What a Catch - Phan

News

"Wh-what?" I asked, staring steadily at the nurse. My hands started to shake, and out of the corner or my eye I could see Hannah's eyesight flit between me and the nurse nervously. I didn't look directly at Hannah, but kept my grip tight on Phil's hand, making him shake with me.

"Someone confessed to hitting your boyfriend. Do you want to talk to them?" The nurse stayed completely calm throughout, not a breath out of place, no stuttering and nothing out of the ordinary. I stayed silent, biting the inside of my lip before slowly nodding. "Come to the reception when you're ready." The nurse informed me curtly, before leaving the room. As soon as the door closed I collapsed. I leant over Phil's body, resting my head on his chest, feeling his beating heart on my forehead and his steady breathing on my head, snaking its way through my hair. I sobbed into his chest, willing him to wake up and wrap his arms around me, cuddling me tightly into him. As usual, nothing changed. My tears soaked through his hospital gown and onto his pale skin, and I kissed the now salty fabric gently. My whole reality had been blown apart. In the space of a month everything had changed for me. Phil had been hit and was lying unconscious under me, alive but not living, my best friend had turned out to be his cousin, and my parents had gone to prison for something that they didn't actually do. I couldn't rely on anything any more. Everyone had been lying to me, my entire life. Nothing was true any more, all of my trust had gone. I was just falling, falling with no one to help me and nothing to break my fall. Maybe it was meant to be like this. Maybe I was just meant to be sad. I had had such a bad childhood, and that was how it was meant to be. As soon as I see happiness it is taken from me at 12:56 at night by a stranger and a car.

"Oh, Dan..." Hannah murmured sadly, before gingerly resting a hand on my shoulder. I flinched at the contact, pulling Phil closer to me, trying to breathe in his old, normal scent but only smelling antiseptic and sterilised clothes.

"I should go see this person..." I mumbled, pulling myself up from the chair that I had previously been sitting on. I gave Phil's hand one last squeeze and showed Hannah a sad smile before leaving the room. The nurse smiled at me sympathetically before leading me to the reception, where two policewomen were stood, hair tied back and shoved beneath a black cap with a few strands that wouldn't fit into the ponytail hanging down on the nape of their necks. They look kind enough, although very serious. I suppose they had to be with the job that they're doing. They, without a word, gestured for me to follow them, so I did, walking just behind them and towering over them. They opened the back door to the police car, letting me get in and leaving me to feel like I was an actual criminal that was going to prison.

The car journey was long and awkward, and the policewomen barely spoke. I, of course, was quite fine with them not speaking to me, however I would have liked to hear a bit of sound in the car, whether it was them speaking to each other or even just some old songs on the radio. The only time I was told something was just before we entered the police station.

"His name is Andrew Reckleback." The policewoman with blonde hair informed me.

"Who?" I asked, having not really paid attention to either of the constables.

"The man who ran over Philip." The other one told me. I nodded meekly and their gazes softened as they saw the nervous look on my face.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." The blonde one reminded me again.

"No, I want to." I said, not looking up at either of the women. In my peripheral vision I could see them start to walk towards the station, so I followed again, feeling like a giant behind their 5'4 frames. They showed me into a room where there were lots of different booths, each of them numbered and separated from the rest. You had to go through a door to enter the booth, and I suppose that was so other inmates and visitors couldn't see nor hear you, although inside the room was a security camera and a microphone, and I guessed that there were others hidden away so they wouldn't be broken. The policewomen told me to enter booth three so I walked over to it and opened the door.