Into the Unknown

Liz

"Hey, Shannon," I manage to say without trying to sound too sad. 

From where she's sitting a few feet away from me, she looks limp and lifeless, like her own soul has been stolen. The death of a loved one, that is something I have never had to experience. It's the last thing I would ever wish on someone. Knowing that your closest companion, your best friend, the one individual whom you always knew would be there for you, would eventually fade away but not realizing that it could happen so soon and sudden. It's heart wrenching and nobody deserves to suffer through that sort of tribulation. But how would I react if I heard right now if Liam had died? Would I burst out in tears? Or would I be so shocked that I'd simply stand there, glossy-eyed, not knowing what to say or what to do with myself?

Instead, I try to focus on more positive things, getting myself prepped for whatever barricades Shannon might put up against me in these next minutes. 

She manages to sit up and look at me. Her eyes are red and irritated, probably from crying, and she's got a wad of tissues in her right hand. I notice there's a bouquet of expensive flowers in the seat next to her. 

I sit down next to her. "Those are beautiful flowers. I've never seen those kinds before," is the first thing that comes out of my mouth, but it's a conversation starter. 

She scratches her head, trying to keep her eyes away from mine, and sweeps a few strands of hair in front of her face to keep it invisible from my angle. "They're from Fields," she says angrily, like there's more to the story. I don't want to force her to explain more, but if I can gently nudge Shannon in that direction, it would be good if I got more information about what's going on here. 

Tilting my head a little, I curiously ask, "'Fields?' May I ask who that is?"

There's a deep sigh. "She's Martin's mother . . . and my husband's former business partner."

"Oh. Okay. Are you two . . . close?"

"Not in the slightest. She's the worst. A complete snake. It always has to be perfection in her eyes and if a single thing isn't right, she throws you under the bus and leaves you to be crushed and die."

Okay, so she obviously doesn't like this 'Fields' individual and whatever happened between her, James, and Fields is something that she doesn't want to discuss.

 As if there was a god and he heard my prayers to get out of this conversation that was leading me no further, the doctor comes around the corner with a tablet in hand. 

"Mrs. Herman?"

"Yes?" she says, sounding like she's about to start crying again. 

"Would you and Detective Auburn like to follow me, please?"

Shannon picks up the bouquet forcefully, not careful with the flowers at all. 

"Here, let me take those for you, Shannon," I say voluntarily. She hands them to me, but not gently. It's more like she was shoving them into my arms, like they're a box of photos of an ex-boyfriend that you want to forget forever but you know you can't do it on your own because you're too angry at whatever it was they did. Instead of you doing the deed, you send your friend to do it for you, and you give the box to them in a harsh way. So yeah, it's pretty obvious Shannon has a dark spot in her heart for this woman, who happens to be Martin's mother . . . is it a coincidence?

When we get to Dr. Crichton's office, Shannon and I take the seats adjacent from his, on opposite sides of the desk.

"I wanted to bring you in here because our medical examiner found something interesting in your husband's autopsy. I have the official report here." He pulls up a chart on the tablet and slides it over to us so we can see it all. There's a lot of gibberish, most of the words her and I don't know, like it's a completely different language. But I get that's not too far off from the truth. Lots of medical words are complicated and confusing. Granted, neither her or I have medical degrees so we would not be able to learn the vocabulary in the span between when he called us into his office and now. 

"Would you be kind enough to explain this to us a little? I know that might be a lot but in all honestly I don't really understand any of this and I believe that Shannon may feel the same."

"Oh, certainly. I'd be more than happy to," he says specifically to me, giving me a subtle wink.

Did he really just flirt with me? No he couldn't have. He had to have seen my engagement ring. It's obvious I'm taken and quite committed to my relationship. Liam would have him in handcuffs in a flash if he saw what just happened.

"We noticed there were some odd test results on James' blood-work."

"How do you mean?" Shannon asks so curiously it's like she has forgotten the whole dilemma with that Fields woman. 

"Our medical examiner found that there were low levels of lymphocytes, or white blood cells, in James' blood, which help fight infections. This means that there was most likely some damage caused to his bone marrow, and-"

I interrupt Dr. Crichton, saying, "You think it might have been caused by the accident?"

"It's highly probable but we can't limit any theories. Our doctors are working on trying to figure this out, since it's something we don't normally see in car accident patients. For something like this to happen is pretty rare. In my personal opinion, I don't believe this was caused by the car accident, but without the evidence, there's no reason to trust my personal thoughts."

After a nod in agreement, I speak up. "Thank you. I completely understand. That's something I do in my line of work quite regularly. One day I have an idea and later that afternoon I'll have a completely different thought on whatever it is I'm trying to solve."

"Well I'm glad somebody can relate."

He emphasized "somebody" just a little too much in my opinion; must be another one of his horrible flirting tactics.

I give him a nervous smile and I'm sure to not make eye contact with him. Right now, the last thing I want is Dr. Crichton thinking I am interested in his weird flirting strategies. Looking over to Shannon, I ask, "Well, are you ready to go? We should get you back home. I'm pretty sure William is worried sick about where you've been."

She grunts and lifts her shoulders a little. "There's no point. My life is a disaster and telling him his father has just died will ruin him."

"Shannon . . . you wouldn't want him hearing it from someone else though. He's your son and he's James' son. William deserves to know what has happened." For a minute there is silence between her and I, with the awkwardness of Dr. Crichton sitting in his seat acting like he's not even in the room. "You know what, would you prefer I tell Will?"

"Yes. That would help very much, thank you."

"Oh, anything for you, Shannon. Now, come on. Let's go get a cup of coffee and take you home."