Sparks Reignited

43 | Aftermath

The next morning, my name is all over the news. I wake the entire town up to ghastly news of the mayor's son kidnapping and attempted murder of a father and daughter. The media even digs up articles from my old car crash and mentions my coma and amnesia.

They're now officially calling me, 'The Girl Who Survived'.

I'm not sure how to react to that, but I'm definitely missing school for an entire week until the public's attention on me has died down. Reporters are swarming the front yard, leaving me without a choice but to stay cooped up in my bedroom. Thankfully, Judy, my baby cousin, is here to keep me company.

She's doodling on my cast. Drawing a tiny Mr. SpongeBob and Mr. Patrick in her yellow and pink glitter pens. Her voice is high and bubbly. "Do you like them?"

I grin and ruffle her hair. "I love it, but don't you think we're missing somebody?"

"Who? Mr. Squidward?" I nod and she squeals. "I can't believe I forgot about him! He gets jealous easily."

"We definitely can't leave him out then." I hand her a green glitter pen this time. "Here you go."

Judy keeps drawing, knowing well enough to draw along my wrist and avoid the fingers.

Last night at the hospital, I had an X-ray scan. It turns out that I've broken my index finger and sprain the rest when I punched Gavin. The joints are swollen, and it hurts at the slightest movement. After making sure the bones are all aligned, a nurse has helped to bandage my hand.

I remember leaving the room while cradling it. Kyle had looked at me with pained eyes, even if he didn't look in a better shape than I am. He was still sporting a huge bruise right below his left eye and a couple of bruises on his knuckles. But unlike me, he didn't break any fingers because he knows how to throw a punch properly.

As for my father, the two-inch stab wound on his thigh didn't, thankfully, sever any major blood vessels. He has been stitched up and needs several weeks of rest before he can walk well again. I've dropped by his ward once earlier, but he was asleep, so I figured I'll visit again later. After all, I do owe him an apology for treating him rudely and mistaking him as my stalker.

And Gavin... Well, the police tell us he's awake after having a surgery to extract the bullets from his wounds. Perhaps because he knows that he's at his wits' end, we are told that his mental state has become frenzied. While being kept under close watch, he has been bemoaning his innocence for hours. Yelling at officers to call his lawyer and family.

I tell the police everything that I can recall — his past relationship with my mother and his stalking. I even hand them the thumb drive Mom left behind, along with the password that I finally remember back in the car. One which I realize I haven't tried the first time I attempted to access.

Mom's car-plate number.

And inside the thumb drive, we find tons of documents on fund embezzlement of the company and pictures and videos of girls who were secretly filmed. Mom seemed to have copied the entire folder from Gavin's computer before she died. Now, the evidence is in the police's hands. Safe.

Gavin is to appear in court with me a few weeks later, where he'll be facing multiple charges. Including injuring a police officer and three counts of murder attempts; Mom, Dad and I.

I'm not looking forward to seeing Gavin, but I can't wait for him to carry out his sentence. Each time I close my eyes and picture him in his cell, I can see him giving me that creepy smile. His eyes look wild and feverish like a maniac, his hands gripping the metal bars even tighter. Snarling at me.

Thankfully, Kyle's family knows a brilliant lawyer, and he's coming down to tackle the case. All I know is that there's a strong likelihood that they will give Gavin life imprisonment. He can't hide his true colors anymore, not when there are many witnesses and firm evidence against him.