Sydney - Luke Hemmings (completed)

alternate ending part 2

"You're sick," I choked out before pushing my stool away from the table, the legs making a screeching sound that irritated my teeth before fleeing the room, ignoring Luke's calls out to me and flying towards the bathroom.

I sat behind the door, a sobbing pile of mess and tears, rethinking the inspectors words.

"We can't charge a man for murder or manslaughter of an infant, if the infant in question isn't dead."

What sick and twisted human has the audacity the say this to a mother who's grieved her son for over three years, a mother who sat in the ICU with her weak son? A mother who buried her little boy a mere few weeks after giving birth to him?

A mother who watched her daughter grow up, a little girl who always knew there was something missing, a little girl who instinctively always looked for a part of her she couldn't find.

So no officer was going to tell me otherwise.

"Lily?" Luke's voice croaked out. I knew he was sat on the other side of the door, "It's absurd right?"

"It's sick and disgusting for him to even say that," I sniffled, wiping my nose and eyes with the back of my sweater, "I watched them lower his little coffin in to the ground Luke, I've taken you to his grave, he's dead and there isn't a soul on earth who can tell me otherwise. Mark needs to be charged,"

"Lily, open the door a second," he was pleading with me now and the desperation alone was enough for me to flip the latch and let him in. He scurried in quickly, locking the door again before sitting down beside me, "They've been talking since you came in here," he wiped his eyes, clearly distraught, before continuing, "I was seconds behind you, you know? Ready to scream at them and run away, I didn't want to hear it, until they told me,"

"Told you? Told you what?" I frowned, confusing etched in every crevice of my body, "What the hell do they mean 'isn't dead?' they've seen the reports?"

"I'll tell you exactly what they just told me ok baby?" He wrapped his arm tightly around me, cradling me to his chest before starting again, "Before Lucas, before he died, there was a request right? Doctor Martin spoke of it earlier remember?"

"Yeah, Doctor Edwards was a transfer, he had better experience in the monitoring of ICU, they thought it would be better if he took Lucas as he deteriorated, turn off the monitors privately as he struggled. None of us wanted him to suffer or to watch him suffer anymore," I cried, fresh tears escaping as I relived the pain of my final goodbye to my little boy, seeing it again, as he prepared to turn off the support and take my boy away.

"So you didn't see him when he passed?" Luke asked, this time looking me directly in the eyes.

"No Doctor Edwards took him away in his incubator, I couldn't watch him turn off the life support," I shook my head as fresh tears rolled down my cheeks.

Luke took my face in between his hands, "Shhh baby it's okay, it's okay,"

"Luke what is all this? I don't understand why they're saying that and I-"

"He didn't turn it off Lily," Luke made sure he had my attention before continuing, "He didn't turn it off,"

•••

I flew out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen quicker than I've ever moved in my life. Skidding back to the kitchen counter and all at once silencing the group that were discussing something or other, "Tell me it isn't true! Tell me that I've not been away from my little boy, unnecessarily for three years!" I was shaking with rage, "TELL ME THAT BASTARD DIDN'T TAKE MY BABY FROM ME!"

I fell to my knees as I was met with complete and utter silence, silence that told me everything I needed to know.

Mark Leronson took my newborn son.