It was a silent drive to Aunt Vicky's house. Frank was silent, and so was I. I didn't have anything to say and he obviously didn't have anything to say as well. We just kept looking outside the car through the glances and huffing now and then.
When we arrived, I thanked him and gently alighted from the car. I didn't expect him to come down as well but he did. And when he came down, he reminded me there would be work the following day. "The weekend ends today, and Tomorrow will be workday" he said.
"Yes, I know" I crooked a smile on my face. "But thanks for reminding me anyways, I will make sure I force myself to sleep early in the night so I could be able to wake up as early as possible tomorrow for work" I said even though I know it wouldn't be easy for me the fact that I had been through a lot today.
"Are you sure you can do that?" He wrinkled a brow at me, "I am thinking you should have some rest" he said making me to nearly lose my mind, did he just gave me a day off? Wow, how kind of him to do that. I didn't actually expect it, not when I turned his request down for trying to stay with me.
"Are you for real?" I blurted out.
"Yes, please, have some rest. Take Monday and Tuesday, or even the whole week. I will have someone replace you temporarily, until you return back to work" he said.
"Thank you sir" I expressed my gratitude, even though I was kind of curious about how my salary would be. I wasn't supposed to take such a break just after starting work.
And like he read my mind, he told me I would receive my salary in full, there by clearing my doubt. I thanked him once again and with a smile on my face watched him as he stepped back into the car and drove away.
Hence, I turned and headed straight into Aunt Vicky's house. The whole house was empty, it was as if it was deserted. Nothing felt alive except for my presence. I went to the fridge, got a glass milk and gulped until I emptied it. Thus, I went to the sitting room and fell wearily on the couch... hoping to hear something from the doctors at the hospital or from the cops at the station.
I would be so glad if Jessica confessed and return back home, although due to her unpredictable nature one can only wish. That girl could pretend, she could also fool people... although to be honest, her tears looked genuine. I had never seen her in tears like that before, but I still doubt if she would confess.
As for her mother, she didn't look good at all. The situation looked worst, and judging from how secretive the doctors were about her condition, I doubt if she would ever survive. But I hope and pray she does, sometimes it's better to hope than to give up. Giving up would make one to totally remove hope, and I didn't want to do that on Aunt Vicky or anyone.
I kept thinking until gradually I fell asleep. Then I had a dream, it was a nightmare. I dreamed that Aunt Vicky died, however as soon as she was being buried I returned home and found her preparing food.
I was surprised to see her still alive, I had to ask how she managed to return back to live and she told me she wasn't the one that died in the first place. It was her friend. She then called upon me to go and call Jessica from her room upstairs.
I was stunned, "But Aunt, have you forgotten Jessica is in the station?" I had reminded her but then she shook her head and told me Jessica had been released already, and that she was in her room sleeping soundly.
Surprisingly, when I went to the room upstairs and checked for her, I found her sleeping soundly. Thus, I heaved a sigh of relief and gently close the door. But just as I turned about heading back downstairs I saw her standing in front of me and staring at me with an evil smile.
Out of shock, I woke up from the dream and found myself all sweats. My clothes were practically drenched and I was panting. What kind of dream was that and for how long had I been asleep? I checked the time and found out I had been sleeping for nearly eight hours. It was now quarter to two in the morning.
I quickly withdrew from the bed realizing I didn't locked the door before dozing off. But as soon as I walked over to the door and checked it, I found out it had already been locked. To say I was bewildered is an understatement. Who locked the door, of course I didn't! I wondered, looking around with my heart already beating fast.
Suddenly, the thought of Frank bounced into my mind. He could be the one, he must have returned to see if I was fine. But where is he now? I thought to myself as I headed straight to the stairway to check if he was upstairs. There was actually no sigh of him in the sitting room, now around the lower floor.
As soon as I headed upstairs, the first room I checked was mine thinking he might have decided to check some of my things and then ended up sleeping off. But when I checked I didn't find him. I then checked Aunt Vicky's, he wasn't still there. Hence I decided to check Jessica's room, and when I did I found someone in the room...
And it wasn't just anyone, it was Jessica herself. Was sitting on her bed with her back leaned on the headboard of the bed. Her hands were folded across her chest and her legs were crossed and stretched. She was wearing a sad face and wasn't surprised to see me at all. Was I dreaming or what? I wondered.
"Jessica?" I blurted out unbelievably and stayed perplexed as she moved her eyeballs, now staring at me. "They... they released you, right?" I stuttered.
"What do you see?" she heaved a sigh, now looking down. "Yes, I told them everything they needed to know and they made me signed some papers before releasing me" she apprised me.
"Wow, that's great" I excitedly said as I gently stepped forward into her room, "So, now you are free right?" I asked to be sure I wasn't happy for nothing.
"Yes, I am. Now can you stop acting like you saw a ghost?" she said, making me to nearly burst into laughter. I was really happy to see her, as well as surprised. I never knew my words would have strong impack on her to the point of overwhelming her to confess.
"Oh, okay" I said as I walked over to her study table, pulled over the chair there and sat on it. "Which time did you came back? You must have hissed when you saw me sleeping in the sitting room" I giggled at my words, thinking she would giggle as well but she didn't.
"I didn't hiss," she protested. "By the way, I came back late. I came back around twelve, and have not been able to sleep ever since" she explained.
"Why?" I curiously asked.
"Because, I couldn't stand the sight of my mom in life support machine" she responded, and I could see thr guilt of what she did in her face. She must have thought deeply about everything, and now it was obvious she had returned back to her senses.
"You went to the hospital, or was it the pictures I showed you?" I waited patiently for her to reply as she stayed mute for a moment.
"That officer, Lorraine took me to her in the hospital before bringing me back here. Although I was the one that told her to take me there in the first place, but even after changing my mind later she told me there was no going back. I had to see what I did to my mom" she fidgeting her fingers. To be honest, she had never been this calm before.
"But Jessi, why did you changed your mind after telling her to take you to see your mom?" I asked politely in order not to upset her, "I know you definitely have your reasons for that, I trust you do" I added.
"Well," she gulped hard, "I changed my mind because I thought I had seen enough. The pictures you showed me proved she's not in a good shape at all, and I also thought you would be there. You and Frank" she explained.
"Oh, you didn't want to see us?" I asked out of curiosity.
"More like it" she muttered.
"Okay. So, welcome back home" I said with a light smile on my face, that was the least I could give her the fact that we had a patient at the hospital fighting for her life.
"Thank you. And that reminds me about the promise you made me" she said. And for a second I forgot about the agreement we had at the station.
"What promise?" I was confused.
"The promise of taking me to see Reade's fiancee and baby, I really want to see them soon!" she said making me to regret ever promising to take her to the conman's apartment, what if she had bad intention for his innocent fiancee and poor little baby?
"Okay, but... why not wait until your mom gets better" I said expecting her protest against it and yell at me but surprisingly she agreed, making me to shuffle myself in bewilderment. What exactly had gone into her that made her to change totally overnight? I thought positive change takes time? I mulled over to myself. And seeing how tired she was, I decided to give her space to sleep or at least, rest her mind. "See you in the morning" I said.
"You too" she said, adjusting into a laying position with her face facing the ceiling and her eyes shut. She must have been waiting for me to leave so she could change, how good of her. The old Jessica would send me away. In fact, she wouldn't even welcome me in the first place talk more of sending me away while in the middle of discussion.
As soon as I left the room and shut the door behind me, I heaved a sigh of relief. The nightmare I had didn't come to live. I felt the urge to check and see if I could still find Jessica in her room but then I brushed the thought. Doing that would seem bizarre to her and she might start looking at me somehow.
I yawned and went to my room. Then I climbed unto the bed and shut my eyes off. This time around, I couldn't sleep in time. I kept thinking about random things, from the day of the festival to date. A lot had really happened, and the ones that really touched me were Fred's death and Aunt Vicky's coma state.
And the ones that made me happy was, how I met Frank and how Jessica changed overnight. I really thought it was impossible for her to change even though I kept a little faith in God, but then she proved me wrong by promptly regretting her actions and completely becoming a new person. If I had a trophy to give, I would definitely give her for it.
I would also give Frank one, he had done a lot for me. And I am pretty sure he's willing to do more for me. His trophy would be decorated with flowers to tell him how much I cared too, and could do a lot more for him if I had the chance to.
