Halfway Gone

It was the evening when Kim woke up. When she did, she noticed how quiet it was – too quiet for her liking. All she could hear was a loud, stable, repetitive beeping and someone breathing heavily next to her. Kim figured someone was in the room with her.

The blonde slowly opened her eyes. Immediately, she was blinded by the bright lights from the ceiling, and seconds later, the light was blocked off by a familiar face.

“Mom,” Kim croaked as she tried to sit up.

But her mother gently pushed her back down on the bed before she could sit up right. “The doctor says you shouldn’t sit upright after you’ve just woken up, darling,” her mother explained. “Otherwise you’ll get a headache. Give it a few minutes at least.”

Kim nodded, and continued to stare at the plain white ceiling above her. As she did, she realized there was only one person she wanted to talk to at this very moment.

“Where’s Nick?” she asked.

“He’s outside giving a statement to the police,” she answered.

“What have the police got to do with this?” Kim asked, alarmed.

“Kim, this is a serious matter,” her mother explained. “I called up the police when Nick phoned me what happened to you. If you’re being threatened by people at your school, you must tell me okay? And I’ll handle it, even if it’s the smallest thing.”

“Mom, I’m not being threatened,” the blonde answered stiffly. She was lying through her teeth. Kim felt horrible lying to her own mother. “The brick must have been thrown by some random teenagers who had nothing better to do at the time.” She was a terrible liar.

“I don’t want you to lie to me, Kim,” her mother warned. “I know what happened earlier today. Nick told me most of it while the doctors were medicating you.”

Kim turned her head away, realizing she’d been caught lying, but before she could open her mouth and speak, she was cut off by the sound of the door, creaking open, as two figures walked into the room.

“Sweetie, this is Officers Longman and Peters,” her mother introduced. “They’re here to take your statement.”

Kim congealed as they approached her. Something made her not trust the police. Immediately, she recognized their faces. They were the policemen who informed her about Rosie, and for some reason, she couldn’t help but find it slightly suspicious. They were in front of her again.

“So what happened today?” Officer Longman asked as he took out a notepad and a pen from his breast pocket.

“I was in the house,” Kim stated the obvious details. “When I stood up, a brick came through the front window and hit me on the head.”

“You sure this person doesn’t have a grudge against you?” Officer Peters asked.

Kim thought for a moment wondering if she should tell the truth. She could think up a list of names that would adore seeing her injured or dead. One that chilled her was the man that threatened her over the phone from some pay phone.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she eventually answered, lying.

“Could you explain why a brick was thrown into your window though?”

Kim raised an eyebrow at the policemen, surprised. She couldn’t believe they were asking her that question. Wasn’t it their job to find that out? She hesitated before she spoke again.

“I-I’m looking into my best friend’s death,” she said nervously, avoiding eye contact from her mother. Her voice was quiet. “I believe she was murdered, and did not OD. Maybe there are some people who don’t like what I’m doing.”

“Right,” the policeman nodded as he scribbled something down on his notepad. “Thank you for your time then.” Then, they left the room, closing the door behind them.

Kim turned her head towards her mother’s direction, trying to read her body language. She could tell she was angry.

“Mom…” Kim started.

“You should have told me, Kimberley,” her mother said. Her voice was raised. “I’m disappointed in you taking this huge accusation into your own hands! You know it’s bad for you from the brick being thrown to our house to threatening voice messages!”

Kim stared at her mother in confusion. What did she mean by voice messages? Kim reached for her phone on the bedside table and looked down at the screen. She had three voice messages from an unknown number. Kim was slightly annoyed at her mother for going through her things, but she pushed the feeling aside.

As soon as Kim placed the phone back down onto the bedside table, her phone vibrated again. The blonde quickly picked up the phone and read the unread text message. She placed the phone back down onto the table. She was shocked and scared at what she’d just heard, but she was trying her best to not show any emotions.

“Kim, promise me,” her mother said softly. “Stop looking into Rosie’s death. I know how hard this is for you, but it’s hard on all of us. You’ll move on sooner or later, you just have to give it time. But promise me you’ll drop this, okay?”

“Can I talk to Nick now, Mom?” she clicked her tongue impatiently. There was no way she wanted to talk to her mother anymore. Not after this.

Watch your back.