Mirror – Chapter 4
Two patrol cars pulled up at the Cinnamon Hill in August Valley. It was dark and the rain was pouring heavily. Michonne and Officer Walsh sat in the first car while Officers Romney and Mc Knight rode in the second one. Shane picked up his radio.
"We are gonna wait until this rain taper off then proceed."
"Yes sir."
Michonne looked up the hill. She saw a lot of trees but couldn't tell which one was weathered or a Sequoia tree because of the rain and the darkness of the night. They would have to wait. She leaned back in her seat pulling her jacket over her and closed her eyes…unaware that Shane was studying her.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was about twenty minutes later when Officers Romney and Mc Knight saw Shane finally got out and proceeded to the trunk of his vehicle. The rain was now a medium drizzle. They watched as he took out an umbrella and walked over to the passenger side. He opened the door holding the opened umbrella over it and Michonne got out.
Michonne then took the umbrella from him and they both walked back to the trunk of the car and Shane began taking out the tools necessary for their dig. Michonne looked back at them and smile and they reciprocated.
"Are we really f*cking doing this?" Mc Knight asked annoyed.
"Looks like it."
"This is bullsh*t!"
Officer Romney opened his door.
"Come on. Let's get this over with and done. The faster we dig the faster we get to go home."~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The walk up the slight incline was made difficult by the rain. There was mud everywhere. Michonne looked at Romney and Mc Knight and she knew that they didn't want to be here. She is just grateful that Officer Walsh has been supportive of her. Ten minutes later each one of them spread out looking for an old weathered Sequoia Tree. Officer Romney found it almost immediately.
"Here!"
They walked over and there, directly under the tree were three stones in a cluster at its base. Michonne clasped her hands together and Shane reached out to her.
"Are you ready for this?"
Michonne closed her eyes, nodding.
They began digging.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Michonne looked on as Officers Walsh, Romney and Mc Knight started digging and the first glimmer of hope appeared after three minutes…a small blue blanket. The officers looked at Michonne as she jumped into the hole and began clawing at the article of clothing that was still partially buried in the mud.
"Ms Moore!"
Michonne ignored them and pulled away from Shane when he took hold of her hand.
"Let me go!" she growled at him.
He stepped back and watched silently. After the third hard pull the clothing finally became loose and Michonne fell backwards into the mud. It was then they realized that the blanket had something wrapped in it. Michonne slowly opened it, hands trembling and she whimpered by what she saw inside. It was a collection of different size bones. Shane came up behind and took it from her.
He examined the contents carefully as Michonne looked on. From his 15 years of services as a police officer who have dug up more than his share of graves could tell that this grieving woman was in for some major disappointment. He looked at her trying to find the right words. Instead he just meekly shook his head.
"You don't know for sure!" Michonne said breathlessly.
"I've been a cop for 15 years Ms Moore. I am 99% sure that these are not human."
"So there is a 1% chance that it could be...right?!"
"Ms Moore I…."
"Right?!"
Shane looked at Romney and Mc Knight then back at Michonne. He said nothing.
"We have to take it to the lab for testing!"
Shane was very quiet. He didn't know how else to make her understand.
"A 1% chance is still a chance!" Michonne said now in tears. "Please don't take this away from me! Please!"
Shane folded the bones back into the blanket and told Romney to call Dr. Fredericks at the forensics lab.
"What?!" Romney said in disbelief.
"Call…Dr….Fredericks."
Romney angrily climbs out of the hole and Mc Knight followed him. Shane looked at Michonne smiling slightly. She reached out and touched him, barely able to contain herself.
"Thank you!"~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dr Frederick drove into the compound of the forensics lab only ten minutes after Shane and company arrived. Shane got out of the vehicle and handed the doctor the blanket.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"This is important."
"What case is this?"
When Shane hesitated to answer Dr Fredericks looked over his shoulder and saw Michonne sitting in the car.
"Really?!"
"Don't say a word!"
Dr Fredericks opened the blanket then looked up at Shane annoyed.
"You know what this is!"
They heard the car door opened and closed. Shane quickly looked around and saw Michonne walking towards them. He looked back at the doctor.
"Just humour me…please."
The doctor glared at him
"Is everything ok?"
"Yes." Dr Fredericks said slightly smiling.
They all went inside.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They directed Michonne to sit in the waiting area in the corridor while they went into the examination table. The officers watched as Dr Fredericks lay the bones on the examination table and began preparing the chemicals to be used for the testing. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to them.
"No."
"No what?" Shane asked.
"No. I'm not doing this."
Shane walked up to the examination table.
"What do you mean you're not doing this?"
"We all know these are animal bones. Probably a large dog like a pitbull or german shepard or something. I'm sorry for this woman's lost but I am not going to waste time, energy and state resources doing some test which I already know what the results will be."
There was an eerie silence in the room.
"Resources are already scarce so I am not going to squander it on a woman who can't accept or wouldn't accept the truth or reality of her situation. There are too many real cases…real people out there that we can actually help!"
The doctor began packing up the chemicals.
"Why are you even doing this?! You are not doing her any favours by encouraging her! She needs to grieve and to grieve properly. This isn't helping her…Its very unhealthy."
Shane became angry.
"You think I don't know that?! I know she's a lost cause and a burden to the department. She's a burden to me! It's me she always calls or visits at the station whenever she gets one of these letters! I don't want to be here! None of us do! We know we can't help her, her case is already classified as a cold case but we were also instructed not to turn her away as well. What am I supposed to do? You tell me!"
"I don't know and quite frankly I don't care but the next time you drag me out of my bed at this ungodly hour for this bullsh*t case again I will report you to the disciplinary board. Waste your own time not mine."
Dr Fredericks turned to leave and was stopped dead in his tracks.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michonne stood at the door to the room, staring at the men, shell shocked. Dr Fredericks, Shane, Romney and Mc Knight stared back at her. She looked each man directly in their eyes as she slowly walked across the room to them. The men looked at each other then back at her. They weren't sure how long she have been standing there or how much she had heard but from the way she was looking at them, they knew she had heard enough. She walked between Shane and the doctor to the examination table and quietly and robotically began gathering the bones in the blanket. Shane had to say something. They were all watching her silently.
"Ms Moore."
Michonne didn't respond. She was too busy trying to hold back the tears that were fighting to be freed. Too busy trying to process a conversation that was clearly not meant for her ears.
"Ms Moore. I don't know how much of that you heard but I can assure you it's not what you think."
Still not answering, Michonne put the last bone in the blanket and carefully folded them in and placed them in her bag. When Shane called out to her for the third time, she turned to face him.
"Ms Moore."
Michonne walked up to him and shook his hand.
"I want to thank you and your officers for coming tonight despite you all clearly not wanting to be here."
Her voice was low and trembling and a single tear escaped down her right cheeks. She quickly wiped it.
"I want you to know that I will not be a burden to you, your colleagues or the department anymore. You will not be hearing from me again. I will do this on my own from here on out."
Romney and Mc Knight looked at each other mortified. Michonne now turned to the doctor, her tears now flowing more at liberty, her voice choking up in the process as she was struggling to breath. She refused to completely breakdown infront of them.
"Doctor…I want to apologize for waking you up and you too will not be hearing about me or my case again as I want you to concentrate on more worthy cases with the already limited resources that you have. It's not Officer's Walsh's fault that he is here but I can assure you he will not be here on my account again. There will be no need for the disciplinary board complaint."
Michonne then looked at all four men…who have been rendered dumbstruck.
"Have a good night."
She walked out…with a trail of eyes behind her. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Michonne walked up in her house it was exactly 1:30 am. She felt numb, mechanical and as a stranger in her own house. Her house hasn't felt like home since that day and she suspects is never will. Taking out the blanket from her bag she opened it and looked at the bones. '1% chance is still a chance!' She tried to reason with herself as she examined the bones, not even knowing what she was looking at.
After fifteen minutes she went upstairs and stripped down. Taking a handful of valium in her palm she went into the bathroom and quickly filled the tub. She swallowed the pills in one gulp and went into the tub filled with water. She closed her eyes.