Chapter 4:

The Next Morning

New Haven Hospital

Kate's Room

Kate lay asleep in her dark room; her heartbeat monitor softly beeping in the gloom. She breathed softly as she dreamt of memories long since past. Memories of a time before Esther entered their lives, memories of when John was still alive. Kate's eyes suddenly flew open.

"John!" Kate called out into the darkness.

She then carefully examined her surroundings, remembering where she currently was, and the nightmare she'd just survived the night before. She sighed softly and lay back in her bed, glancing over at little Max, who lay curled up and covered up, peacefully asleep on a chair beside her Grandma Barbara, John's mother. Barbara was kind enough to bring Max a spare change of clothes, so she could switch out of her PJ's, and into something warmer.

Kate slowly sank back into her hospital bed, calming her breathing. As she closed her eyes, she didn't notice the small casted-up left hand gently stroking Max's curly blonde locks as she softly snored. Another stroke. Then another. Kate's eyes opened and she caught the 3rd hair stroke. She then glanced over at Max, thinking that it was just Barbara, trying to soothe Max.

But it wasn't.

Esther sat in the seat beside Max, closest to Kate. Kate's eyes widened and she began to hyperventilate loudly, her heart monitor beginning to beep faster and faster. Esther continued stroking Max's hair and softly humming as she stared indifferently back at Kate in the dim gloom of the dark hospital room. As Kate quickly reached for her nurse's button, Esther slowly held up a finger to her lips and gently hushed her, showing the blade of the knife she held in her other hand. Kate slowly retracted her hand.

"Calm your breathing, Kate," Esther said softly, "Just relax."

"Y-you're dead," Kate stammered, "I-I killed you… You died in the pond!"

"Oh Kate… my sweet Kate…," Esther said, with a gentle shaking of her head, "You can't kill me. I didn't survive on my own this long to be killed by someone as weak and as broken as you. A-for-effort, though. You're a lot tougher than I thought you were."

Kate began to violently shake her head from side to side in protest, saying, "No, no, no, no!"

"But I'll be the bigger person here, and forgive you Kate," Esther said, with a shrug, "What kind of daughter would I be if I held a grudge? We're family after all."

"You're wrong, Esther!" Kate hissed, "You're dead wrong!"

"Yes, we're family, Kate," Esther persisted, "And we'll always be family. Y'know, it's times like this that I remember my birth father's words that he always used to say to me. Never turn your back on family. And I never will."

Esther then got up, and then came over to Kate. As she arrived at Kate's bedside, Kate then suddenly reached out to grab Esther by her throat, but Esther caught her by the wrists and forced them at Kate's sides. For someone so small, Esther was pretty strong for her size. Kate huffed and grunted as she fought against Esther's grip, but it was no use; she was still in pretty bad shape from their skirmish at the frozen pond.

Esther smiled down at Kate, leaned over and gently kissed her forehead.

"I'll be seeing you around, Kate," Esther said, stepping away and releasing Kate, who began to claw and growl at her. Esther then bowed and then left the room, softly singing The Glory of Love as she headed down the hall and vanished.

Morning…

Kate's eyes flew open once more as she awoke with a sudden start, gasping loudly.

"Esther!" Kate yelled, glancing around.

She only saw Max and Barbara in her room with her, but now it was daylight. Both of them jumped in surprise at Kate's outburst. Max then quickly hurried over to her mom and hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. Kate's rapid breathing slowed, as she hugged Max back. She slowly realized with relief that she'd only been dreaming. Max quickly signed something to her.

'You're okay, Mommy. You're safe now.'

"Well, I am now, sweetie," Kate said, stroking Max's cheek with her thumb. Max smiled.

"Good morning, Kate," Barbara said, coming over to her.

"Hey Barb," Kate said, glancing up at her, "It's good to see you."

"You too, Kate, you too," Barbara said, her eyes swollen from the tears she'd cried for her son John. She reached forward and lightly squeezed Kate's shoulder.

"I'm sorry about John, Barb," Kate said, swallowing hard, "I tried. I really tried to save him."

"I know you did," Barbara said, "And I'm thankful you did what you could for my son. I'm only sorry that none of us listened to you. You were right about that little demon."

Both women hugged, on the verge of more tears but both decided against it. As they parted, Max began to sign to Kate.

"Daniel's awake, Mommy. He's asking to see us."

"He's awake?" Kate asked, cracking a faint smile, "Well, we better go and see him, then."

Max nodded her head and smiled.

"I'll ask the nurse to grab you a wheelchair," Barbara said, heading to the door.

As she did, Kate lay there, dreading this moment; the moment that she had to tell her son that his father was gone, killed at the hands of that little psycho that they let into their lives. She could hardly believe it herself, and she and Max had both been right there and saw John's body. But that was the unfortunate truth now, John was gone.

'And how in the hell are we going to carry on without him?' Kate wondered, as an orderly came in wheeling the chair for her to go and see Daniel.

Amy's Room

A tall, Native-American girl who was about 13, made her way down the hallway to Amy's room, the girl with the crutches. She had long, parted light brown hair, dark eyes and wore a men's brown aviator faux-fur coat, a dark gray undershirt, black jeans tucked into black hiking boots and traditional looking earrings. She was holding a 'Get Well Soon' gift basket as she then entered Amy Cooke's room, seeing her friend sitting up watching the news as she fiddled with the hospital's undesirable breakfast.

The Native girl then removed her earbuds, did a perfect bird whistle which caught Amy's attention. The girl held up the gift basket for Amy's inspection.

"Hey, I found the perfect gift in that gift shop downstairs, but this was cheaper!" the girl teased, shaking the basket. She then added, "Kinda conceited of you, buying your own Get Well Soon basket, ha ha ha. Usually, your loved ones will do that for you!"

"It's not for me, Taylor," Amy said, with chuckle, "I have enough get-well balloons and gifts from everyone that came yesterday to last me for a life time. Nah, this one's for Daniel Coleman down the hall, and his family."

"Oh… well, that's nice of you, Red," Taylor said, placing the basket down, "So, that's the family everyone's talking about, huh?"

"The very same," Amy said.

"Poor family," Taylor said, shaking her head as she sat next to Amy's bed, "What a nightmare it must've been for all of them. And it's still going on." She then glanced over at Amy. "Did you know the girl?"

"Esther? Nah, but I saw her around school," Amy said, trying to remember what she could of her, "She always walked everywhere alone and she always sat alone in the cafeteria. I was even there on the day that she went megaton in the hallways, screaming and such. Everyone was in shock, and didn't know what to do. I remember that she had to be sent home that day."

"Wow, that's crazy," Taylor said, shaking her head.

"Y'know, for a moment I thought someone had pulled out a gun and was about to go ape-shit on all of us right then and there," Amy added, shuddering slightly.

"What was it that caused her to lose her shit?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, just Brenda Wilson being her usual bitchy self," Amy said, "She was picking on Esther for bringing a bible to school. Rumor is that Esther got payback on her though; apparently, she was the one who pushed Brenda off of that big slide in the town park, breaking her leg in the process. Brenda even ended up missing a month of school for it."

"That's scary," Taylor said, shuddering slightly, "And now this incident with the Colemans. It's even scarier that they didn't find Esther's body in that pond right behind the Coleman house. I'm sure someone would've seen her if she escaped. I hope that they do find her, and I also hope that they send her back to whatever loony-bin asylum she came from."

"Me too, Taylor," Amy said, nodding gently, "Me too."

They both then looked up as Kate was wheeled by Amy's room, followed by Max and Barbara.

"That's them, Taylor," Amy said, moving her half-finished food tray aside, and reaching for her crutches. Taylor then placed the food tray back on Amy's lap, gesturing to the half-eaten food. Amy glanced up at her in amusement, a slight smile on her face. Taylor then picked up the basket, sat it on her lap and held it firmly in her arms.

"Finish your breakfast first, Red," Taylor said, picking up the basket, "Then we'll go."

"Oh hi, Mom," Amy teased, "I didn't think you and dad were coming to see me until after work!"

"When they're away, I'm the authority," Taylor teased back, "So, as Wilford Brimley used to say, 'Eat your damn oatmeal.'"

They then both began to laugh.

Daniel's Hospital Room

Daniel gently awoke, having fallen asleep while waiting for the nurse to bring his mom down to see him. He figured that his mom had been still sleeping after God-knows whatever Esther put her through. He just hoped to God that she and Max were okay.

As his bloodshot eyes slid open, he could feel cold fingers stroking his hair. He yawned and slowly glanced over at his mom Kate, who was sitting beside his bed with Max and his Grandma Barbara right behind her. Daniel smiled at Kate, who smiled back at him, stroking his cheek with her thumb.

"Mom, you're here!" Daniel croaked. Kate smiled and nodded.

"Hey, my son!" Kate said, leaning over and kissing the side of his head, "I'm glad to see that you're awake!"

They both hugged tightly, beginning to cry tears of joy and relief. Daniel then saw his little sister Max sitting at Kate's side, waiting for her turn. Daniel smiled at her, and she smiled right back.

"Hey Max, come here!" Daniel said, reaching over for her.

Max quickly came over to him, and hugged him tightly. Daniel held them both tightly as they all embraced one another. He could hear his mom silently saying a quick prayer of thanks as they all embraced. After a while, they parted, to let Daniel and his grandma hug, which they did.

"Hey kiddo," Barbara said, ruffling his unkempt hair.

"Hey, Grandma," Daniel said, hugging her. She held him tightly. He then glanced at Kate and Max, who were both glancing at each other, before glancing back at him.

"I was so worried!" Daniel said, his eyes widening, "When they told me that you were both here, I feared the worst! I thought that Esther might've hurt you both!"

"Esther's gone, sweetie," Kate softly said with a weak smile, "She's gone because mommy killed her."

"Really?" Daniel asked, stunned. He was at a loss for words.

"Things got really bad last night, honey," Kate said, lowering her eyes, "Really, really bad."

Max nodded her head in agreement, her eyes lowering as well.

"What happened?" Daniel asked. He then suddenly looked around, asking, "And where's dad? Is he with the police giving a statement on Esther? Is he coming to meet us?"

Kate closed her eyes and stifled a sob, as Max took her hand. Kate glanced at her daughter, who slowly nodded up at her, sharing the sadness in her eyes. Kate slowly nodded back to her, knowing what she had to do; and what bad news she had to deliver to her unsuspecting son.

"What happened?" Daniel repeated, his eyes beginning to well-up as he was already starting to catch on. He knew what Kate was going to say, but he knew that he didn't want her to say it. He hoped and prayed that she was going to say something else. But she didn't.

"Daniel, I need for you to be strong right now," Kate said, her voice trembling, her eyes welling up, "This isn't going to be easy to tell you, son. Your father was murdered last night by Esther. I tried to save him, but I couldn't. I'm sorry, Daniel. He's gone."

Kate then leaned over and held him tightly, her sniffling getting louder. Daniel sat rigid, his eyes welling up as well. He closed his eyes as his tears began to fall.

Out in the hallway, standing by the closed entrance to Daniel's room were both Amy and Taylor, both looking in through the window. Amy glanced at Taylor, who shook her head with a saddened sigh.

"It can wait, Ames," Taylor said, motioning Amy to follow her with a nod.

But before they left the view of the window, Daniel glanced up Amy, his eyes full of tears. Amy stared back at him with a look of empathy on her face. She then kissed her hand, and placed it on the glass for a few moments, before both girls silently crept off, leaving the Colemans to grieve their loss in peace.

And that they did for the next while.