The Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 15

The steady bleeping of my heartbeat on a moniter woke me. I opened my eyes and my vision gradually focused. There were white walls, white floor tiles, white machines; white everything. I looked up to see my mother standing over me.

"It's okay, sweetie." she soothed, stroking my hair. I propped myself up on my elbows as I took in my surroundings. Anna lay asleep on a white bed to my right, her chest steadily rising and falling. At least she's okay, I though to myself. I slowly turned my head to face the other way and saw Tom lying on his side facing me with his eyes closed, his left arm in a small bandage and the red hand print still on his cheek.

I slowly came to my senses as to where I was and what had just happened.

"Wait!" I choked, jolting upright and suddenly panicking. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered Robert. "What about Daniel!! What-"

"Sssshhh," Mum whispered, stroking my face and lying me back down again. She leaned over and gently kissed my cheek.

"Don't worry about that. The Police arrived minutes after you passed out. Someone called Jack, I think it was? He told them and they went straight away."

I smiled, and Mum smiled back. "Anyway, they arrested him immediately and took him to the station. They questioned him and Tom, and Tom said something about you filming it. So they took your phone and watched all the footage. Everything was on there - right up to the bit where you fainted, clear as day. Everyone was so relieved - they knew Daniel would try and deny it. That was a very clever thing to do, Honey."

I smiled again.

"Where is he now?" I asked.

Mum shifted uncomfortably on the side of my bed, thinking of what to say.

"Well... With the hard evidence, Daniel was immediately proven guilty. So they imprisoned him straight away. This was all last night. However, when they went to see him this morning, he..." She trailed off.

"What?!" I urged, sitting up again.

"He was dead."

I gasped. Daniel? Dead?! Part of me felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Like I knew that Anna could finally sleep at night, and Harriet could finally stop worrying about her. He was finally gone from their lives, forever. But another part of me felt sorry for him. He was never quite right in the head - we all knew that, and... No. Robert's picture floated into my head. Gone. Never replaceable. And I lost all sympathy for Daniel. He had no excuse for doing that. None whatsoever.

Then I thought of Harriet. She's still on Hockey Tour - she doesn't come back until Saturday. She hadn't texted me once so I assumed she'd had no signal, which was fair enough. But she had no idea about any of this... She's was going to be upset when she found out about Daniel. He may have been a horrible man, but he was still her father. I had a feeling it wouldn't take her long to get over it, though.

"How did he... Die?"

"Drug overdose," Mum sighed, "They don't know how he got the drugs. But he'd taken an awful lot of Heroin, and mixed it with Cocaine. Not a good combination - at all."

She stroked my forehead. "But that's all over now. And the main thing is, you're okay. Just a little shocked. So is Tom - a sprained wrist from when he tried to stop you from falling when you passed out, and a mark on his cheek that will heal. Anna's fine, too. She has bruising, but that will heal. So overall, a happy ending." She smiled.

I smiled too. Tom was fast asleep, so I assumed they'd sedated him so wouldn't be up for a while.

An official-looking nurse holding a clipboard walked over to me.

"How are you feeling?" She smiled.

"I feel fine, thanks," I said. I did, actually.

"Good. The doctor says you should be able to go home early this afternoon, once we've analysed your blood sample."

"Thank you very much," Mum said.

"That's no problem, ma'am."

"What about Tom?" I asked.

"Tom is quite sore, but he'll be fine. He will have to stay another few hours though, I'm afraid. Just while we make sure he's okay." Then she nodded at my mum and left.

"Where's Dad?" I asked.

Mum hugged me gently. "In the cafe. You know your father and food," she said, and chuckled. "I'd love to stay, but right now, I need a coffee. I'll be right back!" And she walked off.