Chapter 35
Riley
“Jack will wake up soon, right?” I asked Ezra. “Right?”
Ezra stared at me with the familiar eyes. “I don’t want to lie to you, Riley, but I can’t guarantee about
that. He could wake up tomorrow, a weekter or even after ten years.”
“That can’t be true.” I said the words barely out of my mouth. I wiped a tear that was sliding down my
face. “There has to be some other way!”
“The damage is done. The killer got what he wanted. There were two key people who knew his identity.
He killed one of them and the other slipped into aa. Everything turned out in the killers favor.”
“So what are you going to do? Just give up?!” I asked.
“No. Of course not! The investigation will go on with or without Jack.” He squeezed my shoulders in
assurance. “Everything is going to be okay. You’ve gotta be strong.”
“How could I?” I whispered.
My best friend was dead, and the man I loved had slipped into aa with a possibility that he may
never wake up. I didn’t think I could remain strong much longer. I was alone in this, and the killer was
out there.
“Can I see him?” I asked.
Ezra shrugged. “Riley, it’s best for you not to.”
“But I really want to! You can’t stop me!”
And of course he didn’t. The next hour I was walking down the long hallway of the hospital ward
towards the room Jack was admitted in.
When I entered the room and saw Jack lying there with all those wires connecting to his body. It was
heartbreaking and I couldn’t bear to see him like that. I sat there for a few hours until Ezra told me I
should leave.
“But what if the killeres here and tries to hurt Jack?” I asked.
“We have two security guards outside the room. A doctor and a nurse who makes regr rounds. The
killer won’t be able to get in. I have told hospital staff to not allow any visitors apart from you and me.”
I looked at Jack. Ezra sighed, understanding my dilemma. “Go home, Riley.”
Maddy and I had often discussed what I would wear at her wedding as her maid of honor, but never in
my worst nightmares had I imagined I would be picking a dress from my wardrobe for her funeral. I was
wearing the same dress I’d worn during my parents funeral. I looked at myself in the mirror. My brown
hair was pulled back in a bun, my face looked tired with puffy red eyes. Like I cared.
I cried that morning, I’d let loose the floodgate that was bound to open but I’d been holding back. I
almost fainted but Ken caught me in his arms before I could hit the floor. He held me tightly in his arms
while I let all the tears free.
Ken didn’t say a word to reassure me; he never said a word when our parents died too. We
It was cloudy that morning; the sky was painted an ugly shade of grey as if my feelings were being
conveyed through the weather. The air was damp and breezy. I was seated in the middle aisle of the
church where I’d met a few nurses who’d been friends with her. Most of the WoodVille’s staff was here,
including the director, Dr. Liu.
I saw Dr. Paul Bet seated in thest aisle, all by himself wearing a ck suit. His reddish blond hair
him, but I knew they got along better than he and I did. Suddenly, his eyes met mine for a fraction of a
second before I turned to the front.
The church basked in hushed conversations. Everyone was dressed in ck, their faces white as
sheets. I hated this feeling; it was like nothing was going to be okay ever again. No matter how happy
you were in life, one day it wasing to an end. For some people it would be tragically early, for
someter in life.
The most important thing was to live life to the fullest, without regrets and I guess Maddy had done just
that. She was reading a book, having a ss of wine and preparing dinner while hogging on chips.
I giggled thinking of it, and just then realized that it wasn’t the best thing to do at a funeral because all
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heads turned to face me.
“Sorry.” I mumbled.
I spotted Maddy’s parents who were talking to a distant rtive. Her mother was especially distraught,
sobbing into her handkerchief. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I remembered how she used to joke
around and make fun of things, especially the other nurses. All this seemed so unreal. The funeral
service went slowly. I had already tuned out the Ministers words as he recited the rehearsed speech.
Maddy would have had something to say about his hairstyle.
I said a few words in memory of Maddy, it was short and sweet, cutting straight to the point. I couldn’t
onto her father and sobbed harder.
I said myst goodbye to Maddy, staring onest time at her face, thinking she would blink her eyes
open any minute. While I ced her favorite flower in the casket, I noticed stitch marks on her neck. I
stayed until after all the mourners had paid their respect and the casket was lowered into the ground.
My heart broke as I watched the soil being shoveled on top on the casket. The rain began pouring. I
took a few steps back and took shelter by arge tree. It didn’t help much as the water drops soaked
into my clothing. I felt a presence beside me, and I wasn’t soaking in the rain anymore.
“I’m sorry about what happened to Madeline.” Paul Bet stood disgustingly close, holding the
umbre above our head. His strong perfume assaulted my nostrils. He shocked me further by
extending his handkerchief towards me. I stared at him, bbergasted. What if he’d doused that
handkerchief with poison so that I’d die taking a sniff?
“Well, I’m sorry too.” I responded, dabbing the cloth under my eyes despite of myself.
I wasn’t really in a mood to talk right now, and definitely not with someone like Paul, but I really didn’t
want to make a scene in my best friend’s funeral.
“Is there a reason why you’re being so nice? Forgive me, Dr. Bet, but it’s a little nauseating. I don’t
like you.” I reminded him, handing his handkerchief back and taking a side step away from him.
“Let’s bury the hatchet, Frazer. We started on the wrong foot, I said some horrible things which I
shouldn’t have and I apologize for that.” Paul said, taking a side step towards me.
I never thought I’d see a day where Paul Bet, my mortal enemy would apologize to me.
“I want to know why were you so mean towards me?”
“Do you want an honest answer?”
“Of course, I do.” I replied.
“I was jealous of you. The way you were close to Aaron. He always talked about you and it made me
green with envy because I wanted to be in your ce. I wanted to be his favorite. And then when you
took a liking to Jackson Wolfe, he hated it. The two of you drifted apart.”
“And that made you happy.” I concluded for him.
Paul nodded. “It did, but I realized how wrong it was, and that there’s no point in the constant bickering.
What if I die tomorrow? Or in a few days? All these fights would be for nothing.”
“What did you do with Dr. Paul Bet?” I mocked, giving him a sideways nce.
“We have amon enemy, Riley.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. A lot of people died, and we could be next on the killer’s list.”
It was the first time I agreed with Paul on something.
“I know that.” I said. “Honestly, I could be talking to a killer right now, and you could beughing at the
lot of us for not suspecting you of a thing.”
Paul’s serious expressions cracked into a devilish smile. “I’m quite ttered you think I could be smart
enough to be the killer, but I could say the same thing about you too. Maybe the goody-two shoes act is
just your way to distract the investigators from yourself. Maybe you’re the oneughing at us.”
“And you think I would try to kill Jack?”
“Hypothetically speaking, it’s possible you have an ulterior motive. If you’re the killer, attacking Jackson
would just be in your favor. Everyone knows you’re his bae...as people like to call themselves these
days. Frankly, no one would suspect you and it would be an excellent cover.”
“Seriously?” I stared at him in disgust.
“I said it’s hypothetical. I’m not here to fight. I just saw somethingst night and I thought I should warn
you.” Paul said growing serious, the no-nonsense tone was there.
“About what?”
Paul leaned in. “Last night when I was done with the twenty-four shift, I saw something.”
“What did you see?” I asked. Curiosity got the better of me.
“I remember someone telling me that you saw a shoe print in the mud outside of Maddy’s house.”
“Almost like someone killed her and tried to take off by foot.” I added.
“Right. But I learned of that only after the murder wasmitted.” He lowered his voice down even
more. Due to the pitter-patter sound of the rain it was difficult to listen to him as it is.
“I still don’t know where you’re getting at.” I stated.
“This happened an hour before I heard the news of Madeline’s murder. I was passing through the
closed hospital section and I saw a man there with mud prints. He was washing his shoe sole in the
men’s restroom frantically.”
“Who was it, Paul?”
“It was...” he looked around and then in a lowered voice he said. “It was Dr. Aaron Shaw.”
“I don’t believe you.” I said right off the bat.
“I knew you wouldn’t. I didn’t believe it myself but it’s not difficult to connect the dots. He left early that
night giving a bullshit of an excuse. It looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.” To prove his
theory, he added. "Did you see him attending this service? He was close to Maddy too. Why wouldn''t
he show up at her funeral if he wasn''t guilty?"
I contemted. It was true. I had seen mostly everyone except Aaron and that was quite odd.
“You should talk to the detectives.” I suggested.
“I will. I just wanted to warn you.” Paul said. “Some people are not what they seem to be.”
What if Paul was telling the truth? Or was it possible that the friendliness was just an act to hide
something else? Trusting Paul was like trusting a snake to look after a dozen baby mice.
My head started to spin. The thought of Aaron being the killer was too disturbing. I needed to talk to
Ezra.
I was headed towards my car when my phone buzzed in my little leather bag. I pulled it out and swiped
the screen. A message from an unknown number lit up.
Just two chilling words.
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