When Past & Present Collide: WP&PC (10 page)

‘Suzanne, accident.’
She was there with my Ella, shit was he there too.

I stood up and watched them leave with the other officer, how is it possible that he managed to do this to me again?
“Sir, can we just settle down please? I know you’re angry but we need to establish what happened today.” I turned and looked at the officer; after taking a few deep breaths, I slowly sat down.

After what seemed like an eternity he started to explain what happened.

“We believe Ella and Suzanne had met for coffee, apparently the other diners in the coffee house had said they were arguing. Miss Jamison then apparently left. With Miss Jones following suit, the row escalated into the street and when Miss Jamison ran off she ran straight into a car, the driver of the car was going over the speed limit.”

I jumped up
, running my hands through my hair, the bastard. If they weren’t going so fast maybe she would have been okay. I hoped or prayed but deep down I knew either way she would have been hurt. Why was she with Suzanne? Was what Matthew said all true? Do I really know my Ella? I looked at the officer. “How much over?” I said in the sternest voice I could find.

I was so angry; my whole world was falling apart.

I’d finally let myself love again and here I was all over again, but worse.

“
We are dealing with the speed, but it was too late. The driver of the vehicle had no time to stop. We believe she has some injuries and we’re just waiting on the doctors to inform us of them.” I slumped down on the chair placing my head in my hands, how could this be?

My mind was vacant, like a part of me was missing, my whole body was futile.

I couldn’t even describe how I was feeling at this moment; before I knew it, I was standing and walking out of the hospital.

I vaguely remember mumbling to the police officer that I needed fresh air and him taking my cell number. I don’t even remember putting one foot in front of the other.

I strolled down the street, ignoring everyone in passing, budging past people, I really didn’t care.

I need
ed to find out if what Matthew was saying was true. I needed to get to the apartment and go through all her papers.

I’ve never even looked in her personal draws
, but today is going to be an exception.

I finally got back to the apartment. God
knows how I managed it. But I had a desperate urge set in my mind; I needed to prove my Ella would not do this to me.

I walked across to her closet dragging all her clothes out looking for any evidence.

“Fuck, nothing.” The office, try the office, Jacob, I said as I was running straight out the bedrooms, passed the living area, scanning anywhere she could hide any documents that proved she worked there, or was giving him all of my clients.

There is nothing there; we’ve not really been here long. I run to the office and start emptying all our desks.

“Damn, nothing.” I tried to think of anywhere else she would put work documents.

Her boxes in my office at work, I got Taylor to get all her documents, she never went back to collect them.

I grabbed a bottle of whisky on my way out the door and took a big gulp on the way to the lifts.

By the time I arrived at the office I was stumbling.

I managed to swagger to my office and low and behold, there were all of her work documents.

After some adjustments
, I finally managed to place my bottle on the desk without it tipping all over my laptop, and dragged the boxes to the middle of the floor, tipping them everywhere.

I started
rummaging through any papers, “nothing.”

I turned
, scratching my head. What was I thinking? I slumped down on the floor, sobbing my heart out. I can’t believe I had doubted my sweetheart.

Because of that shit
, Matthew.

Placing my arms next to me I knocked something hard, glancing down at the object I was shocked, there was her laptop, I shook my head.

“I can’t.” I shouted out loud, but something was telling me to look.

I flicked it on my knee and switched it on; it seemed to take forever to boot up. After a couple of minutes I went into her email data history, all the staff never knew off it
, but I had a technician in one evening and got him to make sure all deleted emails could be restored.

I started flicking through anything with Matt Industr
ies emails and there was a load off them.

The more recent ones w
ere her asking to be left alone, basically saying she had done what he had requested.

My chest tightened as I st
ruggled to breathe, he was telling the truth.

The devastation hit me like numbness. I carried on flicking through email after email and there they were
, stating she overpriced us and who the clients were, with all their details, so they could have them.

I stood up and hurled her laptop at the wall
, watching it smash to pieces on the floor.

Staggering for my bottle of whisky, I gulped some of it back. I shivered as it burnt my throat.

As realization hit me, “shit, it was him.” Fuck, why hadn't I realized it at the hospital?

It was Mat
thew at the charity event. What is going on? What am I missing?

I shoved everything off
my desk and flung it upside down smashing into everything.

My office door flung open as I staggered back. Taylor’s eyes bored in to mine. I don’t think he had ever seen me raging or drunk.

I swung the bottle as I walked past him swaying, shouting “hi.”

Taylor grabbed my arm stopping me as I headed out the door, not really knowing where I was going, but I knew my bottle was virtually empty. I tugged out of his reach.

“Are you okay, Mr Green? Where’s Ella? What’s happened?”

I sneered at him.
“That bitch.”

I spat. I never spit, but I was so repulsed by what I h
ad found. What Matt had said was all true, all the emails matched up to what he had said.

Taylor gr
abbed my arm and looked at me. “Mr Green, can I call Ella or your mum to come and collect you?”

I could see he was worried about me, I shook my head, I knew he was a good friend of hers, he did deserve to know.

I turned, stumbling and fell flat on to the sofa, I burst out into hysterics. “She was using me. I loved her, and would have given her the world, and she used me.”

Tay
lor shook his head in protest. “No, she loves you, Jacob.”

I glared up;
I hate the staff using my name, “I’m sorry, Mr Green, but I know she loves you, she told me. I’ve seen the torment in her eyes when she was pushing you away.”

I was about to finish off my bottle when he said that. She did
, didn’t she?

Realisation
had sunk in. Oh my god, I had chased her and she kept saying no because she was sorry, she told me she wished she had told me the truth from the beginning, and in a way she was always telling me.

How did I not see this? I knew we lost clients. I was just so blinded by my love for her. I turned and gulped back the huge lump that was bursting to escape my throat.

My throat constricted and I could feel the tears sting my eyes, my sweetheart was hurt and I’ve left her at the hospital, with another man.

I knew there was nothing more I could do. We
were over, but Taylor could keep him away from her.

“
Taylor, go to the royal hospital, she’s in their intensive care unit. Tell them you’re her brother and they will let you in. It’s family only, the police should be outside still. Make sure they don’t let Matthew in to see her.” I went to stand up but before I knew it, I fell back down.

Taylor’s face was so pale and he looked like he was going to be sick. I knew he loved Ella like
a sister, they got on so well. “W…w… what happened?” He was giving me daggers now and looking at the bottle in my hand and over to my half smashed up office.

I shook my
head; I knew he thought I had done something. “Taylor, she got hit by a car, I’m not sure. I only saw her for a bit before.” I breathed in so deep, I couldn’t even exhale my breath back out.

I loved her so much, she was my entire world, and she was lying flat out in that p
lace all alone. “Please, Taylor,” my tears were flowing freely now, I was trying to breathe in and out but I couldn’t catch my breath, I grabbed his arm and pleaded with him. “Please, please call my mum.”

I w
as starting to hyperventilate. “Get her to the hospital. Don’t leave Ella alone. Please, Taylor, go.” I stood up, pushing him forwards towards the door.

Dad arrived not
to long after Taylor left.

He knelt down next to me as I was slumped on the office floor; I’ve never seen him so lost in all my adult life.

“Son, what happened? You don’t drink like this?” He picked my empty bottle up and placed it in the bin. “Let me get you some coffee and we can go over everything, I’m sure you don’t want to leave Ella on her own for too long.”

I couldn’t get the words out b
ut once I finally did, even though dad was shocked, what shocked me more was that he was standing up for her. I was beyond outraged. It took dad most of the afternoon to calm me down and encourage me to go back.

He explained he never liked her at first, but she had proved to him how much she had loved me, and he thought she deserved a chance to let me know what happened before I ended us.

He also knew for certain I would regret it for the rest of my life if she woke up without me being there. This I realised was true. So after a couple cups of coffee, we finally arrived back to the hospital.

She was lying down in the bed, like a sleeping angel, tubes were coming out of her body from every direction. Outside the winter day was so d
rowdy, and the air was stale, it made her room so dull and eerie; like death.

I slowly walked over to her, tears cascading down my face. My mum and dad were there while Taylor and Beth waited outside. I leant over and inhaled
, but her coconut warmth smell had gone, she was not here with me. I leant over and held her limp body so tight. I couldn’t let go of her.

The machines were making a beeping sound all around the room
, telling us she was still hanging on there. I started brushing some of her lose strands of hair off her face, back over her bandaged head. Something happened and all the machines started make a dull noise, nurses and doctors ran from every direction, someone was pulling me off her and out of the room.

I started
raging; I needed to be back in there with my sweetheart. I managed to escape whoever was holding me back, I could hear someone yelling to let the doctors do their job but I was frantic, I needed to be in there.

Before I knew it they were de
-fibrillating her body, her chest leaped upwards. Then the machine beeped a whisper of a beat, I noticed they were unhooking machines and then she was whisked out before I could do anything.

I paced up and down outside the theatre
, shivering, unable to feel any part of my body.

My parents, Taylor and Beth were all sitting there twiddling their fingers.

“Where is she, mum? Why are they taking so long? They’ve been in there with her for ages. I should have been here, I shouldn’t have left her.” I collapsed into my mums arm’s sobbing uncontrollably; she pulled me away and wiped my stained eyes.

“
They’re looking after her, son; someone will be out soon to tell us what happened. Let’s get you some coffee.”

Just on cue
, one of the doctors came out of the room pulling a face mask off from him. We all looked at once; his face was in agony I knew it was bad news.

He held his hand out motioning for us to go in the waiting room with him; we all got up and followed.

Taylor and Beth sat down while mum and I stood up with dad behind me. “Who is Ella’s next of kin?” I stood forward, as she’s my girlfriend and the fact she had no family then I would presume it would be me.

I gulped a
huge breath before answering. “I am, its Jacob. I’m her partner.” He looked at me “Okay, Jacob, I’m Doctor Thomas. Ella sustained some injuries during the accident. She had internal bleeding around the splene. We managed to save it but we’re concerned about the baby. She is still unconscious at the moment but we will be bringing her around soon.”

I could feel m
y legs slowly shaking, did he just say baby.

“
Ella took a knock to the stomach as she fell to the ground. We believe she was hit on her back. We have asked for a gynaecologist, Doctor Kline to connect her up to an ultra sound machine so we can monitor any change.”

I wasn’t taking any of this information on board, my legs gave out on me and my dad’s arms quickly jumped forward so I didn’t fall.