River of Lies, page 12
The meek man said a few words about how death wasn’t the end; although it was the end of Dylan’s life as we know it, he would continue to live on in everyone’s hearts and memories. As they lowered the coffin into the ground, Sharon dropped a handful of dirt down, her sobs wracked through her body. She stood back and fell into Shane’s arms.
April went over the hole; it seemed so far down. There they stood as a family, a broken family, as they said goodbye to a beautiful man, a man that was going to make everything better and a man that brought everyone together. Panic gripped her heart, this was the end, and she would never see his beautiful face, his eyes, or touch his skin ever again. April dropped the single red rose she had clutched onto the top of the brown wooden coffin and turned it into Shane’s free arm.
After the funeral, everyone returned to Sharon’s house, where her neighbors had prepared finger foods and drinks. April sat in the lounge with Jessica by her side. She clutched April’s hand as if afraid to let it go. Sharon seemed in a zombie-like state; she didn’t talk to anyone, just sat in the kitchen and stared into space. Shane would touch Sharon’s shoulder and squeeze it occasionally to ensure she was alright.
Suddenly Sharon was by April’s side, tapping her arm. April looked up, and Sharon gave her a little side nod to her head to ask April to follow her. April stood up, and Sharon took her into what was once Dylan’s room. It was filled with his things, and April took a deep breath as soon as she opened the door. April could smell his scent still. It was as if he was right there; the air became heavy, April felt comforted, and she didn’t want to leave the room.
“After he died, I came in here to tidy up, just to put his clothes away and snoop, I guess,” Sharon said to April as she sat on his bed, patting for April to sit next to her.
April sat down; she wanted to lay her face on his pillow and inhale the smell left behind from his head. Sharon reached into her pocket and pulled out a small jewelry box.
“I found this when I was cleaning, snooping; I think you were meant to get it,” Sharon said.
Sharon handed April the box, and she gingerly opened it. Inside was a gold bracelet with a single diaAprild in the center. April took it out of the box and held it up; it was beautiful.
“How do you know it was for me, though?” April asked.
Sharon reached out and turned the bracelet over so April could see the inside. She could see an inscription there; squinting her eyes, April could make out the words.
“April, Forever Mine, Dylan.”
A fresh batch of tears started to flow down April’s face.
“I don’t know when he was going to give it to you or even when he bought it, but it is meant for you,” Sharon said. “He loved you, April; he told me that he had asked me if you could come and live here until he got a full-time job; the day he was, well, he asked me that day.”
April smiled; he said he would work it out; he had made a plan. Sharon patted April’s leg; as she got up and left the room, she shut the door quietly. April laid her head on Dylan’s pillow and took in his scent. She didn’t realize it, but as she lay there, she fell asleep to a heavy solid sleep.
When April woke again, her shoes had been removed, and she was under the blanket. April had forgotten a time when she had slept so well. April looked at the clock on the table next to the bed and saw it was 10am. She climbed out of bed and opened the wardrobe door.
April hadn’t heard the door open, nor had Jessica come up beside me. She wanted to see more of him, to touch his clothes; as the door swung open, April saw stuck to the inside a photo. It was from a photo booth at the shopping center. It had taken three photos. April and Dylan had taken it on one of their last afternoons together; they had been to see ‘Silence of the lambs’ at the cinemas. Before they left, they climbed into the photo booth.
April had forgotten all about them, but there she stood, looking at them, smiling for the camera and kissing in the middle; the final photo was of Dylan giving April bunny ears while she looked at him, smiling.
“You were his girlfriend, not Tilly,” Jessica said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” April jumped with surprise and yelped as she slammed the door shut off the cupboard.
April led her out of the room and found Sharon in the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.
Chapter Twenty-Six
As Jessica and April walked into the kitchen arm in arm, she looked up and smiled. April reached out and hugged Jessica and let her know that she wasn’t mad.
“Well, hello there, sorry I didn’t wake you, you looked so peaceful, and your Dad said it was the first time he had seen you sleeping so solidly in a long time, so we chose to let you be,” Sharon said with a smile.
April smiled and thanked her. She told Sharon that she had slept well. Sharon offered to make April a drink but refused and said she had to return home to Shane. April promised she would call back the next day to spend some time with her and Jessica. As April left, Sharon gave her a hug and touched the bracelet on her arm, smiling. April smiled back and walked with her head in the clouds all the way home.
As April walked up the driveway, she heard shouting from the house. April knew that the shouting was Tilly, but she couldn’t hear the other voice. April slowly opened the door and poked her head in.
“What was I supposed to fucking do?” April heard Tilly shout.
“Not being a complete psycho would have been a good start,” the mysterious voice screamed.
April learned that the voice was Shelly’s, and her anger went from zero to one hundred. April thought about bursting through the door, punching Shelly in the face, and beating Tilly until they were as dead as Dylan. But April felt like she was standing against an invisible shield, and something was preventing her from going inside.
“Who the fuck are you protecting? Who was fucking him?” Tilly shouted.
“Are you kidding me? Is this all because of fucking jealousy? You acted like this because he was fucking someone else? Tilly, you are fucking other people remember?” Shelly shouted in return.
April was confused. She wasn’t sure what Shelly meant by what Tilly did out of jealousy. She didn’t know whether Shelly knew that Dylan and April were the ones that were fucking. April wanted to turn and run away, to go back to Dylan’s house, where there was a sense of peace in his scent. Her stomach churned as she felt something wasn’t right with Tilly. Something wasn’t right with the story. However, April just couldn’t move her feet, she couldn’t enter the door, but she couldn’t seem to leave either.
April heard footsteps stomping towards the front door. April was about to close the door and run down the driveway, but she was too slow; suddenly, the knob was snatched out of her hand, and the door swung open. Shelly stood staring at April in shock. Shelly’s eyes sunken, and her cheeks were drawn in. They stood there staring each other down like an old western dual. April wished she had the gun to pull out and shoot her.
“April,” she said quietly. “Get away, just get away.”
April frowned at her as she pushed April to one side and rushed down the driveway and up the road. April watched Shelly run up the street, and as April turned around, she saw Tilly standing in the hallway; all color had gone from her face.
“What are you doing sneaking around listening to private conversations now?” Tilly vehemently spat.
April frowned as her anger began to boil over. “It was a bit hard not to hear your conversation when you were shouting; I could hear you down the road,” she pushed Tilly out of her way so she could go into her bedroom.
“You’re a bitch” Tilly screamed in April’s face; her fist was raised and came down hard onto April’s cheek. Tilly was right behind April and grabbed her by the hair. Tilly yanked April’s head backward, causing her to lose footing and fall onto the floor with a squeal.
April suddenly felt Tilly climb onto her waist. April tried to protect the baby. She cried out and tried to reason with Tilly; she wanted to make her stop. “You think because your pregnant, you little slut that you’re so fucking special. You’re nothing but a slut, a whore, a filthy dog whore,” Tilly screamed as she slapped April hard in the face again.
April tried to move her hips to throw Tilly off. Tilly was too strong, and April couldn’t move her. Panic filled April’s entire body; she hardly felt the sting of Tilly’s punches and slaps, and all April could envision was that she would lose what was left of Dylan and her. With one hand, Tilly held April’s hair in her fist. Occasionally, she lifted April’s head to slam it against the floor.
“Dylan, Dad, or Michael isn’t here to fucking protect you now. You’ve got fucking no one now, you cunt” Tilly screamed.
“I’m the cunt?” April screamed, “I’m the cunt? You’re sitting on top of your pregnant sister, beating her.”
Tilly let out a guttural roar as she slapped April’s mouth. April could taste the blood from her lip that split. She narrowed her eyes as she accepted her fate and glared at Tilly.
“It was me fucking Dylan. It’s his baby,” April said with a venom-laced tongue.
Tilly’s face paled, and her eyes widened so much that April thought she might back away. Instead of walking away, though, Tilly’s fist came down hard into April’s face. April heard the crunch of her nose before she felt the pain. Suddenly everything went black.
When April came, she was still on the floor, the house was cold, and Tilly was no longer on top of her. April’s head pounded, and she could feel the blood that had crusted around her face. She couldn’t open her left eye, and her mouth felt swollen and sore. April reached down to her stomach and touched all around her tummy as she felt her panic begin to rise again.
April rolled onto her side. Every muscle felt like it was on fire. April was unsure what Tilly had done to her, especially because April taunted her by telling her about Dylan.
Slowly, April got onto her hands and knees and could push herself up to her feet. She saw a gold sparkle next to the wall and picked up what was left of her bracelet. The chain was shattered into pieces. At that moment, April didn’t care if Tilly had read the inscription; part of her hoped she had; it would just cement what April had told her. April initially felt dizzy and had to hold onto the wall for fear of falling, but she managed to enter the bathroom.
The light was blindingly bright as it sparked to life. April grabbed the towel off the rail and wet the edge of it. Looking in the mirror, she could see her left eye was completely swollen shut. April had a cut in the fleshy part just above her cheek under her eye, which stung like hell when she touched it with the wet towel. April’s top lip looked twice the size and had a significant split. Her face was almost blue in color.
April gently dabbed the towel on her face and washed off the blood; the pain caused her to wince with every touch. April was exhausted. And for the first time in her life, as she looked at her deformed face, she prayed to God; she prayed that he would just kill her and take her away from all of this life.
April wanted to be with Dylan but couldn’t take any more of this. Her eyes were too sore to even cry. April heard the front door open. She ran and slammed the bathroom door shut and leaned up against it. April didn’t want to give Tilly another chance to finish the job she had started.
“Tilly, April?” she heard Shane call.
April swung the bathroom door open and ran into the hallway and his arms. He cried out when he saw her bruised, swollen, and virtually unrecognizable face.
“Shit, April, what the hell happened?” he shouted in panic.
“Tilly,” April uttered; it hurt to move her lips.
“Where is Tilly?” he said, panic gripping his whole face. April shook her head and pointed at her face. “Tilly did this?” he asked, his eyes changed from panic to overwhelming anger. “Where is she?”
April shook her head. She didn’t know where Tilly had gone; her bedroom door was open she wasn’t in there. It hadn’t even occurred to April until then that Tilly could have still been in the house.
Shane ushered April into her room and told her to pack some clothes into a bag. April did as he said in a complete daze; her mind had so many jumbled thoughts; her head pounded, and her face would tear open at any point.
Once April had some clothes in her bag, Shane packed her into the car and drove April to Sharon’s house. Sharon was on the front step when they arrived, and she ran to the car. Sharon opened the passenger door and helped April out. April saw Sharon look over the roof and give Shane a look that April couldn’t read. Sharon helped April inside and laid her down in Dylan’s bed. April couldn’t smell his scent anymore because her nose had started to swell.
“We should take her to the hospital,” Sharon said to Shane as she gazed down with a frown at April’s face.
Shane nodded, and April was bundled into the car again. As soon as they walked through the front doors, a nurse looked up from her station and called out to a man who stood in the corner. The man grabbed the wheelchair next to him and brought it over to April; the nurse and the man guided her to sit down as they wheeled her into a cubicle. April couldn’t focus on anything; her head hurt so badly.
The nurse asked April what happened, but she couldn’t get the words out other than grunts through her swollen lips. They moved April to a bed, looking into her eyes with small torches and asking Sharon who April was. April closed her right eye and prayed more. She was in so much pain.
The nurse touched April’s arm and told her she would put a drip in and give April some medicine to ease the pain. April felt the needle prick in her arm, and slowly, everything went dark again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
In the darkness, April turned; she felt like she was in a room but couldn’t make out any furniture or objects.
“April?” April spun on her heel to the voice she recognized all too well. It was Dylan’s face that April saw. She almost screamed with delight to see him; he looked down at her with a smile that covered his face. April ran towards him, but it felt like she couldn’t get any closer to him no matter how fast she ran. April felt frustrated and looked to Dylan for answers.
“Stop running, April; you can’t come where I am,” he said.
“But why?” April said in frustration.
Dylan smiled again and took a step closer to April. She could smell his scent and almost feel the warmth of his body as he came to stand next to her. He put his arm out to touch her hair, and she winced at her sudden pain. The pain confused April.
“What’s happening, Dylan?” April cried out as he snatched his hand back.
“It’s going to be alright,” he cooed.
“How can it be alright if you’re not beside me?” April cried.
“I’m inside you now, April, growing inside you, and you will have me again soon,” Dylan said
April smiled and touched her belly as the baby moved against her hand. “Why did Michael and Shelly do this to you?” April asked with a frown.
Dylan’s face changed, and suddenly she felt herself being pulled by some invisible force away from the darkness and away from Dylan. His face started disappearing, and April cried out to try and stop it. She didn’t want to leave without answers.
“It wasn’t just Michael and Shelly,” April heard in the distant darkness as the beeping sound became louder.
April woke up in a hospital bed with machines and buzzers connected to her. The room was dark, and April could hear a quiet conversation next to her. April saw a nurse looking at the machines to her side. Another nurse stood beside April, looking down at her wrist and the bands. She opened her eyes and realized that she could open both eyes.
“Hello, welcome back to us,” the nurse holding April’s wrist said. April smiled weakly at her. The nurse looking at the machines looked down at April and patted her hair. “April? You’re in the hospital, in the intensive care unit, you have been here for two weeks, and we have had you in a special sleep to help your wounds heal.”
April tried to answer her, but she couldn’t speak. April reached up and felt the plastic tube that protruded from her mouth. The nurse took her hand and patted it as she nodded.
“We put that in there to help you breathe while you were asleep; we will take it out soon,” she assured
April smiled at her as best she could. The nurses told April that they would go and get the doctor. April took one of the nurse’s hands and pointed to her stomach. The nurse smiled and patted April’s hand. The nurse pointed at one of the machines that had little lines running across it.
“You see this?” she said, “this is measuring your baby’s heartbeat. Baby is fine, healthy, and strong”.
April smiled again and rubbed her belly. She felt the straps that ran across her stomach. April noticed how it felt more significant. April looked again at the machine with the lines and watched her baby’s heartbeat move across the screen. She remembered Dylan’s words that he was growing inside her now.
April lay there watching the baby’s heartbeat until a lady came into the room, smiling at her. April wished that he had been able to answer why Michael and Shelly had taken him away from them, but he said it wasn’t just Michael and Shelly. That confused her. She didn’t know who else would want to hurt him.
“Hello, April, my name is Doctor Denise; I’m glad to see you awake; you gave us all quite a scare for a bit there,” she said. “I’m going to take that tube out now, alright?”
Doctor Denise wheeled over a trolley, put on some gloves, and opened up a sterilized packet; she untapped the edges of the tube and told April to cough as she pulled. The tube slid out of April’s throat, which made her gag. Doctor Denise reached over and wiped the edges of April’s mouth with a cloth.
“Thank you,” April croaked, glad to be able to talk again.
Doctor Denise smiled down at her and patted her hand. As Doctor Denise left the room, April saw Shane and Jessica enter. Jessica ran to the edge of the bed and put her arms across April’s chest. Shane leaned over and kissed her forehead.
