It takes only one more hour for the police to contact Gerald and me. They swing by the hospital and get the statements. It’s the same detectives from before, and they look much paler this time around, the creases on their foreheads seemingly permanently etched. They mutter about suspects and urge us to notify them if we see any sort of suspicious activity. There are still no leads from the last case.It is only after they leave the premises after taking our statements that I realize that I forgot to ask them if they had paid Aiden a visit.When Coraline’s parents arrive, the time is around 03:00 AM in the morning. They see me in the hallway in front of the emergency unit and come to a stop. I have a good idea of what I look like, my eyes bloodshot and half-closed from sleepiness, my hair barely held down by running my hand through it a couple of times, still dressed in that wrinkled, blood-stained suit that is starting to smell.Coraline’s parents take one look at me and demand that I
Mr. and Mrs. Granger sit at a far table in the hospital cafeteria as we arrive at the hospital, looking tired. But as soon as they see us, they shoot us watery smiles and straighten in greeting.“Hey, did you guys get any sort of rest?” I ask them, my voice gentle.“We certainly tried, but well, Coraline has still not woken up, so sleep was the last thing on our minds,” Mrs. Granger smiles ruefully, “but the doctors said that she’s going to be fine, although she will need therapy. Both for her leg and her psyche, if she so desires.”“I mean, if it were me, I’d definitely need therapy,” Mr. Granger mutters, “getting shot like that, on the side of the road…god, my baby girl.”His wife entangles her arm with his and leans into him in comfort. I feel bad for this couple who had to see their kid in the hospital twice this month, both of them being while in my company. A part of me wonders if this is my fault somehow. Am I the reason why Coraline keeps getting into these circumstances? Afte
Gerald, of course, pales when I tell him about the nurse’s observation.“Well," he mutters, “I cannot say that the thought did not occur to me. You being your father’s son…it will not come as a surprise that people would make the connection between you and your father and come after you in order to get to your father.”“Oh, god,” I drawl, rubbing my hands on my face, “it’s way too early to be having these revelations. Seriously, why on earth did I think it was a good idea to come back here? I should’ve known that something like this would happen. I should’ve taken my chance with the bullies and stayed.”“Come now, Jace,” Gerald pats my back soothingly as I hunch over in the backseat of the car, “it might not be true. You may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, there could be nobody targeting you specifically, but only Zelt Tech employees. Or maybe they are not targeting anyone at all. You’re not the only person who had been shot at in the past few weeks.”“Is that
Coraline stepped for a day more. The bullet had grazed her thigh bone, nearly shattering it, so her recovery period was going to be long. She was to stay in the hospital for at least a week.Coraline’s parents called me immediately to deliver the news of their daughter awakening, and at that point, I was in class.With everything that was happening, the summer semester was ending, which meant there was a set of examinations coming up. The campus was, therefore, abuzz with activity, with lecturers working to finish all the study material for the semester and students functioning solely on coffee and sugar in order to cram whatever they could in order to sit for the exams and get some decent grades. King’s College was a very competitive university, and with everyone attending being the best brains in the country, students had to go above and beyond to get on par with the syllabus.Fortunately, my class was ending when they gave me the call. I, of course, could not take it without riskin
Coraline spent about thirteen days in the hospital, but even after she was released, she was instructed to attend physiological therapy for her leg for two weeks, three times per week. In addition, she was given plenty of exercises to do daily in order to strengthen her leg. The flesh wound had healed, but the bone had not. So, there was still a cast around her thigh, and she needs to use a crutch to move around.But she looks considerably happier now she’s been released from the hospital, her eyes regaining that glow that makes them sparkle. Her parents are also relieved to have her home.Two days after Coraline comes home, I get a call while I travel to Zelt Tech after a particularly grueling day of exams.“I wanna get back to work,” she says before I can even greet her.“Coraline, there’s no rush, I can handle it here until you get healed sufficiently,” I argue, “seriously, Gerald and I doing quite alright.”We were not. Gerald was not doing badly, but I was plain overwhelmed with
The forum is taking place on the East coast, in New York, no less. And I for one, had never been to New York. In fact, I have never had the pleasure of leaving the west coast to visit anywhere else no matter how I wished, and my abysmal bad luck struck whenever there was a field trip organized for my class whenever there was something exciting going on. And that was saying something, considering how I rarely got sick. But the few times I did, it was almost always on days when exciting field trips were scheduled. Which meant that I got the visit some boring powdered milk and dairy product factory which was just a stone’s throw away from Clandestine city, but never got to visit New York in the eighth-grade field trip because I apparently got food poisoning from some bad shellfish after mom took me to an all-you-can-eat buffet the night before at a newly opened seafood restaurant. And I wasn’t even allergic to it. Those damn oysters had just not agreed with me. So, I was as excited as
We arrive at the main conference room of the hotel at around 11:45 AM, a good fifteen minutes before the start of the Introduction session. We sat on the row of seats that had been relegated to our company and take the introduction brochures that are tucked into the back of the seats in front of us. “Wow, this is fancy,” Coraline murmurs next to me, taking in the cool exterior of the conference room that looks as if it could be part of some French chateau than a hotel. The ivory white and gold are the theme here as well, but it is a lot cooler than the outside. The conference room can at least sit a thousand people at once. It seems like the forum hosts had gone all out. Soon, the conference hall brims with corporate personnel from all across the continent, and the organizers of the forum take the stage to relay their welcome speech, followed by a brief summary of the history of the Annual North American Business Forum. They introduce all the people of importance, as well as do a
“Breathe!” My brain orders me, and I force my nose to inhale some much-needed air. Only then do I realize the fire within me was coming straight from my lungs. I sit there on the floor where I fell ass-first to, almost paralyzed as my eyes keep locked onto the face looming above me. The dark hair, the shape of the eyes, the shape of the nose…they are all familiar features that I did not think I would see again, not after the last time. My heart stammers in my chest as I struggle to make a connection. This is not Aiden; he is much too older and broader in his frame to be Aiden. But there is no denying the haunting similarity this man has with Coraline’s missing ex-boyfriend. “Jace!” I hear Coraline’s voice come from behind me as the crowd dissipates. A pair of shoes clatter on the ground as she makes her way towards me, and then abruptly stops as she registers the man in front of me. I hear Coraline gasp, and that is enough to break me out of my stupor. I remember where I am, and