Mrs Amy sat on the sofa with teary eyes as she gazed down at her son who laid on the sofa with his head resting on her laps. She gently caressed his hair while she kept humming softly to him, looking all devastated and depressed. Her mind racing in space. It's been almost an hour without any news of her daughter's whereabout. A tear dropped down her eyes, she sniffed and swiftly wiped it off with her hand. After realizing Kelvin was fast asleep, she took a quick glance at her phone next to her if she had missed any call but still had none. She gently adjusted Kelvin's head on one of the pillows on the sofa and stood up as quite as she could, not waking him up. She sighed, glanced at Laura's picture on the table and trod off to the kitchen to get some water. Just then, her phone rang. She hurriedly rushed and picked it up; it was Mya.
“Mya? what's going on?Have you found her?”, she stuttered but trembled at the sobering tone over the phone. “What is it, Mya? Talk please”
Mya stammered admist tears,“Is Laura, mum– Alixes' just called and told me she's battling between life and death at the moment. They are on their way to the hospital. I'm meeting them over there”.
“Oh,God_ I'm leaving the house now”, Amy cried, picking up her car key, trembling with shaky hands. “I'll be there in no time, bye”.
She dropped the line and turned to leave but was suddenly drown back by Kelvin. “Is that Laura?Is she okay?”
She stared back at him looking all blank and morose, stuttering, “ Yeah, I'm going to bring her home”.
“ I'll go with you, I want to see her”
“No, you can't come along”, she swiftly cut in. Kelvin gazed at her, confused and doleful, “Why?”, he muttered in tears. “What is wrong with Laura? Why can't I see her now ”
“Umm, nothing. Come, let's go now”
They dashed out of the house in a flash. Amy quickly drove off as fast as she could.
HOSPITAL
James drove into the compound and pulled over. He sped into the hospital for help while Alixes sat beside Laura who looked so pale and lifeless. Soon, James came out with some nurses and a stretcher. Alixes hurriedly got down and helped them pull her onto the stretcher. Just then, Mya and Amy drove in. They pulled over and quickly got down from their car with Kelvin. They saw Laura been pulled into the hospital motionless. They sped closer to the stretcher, devastated.
“Laura? Laura!!”, Mya and Kelvin cried, holding her hand as they raced along the nurses. “Why isn't she moving or saying anything? ”, Kelvin exclaimed, tears streaming down his eyes. He felt his heart ache badly.
“What happened to my daughter! ”, Amy shouted in tears.
A nurse held and pulled her away from the stretcher as they hurriedly rushed Laura into the emergency ward. “Calm down ,ma’am. She'll be fine”. Amy sat on the floor, shocked and speechless with teary eyes as she watch her daughter pulled away into the emergency ward. Mya hugged Kelvin behind the emergency ward, wailing. Alixes screamed in tears and faint to the floor, devastated. James immediately held her, “Pull yourself together, Alix, she'll be alright. Trust me”
She gazed at his face and hugged him in tears.
Laura's spirit stood in front of the ward, staring at her family and friend in agony. Tears freely streamed down her cheeks. She felt heartbroken and miserable while she witnessed how pained, mournful and agonized they felt especially her mother. She slowly trod to her side and tried holding her shoulder but her hand just passed through like the wind. “Mum, I'm here. Please stop crying. My heart ache to see you like this”, exclaimed Laura in tears but no one heard her.
“Oh, God, what's this(sobs)?”. She rose her head, scanning around helplessly only to see her dad approaching from the entrance of the hospital looking so depressed and frustrated. She quickly rushed up to him with the hope that he may see or hear her.
“Oh, Dad, you're finally here. I've been trying to talk to mum but she wouldn't listen or even look at me”, she mumbled but Mr. Roberts just strolled through her. She gazed at his back in tears as he sat by Amy and hugged her.
“It's alright, Amy, our daughter will be fine, huh?”, he mumbled. Amy nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, sobbing. Mya and Kelvin knelt beside them and slowly placed their heads on their laps in tears. Laura stared at them in tears. She felt broken without repair.
*************
Ben, Fred and Patrick arrived at Ben's house. They carefully scanned around to make sure his father wasn't home and crept in but was caught at the hall by Mr. Hansel before they could get to Ben's room.
“Where are you boys creeping to?”, Mr. Hansel's voice roared from the mini bar at the far end of the hall. They flinched and froze in their steps, turning to the direction of the voice.
“Good evening, dad”, Ben stammered.
“What's that blood stain in your shirts?!”, he shouted angrily, gliding towards them. They panicked; they didn't realize when their shirts got stained. Mr. Hansel landed a heavy slap on Ben's cheek as soon as he got close to them, causing Fred and Patrick to tremble. “You think I wouldn't know or find out, huh?”, he yelled, showing a video of the CCTV footage on his phone to them. They gasped, astonished. He held Ben by his shirt, furious, “ Why the hell did you do that? What for? Do you know what this is going to cause to us and the school, huh?”
Ben stood speechless. He pushed him to the floor and roared angrily, thumping the glasses on the table to the floor. Fred and Patrick gazed at him in fright. They've never seen him so furious like that before. He looked like an angry wolf. None of them dared utter a word. He sat on the sofa and took a glass of whisky at a go. He hived a sigh and leaned back on the sofa, facing the roof with closed eyes.
“I'll take care of this but if you're interviewed or interrogated by any officer from the police just tell them she committed suicide. Have you heard me?", he shouted. They nodded.
“Leave here, go now and get rid of those blood stained shirts. I mean every evidence that may raise suspicions. ”
They nodded and rushed off to Ben's room.