Grief and Conflict

"She's suffered multiple injuries to the head and a lot of blood loss," the doctor's voice was grave as he spoke to Dan, who stood frozen in place. "She's in a critical condition, and we cannot say anything for sure right now. But I don't want to give you false hope."

Dan had dashed to his mother's side as soon as he had woken up. The doctors asked him questions about his condition as they were puzzled by the lack of injuries on his body, despite the notification of an accident. Even though they dismissed it as false information, the situation was still strange. He looked on helplessly as monitors and tubes snaked around his mother's pale, still form. His gaze was fixed on her, his eyes glazed over with shock and guilt as he slowly processed the doctor's words. The machines beeped steadily in a dull monotone as Dan silently replayed every memory of his mother that had led to this point. He felt like he should have been the one who was lying there, in her place. He thought about all of the things he could have done differently and wished desperately for another chance.

As the hours ticked by, Dan refused to leave his mother's side. He stared at her in silence, barely acknowledging the hospital staff as they urged him to rest and take care of himself. The police had also tried to question him about what had happened at the house, but he was unresponsive. All he could think about was going back in time to undo everything he had done. Finally, a distant shout broke through the fog that had consumed Dan's thoughts, calling his name.

"Dan!!!". he turned around to see his sister approaching him with tears streaming down her face. Her eyes immediately went to their mother's lifeless body inside the ICU room, and she began wailing uncontrollably, gripping Dan's clothes tightly. "What happened?! Why is she here?!" she demanded, her words heavy with despair. Just a few hours ago, she had spoken to their mother, and now she was gone.

Dan avoided his sister's gaze, unable to find the right words to say. She followed his line of sight and tried to make eye contact with him. Finally, after a great effort, Dan managed to speak. "There was a man...and he was extorting money from her. So I..." His words caught in his throat as he choked back his tears. "It's my fault, I... I should have done something."

Overcome by his intense anguish, Audrey embraced him, sensing his pain. Dan joined in, and the two of them hugged tightly. As he continued to weep, Dan blamed himself, spilling out the words in between sobs. Eventually, after he had calmed down, he explained to her how he had received a call, and by the time he got there, it was already too late.

As Dan recounted the events that had led to their mother's current state, Audrey listened in rapt attention, her expression a mirror of his pain. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she reached out to take his hand, offering him what little comfort she could. But suddenly, the machines monitoring their mother's vital signs began to beep erratically, and before they knew it, a team of doctors and nurses had rushed into her room.

Dan and Audrey stood frozen in terror as they watched the medical team frantically studying the readings and checking their mother's condition. After a few checks, the doctor worked to clear their mother's chest of all the medical attachments and reached for the defibrillator.

Audrey squeezed Dan's hand tightly as they both prayed for a miracle. The tension in the room was palpable, and their hearts raced as they waited for any sign of improvement.

Their hopes were quickly dashed, however, as their mother's struggle proved too great. The heart monitor's beeping slowed, and then ceased altogether. Audrey's heart shattered into a million pieces as she ran into the room, desperate to hold their mother's hand one last time. Dan, on the other hand, stood rooted to the spot, his mind blank with shock and grief.

The doctor looked at them both gravely. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "We did everything we could, but her injuries were too severe."

Dan's mind was in turmoil as he struggled to come to terms with what had just happened. He felt as though he was drowning in a sea of emotions, his grief and guilt and regret all blending together in an overwhelming wave. His mother was gone, and he could never make things right again.

Audrey, meanwhile, was inconsolable. She clung to her mother's body, her tears soaking the sheets as as she whispered words of love and regret to her.

The hospital staff left her to grieve as they handled the next steps. Since it was obvious that the patient had been a victim of extreme violence, the ensuing investigation would thus be a serious one. The doctor stepped out of the room and spoke with two officers who were waiting to talk to Audrey. After a few queries, they took another look at Dan before approaching the room.

Audrey sat there for what felt like an eternity, clutching her mother's lifeless hand and trying to make sense of the tragedy that had just occurred. Her mind was reeling with questions and doubts, but she couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that her mother was gone. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and looked up to see the officers enter the room and approached her with solemn expressions. "Excuse me, miss," one of them said softly, "we'd like to ask you a few questions about your mother."

Audrey felt too paralyzed with grief to respond, but mustered up enough strength to answer with a quiet "okay".

They pulled up chairs and positioned them so that they were beside Audrey and her mother. The same officer began asking his questions in a gentle tone - he wanted to know if they had any enemies or troubles going on in their family.

She wiped her tears, trying to compose herself as she spoke. "My father, he had contacts with them," she said, her voice shaking. "But I didn't know they still demanded money from us." She broke down again as soon as she finished, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

The two officers exchanged a look, and one of them spoke up. "It seems unlikely that this was financially motivated," he said, his tone serious. "Looking at her injuries, this was personal."

Audrey's eyes widened in shock and confusion. She couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her mother in such a brutal way. "But why would anyone hurt her like this?" she said, her voice thick with tears.

The officers continued to ask questions, but Audrey struggled to focus on their words. Her mind was consumed with grief and disbelief.

After a few more questions, the officers thanked Audrey for her cooperation and left the room. They made their way outside and approached Dan, questioning him for more information about the incident. He repeated what he'd told his sister before, then walked away to join her.

After that, they had to fill out paperwork for the post mortem to be performed. Right when they were done with that, the cops reentered, this time requesting Dan go with them for further questioning.

"What? Why are you arresting my brother?" Audrey yelled in confusion and anger.

"It's not an arrest," the officer tried to reassure her, "we just need additional details from him since he was first one at the scene."

Audrey opened her mouth to protest once more but Dan stopped her with a squeeze of his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine," he said softly. "I'll just answer some questions and be back." His sense of guilt overriding any resistance he could muster.

After a short drive in the police car, they arrived at the main building and he was left alone in an interrogation room. He couldn't help but notice the way the other officers looked at him with suspicion as they discussed something in hushed tones. His mind raced back to the days of his father's case and he imagined his mother sitting in a room like this, feeling trapped and under immense stress, while being bombarded with the same questions over and over again. He couldn't do anything to help her back then, and now she was gone because of his mistake.

A part of him wanted to admit to killing her as a way of punishing himself, but he couldn't make himself do it—Audrey would be devastated and he couldn't bear the thought of putting her through more pain.

Soon, two men different from the ones who brought him appeared in the room and the older of them, about fifty years old, addressed Dan with a stern voice, "Mr. Dan, can you tell us what you were doing when you received the call?"

Dan nodded, and recounted how Melisa had come to meet him at his house; leaving out any personal details, he only mentioned their discussion of classes.

"We heard that you quit your job just before...what happened to your mother," the other man asked this time, suspicion lingering in his voice. "Any specific reason? How were you planning to cover your expenses?"

Dan felt his blood boil at the insinuation. He could tell that they had delved into his father's case history and were trying to connect him to Marcus and his associates. "I quit because I wasn't being paid fairly for the work I was doing," he said, his annoyance barely concealed. " It was a terrible job, and I decided to leave."

Before the officers could probe further, Dan interrupted. "And in case you were about to ask, no, I didn't take any money from those people."

Dan's anger began to simmer as he continued, "As for my father's case, I don't care what happened to him. So there's no way I would seek revenge against anyone involved."

The two men exchanged a knowing glance; the older man raised an eyebrow while the other sighed.

The older man spoke first, asking the same question the officers had asked at the hospital: "So you had a scuffle with one of them and ran outside for help?"

Dan nodded in affirmation. The men exchanged a few more words before informing Dan that he would need to stay for a while before he could leave.

Just as they were about to exit the room, Dan spoke up, "Did you find any signs of a body at all?"

"No," replied the older man,

"But we did collect some DNA. Apart from your own and your mother's, there should be some evidence left." With that, they turned and left Dan alone in the room,

After an hour of waiting, Dan was finally allowed to leave the precinct. He was instructed not to return home as it was now a restricted investigation area.

As he boarded a bus to the hospital, he couldn't help but think about how he was going to face his sister from now on. He felt torn about whether to tell her everything that had happened. There was a small chance that she would believe him, but it seemed more likely that she would think he was crazy.

Dan considered showing her his powers as evidence, but he wasn't sure how she would react to such an absurd revelation. In the end, he couldn't come up with a solution, and his guilt continued to weigh heavily on him.