a/n So this chapter is written is a much different style to how I usually write, because I wanted to try something different, so I hope you enjoy and that it isn't confusing.
Just a little message to say, as lovely as it's been writing this story, the next chapter will be the last. The story I was trying to write has come to its natural conclusion, and I hope you've enjoyed it.
But, due to a combination of factors – that include a broken elbow and impending exams, chapter 10 might take a while to be put up. Sorry!
(But keep your eyes peeled for the future; there might well be a sequel!)
Chapter 9
"What...what the hell's happened to Rachel?"
"Call an ambulance, Kim."
"She looks dreadful."
"Yeah, yeah she does."
"What happened? Is she alright?"
"Don't know. And, Kim, I hope to god she'll be okay."
...
"Ambulance is here, Eddie."
"..."
"Quit looking so miserable, Lawson. It won't help her. "
"..."
"Look, I'll tell you a joke."
"..."
"A man walks into a bar. 'Ouch', he says."
"..."
"And there goes my attempt at humour. Rubbish I know, but I've never been very good at jokes. Or waiting, for that matter."
"..."
"Oh, come one. I'm sure she'll be okay."
"Someone needs to get Ellie. She needs to know what's happening."
"I'll go."
"..."
"Eddie, she'll be fine. Rachel always was a fighter."
...
"I'm Dave, I'm a paramedic. What have we got here?"
"I'm not sure, I just came in and she was bleeding and...and then she collapsed..."
"What's your name, sir?"
"Eddie."
"Alright, Eddie, why don't you sit down? My colleague and I will see what we can do."
"Rachel."
"What?"
"Rachel Mason. That's her name."
"Rachel, can you hear me?"
"Is she going to be alright?"
...
"Dad, dad what's going on?"
"-"
"What the hell's happened to her?"
"I don't know. The paramedics are with her now."
"Is she alright?"
"I don't know?"
"Is she going to die?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Your mum's a real fighter."
"How do you know?!"
"-"
"No, you can't know for certain, can you? That bloke from the house next door was fine after he got mugged, just shaken up and then boom, a few hours later he was dead because his spleen exploded or something-"
"Ells, calm down!"
"WHY? Why should I? Mum could die and here we are TALKING about it!"
"There's nothing we can do at the moment."
"..."
"I don't want mum to die."
"I don't want her to die either."
...
"Well, we can only take one person in the ambulance..."
"You go Ellie."
"No, no, Dad, you go. She'll want you there."
"The last thing she said to me was to keep you safe, and I'd feel much better if you went with her."
"I...I don't think I could...I could bear to see her like this...all bleeding and hurting and...and... I've never seen a real dead person before..."
"Okay, Ellie, it's fine."
"She's not going to die, is she?"
"Shush...Ellie, darling, it's all going to be alright."
"I don't want to lose her."
"Ellie, I don't think we will."
"Okay..."
"You, little one, are a worrier."
"I'm not little."
"I'm your dad, you'll always be little to me. Alex is taller than me and I still think he's my little one."
"I've only known you five minutes and still your just as embarrassing as mum."
"You go with Kim. She'll take you to the hospital. I'll be there, waiting for you."
"I don't know her though."
"Trust me, both me and your mum knew her very well once."
"Okay, dad."
"I'll see you at the hospital."
...
"She's suffered a broken hand, several broken rips and quite substantial internal bleeding. She also has a head injury, but we're not really concerned about that. We're pretty sure it's just concussion, but we are monitoring it just in case. She's going up to theatre at the moment."
"Doctor, is Rachel going to be alright?"
"It's a little too early to tell, and your wife has suffered quite severe injuries, but I'm quite hopeful she'll make a full recovery."
"Oh, she's not my wife. Not married just yet."
"Oh, I am sorry."
"No, it's fine. One day, I hope she'll be my wife."
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
...
"Ellie, you made it."
"You were right, Kim's cool. She has a great taste in music too. Better than mum by a million miles."
"Are you okay, Ells?"
"Yeah...I'll be fine. What about mum?"
"She's in theatre at the mo-"
"What's she in theatre for?"
"She's suffered internal bleeding in the attack-"
"It was an attack, then? That's how she got the injuries?"
"Well, I'm not certain, and we can't be until your mum wakes up, but I pretty sure that someone did this to her. I can't think of another explanation."
"Okay..."
"Ellie, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Why do you keep calling me dad?"
"Well, that's what you are, aren't you? My dad?"
"Yeah, but you've hardly called me it before and now you're saying like I've been here your whole life."
"Life's too short to hold grudges."
"You resented me not being there?"
"Yeah, I guess...Everyone else had dads and I didn't. I...well, I didn't feel normal. Even those whose dad's had skipped out on them at least knew their name. I didn't know a single thing about you."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well that wasn't the only reason."
"What was the other one?"
"You broke mum's heart."
...
"Mr Lawson?"
"Yes?"
"Ms Mason's out of theatre."
"Okay."
"She's asleep at the moment, but she should wake up soon. You can see her now."
"Thank you, Doctor."
"You ready to go see your mum?"
"Yeah."
...
"Did Kim stay?"
"No, she had to go back to the school."
"Okay."
"Why?"
"Oh, I just wanted to ask her something."
"Okay."
"..."
"Dad, when's she going to wake up?"
"Soon, Ells, soon."
...
"You've reached Kim Treneman's voicemail. This means I can't get to the phone at the moment, but you can leave a message after the beep."
"Damn."
"Beep."
"Oh...um, it's Eddie here. I was just wondering if Rachel had ever talked about a man called Johnny? It's just something she said before she passed out. It's troubling me. Sorry, for this Kim...yeah, I, um, guess I'll see you around."
...
"Where'd you go?"
"I needed a work with Kim. She wasn't there so I left a message."
"You okay, dad?"
"Yeah, I just hope she wakes up soon."
"Me too."
...
"Dad, Dad! Wake up."
"Issheawake?"
"What? Dad, you're talking nonsense."
"Is she awake? Sorry, just drifted then."
"No, it's just your phone's rumbling."
"Oh."
"Who is it?"
"It's Kim."
"You going to answer it?"
"Oh, yeah, of course."
...
"Hi, Eddie, I just got your message. I haven't seen Rachel in a long time, so I'm not the best person to ask, but no, I've never heard her talk about anyone called Johnny. Sorry."
"No, it's fine, just a shot in the dark anyway. Thanks, Kim. Hope I'll see you soon."
"Is Rachel okay?"
"Yeah, she alright. She's asleep at the moment though."
"Okay. Bye Eddie."
"Bye, Kim."
...
"Does Alex know where you are?"
"Oh..."
"I'll take that as a no, then. I think you need to call him."
"Yeah, me too."
...
"Did you get through?"
"Yep. He's at home. He just thought I was working late."
"Do you that a lot?"
"Do what?"
"Work late?"
"After me and his mum broke up, well, yeah. I have to admit I'm not a very good dad. I made a mess of it the first time and the second time wasn't much better."
"First time? What do you mean me? I thought Alex was older than me?"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot you didn't know about Michael."
"Who's Michael?"
"My eldest son."
"With mum's sister?"
"No, no – Michael's my son with my first wife. I haven't seen him in god knows how long."
"Oh...I think mum mentioned it once. Just after I found out you were my dad."
"What did she say?"
"That she let you go so you could be with your son, because you'd lost one before and it nearly killed you."
"Yeah..."
"I think you're a good dad."
"You - who, by your own admission I remind you, have only known me 'five minutes' – think I'm a good dad?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"'Cause your mine."
...
"Ellie?"
"..."
"Ellie, are you asleep?"
"..."
"Knew it."
...
"You really need to wake up, you know. You're really giving us a scare here, Rach."
"She never liked anyone calling her Rach."
"Oh, Ellie, you're awake."
"She never liked anyone calling her Rach."
"I'm not the only one who called her that, you know."
"..."
"She used to like it."
...
"Ells, has your mum ever mentioned anyone called Johnny?"
"Nope."
"Oh..."
"Why?"
"It's nothing."
"Dad?"
"It's just something... No, it doesn't matter, Ellie."
"Right. You going to explain anymore?"
"..."
"Didn't think so. Is Johnny the person who attacked her?"
"I don't know, El. I wish I did."
"Why would anyone want to hurt her?"
"I don't know why, either. God, I feel so useless just sitting here."
"It's not useless. We're showing Mum she's not alone."
...
"Dad, Dad, I think she's waking up!"
"..."
"Oh, don't tell me...DAD!"
"What? Issheawake?"
"Yes."
"Rach?"
"What happened, Eddie?"
...
"I think we should get the police involved, Rachel."
"I said no, Eddie, and I mean no."
"Why wouldn't you want the man who did this to you to get the punishment he deserves?"
"..."
"God..."
"What?"
"You know who did this to you, don't you?"
"..."
"Rachel, tell me who it was and you won't need to get the police involved. He could have killed you!"
"Eddie! There's no point doing anything. We just have to leave it."
"Leave it?!"
"Yes."
"What if I can't?"
"Eddie, you have to."
"I'll leave once I know his name."
"I'm not telling you. I can't."
"..."
"Please, Eddie, if I could tell you I would..."
"He threatened Ellie, didn't he?"
"..."
"If I get my hands on him..."
"Eddie!"
"But if I do..."
"Please..."
"He nearly killed you and threatened our daughter to keep you quiet. I'm allowed to want to hit him."
"Keep your voice down, Ellie's outside. She might be able to hear you."
"I don't care, Rachel! He can't be allowed to get away with this."
"If it was that simple, Eddie..."
"What's complicated about this? You tell the police the name of this bloke and they go out and arrest him and I can sleep easy again."
"I told you to leave it."
"I can't."
"Eddie..."
"If you won't tell me who, at least tell me why."
"..."
"I'm just trying to help you, Rachel."
"I'm fine, Eddie. I don't need saving."
...
"Was it Johnny?"
"..."
"I'm right, aren't I?
"..."
"Why, Rach? That's what I don't understand."
"I can't tell you."
"Why not? I'm not here to judge you or anything."
"I just...I can't, Eddie."
"Rachel..."
"Uh, Dad, the police are here."
...
"I TOLD you not to call the police!"
"I didn't."
"Who did then?"
"Maybe your daughter?!"
"Why would she? She knows I don't want them involved."
"Doesn't stop her. She doesn't listen to reason. I learnt that the hard way."
"Tell them I'm not up to seeing them."
"I'm not going to lie for you. Why don't you want the police involved – because this Johnny threatened Ellie?"
"...Yes..."
"Well, I won't let him hurt her."
"You don't know that. He knows how to get to people, Eddie. He did it to me, and I'm scared he'll do it to her."
"What...what did he do to you?"
"You know what he did."
"It's just that before, it sounded like this is much more than that."
"..."
"Rach?"
"..."
"How did he hurt you? Who the hell is this man? Why are you so scared of him?"
"Eddie, please...you don't want to go there."
"Rach, I lost you for so long, I don't want to again."
"You're not losing me, Eddie."
"Rachel, I'm scared that I am."
...
"The police have a suspect."
"You've talked to the police?"
"Yeah. The nice blonde one told me."
"Nice blonde one's name?"
"Detective Caleb Martins."
"You're on first name terms with a police officer?"
"Stop teasing me, Dad. Do you want to know the name of the suspect or what?"
"Go on then, it sounds much more interesting than this salad, anyway."
"You should eat, you haven't for days."
"I couldn't eat when I didn't know if your mum was going to be okay."
"Well..."
"Going to tell me his name?"
"Oh, yeah. Did you meet the deputy head from Verity Park?"
"Yeah, but why are you bringing him up?"
"They think it could be him."
"What? Why?"
"Don't know, but them caught him on CCTV leaving the mum's office not long after the time they think she was attacked. Caleb told me they're going to arrest him."
"Why, though?"
"No clue."
"The doctor's say your mum might be able to come home tomorrow."
"After only a week in hospital."
"At least she is coming home, Ells. You should be happy."
"Why?! Why would somebody hurt mum like that? I don't understand."
"Calm down, Ellie, you look like you're murdering that pasta."
"Dad!"
"I'm sorry, Ellie, I don't know."
"Do think mum knows why he attacked her?"
"I don't know that either. Sorry, El."
...
"Do you recognise this man, Ms Mason?"
"..."
"Ms Mason?"
"...No...No, I don't."
"Funny, Mrs Treneman told us you met him on the morning of your attack."
"Oh, maybe I..."
"If you're scared of him, we can help you. If he's threatened you in any way, the best place for him would be behind bars."
"I...I...can't..."
"Okay, Detective, I think you should leave now. Ms Mason will be at home tomorrow and if you have any more questions you can ask her then."
"Thanks for that, Eddie."
"Don't thank me. Just tell them who hurt you."
"Eddie, Eddie – don't go...don't go."
...
"They've let Addams go."
"Why?"
"Mum wouldn't talk so they've only got the CCTV and he's explained that by saying he found her after she was attacked, panicked and left. All they can charge him with is being amoral because all he did is leave her bleeding on the floor, that's if we can believe him."
"God..."
"Why, why won't Mum talk?"
"He...no, your mum would kill me if I told you."
"Dad, I'm not a kid. I need to know the truth."
"She told me the guy that attacked her threatened to hurt you if she talked."
"He threatened me?"
"Yeah, yeah he did."
"Don't you think it's Addams?"
"No, no I don't. Your mum let slip that she thinks the bloke who hurt her was called Johnny."
"Have you told the police this?"
"Yeah, they said they couldn't find anyone called Johnny that could have the attacker."
"So, what do you think happened, Dad? He must have known about mum if he knew about me."
"I've never thought about it like that."
"Do you think he'll come after me?"
"I'm sure he won't, Ells."
...
"Rachel?"
"Yeah, Eddie?"
"Ellie's gone missing."
...
So, what's the verdict on the different style? Please review and tell me, I'd love to hear your views! It would make day!