Chapter 11 - Realisations

A week had passed since Amber had told Miles of her 'holiday' plans. She walked out onto the balcony of her apartment, watching the sun fall behind the horizon, leaving a fiery trail in the sky as it set. She held the glass of red wine up to the blazing sunset. It looked as though the sunset had melted and gathered in her glass, colours mixing and sparkling when it moved. As she looked at the mountains silhouetted against the horizon, she wondered where she would tell Miles she had been. Or indeed if she could convince him after what she planned to do. A sardonic grin crossed Amber's face. He was so paranoid about losing her, he would believe anything, the trusting fool.

She walked over to the phone. 7 days should be long enough to be realistic. She drank more of the wine to steady her nerves - her hands were shaking as she picked up the receiver. Carefully, she pressed the numbers on the keypad. For what seemed like an eternity, the phone of the other end rang out, begging the owner to answer. That familiar confused voice answered:

"Hello?" Amber allowed her voice to take on a depressed tone.

"Hey, Nick? Me and Miles have split up..."

"Seriously? You two seemed so close... I thought Miles said you were just going away for a while?"

"He did? That's typical of him. He dumped me and doesn't want people to know what he did, I guess. Could you come over tonight? I could really use someone to talk to."

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Clarissa had set out all the evidence she had received on the desk in front of her. She had checked them all over several times, but nothing belonging to Nick's attacker appeared to have any connection to the case of Miles Anderson's murder. The autopsy report stated that Miles died from a single stab to the back of the head, killing him almost instantly. The other gashes, although they looked horrific, were made after he had died. From the picture, it looked almost as though the killer hated the victim so much that they felt killing him didn't go far enough for them. Yet Nick had said that Miles was his best friend. Surely he couldn't look her in the eye and say that if he was lying...?

Clarissa sighed. The chill late autumn air was invading the room through the cracked window. As much as she liked being famous, that didn't bring in the money she needed to keep the room maintained. She couldn't think like this. As she stood up to get her coat, a label fell to the ground from the desk. It was the same label earlier from the vase of flowers in ward 7. She turned the label over, forgetting the cold air lowering the temperature of the room. It suddenly clicked in her head: six numbers, six lines. Arranged in the order written on the back:

In death, may you find peace.

Never waste a moment -

Few are the achievements and memories of those that do.

Eternally following the righteous path,

Cherished Drake, my loyal apprentice.

Treasured is the time that we have on this world,

Clarissa let a smile play across her face. Hurriedly pulling on her coat, she ran to the forensics still at ward 7. This may be all the evidence they need to back up their viral infection theory.

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Razura paced up and down his office, trying to think of how this situation could turn out. He ran his hand through his unruly white hair. The death of five patients in his ward, one involved in a high-profile murder case, no less... Hopefully he wouldn't be brought in for questioning about this. What control would he have over his words? Would he accidentally say more than he wanted to reveal? Maybe it wouldn't happen. Maybe he would be okay. Maybe he could go back to his normal life after this was all dead and buried. The picture frame on his desk caught his eye. No, he could never return to how he once lived...

"Amber..."

End of chapter 11