What Happened?
"Did you find anything out?" Lyla asked, standing up from the chair beside AJ's bed as Punk returned back to the hospital room.
"He's dead." Punk looked at them both with dread, "Bled out on the table."
"Jesus." Lyla whispered.
"How do you know? Who did you speak to?" AJ asked.
The twins were both settled and swaddled in their blankets, lying in their bassinets by her side where she kept close eye on them.
"Sheriff Peterson was here. I saw him at the front desk." Punk said, "Told me that Daryl isn't speaking."
"And Shiv? Is she going to be arrested?" Lyla asked.
"I don't know. I don't think so." Punk said, "We can't go home for a few days. They'll be… collecting evidence from the scene."
"But we can't stay here. They're discharging us tomorrow." AJ panicked.
"We can stay with your Aunt. It'll only be a few days." Punk nodded to her.
"Did the sheriff tell you what happened? Did Daryl really just shoot him?" Lyla questioned, "There had to have been a struggle, right? It's gotta be self-defence."
"Self-defence is a tricky thing to argue your case with." Punk said, "And the sheriff doesn't seem convinced it was. Daryl's barely got any injuries."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't self-defence." AJ said, "They'll trace the gun back to Craig and they'll realise it was Craig who wanted to kill someone. Probably me. Or you." AJ said.
"That's all white noise right now. The guy is dead, and it looks like Daryl pulled the trigger. That's a prison sentence. Self-defence or not." Punk made clear to them as they both just stared in silence.
"Did the sheriff say what happened exactly? Do they know anything?" Lyla asked.
"They got reports of a gunshot being heard from her house. He called for back-up from the neighbouring districts. They showed up and Craig was bleeding on the floor in the living room. Daryl had the gun in his hand and Shiv was over behind the couch, not moving." Punk said, running his hand through his messy hair which was no longer slicked back but fluffy and covering his eyes.
"Why is Daryl not saying anything?" AJ shook her head, "Surely that implies he's guilty of something."
"He is." Punk made clear, "I called Sophie. She's on her way just now." He nodded as AJ shook her head with confusion.
"What? Why?" She said.
"Because the kid will need a lawyer. A good one." Punk said, "And I can't do shit for him. But I know Sophie is good."
"You didn't know any other lawyers?" AJ questioned with irritation, "It had to be her?"
"You can't be serious right now." Punk looked at her tiredly.
"I am." AJ said bluntly.
"She's the only lawyer who will still give me the time of day." Punk said, "She's good. And Daryl is gonna need a good lawyer."
"And I'm sure she jumped at the chance to help you." AJ nodded as Punk looked over at her, "I'm sorry. I'm tired, and this is a lot." She said, rubbing her forehead tiredly as Punk nodded.
"It's alright." Punk nodded.
"Do you think Shiv might get arrested?" Lyla repeated, "Because she was there?"
"She should be fine. But they'll wanna talk to her. She's staying just as silent as Daryl, which doesn't look good." Punk said.
"Maybe I should go visit her. She's the only other person who knows exactly what happened. She could tell me." Lyla nodded to them both.
"She's probably in shock. I doubt she'll want to see any of us." AJ shook her head, "We should give her the night."
"I'll go." Punk nodded to himself, "I'll check in on her and she might open up to me. And then I can fill Sophie in."
"Is that allowed?" AJ asked.
"No one will know." Punk said.
"What about me? I can't… I can't handle them by myself just yet. What if they both start crying?" AJ panicked, starting to feel incredibly overwhelmed by everything. She was already feeling overwhelmed by the fact she'd just had two babies, but now all of this was really starting to affect her, making her heart rate spike.
"Lyla will stay here with you. And I won't be long." Punk nodded to her.
"What about our house? We… all the twins' stuff is there. Their onesies and diapers. Their cribs. What are we going to do?" She asked with a lump in her throat.
"Hey, it's going to be fine. Don't worry about any of that. I'll take care of it." Punk assured her, walking over to the side of her bed and taking her hand.
"Please can you just stay with me?" AJ asked with a quivering lip as Punk looked at her, "Lyla can go see Shiv."
"I should talk to her. I know what questions to ask." Punk nodded, "I won't be long. They'll probably still be sleeping by the time I get back." He assured her, cupping her cheek as she sighed, "Everything will be fine." He said, leaning over and kissing her on the lips, noticing she didn't kiss back.
He grabbed his jacket from the chair and left the hospital room whilst AJ turned to Lyla with dread.
"It's going to be ok." Lyla nodded, lying down on the bed beside AJ and hugging into her.
Punk drove back into town, turning into the long country road which led to Shiv's farm style house. He parked the car and got out, heading over to the front door and knocking.
He watched as Shiv's mother opened the door, looking like death itself, no doubt from the shock of everything, picking her daughter up from a crime scene. A murder scene.
"Hi, Lisette." Punk nodded politely, "I was just… I wanted to make sure Shiv was ok. AJ would have come but she's just had the babies at the hospital so-" He was paused mid-sentence when Lisette stepped forward and slapped him across the face, to which he stumbled back in shock, holding his stinging cheek.
"Uh… what the fuck?" Punk turned to her angrily.
"Ever since you came to this town my Siobhan has gotten into nothing but trouble. And you… you pushed her towards Daryl. I knew that boy was no good. I always did." Lisette spat angrily.
"Mom, stop it!" Shiv yelled, rushing to the door after hearing what was going on from the living room, "Phil has nothing to do with this."
"Then get Phil away from our house." Lisette looked down at her daughter.
"I was only here to see if Shiv was ok." Punk said, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He looked at Lisette.
He always knew Shiv's parents were strange individuals. They were barely in town, but when they were, it was incredibly noticeable the way they mistreated their only daughter.
"Mom just go inside." Shiv said, "I want to talk to Phil."
"It is incredibly hard watching you slowly ruin your life, Siobhan. Incredibly hard." Lisette said tearfully before storming back into the house whilst Punk shook his head with shock and awe, all whilst caressing his now red cheek.
"I'm sorry about her." Shiv said with embarrassment, shutting the door over and walking out on the porch as Punk followed.
"She's not exactly giving you the support you need right now, is she?" Punk figured.
"I would expect nothing less than this reaction from her." Shiv said, unbothered.
"Are you ok?" Punk asked, turning her around to face him, "What the hell happened, Shiv? I can't… I can't wrap my head around any of it."
"It all happened really fast." Shiv shook her head, "I… I haven't said anything to the cops yet. At first, I was in shock but then… I didn't know what to say. I don't know what the best thing I could say is, to keep Daryl out of trouble."
"Craig is dead." Punk told her as she looked up at him, her stomach sinking.
"What?" She shook her head.
"He died on the table. Too much blood loss." Punk said, "Daryl is in… a lot of trouble. And he's not saying shit. So you need to tell me what happened."
"Oh my God." Shiv turned around, leaning her hand on the railing which ran along the porch, feeling her chest getting tight and her breathing get faster, "It was his arm… and his leg… how-how is he dead?" She turned to Punk.
"Hit an artery. Pretty much game over if you hit one of those." Punk said as Shiv placed her shaking hand over her mouth, "What happened? Why was Craig in our house?"
"We… We were going to get the diapers for you. We got into the house, and everything was fine. We went upstairs and went into the nursery. I was looking for the diapers when we heard movement in the hall. We assumed it was Nico or Lyla. You know how everyone just walks into your house these days."
"Yeah." Punk nodded fondly.
"Daryl left the nursery to see who it was and then…" She paused, looking out at the grassy fields which surrounded her house.
"Then?" Punk waited anxiously.
"I heard shouting and commotion and then a loud thud. I left the nursery and Daryl wasn't there. But that guy… the guy who attacked me was standing there. He was… he was holding a gun." Shiv said with a shaky voice, feeling her skin begin to crawl as she recalled the events of the night.
"Where was Daryl?" Punk asked, watching as Shiv just shook her head, beginning to cry, placing her hand over her mouth and sobbing, "It's ok. Come here." Punk sighed, pulling her into a hug as she cried hysterically into him, the flood gates finally opening, no tell as to when they would stop.
"Ok, kid. Craig Porter died on the operating table." Sheriff Peterson said, walking into the interrogation room where Daryl was sitting, "So you really have to start talking to me, or it only gets worse for you."
Daryl just shook his head, leaning his cuffed hands on the table whilst Sheriff Peterson sat down across from him.
"C'mon, son. I know you're a good kid. I know your mom. I knew your dad. This type of shit doesn't happen to kids like you. So you gotta tell me what happened in that house. I'm not putting you under caution yet so… you can speak freely."
"I probably need a lawyer." Daryl nodded with a hoarse throat, the first sentence he'd uttered since he got to the jail.
"You probably do." Peterson agreed, "But right now, just paint me a picture. Even if it's a messy one. So I can figure out what the hell is going on."
"Where's Shiv?" Daryl asked.
"She's at her house. She was in shock. We're gonna bring her in tomorrow to question her." Sheriff Peterson said.
"Was she… was she hurt?" Daryl asked, trying to remember certain parts of the very blurry night.
"No. Just in shock." The sheriff said, "And you seem to be ok. You've not got any pain or injuries you're not telling us about?" He made sure.
"Pretty sure the steel plate in my leg has buckled." Daryl nodded, not letting onto how much excruciating pain his leg was in.
"Your bad leg?" Sheriff Peterson asked. Everybody in the town knew about when Daryl almost snapped his leg in half on the football field, never to play a game again, his college career and aspiration down the drain.
"Obviously." Daryl said quietly.
"We can get you checked out at the hospital. Your neck looks a little red. I… I didn't notice that before." Sheriff Peterson noticed.
"What's the point?" Daryl shook his head.
"Daryl, what happened in that house? You have to tell me." Sheriff Peterson pleaded as Daryl looked across at him blankly.
4 Hours Earlier...
Daryl lifted his head up, realising he was at the bottom of Punk and AJ's staircase lying flat out with a thumping head and tingling sensation in his bad leg. His head was fuzzy, trying to figure out why he was lying there, when he suddenly heard Shiv screaming from upstairs.
It all came flooding back to him. Walking out of the nursery and seeing a strange man in the hallway, with a gun. Wrestling with him for the gun, trying to grab a secure hold of him when the man hit him on the back of the head with the edge of the gun, shoving him down the spiral staircase where he must have blacked out when he hit the bottom.
He got to his feet quickly, groaning loudly as he put weight on his very fucked up leg, nevertheless, forcing himself up the stairs as quickly as he could go, finding the same guy in the hallway, this time on top of Shiv on the ground, pressing the gun against her neck.
"Where is she?!" Craig yelled, grabbing a fistful of Shiv's hair as Shiv cried out.
Daryl immediately ran over, grabbing Craig from behind, sticking his fingers into his eyes and pulling him off of Shiv.
"Get out of here!" Daryl told Shiv who stumbled to her feet.
Shiv watched as Daryl began punching Craig viciously, despite the pain in his leg, smashing his head against a picture frame hanging on the wall which smashed into a thousand pieces.
"It's him." Shiv said breathlessly, picking up the gun which Craig had dropped in his struggle with Daryl, "The guy who attacked me. Craig. He's here for AJ." Shiv nodded whilst Craig was slumped on the floor.
"Call 911." Daryl told her whilst grabbing Craig up from the floor, dragging him down the stairs as Shiv followed.
Reaching downstairs, Shiv began to take her phone out to call 911 when Craig came alive again, tackling Daryl to the ground and wrapping his hands around his throat, squeezing tightly as Daryl tried to push him away, having zero ability to breathe.
"Stop it!" Shiv screamed, "Stop!" She yelled, grabbing onto Craig from behind, trying her best to pull him off, but all he did was shove her back, causing her to fall back against the coffee table by the couch.
She felt her heart beating a million miles an hour. She didn't know what to do. Did she try fight him off even though she didn't stand a chance? Did she run into the street and scream for help, even though Daryl would probably be dead by the time anyone noticed. The same way he'd be dead by the time cops came if she called them.
"Please stop!" Shiv cried hysterically, watching as Daryl began to go limp, no longer clawing and scratching at Craig, his arms falling to the side and his eyes beginning to close.
She felt her heart physically hurting. Her whole body was in pain as she watched. She felt paralysed. Like her very world was being sucked out from beneath her. And then she felt the cool steal still in her hand. The gun.
She didn't see what other choice she had.
"I killed him." Daryl nodded to Sheriff Peterson, "I shot him. He was attacking me. Had no other choice." He said as Sheriff Peterson looked at him with sadness, "He obviously broke into Phil and April's house, looking for April. He found me and Shiv instead."
"You shot him?" Sheriff Peterson clarified.
"I shot him." Daryl nodded.
