Chapter 8 Late Realization
“This is…” Peter stuttered, trailing off.”
Words failed me as I stared at the deformed pieces of blood and flesh that were sealed in a plastic bag.
Some nurses who were around screamed in shock as they saw the bag.}
“That’s the remains of a baby!” one of them exclaimed.§
I stared at the document in the second box and my eyes widened when I saw the doctor’s report of a miscarriage due to trauma from kidnapping.
I turned to Peter, my eyes widening with shock, “Lily was kidnapped?”
Peter looked just as lost–his face drained of color, his hands trembling as he pointed at something on the document.
“The dates, Jacob,” he said.
I saw the dates and they matched the same day Nadine gave birth. The day Lily had called me ninety–nine times, that must have been when she was kidnapped.}
My legs felt weak as the ground spun a little and I grabbed the edge of the desk.
“I need to sit down,” I mumbled, my throat suddenly dry.
I sat down on the chair as my fingers hovered over the third box. I didn’t know what the contents were but I didn’t know if I could bear it. These two boxes have shaken me so much that I could barely breathe.}
What is going on here?” Peter asked, equally speechless.
Nadine was the only one who didn’t look concerned, rather she seemed guilty.
I stared at her with a frown, “Do you know anything about this, Nadine?“}
She shook her head too quickly. “No!” A sob followed. “I’m just so sad about everything I’m seeing here. Lily lost her baby and we didn’t know.”
Her words cut deep even though I knew she didn’t intend them to.
I was supposed to watch over Lily. I was the one who gave her a fake wedding and got her pregnant. And now she went through hell and I wasn’t there rather I tormented her.
The mailman grabbed the third box and I glared at him.
“Hey! Drop that box,” I snapped.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I was paid for you to open all the boxes,” he said.”
He opened the box and handed me a flash drive. I stared at it, surprised.
Then the mailman produced a projector and connected the flash drive. The screen lit up in the whole hospital immediately.
I saw the videos vividly. It was Lily in the prison cell a few days ago and suddenly some group of women burst into the cell.
One of the women’s voices was very audible as she said, “Nadine sends her warmest regards. She says she wants you dead in this place.”
With horrified eyes, I turned to stare at Nadine who was now squirming. Even Peter seemed to have moved away from her now.
I could see the horrific ways the women beat up Lily till she started bleeding and even when she was pleading they refused to spare her.
If the warden and policewomen hadn’t arrived in time they probably would have killed her.}
I was barely recovering from the video when the whispers from the nurses started.
“Oh my gosh, it’s that lady we treated.”
“She was in a coma for five days.“}
“Did you know she lost her womb?”
“Was this after she lost her baby when she was kidnapped?“}
“How could this woman do such a thing to her fellow woman?“>
“And to think I was admiring her when she’s just a vile wicked witch!“}
My ears were ringing as their words resounded like a sad song.”
“Lily lost her womb?” I asked, muttering.
“7 –
“Jacob, I promise I didn’t mean to hurt her, it was just a joke Nadine started to say but I lost it.
My hand moved on instinct. The slap echoed louder than I expected.}
The nurses exclaimed and Nadine whimpered, her eyes wide with shock.
“Jacob –” she called, tearfully.
“Don’t you ever say my name again,” I warned her.
“Peter, please help me –” she started crying and reached for Peter but he moved away from her.
“Let’s go find Lily. She deserves more than an apology,” Peter said to me.
As we drove back we both couldn’t speak. We were both lost in thoughts and I couldn’t stop blaming myself.
How had I been so dense as to not have noticed a lot of things were going wrong?”
7
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12.5%
1:15
“It’s my fault, Peter muttered, “I should have protected her.“@
I shook my head, “No, it’s mine. I deceived her when I could have easily said I didn’t want to marry her. Instead, I gave her a fake wedding afraid of hurting her feelings and now look what’s happened.“&
As I drove close to my house I noticed the road was closed and a lot of people including fire service and an ambulance were on the road.
I parked my car and stepped out with Peter as we walked up to one of the people there.
“What’s going on?” I asked.”
“A fire. We’ve just managed to stop it but we recovered a badly burnt body,” he answered.§
“Fire? Where?” I asked, my heart racing.
I pushed away from him as we crossed the red tapes and saw it was our mansion that had burned down.
“Oh no, no, no. Lily! Lily, where are you?” I screamed, rushing inside.}
Peter stood at a spot unable to move, his eyes wide with horror as he kept muttering.”
“I should have protected you better. I deserve to die!“N
The fire service officers held me as I saw the body they were bringing out from the house. On top of the body was a silver necklace I had given Lily five years ago that she had never taken off.”
“No!” I gasped, stumbling to the floor and gasping for air.
“No, this can’t be it, Lily. Come back to me, please!” I wailed.
Realization!
