I woke up the next day with an awful headache. I tried to open my eyes but the light was too bright so I buried my face in the pillow. Progressively I remembered what happened last night. The Aurora, Jessy and I dancing, me crying loudly in Phil's arms. Ho no… I was so drunk.
I stood up and noticed I was still fully dressed. I opened my closet and grabbed some clean clothes before going to the living room. Phil was already up and welcomed me with a warm smile. "So, you're not too hungover this morning?" he asked with a smirk.
I pouted, "Yeah… I shouldn't have drank this much yesterday. Do you know if Jessy has any aspirin?"
"In the bathroom I guess," he replied pointing at the door behind me. I went to the bathroom and opened the cupboard above the sink. I spotted the packet of pills and picked it up. When I came back to the living room, Phil had already placed a plate, a cup of coffee and a big glass of water on the table. "Here's for you, beautiful," he winked.
I took the pills with the glass of water, "Hum.. Phil, I wanted to thank you about yesterday." I started. The man smiled and sat next to me while I bit into my pancake. My eyes widened and a soft noise of satisfaction escaped my mouth. "Hmm… These pancakes are delicious." I smiled while savoring the sweet taste of orange blossom. "I didn't know you were a great cook, Phil."
"I have a lot more to show you if you let me," he grinned. I shook my head a little embarrassed. "MC?" the serious look on his face appeared again, "Yesterday, when you told me that you wouldn't be able to meet 'him', you didn't mean Richy, didn't you?" I frozed. Unfortunately, I remembered perfectly what I said last night. I avoided Phil's gaze. I didn't think he knew about Jake's existence, which was for the best.
Phil frowned at my silence," This is what I thought. You were talking about that creepy mysterious guy Jessy's told me about, huh?"
Shit! Jessy told Phil about Jake?! "What did she tell you exactly?" My voice was harder than expected. I didn't mean to be rude with Phil but fear took over me. The less people knew about Jake the better it was. What if Phil went to see the police?
Phil frowned and sat back in his chair, "Easy MC. Why are you so angry?"
"It's just… He has a complicated situation. I don't want to get him in even more trouble," I mumbled.
"Really?" Phil raised his eyebrows rubbing his stubble with his left hand. "Jessy just told me you liked some creepy man a lot, and that you were sad because he was in the mine when it exploded." He paused, staring at me. It looked like he wanted to say something else. "It was all over the news that someone other than Richy was somewhere in that mine. So, it didn't take me too much time to figure out that the creepy man was the wanted and dangerous criminal."
I immediately sat up in my seat, "Phil, please don't…"
"Relax MC," he cut me off, "As long as you're safe, I won't say a word. If this man really loves you he won't put you in danger, right?" he sighed, "Anyway, you should be careful." Phil got up and took his jacket off the back of his chair, "Take care, MC." I looked at him in silence while he opened the door and left Jessy's apartment.
It was almost 11am and Jessy was still in her room. I washed the dishes, cleaned up her apartment to keep myself busy but I started to be a bit worried. I decided to go check on her and knocked softly on her door, "Jessy? Are you awake?" As I had no answer I quietly opened the door. A few rays of light lit the room. The huge two-person bed was standing right under the window. I slowly got closer to Jessy. She had her back to me but as I approached I noticed she was awake. Traces of tears remained in her cheeks and she was blankly staring at the wall in front of her.
I sat on the edge of her bed next to her, and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. The redhead jumped and turned her head to look at me, "MC? What are you doing?" she whispered.
I looked at her and smiled trying to comfort her, "It's pretty late in the morning and I started to be worried."
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," she replied. It broke my heart to see her like this. The usual sunny girl was now just the shadow of herself. Her face was marked with sadness, and the dark circles under her eyes were accentuated.
"I know," I said softly, "how's your head? Not too painful?"
A quiet laughter escaped her mouth, "We drank too much last night."
I giggled, "Yep! Way too much! Come on, let's get you some aspirin." We went to the living room and sat around the table.
Jessy took a pancake and bit in it hungrily, "oh this is good! You baked those?"
I shook my head, "Your brother did."
"Phil? He usually never cooks." Jessy ate the rest of her breakfast in silence, she seemed to be lost in thoughts, "I don't know what to do.. I've lost my job, my best friend." She looked up at me, "Nothing's keeping me here."
"So…maybe it's time?" I said. Jessy raised her eyebrows with an interrogating look, "maybe it's time for you to go to Colville as you wanted?"
"Do you think so?" Jessy didn't seem really convinced, "I don't know if I can."
"The only way to know is to try." My phone buzzed in my pocket. I had just received a text from Lilly asking me where I was.
Lilly : Hi MC. Are you coming to the hospital? You were supposed to meet with Hannah there.
"Shit! Sorry Jessy, I forgot I told Lilly I'd come to the hospital today. Hannah wants to meet me." I quickly type a short answer to Lilly.
MC : I'm on my way.
"Oh! OK, so, we'll talk later." she said, while looking at me reaching for my coat.
"Do you wanna come with me?" I genuinely asked.
"No it's okay. I have things to do here. Plus I don't think Hannah can have too many visitors at a time."
I nodded, grabbed my purse and ran down the stairs. I was already late.
—
The drive to the hospital was longer than I expected. The building was outside of Duskwood and there was a lot of traffic at that time. I arrived in the industrial part of the city with more buildings and less forest. This place contrasted with the vast natural area that surrounded Duskwood.
I looked for the hospital for a moment and then posted a white building with a huge parking lot. I recognized a few words on the panel that indicated I was at the right place. I parked quite far from the main entrance because the parking lot was almost full and I had to walk between the alleys of cars before entering the building.
The hall was huge and bright with big bay windows covering the entire side of the wall. Several plastic chairs stood in front of the window and the reception desk was facing it. I could see doors leading to other parts of the hospital behind the reception.
I didn't know where to go so I picked up my phone out of my jeans pocket to warn Lilly I was there.
MC : I'm here. I'm waiting for you in the reception area.
While waiting for Lilly, I walked to a coffee machine in the corner of the room. I took my wallet and chose a cheap cappuccino. I sat on one of the chairs and looked at the ballet of paramedics bringing sick or injured people to the hospital. I took a sip of my cappuccino and winced, the beverage was way too sweet for my taste.
I jumped when I felt someone putting a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Thomas. He had the same sad look he wore during the investigation with his puppy eyes. He seemed less tired, though and a sincere smile appeared on his face. "Hello MC. Lilly told me you were here."
I smiled back and got up," Yes I have just arrived." I finished my cappuccino in one go and threw the empty paper cup in the nearest trash.
Thomas led me to a staircase and we went up to the fourth floor. Thomas put a hand on the knob but before opening the door, he turned toward me and looked down." MC, I wanted to tell you something." I frowned, the man seemed so embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I asked you to go to the mine."
I sighed, "It's nothing Thomas. I understand you were totally desperate and worried about Hannah. I don't blame you."
"But what Richy did… You could have died!" He blurted out.
I closed my eyes. I felt the tears coming up again. Thomas was right. I could have died. But I shouldn't have let Jake go there instead of me. My guilt was less and less bearable. I took a deep breath, focusing on the air entering my nose and filling my lungs and then I opened my eyes again. "It's ok Thomas. It's forgotten." I tried to smile but obviously failed. I didn't have the nerve to talk to Thomas about this now.
He opened the door and I walked past him to enter the ward where Hannah was staying. I followed Thomas to Hannah's room and before opening the door he asked me, "Ready?" I nodded and we entered the room.
Lilly and Cleo were already there. They were laughing and chatting together next to the window. Cleo was leaning against the wall and Lilly was sitting on a wooden chair. Next to Lilly, a brown-haired girl had her back to me. When the girls heard Thomas and I coming in, they all turned towards us. Cleo and Lilly immediately smiled and gave me a friendly welcome.
But my eyes were glued on the brown-haired girl, Hannah.
She seemed exhausted, sad and weak. Her pale blue eyes showed how much she had been traumatized and hurt. But despite all of this, her lips curled up into a bright grateful smile. She stood up and walked to me, stopping right in front of me. She put her hands on my shoulder and said in a whisper, "MC, I'm so glad to finally meet you." She moved as if she wanted to hug me but as I didn't move she just stopped, and looked at her slippers.
I felt uncomfortable. I was happy to meet her but at the same time it felt so strange. As if a hazy dream came to life. I soon realized I was acting rude. I smiled at Hannah and took her hands, squeezing them, "I'm so happy to meet you too, Hannah."
We all went toward the others and started to talk. "Hey Thomas! Did Hannah tell you the good news?" Cleo asked enthusiastically.
Thomas smiled and took Hannah's hand, "No, what is it, love?" He looked at her with so much love in his eyes I couldn't help but smile.
Hannah slightly blush and gave him a shy smile, "Well the doctor said I could leave the hospital soon. Maybe today or tomorrow morning."
"This is amazing!" Thomas' eyes sparkled and he leaned over Hannah to kiss her.
We kept on talking for a while, wondering what we would do when Hannah could finally come home. Suddenly Hannah looked at me with concern, "MC? You're staying at Jessy's right? How is she?"
"Well she's not well. She's very sad and she needs time to get over this. She was… Really close to Richy."
"Yes, it must be very difficult for her." Hannah started, "MC, I need to tell you something…"
Hannah was cut by knocking on the door. We all turned, and saw Alan entering the room with a grim look on his face. The man stared at each one of us, looking at me a little bit longer. He heavily sighed and focused his gaze on Hannah, "Hannah Donfort you're under arrest for the murder of Jennifer Hanson and for hiding the corpse. Please follow me to the police station."
We looked at him with bewilderment. Then, Thomas was the first to talk, "No, no it was a long time ago! This isn't possible!"
"A cold case has just been solved. This is the procedure," Alan simply answered, "I'm sorry Hannah. Please follow me."
Hannah nodded and slowly stood up. "It's okay Thomas, I'm ready. I knew it could happen." She walked toward Alan but when she passed next to me she stopped. Suddenly she turned around and looked at me with teary eyes. I frowned. She rushed in my arms and held me tight. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her breathing heavily against my shoulder. Then, she slightly lifted her head up so her mouth was close to my ear. And she whispered to me.
My heart skipped a beat when I heard her words. The words I had lost hope to hear one day, "I saw him. I saw Jake run away from the mine that night."
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