Accused Criminal
12
Kale opened the door and sighed. “Wish I could say I’m surprised.” Stepping aside, he allowed her to enter and then closed the door. Warmth washed over Lana and she turned to face him, ready with an apology, an excuse, and tears in her eyes, but the good doctor continued. “Those two detectives came to pay me a visit a couple days ago. They wanted to hear what statement I would make in court and then they tried to pay me to say something else.” His eyes slipped over her, not in a sexual way but in examination. “Let’s get up stairs.”
He climbed the stairs which were beside the door, and Lana followed. His house wasn’t particularly decorated; there were no photos on the walls, no pieces of art. The walls were a pale white; the floor was wooden. On the second story of the house, there were four doors. Open, the door at the end of the hall revealed a bedroom.
They walked into the room and the door was shut and locked. With all the paranoia that had swarmed her throughout the day, Lana thought she should have been more worried, but she wasn’t. Her gut told her to trust the doctor. She wasn’t sure that she could trust her gut, but it was the first time that day that the presence of another human being had not caused her nerves to stand on end.
His bedroom was fairly empty. A dresser rested against one wall, and there was a bed and small table across from the dresser. The bed’s comforter was a dark blue, and there were two pillows to match.
“Sit down.” He disappeared into a bathroom which was connected to the bedroom, the entrance covered not by a door but a long burgundy curtain. Kale returned with his hands full. It looked like he was going to redress all of her wounds and then there was a screwdriver she was a little weary about. She recalled all the tools that the man had utilized to torture her, a range of items that had would have looked harmless to her before, as harmless as a screwdriver.
“I’m going to remove your boot,” He mumbled, kneeling before her.
Lana took a deep breath, and sat still, trusting him. He did just as he said: removed the horrid black boot and chucked it across the room. Then he cleaned and covered the wounds he could see and offered the supplies to her for the rest.
“What were you planning on doing?” Kale asked with more than a hint of curiosity in his gruff voice.
Lana curled on her side and squeezed her eyes shut, hair spilling over her cheeks. “I… I went to the train station to leave. My husband wants me dead and is using the mob to do it… I need a way to start a new life.” She couldn’t bring all the words from her mind to her tongue.
She felt the bed shift as he sat on the other side of the bed. “I’ve never been caught in the middle of a mob hit.” Lana turned to look at him. “I knew being your doctor was going to be trouble, but this…”
“You’re not obligated to help me,” Lana snapped.
Kale raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I can get you out.”
That was unexpected. A moment of appreciation swept over Lana and she wanted to throw herself at him. Then she leapt of the bed, full of suspicion. Her gut still said she was the safest that she had been since waking up in the hospital.
“Why would you want to help me?” she tried to study him, to figure out what had made her instinctively trust this man.
“Lana? Lana, I know you’re innocent. There are a bunch of medical ways that I could prove it, and then there’s the fact that I was paid off to say the opposite of what medicine proves, but more importantly…I just… I know that you couldn’t do those things.”
Slowly, she crept back to the bed and sat on top of the comforter. She had a million questions running through her mind, and a million things she wanted to explain to Kale. Her mouth stayed firmly shut, words caught in her throat. Her eyes closed as she tried to even her breathing.
He turned onto his side as though to show that he trusted her.
A silence fell between them and Lana thought that Kale had fallen asleep, but then the bed moved again and she felt a blanket drop over her. “We should leave in the morning. Good night.” He moved back into the bed, and Lana waited for him to drift into sleep.
She wouldn’t try leaving again without her daughter.
When his breathing was slow and heavy, a faint snooze filling the room, she stood. Her heart hammered in her chest, a sensation she was becoming accustomed to. Pain was slowly numbing her body and her mind only registered some of the agitation from her healing cuts and re-growing fingernails.
Gloves, covering her hands, rubbed the raw skin, but Lana ignored the irritation and focused on making each movement as silent as possible. Kale was unusually welcoming and trusting. Lana wasn’t sure how he would react to her sneaking around his house in the middle of the night, or what he might do to make her stay. She doubted that he would understand what drove her to return to the monster’s den.
Fear and self-preservation was overridden by love for her daughter.
Rubbing her hands together, she braced for the cold, took one last look around the house and then left through the front door. Snow still fell slowly from the sky, yellow street lights momentarily catching them mid descent.
She avoided the light as well as she could, jumping at every noise. The nocturnal animals she passed ignored her primarily, and Lana made her way down the streets, finding her way through the thick snow and veil of darkness.
He climbed the stairs which were beside the door, and Lana followed. His house wasn’t particularly decorated; there were no photos on the walls, no pieces of art. The walls were a pale white; the floor was wooden. On the second story of the house, there were four doors. Open, the door at the end of the hall revealed a bedroom.
They walked into the room and the door was shut and locked. With all the paranoia that had swarmed her throughout the day, Lana thought she should have been more worried, but she wasn’t. Her gut told her to trust the doctor. She wasn’t sure that she could trust her gut, but it was the first time that day that the presence of another human being had not caused her nerves to stand on end.
His bedroom was fairly empty. A dresser rested against one wall, and there was a bed and small table across from the dresser. The bed’s comforter was a dark blue, and there were two pillows to match.
“Sit down.” He disappeared into a bathroom which was connected to the bedroom, the entrance covered not by a door but a long burgundy curtain. Kale returned with his hands full. It looked like he was going to redress all of her wounds and then there was a screwdriver she was a little weary about. She recalled all the tools that the man had utilized to torture her, a range of items that had would have looked harmless to her before, as harmless as a screwdriver.
“I’m going to remove your boot,” He mumbled, kneeling before her.
Lana took a deep breath, and sat still, trusting him. He did just as he said: removed the horrid black boot and chucked it across the room. Then he cleaned and covered the wounds he could see and offered the supplies to her for the rest.
“What were you planning on doing?” Kale asked with more than a hint of curiosity in his gruff voice.
Lana curled on her side and squeezed her eyes shut, hair spilling over her cheeks. “I… I went to the train station to leave. My husband wants me dead and is using the mob to do it… I need a way to start a new life.” She couldn’t bring all the words from her mind to her tongue.
She felt the bed shift as he sat on the other side of the bed. “I’ve never been caught in the middle of a mob hit.” Lana turned to look at him. “I knew being your doctor was going to be trouble, but this…”
“You’re not obligated to help me,” Lana snapped.
Kale raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I can get you out.”
That was unexpected. A moment of appreciation swept over Lana and she wanted to throw herself at him. Then she leapt of the bed, full of suspicion. Her gut still said she was the safest that she had been since waking up in the hospital.
“Why would you want to help me?” she tried to study him, to figure out what had made her instinctively trust this man.
“Lana? Lana, I know you’re innocent. There are a bunch of medical ways that I could prove it, and then there’s the fact that I was paid off to say the opposite of what medicine proves, but more importantly…I just… I know that you couldn’t do those things.”
Slowly, she crept back to the bed and sat on top of the comforter. She had a million questions running through her mind, and a million things she wanted to explain to Kale. Her mouth stayed firmly shut, words caught in her throat. Her eyes closed as she tried to even her breathing.
He turned onto his side as though to show that he trusted her.
A silence fell between them and Lana thought that Kale had fallen asleep, but then the bed moved again and she felt a blanket drop over her. “We should leave in the morning. Good night.” He moved back into the bed, and Lana waited for him to drift into sleep.
She wouldn’t try leaving again without her daughter.
When his breathing was slow and heavy, a faint snooze filling the room, she stood. Her heart hammered in her chest, a sensation she was becoming accustomed to. Pain was slowly numbing her body and her mind only registered some of the agitation from her healing cuts and re-growing fingernails.
Gloves, covering her hands, rubbed the raw skin, but Lana ignored the irritation and focused on making each movement as silent as possible. Kale was unusually welcoming and trusting. Lana wasn’t sure how he would react to her sneaking around his house in the middle of the night, or what he might do to make her stay. She doubted that he would understand what drove her to return to the monster’s den.
Fear and self-preservation was overridden by love for her daughter.
Rubbing her hands together, she braced for the cold, took one last look around the house and then left through the front door. Snow still fell slowly from the sky, yellow street lights momentarily catching them mid descent.
She avoided the light as well as she could, jumping at every noise. The nocturnal animals she passed ignored her primarily, and Lana made her way down the streets, finding her way through the thick snow and veil of darkness.