When I opened my eyes again, I was in Daniel's arms.
"What happened?" I was aghast.
"You fainted again." Daniel signed with relief. "Stay still. Let me help." He said as he tightened his arms around me, preventing me from wiggling out of his embrace. I stopped struggling and watched him curiously as he carried me to the bed. He crawled and placed me down in the very center. He gathered the pillows and adjusted them for me. I just lay there like some cripple, watching him take care of me. It was so weird and I was cringing inside.
What was wrong with everyone? Why was Daniel behaving out of character? What does he want from me?
Then I remembered what he said about Sylvester. My heartbeat picked up and I felt myself starting to sweat. I grabbed his hand, forcing him to pause and look at me.
"Sylvester. He is innocent."
"You will have to convince Dad of that." He tried to cover me with the duvet but I stopped him.
"I feel hot." I muttered.
"Oh. Okay." He went to the AC and adjusted the temperature.
"And as for that deal, it was made after I dealt with Riley. I beat him so badly, he couldn't stand for a week." He said over his shoulders.
"That was you?" I asked in shock.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"What do you mean by that question? You are my sister. How dare he try to set you up like that?"
He actually sounded upset.
"He told me he was targeted at a rugby game when he went to the stad." I said giggling.
"That son of a bitch."
It felt good knowing that Daniel stood up for me and protected me.
"What about Riley and Uncle Ron? What did Dad do to them?" I asked.
All this while, we were talking and I didn't remember them at all. If Daniel didn't mention Riley, I would probably not have worried about them at all.
"You don't know?" Daniel asked as he returned to his seat.
"Know what?"
In response, he opened the newspaper and threw it at me.
It landed beside me so I picked it up and a headline written boldly in red jumped at me…
"CAITLIN WOODS EX FIANCE, RILEY; STILL ON THE RUN, 5 DAYS AFTER KILLING HIS FATHER!"
My heart felt squeezed and my breath caught in my throat. I was instantly covered in sweat and my breathing became erratic, alarming Daniel.
"Shit!" I heard him say as he jumped off his seat and came ro my side.
"Caitlin calm down. breathe. Look at me. Cat looked at me. Breathe okay breathe." Daniel carried me and propped me up. Quickly adjusted my body so I was lying on his chest.
"Listen to me Cat, breathe like this…" He started breathing in and out for me to follow.
It was that I couldn't hear him. I heard him very clearly but I couldn't process the things he was saying. Everything was disjuncted in my head. All that made sense was the wordings of the newspaper. It was as if it was made into a sign post with red lights flickering on and off as a siren went "poo poo poo", in sync with the light.
Uncle Ron was dead? Riley killed his father? Why?!
Just then the door opened and the nurse stepped in.
"What is going on?" she asked as she placed her hand on my forehead.
"Her fever is gone. She is in shock!" Daniel informed her.
"Why? What did you say to her?" She asked in an accusatory voice.
"I told her that Uncle Ron was dead. I didn't know she would react like this." Daniel sounded guilty.
I could hear them all but I couldn't gather the strength to pull myself together. My brain was sending out signals but my nerves were ignoring them. I was quivering and my eyes were darting around the room. I felt locked in my head, subjected to the sounds of sirens and the flickering red lights of the signpost. I was terrifiéd. But then I felt a little sting on my arm and gradually, everything turned dark.
When I woke up this time around, it was the middle of the night.
I was first disoriented and stayed still till I recollected what had happened before I was injected. Daniel had been with me… I turned to look at the couch but it was the nurse I found sleeping soundly on it. … I was right. She was the one using it as a bed. Why wasn't she staying in the guest room? The idea that some random stranger was sleeping in my room every night wasn't pleasant for me. I hate sharing my space with strangers. Well, I have never had to, so it was a new feeling that I didn't like. Deciding to tell her to move out in the morning, I turned back to my thoughts.
Uncle Ron was dead. Riley killed him. Why?
This time around, I felt the chill shooting up my spine but I was able to handle it. I felt an intense guilt. Deep down I knew saying that Uncle Ron raped me would cause issues but I never for once thought of a death. I kept thinking about what this would mean for me. I should be happy that now, it would be impossible for us to go ahead with the wedding since Riley was now a criminal. A murderer at that. I felt like I got what I wanted but I felt no joy of triumph. Rather, my mouth felt dry and ashy. I needed to drink water.
I had kept track of time the previous evening so I was able to deduce that whatever that nurse gave me had knocked me out for 6 good hours. As I tried to get out of bed, I saw a tray of food by the bedside. I opened it and it was tofu and rice stew. It was cold and dull looking. To get it back in shape, all I needed to do was warm it up but I wasn't willing to make the journey to the kitchen nor wake the nurse up so I covered it and went to the bathroom where I removed my jumpsuit and took a cold bath. I wasn't just thirsty, I was hot too.
I drank straight from the tap before and after the bath then I returned to the room where I quietly removed my beddings by simply dragging them to the floor. Leaving just about 3 pillows that were not stinking of my sweat.
My beddings was made up of two bedsheets and a duvet. I removed the first Sheet and the duvet while I used the other sheet to cover my body as I tried to go back to sleep.
When I woke up, it was almost midday. The food tray had changed and the drip stand was gone. Beside the covered plates of food was a transparent plastic cube containing tablets and a small note which I guessed from a glance contained the dosages of the drugs. I rolled my eyes at it and turned to the other side, expecting to see the nurse or maybe Daniel but what I saw nearly killed me. I saw my Dad, seated crossed legged on the couch, with his head hidden behind a newspaper. I was so shocked, I choked and started coughing, spooking him.
"Princess! Easy, easy!" He said. He took water from a jug beside my table and gave me some water. After a bit, my head cleared and my breathing calmed down.
"Dad… I…" whatever I wanted to say was stuck in my throat. Dad wasn't looking angry. Rather, he was looking worried. I really didn't know how to respond to him. My default reaction to Mum was anger but when it comes to Dad, I am always confused. Even if I managed to get angry with him, it was always so I could run away and hide. The anger was never real, like when I get angry with Mum.
As he looked at me with that much worry in his eyes, guilt engulfed me and I couldn't meet his eyes. So I looked away from him. "I am sorry Dad." I finally managed to say in a very tiny voice.
"It's okay…"
He came over to the bed and sat beside me. He then put his arm around me and brought my head to his chest gently. I wanted to pull back because it's been a long time since he treated me like a child. I wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. But I couldn't bring myself to reject his comfort.
"Everything is my fault. If I had paid extra attention, I would have known. But you have nothing to worry about now. I have taken care of it." He rubbed my shoulder gently, as he spoke. "Don't worry about anything okay. Just get well and strong again. Everything will be fine. As long as I am around, nobody will bully or hurt my child. Nobody."
All I could do was nod my head as the implications of his words started to sink in. I felt my body turn cold. Did Dad kill Uncle Ron and made it look like Riley did it? Is Riley really missing or Dad has already gotten rid of him? Fuck! I knew I shouldn't have said anything. This is all my fault.
I took a quick peek at Dad. He didn't look like a killer. He looked like Dad. Gentle in the eyes but with a strong deep voice that has the power to scare you to death but also tease you to death. He was a playful man until his lover's death. What happened to him? Was he always a cold blooded killer and I am just getting to know?
I shivered and felt his arms tighten around me. I felt well protected in the arms of a killer but I felt no fear because he is my father and he loves me.