An Unbreakable Bond

Chapter 17 - The Final Goodbye?

It has been almost a year. A year of thinking Aaron walked out on me. A year of hating him. Now, this, and Taylor missing, my world has officially crumbled. I couldn't think straight. I was almost drowning in my own tears. I wanted to hit Mike for telling me. Claire held me tight, and as I tried to see through my tears, I could see Mike stood there, with his head in his hands.

I released my grip from Claire and stood up, and walked over to Mike, taking his hand.

"Why me?"

"I'm so sorry Annabel, I know you deserve none of this, but you don't deserve to not be told. I have done this so many times and it never gets any easier."

He held me as tightly as Claire did. I don't know how long he held me, but it felt like years. Crying uncontrollably in to his chest. I could hear Claire behind me fighting back the tears. Mike pulled away and asked me to sit down so he could explain everything.

"Why didn't anyone tell me Mike?"

"I can't give you that answer Annabel. When I took that phone call back at the hospital, when Paul came to visit, did he not say anything at all? You said it was him that introduced you both?"

"He told me that he hadn't spoke to Aaron since the party, when we first met. He was only his friend, so he may not have been close to his family. He may not even know himself about this."

"You told me that shortly after Aaron left, your auntie and uncle gave you a hard time about falling pregnant, which made you leave? And in the first interview, with the chief inspector, you told us that they didn't know where you went? So maybe, that is why nobody told you? Look, I know how hard this is for you, but maybe they wanted to let you know. Aiming your anger towards people who may have tried, won't help the situation."

"How did this even happen?"

"It appears that the car Aaron was driving, was hit by another, head on. The driver of the other car was found to have had traces of alcohol in his system, and was driving on the wrong side of the road."

"You said he died at scene? Do you know if it was instant?"

"From the reports I got, it appears that was the case, so he didn't suffer. He had a passenger, Annabel."

"Somebody else?"

"Edith Peterson. His grandmother. She was also pronounced dead at the scene."

"So that means..."

"It means that the Edith we are looking for, is not Aaron's grandmother."

"I want to go and see Aaron's grave. I have to see it for myself."

"Right now, you need to rest. Tomorrow, we will see. Tomorrow, we go and get Taylor."

"I don't want to rest."

"Annabel, we are all going to need to be fully rested for this. You look just as tired as I do. Claire, can you stay with her for the night?"

"Absolutely. I'm not going anywhere."

"Annabel, please rest. I'm sorry that I had to come straight out with all of this, but from now on, there are no secrets. You have been through enough already. I will be here, first thing in the morning, and I want to bring someone else in on this case who you will meet tomorrow."

Claire walked Mike out, as I lay back on the bed. I didn't have a drop of liquid in me to cry anymore tears, but it didn't stop the pain. What small fragment of heart I had left, had now broken. To lose the two people I love most in this world was ripping me apart inside.