The Girl Who Doesn't Speak

Chapter 6

I change my clothes in case someone recognises me at the hospital, even though the staff who were there this morning may not be on duty, I wanted to be safe in case security recognises me on the cameras. I also grab a cap so no one recognises my hair. Before I leave the room, I grab my sunglasses so I would have something to disguise my face with.

Now I need something to help disguise the girl.

I glance around my room and checking my closet for something for her to wear. The only thing I had to put over her hospital gown was my dressing gown. She could use the clothes she had worn this morning, but she would be recognised by staff if she wore them.

I feel a stabbing in my stomach when I think about my sister. She had a crimson trench coat that she had gotten for her eighteenth birthday just two months before she was killed. It was perfect for her to hide her gown underneath it. The thought of a stranger wearing my sister's coat made me feel like being sick at any minute. I couldn't let a stranger wear her clothes. It wouldn't be right, but I had to. It was the only way to disguise the girl and sneak her out of the hospital without being recognised.

I walk slowly towards my sister's room. I stood in front of it, staring at the door like I was expecting Tiffany to open it and invite me in, just like she would have done in the past.

With my stomach twisting into knots, and the guilt for entering my sister's room without her consent, I reach for the knob and turn it slowly.

I flick on the light and glance around her neat and tidy room that hasn't been touch since she was gone. It smells stuffy in here and humid from not opening the window and door for almost three months. From standing at the door, I could see the dust on her furniture and belongings. Soon everything in here will be cleaned out and even more empty and lifeless like it is now without Tiffany. I heard my parents talking the other day, discussing what they were going to do with her things. They were thinking of keeping some of her things that were worth keeping such as some of her prize possessions, such as the trophies she had won for surfing and soccer. Her furniture they were planning to sell and her clothes were to be donated.

One of the things I don't want my parents to sell is Tiffany's Disney collection. If I ever had to remember my sister for one thing only, it would be her love for Disney. She was a Disney girl at heart. Figurines of her favourite characters sat on her shelves, sitting beside her collection of books. Plush toys of her favourite characters were scattered around the room, on the floor, the shelves, the floor and her bed. When we were four years old she would ask me to dress up as her favourite Disney Princesses since she didn't have a sister to dress up with. It's not something I'm proud of, and it's definitely a secret I have kept from Rhett and my other friends.

When my parents do start to clean her room, I want to have her Disney collection. That way I will always have something of what she loved still a part of me.

Pushing a side my sister, I walk over to the wardrobe. I stare at her clothes, ones that will never be worn again. Her crimson trench coat hangs on a hanger at the end of the wardrobe. I take it off the hanger, closing the closet. Folding the coat neatly, I tuck it under my arm and quickly walk out of her room before my parents sees me in here.

I walk to the front door, calling out to my parents that I was going over to Rhett's. They don't ask questions about when I will be home. They just tell me not to be home too late.

I walk out onto the street, heading to my car that's parked outside the apartment. I place the coat on the seat beside me, start the car, put on my seat belt, pull away from the kerb and drive to the hospital.

I find a parking spot near the main entrance, putting on my sunglasses and cap as I walk to the entrance. The reception is closed so it made it easy to slip right past and down the corridors to where I need to go. It's currently seven thirty, but I knew visiting hours end at eight o'clock. So I'm glad I won't be asked to leave just yet.