her own thoughts. She was restlessly thinking as to the probable cause of this injury of Mr. Spade. She deliberated on an idea that there must be a connection between the attacks; but she knew she needed more than just ideas to actually find out a link between the incidents occurred in past couple of days.

Lisa exhaled, mostly with sadness. She wanted to visit Mr. Spade but she was dicey whether her body and brain could bear that amount of pain. After giving it a bit of thought, she removed all the tubes attached to her hands she pulled herself out of that bed. She dragged herself out of her room and walked up to the reception desk which was at the extreme right corner of that floor.

A doctor passing by offered Lisa help to find out the room in which Mr. Spade was admitted in. The sight of Mr. Spade terrified Lisa. He was lying there, with no movement of any kind. He was barely breathing. His forehead and left eye were badly bruised. He had sustained severe burn injuries all over his body and there was remainder of dried blood around some wounds. Lisa recoiled when a nurse passed by, who carried torn, bloodied clothes of the patient, admitted in that room.

"What happened?" Lisa glanced at Oliver, who was on edge of rage.

"Somebody... had planted a bomb in his car." Oliver spoke between his gritted teeth. "The bomb did not have much power to kill him. But, all the shattered windows, smoke and flames and rolled car knocked him unconscious. Doctor would put him under surgery today after few tests."

Lisa simply nodded as she attempted to sync-in all that information.

"Take care... I will be in my room."

Lisa patted Oliver on shoulder and walked back to her room. She couldn't comprehend why anybody would target Mr. Spade. She left the room mainly because she didn't know how to console Oliver when in fact she didn't know how to console her own self.

Her surroundings had turned mute but she could see nurses walking around her, probably even yelling at her for removing all the tubes and walking out of that room without any assistance. Nurses must have also thought of putting her to a brief sleep with little bit of propofol, as she could feel her heart beats stabilizing for no reason. Her pain disappeared which only made her think more of the accident.

Her mind kept asking questions and she pulled out her writing pad and pen to crystalize her thoughts. Before even completing her list, her eyes were heavy and her brain started shutting the whole system down.

Hours had passed by when Lisa came back from her illusion of darkness and peace to the unpleasant reality of hospital. She rubbed her eyes and face, to figure that the propofol was probably wearing off. The pain was back, though the severity had dropped marginally.

Her sight lingered on a figure walking out of her room with fastened pace. She moved her hands in an attempt to get out of the bed but instead found the list of questions she had written down.

Somebody had answered all her queries which raised her suspicions about a person walking out of her room. She grabbed the list and read every word carefully.

1. Why Mr. Spade was targeted? - No idea. But this would not be his first time.

2. What happened to Mr. Zacco? - Dead meat.

3. Was it relevant to the incident in the ally? - What incident? How many incidents are you a part of?

4. Or was it relevant to the hearing of Mr. Zacco? -I have my suspicions too!

5. Who would benefit if Mr. Zacco or Mr. Spade was somehow dead or unavailable for the trial? - In this case, my bet is on investigation officer & Driscoll Cartel.

6. Or Did Oliver try to kill his own brother? - Either you are out of your mind to put me in suspects' list or you watch too much of TV.

7. Where to start? - Elementary, Watson!

- Oli.

Lisa laughed at the last retort. "Fan of Sherlock, huh!"

At the thought of Sherlock, her smile dropped. She searched the whole room to locate her cell and checked the calls' list in hopes of calls from Grandma or Ashton. Her calls list displayed last call to her favorite restaurant on the night of the accident.

No calls!

No texts!

Where is everybody?

This whole stopper to the communication was very unsettling for Lisa. She rested her head on the fluffed pillow while she pondered on the thought of where Ashton and his team would be at this very moment. She hoped and prayed for his team's safety, not just for the sake of Ashton but she wanted those goons to be trapped alive. The boss had to be revealed. Lisa wanted the revelation and didn't much care for what might happen next to those men.

With Oliver's latest disclosure about demise of Mr. Zacco, she knew that this meant closure of trial. This meant that his case would be forever stored amongst many other cold cases where accused have died during their trials and Court isn't much bothered to figure out answers which haven't even been raised on behalf of those accused.

Oliver, though, didn't give her any direction to start digging. She wasn't able to get to her 'detective' self, which bothered Lisa to lengths.

Everything about this case reminded Lisa of a peculiar cold case that she had studied for years and years...

A case that had inspired her into being a part of the law system...

A cold case that was too close to her heart and that always revolved around her parents' murder.