Disclaimer: I do not own any of the music or movies mentioned in this fic and as much as I wish I did.........I don't own GhostWhisperer or any of it's characters, I do however, own those characters which appear in this fanfic, but not in the show. No copyright infringement intended!
I'm sorry if this is kinda confusing but here goes: when they are being questionned by the police, they are not in the same place, I want you guys to imagine it like a split screen. hope it doesn't get on your nerves! Enjoy xx
Jim was sat at a table in an interrogation room, there was only one officer in there with him, Officer Troy Roberts. " Look , I don't care for crocodile tears, okay? Today I get a call, I come out to your address and what do I find? I find a young woman all beaten up and bloody, wrapped in a sheet in the back of her own car. I find you sitting in the front of that car, ready to drive off. You seem distressed and you're panicking...so now what I gotta work out is this....are you panicking cause your wife's hurt....or cause you did it?"
"Melinda, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Rick asked looking at Mel properly for the first time since he saw her being rushed from the ambulance. Her eyes were tired, with delicate dark circles underneath. Her skin was pale, but soft. Her right hand was bandaged up and she was dressed in a thin hospital gown – and she's not smiling that beautiful smile- Rick observed sadly. "Payne" Melinda whispered weakly "I know you're in pain but I'm sure they'll give you something" Rick replied, rubbing Melinda's arm in comfort. "No..not pain, Payne..you....I saw you before when I came out of the ambulance, what were you doing here?" Melinda asked quietly, sounding confused.
"A student of mine had an asthma attack, I came down with her and as I was leaving the ambulance pulled up and I was being nosey I guess. I watched them pull the gurney out and....then I saw you, they were all running so I didn't have a chance to ask what happened. I came in to the exam room but I guess it got a little too much for me so I waited outside until a nurse came and showed me up to your room. She gave me your stuff...I opened the bag I hope you don't mind...and I've been hanging out here ever since" Rick finished, smiling at Melinda.
Officer Roberts, who had been pacing up and down on the opposite side of the room came and sat down at the table, facing Jim. "That wasn't the only call we got today though . We also got an anonymous tip, somebody who claims that you and fight all the time, that you threaten her, that you're rough with her. Even that you've tried this before. Now a couple of months ago PD received a call from a lady who found your wife's car. It was at the side of the road, headlights on, driver's door open, but your wife was nowhere to be seen. Most of PD were working on the Forest County fires at the time so we went ahead and sent over CSI Ben Jackson. When Ben arrived at the scene he couldn't find anywhere, he yelled out to her but she never answered, she couldn't. He eventually found her down a verge offside the road, she was unconscious and her head was covered in blood, he took her to Mercy General where they told him that she had suffered a severe head injury and was in a coma. We were called in to investigate and of course the first person we looked at was you. Jackson is a friend of yours?" he asked "Uh...yeah I guess" Jim replied nervously "Yeah I thought so....he told everyone how much you're always gushing about Melinda, that you guys are nothing but perfect blah blah blah. We waited til Mrs'Gordon woke up, when she told us everything that happened, we left you alone. No need for further investigation."
Mel didn't smile back at all as she answered Rick in a small voice "thanks for waiting, I hate hospitals." "It's cool. So where's Clancy" he asked, trying to sound casual "probably the police station" Mel whispered back "he got arrested" she said, tears then began rolling down her cheeks. "Did he do this to you Melinda? You can tell me...I know I'm not your favourite perso-" "NO!" Melinda protested in what should have been a loud voice but she was very weak so it was more of a squeak. She pulled her hands out of his grasp and turned her head away, crying silently. "Ooookay, well I can see this conversation is over so I'm just gonna step out and let the police know you're up, they're gonna wanna talk Mel, you may not want to answer me but you have to tell them." Rick left the room and a minute later the two officers came in.
Back in the interrogation room with Jim, Officer Roberts was now leaning in close to Jim in a threatening way, speaking in a low, menacing voice.
"So , when we got this anonymous tip today we tried to be unbiased, not easy let me tell you. Wife beaters are number 2 on my list of people I hate.....second only to paedophiles. Anyhow, let me tell you what we've got, okay? We have....
Your wife left for dead by the roadside two months ago
You left work early that day so no one really knows where you were
Today, an anonymous tip describing previous abuse
A phone handset, smashed to pieces
A dent that's been punched into the wall
Chopped phone lines
A huge pair of scissors in your work bag
Absence of any attempt at a 911 call
You, ready to drive off into the sunset
And most important of all, your wife. A beautiful young woman beaten and bloodied, wrapped in a sheet and bundled into the back of a car.
SO, NOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND? NOW DO YOU SEE WHY WE'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION!!!!?" Officer Roberts smashed his fist on the table, took a deep breath, stood up and began pacing again before he continued "Now, what I want is a rundown of your day, from the moment you woke up to the moment you got in Officer Lewis' car."
Melinda watched as a tall, broad man came into her room followed by a petite blinde woman.
" My name is Officer Gary Hodges, this is Officer Sally King. We need to ask you a few questions about what happened today." Melinda wiped her tears away and smiled weakly before answering "sure, that's fine", once again Officer Hodges took out his notebook and pen. "Could you just run me through the events of your day, start from when you woke up this morning and go all the way until after your injury" the officer instructed. "Well I woke up pretty late this morning, my husband booked us a few days away for our anniversary so we finished off packing around 12pm..." Melinda began
Unaware of Melinda's simultaneous conversation, Jim folded his arms and sat back before speaking to officer Roberts again – ...."after that we went for a walk, had lunch and then hit the road. We were up at the lake in Forest County so it took a couple of hours to get home....."
Melinda propped herself up on her elbows as she spoke to Officers Hodges and King "..... we were back by about 3:30pm. Once we unpacked we started getting dinner ready. We were gonna have a couple of friends, Delia and Rick over. We were in the kitchen when my cell phone rang....."
Jim wiped new tears from his face as he continued ".... I stayed downstairs while Melinda went to our bedroom to answer the phone....."
"......... It was a friend that was coming to dinner, she said that she was gonna be late. I hung up and when I turned around to leave the bedroom I tripped, I fell and smacked my head on the bedside table and it all went black...." Mel said
"....I was just stirring the soup when I heard a bang so I went upstairs to check it out. I found Mel lying on the floor unconscious..." Jim shuddered at the memory
Melinda began to cry again as she continued to tell the officers what had happened "......I woke up for a while and Jim told me we had to go to hospital but I really hate hospitals so I wasn't making it easy, then everything went black again........"
"......She passed out again and I realised that her head was bleeding, I tried to phone 911 but the phone wouldn't work. I got really angry and I threw the phone at the wall, it broke. I picked Mel up and wrapped her in the sheet she was lying on, to keep her warn in case she went into shock. I put her on the backseat of the car, I decided to drive her to Mercy myself. I had just turned the engine over when you guys arrived.....you know the rest" Jim finished, allowing the tears to stream shamelessly down his cheeks.
".......The next time I woke up I was in the ambulance, I saw Rick and passed out again, then I woke up here....you know the rest." Melinda finished, allowing the tears to burn ferociously down her face.
In the interrogation room, Troy Roberts gathered up his papers and stood up. "Alright Clancy, I'm gonna ask you to wait in here while I call to the officers who are at the hospital, I need to know if your wife has given a statement yet" he began walking towards the door but stopped when Jim yelled out "Wait! What about Mel, will you tell me if she's okay? Please?" Jim begged desperately. "Like you care" the officer replied in a disgusted tone "Look! This is pure TORTURE for me, okay? I love my wife more than life itself, she's everything to me. I'm just asking you, please, to let me know how she's doing" Jim pleaded, looking so broken that Officer was having a hard time maintaining his tough attitude. "I'm sorry, I understand what you must be going through. I'll let you know how Melinda's doing as soon as I find out myself" he promised, sounding sympathetic.