Just as I arrived in her room, the monitors were blinking wildly, and several medical staff members hurried into the room. Alyx sat up with a jolt. I ducked behind a screen near the door, and peeked out so I could hear and see everything that happened.
Dr. Casey introduced himself to Alyx and asked her if she knew where she was, where she lived, and what year she was born. He explained that they would be doing a lot of testing to make sure everything was functioning as it should. Luckily, I went unnoticed in all the confusion,
A bit later, Alyx’s ex-husband Bob, Detective Smarts and his partner walked in and took a stand at the foot of the bed. Behind the drawn curtain, I could hear Alyx ask the nurse taking her vitals if she could have something for her headache.
“This dreadful headache is making it impossible for me to string two thoughts together; they disappear as quickly as they come. Why am I here?”
“You were hit on the head and have been in a coma for two days.”
The nurse pulled open the curtain around the bed Alyx looked confused, and for a moment, the confusion rendered her silent. She glanced to her left hand, probably to confirm that she wasn’t married to Bob anymore. Perplexed, she turned to him for an explanation, and he said he’d explain later.
Smarts stepped up to her bedside. “Are you Alyx Hille?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I’m Detective Smarts, Beachside Police, and this is my partner, Detective Albright.”
Albright nodded his acknowledgement.
“Ms. Hille, do you know why you’re here?”
She brought two fingers to her temple in a useless gesture, as it didn’t seem to ease her pain.
“Yes, the nurse told me I was hit on the head.”
“Can you tell me what you remember about Saturday morning?”
At that moment, Doctor Casey came back into the room and interceded on her behalf.
“Excuse me, Detective Smarts. I understand it’s your job to ask questions, but Ms. Hille’s not ready to be questioned, and I’ll have to ask you to do it another time.”
“All right; but can I just ask one question before we go?”
“One question and only one.”
The detective turned back to Alyx. “Did you see who hit you?”
She shook her head and shrugged. “The last thing I remember is sitting at the kitchen table, then sudden blinding pain followed by an abyss of darkness.”
“Thank you, Ms. Hille; we’ll talk again when your doctor gives his permission.”
Bob stepped back as the others left, but he didn’t go out; then he stood in the doorway for a moment as if he didn’t want whoever was out there to see him. Alyx waited for the room to empty, before she asked, “So why are you here, Bob?”
He shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m not staying long. You have other company here to see you.”
“Did something happen to Ethan? Why are you here instead of him?”
“Ethan is fine...but...Alyx, I don’t know how else to say this other than just say it. He’s not here because he’s been arrested for attempted murder.”
Her body went limp so she could barely speak. “Attempted murder of whom?”
“You.”
“Happy owner, happy cat. Indifferent owner, reclusive cat.”
––Chinese Proverb
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
“You’re joking, right?”
“I wish I was, but no; I’m not joking”
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. That’s unbelievable. How did they arrive at that conclusion?”
“His lawyer, David Hunter, says the evidence against him is substantial.”
“I’m sorry; I’m having trouble processing what you’re saying. Did you say Ethan has been arrested for trying to kill me?”
They stopped talking when Maggie entered the room in a whirlwind and went straight to Alyx’s bedside. “He told you, didn’t he?”
The animosity was palpable between Bob and Maggie, as always. Bob said he had an appointment with Ethan’s lawyer and that he’d be back later to check on her and left in a hurry, almost stepping on my tail which was dangling a bit under the screen, as he stormed out of the room.
“He’s got a lot of nerve,” snarled Maggie.
“Maggie, it’s okay,” replied Alyx. “He said Ethan asked him to keep an eye on me.”
“I know; Ethan told me he was going to do that. He’s worried that since the police think they have their man, they’ve stopped looking and whoever wanted to hurt you is still out there.”
“Well, then give him a break, Maggie. I know you don’t like him. I know you think he’s a jackass for his emotional abandonment of Ethan, and I agree, but he’s trying to make up for it. After all, he did hire the attorney for Ethan’s defense. The ‘best in the county,’ meaning he didn’t come cheap.”
“Yeah, well…that wasn’t exactly his idea,” Maggie said in a hushed tone. “I knew you’d be mad when you found out,” then louder, “but that man has had an easy ride for too long.”
“He didn’t know I was struggling to make ends meet while Ethan finished college. I never asked him for financial support. And I’m not mad. You had no choice; you got stuck with the store, the clients, and the cats.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t want to talk about Bob anymore.”
“Okay, let’s not talk about Bob. What’s important is how you are?”
“They tell me I’m going to be all right; vision, hearing, and motor skills are a little sluggish, but are all working properly. I do have a horrible headache that they tell me will go away, eventually. Dr. Casey wants to keep me in the hospital for a few more days but I’m going to try to get him to discharge me tomorrow.”
Maggie didn’t comment.
“I had the strangest experience just before I opened my eyes.”
“You remember it? That’s incredible.”
“I found myself in a strange state of being. It was as if I was dreaming, but not exactly. There were split second occurrences when I felt my eyelids flicker as if given an electric charge. At first, it was just sparks of awareness, sparks that gradually spread to other areas of the brain. The sensation was that of falling asleep, that instant when consciousness gives way to unconsciousness, that place that I sometimes feel pulled to and fight to come back from, waking with a start––heart pounding.
I heard a voice and felt the warmth of a touch. Focusing on that sensation seemed to boost my ability to pull out of the darkness. Then, it ended, thrusting me into an odd twilight zone where I struggled to understand the nebulous images forming in my mind.
I saw myself as a young woman in my parents’ living room. There were colored lights and pleasant sounds. The sounds were familiar voices. The colored lights swimming in front of me organized into a continuous string wrapped around a Christmas tree.
The dream was pleasant and I didn’t want to wake up. I saw my brother with a movie camera; his wife was directing the action. She told everyone to get up and dance. “Try to look like you’re having fun,” she said. Everyone got up and pretended to dance, pretended because there was no music, and laughed for real.
That scene faded into darkness, and another picture emerged. It didn’t take as long to recognize the house that Bob and I lovingly renovated right after we got married. I was looking down at the beautiful, angelic face of a baby boy––our baby. Bob had his arm loosely draped around my shoulders, and cold as steel, his empty blue eyes cut through me to the core. I could feel my heart thudding. I fought to wake up from the nightmare, but descended into a deeper darkness instead. Suddenly, another scene emerged. This time, I was sitting on the couch with an arm around a ten-year-old boy who was crying softly while his father was trying to explain why he was moving somewhere else. Overcome with unbelievable sadness for the boy, I felt real tears streaming down my cheeks, the sadness turned to anger, and that’s when I woke-up.”