Visions (22 page)

38

This time I had been unconscious for over a week. While I’d been sleeping, I’d been given a blood transfusion, which had ultimately saved my life. Intravenous drips seemed to surround me; one giving me saline to keep me hydrated entered my body through my right wrist and another, pumping antibiotics into my system to stop the stab wound becoming infected entered through the vein on the inside of my elbow. Everything seemed fuzzy and slightly too bright, which was apparently due to the narcotic painkillers I was being given through the tube that fed into my left arm. I could only see out of one eye and couldn’t stop worrying that I had somehow lost my eye or gone blind. I was told repeatedly not to worry about this and the various medical staff kept telling me that it was temporary, but I would forget. All this information was relayed to me while I tried to focus on the words and not the face that haunted my mind without ever taking a break.

The monotony of the hospital day was broken up by the many visitors I received. It surprised me how each one seemed to emanate a different emotion. They had all been affected by the events in different ways. My mother, who was usually so mild and tended to stay calm in a crisis even when everyone else has given in to the chaos, was angry.

“I knew you shouldn’t have taken that job. All the money in the world isn’t worth this. Mr Briggs should have made sure that boy was away from the building. It’s up to him to ensure that his staff are safe at work. This wouldn’t have happened if Corinne wasn’t so inept at her job…” A sharp cough brought my mother out of her rant. Corinne stood behind her, holding her handbag to her chest.

              “I fully understand your anger, Gayle,” Corinne said. “Trust me, I feel terrible and honestly, I did not see this coming at all. What can I say? I’m sorry.”

              “Well, you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t accept, but my daughter was nearly murdered by a student that you failed to discipline.” My mother walked out of the room fighting back angry tears.

I looked apologetically up at Corinne, who had clearly brought guilt with her into the room.

              “I’m so sorry, Gill,” she said, gripping my hand. “The police have spoken to myself and Mr Briggs. I wish…I wish we had done more. It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t rushed home early or if I’d ensured that all of you had left before I did.”

I put my hand up to stop her, wanting to reassure her that I didn’t place the blame with anyone other than Darren Pierce and his mother, but every time I thought about what had happened to me I was overwhelmed by fatigue. While I was sleeping she left, leaving a bag full of novels and magazines lying on the bedside table.

              Theo was my most regular visitor. When he was working a shift, he spent every break by my side and would pop in each time he passed the entrance to the ward, which he found an increasing amount of excuses to do. His time off work was spent with me when he could. When the doctors needed me to rest, Theo would be working on making the house a better place for me to return to by shopping or decorating. He would talk incessantly about our future, declaring that he wanted to set a date for the wedding as soon as I was able to start planning for it. Theo’s visits were probably the most pleasant, for he brought hope with him. Not once did he talk about Darren or what had happened. He didn’t apportion blame to anyone. His focus was on recovery and moving past what had happened. That was what I needed.

              As I started to make progress and the machines were removed, more visitors were allowed into my private room. Morgan and Hazel came together, both expressing how incredulous they had been when told what had happened. At this time, I was more aware of what was going on. It was refreshing to be able to participate in a conversation rather than just listening until I fell asleep. My voice was weak from lack of use, but both of my friends were incredibly patient.

“Have you spoken to the police yet?” Morgan asked.

              “No, but they’ve been here.” I’d seen them in the room, talking to the doctors, taking notes. One of them, a female officer, kept coming closer and looking at my injuries. When I opened my eyes, she smiled at me sympathetically, wincing as the doctor pulled back the covers to reveal my wound, which must have been incredibly bruised because it was still dressed heavily now. “I haven’t told them what happened…”

              “You’ll have your chance. Don’t worry about that,” Hazel said in a soothing tone.

              “They knew it was Darren anyway, sweetheart,” Morgan added. She looked at Hazel as though debating over telling me any further information. “Perhaps we should discuss it when you are feeling a bit better.”

              “We wouldn’t want you falling asleep in the middle of a sentence!” Hazel teased.

I gasped as a shock of pain sliced through my slide. Both Morgan and Hazel jumped to their feet, but I waved my hand to get their attention before they could alert the hospital staff.

              “It hurts when I twist my body. I’m fine if I stay still,” I explained, but they continued to look shaken up and concerned for the rest of their visit. When they left, I felt that the time had flown by, but I was also relieved because all I could think about was falling back to sleep.

39

When the doctors gave permission for the police to visit I was in a much better state, both physically and mentally. Theo had requested that he be there when they explained exactly what damage Darren Pierce and his knife had caused to my body. My face had been operated on while I’d been asleep, which I was told they wouldn’t normally do but part of the fractured bone had cut into my eyeball, which had been the cause of the bleeding. They’d had no choice but to operate to prevent the bone from starting to heal in the wrong position. This meant that I couldn’t see out of my left eye at all. It was covered over to prevent infection. This explained why I’d been so worried about having gone blind. My shoulder had been dislocated by the pummelling that Darren had given it with his foot. The doctors were surprised that I’d been able to stay conscious through the attack because of this. All I could remember of the pain was that my fear for my life was worse and that was what kept the adrenaline flowing.  My shoulder was now back in place. The worst of the injuries was the knife wound that Darren had inflicted. The technical term referred to it as an abdominal stab wound, but Theo insisted that the explanation was specific so that I understood fully how much time had passed since the attack and why I’d been unconscious for the majority of it.

              I’d felt the sensation of being punched in the side, but actually Darren had thrust his knife into me, penetrating deep enough to nick one of my kidneys, putting me in serious danger of bleeding to death. It was at this point, probably disturbed by the sight of blood pouring from my body, that Darren had turned and scarpered. Speedy operating had managed to save my kidney although it would never function at the same level as it originally had, meaning that I would require medical monitoring more closely than an average person during illnesses or pregnancies.

              After being in hospital for three weeks, I was able to sit myself up and my eye patch was due to come off in the next couple of days. Two police officers came, introducing themselves as Sergeant James and PC Green. Sergeant James perched herself on the chair next to my bed, pulled her notepad out, and leaned in. She was a small, black woman with a reassuring smile. Her partner stood at well over six feet tall and hovered near the door, fiddling with his radio. “Johnny, turn that thing down or off,” she told him.

              “Sorry.” He switched it down and gestured an apology towards me.

              “Right, my darling, let’s have a chat about what happened. Anytime you feel that you would like to rest, just say so and we’ll come back another time, ok?”

I nodded, not sure how to begin.

“Let’s start by telling me when you first saw Darren,” prompted Sergeant James.

              “It was when I was on my way to the bus-stop. He was across the road. I’d missed the bus and didn’t feel comfortable waiting at the stop for the next one knowing that he was around. I should have just waited.” For the first time since the attack, I started to cry and once I’d started, I couldn’t stop. Sergeant James took hold of my hand and held it firmly, running her thumb over the top. “I should have known it was him. It was obvious. As soon as I saw the anger in his eyes, I knew it was him

before. He was there when I crashed!”

The sergeant turned to look at her partner and nodded. He left the room. Five minutes later, he returned with one of the regular doctors and Theo.

              “She’s talking about a crash and Darren being there,” Sergeant James said. Her words held no judgement to belie her disbelieving me.

              “Should I sedate her?” my regular doctor addressed Theo.

              “No. I know what she’s talking about. I’ll stay. I’m her fiancé, by the way,” he informed the police. Theo took a seat on the other side of the bed.

              “I feel so useless,” I croaked, my voice harsh from all the sobbing.

              “You aren’t useless,” Theo contradicted.

              “Dr Arnold, I will stay on the ward in case you need me,” The other doctor said before leaving
.

              “Right, let’s get one thing straight,” Theo began. “You most certainly are not useless. You are an amazing person, Gill, but what you’re trying to tell the police is not going to be believable to someone who has not seen it happen for themselves.”

              “I’m going to interrupt you there,” Sergeant James said. She still had a firm hold of my hand. “Johnny and I have heard some amazing accounts over the past year. In fact, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been cynical in the past, but often the weirdest part of our job is the truth. Now, tell me how this boy was involved in your crash.”

              I didn’t expect them to listen, especially not PC Green, but they did. I told them all about the visions, realising that Darren’s blurred face had been the one haunting me when I lost control of my car. Theo chipped in every now and then as though trying to ensure my story was credible. When I finished speaking and had relayed hearing the voices of the paramedics, even PC Green had made his way to the bedside. I was exhausted. Sergeant James went through what she’d written down, verifying all the specific details. She hadn’t written anything about the visions. “Of course, I’ve only made notes on the factual information. You may not believe me when I tell you that I believe you about what say you saw, but I do. Most of what you have said corroborates Darren’s story. He was arrested within an hour of your being taken to hospital.”

              “How were you so sure it was him without being able to speak to Gill?” Theo asked.

              “Firstly, the school’s CCTV system recorded him entering through the reception and heading towards the classroom. The next reason may be upsetting for you, Gill…” I didn’t interrupt her. “He left a trail of bloody footprints, so we were able to match them to his trainers. Also, the boy is violent and I’m not about to start defending him, but I don’t believe he intended for the confrontation to end the way it did. As he left, rather than taking the direct route out of the front of the school, he diverted down the side towards the conference room where he must have seen the head master, Mr Briggs, through the windows. He interrupted the governors’ meeting by banging on the window before he scarpered home. Mr Briggs recognised him immediately and described his expression as being one that he’d not seen on Darren before. Convinced that he had vandalised the school in some way, he left the meeting and headed over to the main building where he bumped into the caretaker…”

              “Why did the caretaker not come when Darren was shouting and screaming?” I asked.

              “Queen,” PC Green said.

I looked at him in confusion.

              “He had his headphones in and was listening to Queen at top volume. Trust

me when I say that Mr Briggs was not happy. He’s looking in to upping the security procedures.”

              “Why would Darren bang on the window?”

              “At that point, we think he was scared that he’d killed you,” Sergeant James explained.

I couldn’t help but scoff at her words.

              “I know it’s going to be hard for you to believe, but the Darren Pierce that we apprehended was just a scared little boy who’d made the biggest mistake of his life. I’ve met monsters and trust me, they show no remorse.” She paused and glanced at PC Green, who nodded in agreement.

              “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t agree,” I commented bitterly. “He brought a knife in with him. He knew what he was going to do.”

“We found him curled in a ball, still wearing the trainers that had left a bloody trail through the corridor,” Sergeant James continued. “He was gripping his mother’s hand. She was passed out drunk on the sofa.”

I remembered snippets of the conversation that had taken place when I was trying to calm Darren down, desperately hoping that someone would come along and put an end to it all. It must have been hard growing up and feeling unwanted, like a burden, to both of his parents but it still didn’t excuse what he’d done. I wanted to tell them about Amelia’s upbringing and all the heartache that she’d endured because of her mother’s inadequacy, but I was starting to feel too tired to talk anymore. “He banged on that window to ensure that someone found you. If he hadn’t, Gill, you’d be dead.”