Velvet Blood

Cold days

Perspective - Scarlett Hemmings

4-12-1940

I woke up in the hospital. The nurse nearby told me that I passed out because of the anxiety and fear from the gruesome sight of splattered blood and have been here since yesterday. I see a nurse beside me in her plain uniform talking to an old man. I observe the ward and see many patients in a healthy state. Relieved by this sight as I'm with them, I give off a long sigh. But my mind still is lingering around what happened during our raid. I wonder how Arthur is doing. I stretch my arms making a crackling sound with my joints. "Excuse me" I said to summon the nurse near me. I asked her "When can I leave this place mam?". She replied "Tomorrow dear, you're still a bit weak. You were trembling from fatigue when you were admitted but I'm astonished to see you recover so quickly." I just reply with a smile as she moves away. I lie down on my bed resting my back which is pure bliss for a patient like me to be honest. The nurse praised me but I sure am aware how exhausted I am right now. I can barely walk. I try to take a nap, but when I close my eyes, my head aches. I wake up and take a look at the table beside me. I found a book titled Bits of Life. I take a look at it to escape the thoughts haunting my head. It helped me but not for long. I hear my stomach making weird sounds. Why wouldn't it? I was hungrier than a tiger which didn't hunt for its prey in 3 days and was living on leftovers. But it was not the time for my lunch yet. I pass by time looking at other patients and the activities they were involved in, dying of boredom I finally doze off by the grace of God. 

When I woke up, the police were talking with the doctor about my interrogation. He said " you could start right away sir. But I think it would be better if I inform her now and give her some time to mentally prepare. Look at the poor State the lady is in". The police agreed and stayed out of the ward for sometime. There were two of them. The doctor came to me and said " I'm sure you were eavesdropping on our conversation madam, not like I have a problem with it though. I just thought of informing you once again. Please be prepared." and went off to mind his business . The police came in after a few minutes and one of them sat on the table and one of them was standing. They had desperate looks on their faces. It looked like they could lose their jobs if their attempt at getting answers from me turns out to be futile. The guy who was sitting looked at me pity filled in his eyes and said " Good morning mam. I think you know why we're here. So please cooperate with us and let us do our job. We won't bother you again if we get our answers." I knew that was a lie. They'll bug me until the case closes. But I still want to help them. After all, They're trying to get to the bottom of the murder of my colleagues. So I just blinked with approval. Their first question was " Can you please tell us whatever happened before, during and after the raid in a detailed and elaborate manner mam?". 

                                                     Boy was I upset after hearing the question. I had to narrate the whole incident with all the minute details. I knew I had to. But I was too tired to do that. I still tried to muster up some energy, took a few deep breaths. I set my spine's position right and held the glass of water on the table beside. Fortunately, it was neither cool nor warm. I took a sip and set it aside. I finally started talking. "Good morning officers, I don't think I'll be able to help much. But I'll help you in every way I can." I replied to them. I could sense the disappointment in them. I couldn't help but feel bad about the fact that I didn't actually see what happened that day when I was smoking in the chilled room. But a part of me also felt glad that I didn't have to experience seeing such horror. I always thought I could bear seeing gore while reading books. But when I actually saw it in my real life, I knew how wrong I was. I started my story saying, " I reached the rendezvous point a few minutes before I was supposed to. The Raddor brothers were already there. As soon as I greeted them, William arrived . I knew Arthur was going to be late. I drop by their place frequently to spend some time with his daughter Jenna, So I knew Arthur had a headache. As I expected, he was the last to arrive but he was on time. He designated us with our jobs and we followed them. The Raddor brother and William went into the store through the main gate. Me and Arthur picked the back door's lock and went inside to inspect. We looked around for 10 minutes give or take ''.