Chapter Fifty Eight
I was dreaming, I was having a dream- no a nightmare, I had to be, and soon I would wake up from this nightmare and go back to my normal and usual life.
It may not be the life I had expected to live but at least both my parents were alive and still with me.
The last couple of days were not part of my life, it wasn't real, it was just a very long nightmare that I unfortunately couldn't wake up from. My parents hadn't both been brutally attacked, my mum wasn't in hospital recovering, my dad didn't die and his body certainly wasn't missing.
Even if this wasn't a nightmare, how could it be real? How could all of this have happened? It certainly didn't sound real, it sounded like a work of fiction and most work of fiction had a happy ending.
So where was my happy ending? I was still waiting for it.
"Did you hear what I said Leanne?" Vladamir's voice broke my train of thoughts.
I had heard what he said but what he said was so implausible and unrealistic that I refused to acknowledge it.
Was he joking? Was this Vladamir's way of lightening the mood? This man had a sick and twisted sense of humour so I wouldn't put it past him to make a joke like this and find it funny.
"Do you think this is funny?" I hissed at him, narrowing my eyes and throwing him a dirty look. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I am not joking Leanne." The seriousness in his tone suggested that he was not messing around.
I blinked a few times. "What exactly are you saying to me?"
Vladamir didn't miss a beat. "Your father's body is missing."
"What do you mean by missing?"
"His body was at the morgue, now it is no longer there."
"What do you mean it's no longer there?" The words he was saying were so unbelievable that my brain was refusing to register them.
"It is gone."
"How? How is that even possible?" I paused for a few seconds as I thought about it properly. "Are you saying my dad's body is gone? It was in the morgue and now it's gone?"
Vladamir nodded causing me to let out a laugh. "What do you think he did then? Just walked out of here?"
For some reason saying those words out loud, those unrealistic and silly words seemed to have set something off inside me. It started off as a giggle, low at first before it got higher in both volume and pitch.
"Leanne?"
"He just walked out of here." I giggled in-between each word.
What Vladamir said next had me roaring in laughter. "We believe someone may have stolen it."
"Stolen it? Someone stole my dad's body?" The giggles were now full-blown laughs.
"Leanne." Even though he said one word, the concern in his tone was very prominent.
"Someone came into a hospital and stole my dad's body."
Vladamir grabbed my shoulders and began shaking me. "Stop laughing Leanne. Stop it." His movements were so vigorous that it was restricting my airflow.
When he realised that shaking my body like a ragdoll was having no effect on me, he pulled me close to him with one hand and used the other to silence my laughter by clamping down on my mouth. "That is enough."
I stared up at him, my body still shaking from laughter. It was like this for a minute or so before the laughter slowly ebbed away and in its place sobs began to erupt from my restricted mouth.
Vladamir continued looking down at me as tears rolled down my face and landed on his hand, soaking him completely.
After a few minutes of remaining like this, Vladamir slowly removed his hand from my mouth and moved it upwards so he was cupping the side of my face.
"Do not cry."
His words had the opposite effect on me and as soon as he said that I was bawling my eyes out, the tears streaming down like water gushing out from a blocked pipe that had just been unblocked and my sobs were no longer subdued and muted instead they were loud and uncontrollable.
"Shh, shh." He pressed my face into his chest as he rubbed my back in an attempt to soothe and calm me down. "We will get him back."
I let out my sorrow, confusion, frustration and pain as I held onto him tightly like a boa constrictor choking its prey.
"I don't understand." My voice was low and muffled but I knew he heard me clearly. "Why would someone do that?"
Was it not enough that they had killed him? Now they were stealing his body too? Who could be this cruel and evil to do this? Why did they do this?
So many questions and no answers.
The most frustrating thing was that I had no idea who was doing this, I couldn't think of one person who would even contemplate doing something like that never mind actually carrying it out.
There were a million things running through my head and my head felt as though it was going to explode from the pressure of it.
"My men are viewing the hospital CCTV footage, I will find the person who took your father and I will bring him back."
How did they even manage to steal a body without anybody noticing? How long has my dad's body been missing? What if we never got it back?
So many questions, too many questions. It was all just too much to process and handle.
The door to the room my mum was in opened and Dr Woods stepped out of it. I pried myself off Vladamir and turned towards the doctor.
Before I could ask for an update, Dr Woods began to talk. "Your mum is recovering well and I'm confident we will be able to discharge her in a few days."
"What about her injuries and her head?"
"Everything is healing well, she just needs plenty of rest. I will keep monitoring her and keep you informed."
"I'm not leaving her." I said firmly. There was no way I would let her out of my sights anytime soon, especially now after someone had stolen my dad's body.
"You can stay here as long as you like." Vladamir reassured me and I could tell Dr Woods wasn't happy about that but he didn't disagree. "Your mother will be protected at all times."
"Thanks." I muttered as I made my way back into the room. I expected Vladamir to follow me but instead he stayed outside with Dr Woods.
Giving my mum a small smile, I shut the door behind me and sat down on the chair beside the bed. "Dr Woods said you're doing well and you'll be able to go home in a few days. Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
Mum shook her head. "I had some water while you were out. I'm just tired Leah."
"Oh, okay." I murmured, looking around the room. Without another word, I closed the blinds and dimmed the lights.
I gently held her hand, careful not to tug or touch the cannula. "Can I get you anything?"
"Where is your dad? I asked Dr Woods multiple times and he wouldn't tell me." Mum questioned causing me to look away from her.
I swallowed harshly as I tried to build up the courage to tell her. There was no easy or 'right' way to inform someone about a death, especially a loved one. In a way I kind of wished Dr Woods would have told her what happened to dad so I wouldn't have to.
Maybe I should get Vladamir to do it?
"Leah?"
No, I couldn't get someone else to do it, I had to be the one who tells her.
But I couldn't do this, I really couldn't. Not only would I have to tell her that dad is dead but I would have to tell her that someone stole his body too.
It would be too much for her to hear it all, it may be better for her if I told her only some of it. Maybe I wouldn't even need to tell her about someone stealing dad's body as Vladamir would have recovered it before I had to tell her.
Taking in a deep breath, I squeezed her hand gently and began to talk. "Dad's injuries were a lot worse than yours." My voice was wobbly and broken.
My phone that was currently residing in my pocket made a sound indicating that I had a message.
"He lost a lot of blood." I closed my eyes and bit my lip, readying myself for the next part.
My phone made the alerting noise again and I ignored it.
"He..he-"
The words weren't coming out as it was hard to physically say the words out loud to my mum.
"How badly injured is he?" Mum asked after I failed to continue.
Come on Leah, just tell her. Stop prolonging it.
"I'm sorry mum." I sobbed, my heart clenched so forcefully that I was finding it hard to breathe.
"It's going to be fine Leah, your father will be okay."
Her words broke the seal on the already broken dam. The tears were never ending and my body was shaking from the agonising words I would have to utter.
"Dad didn't make it mum. He's dead."
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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter
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-Kayy xx