Chapter 16
“Yes, mom, this happened, and I’m really glad that Chris was with me. I’ll fill you in on the details, just get to the hospital please.” Roxanne pleaded to her mother as Chris sped through the traffic to get to the hospital where David had been taking.
Immediately after showering, Chris checked his phone to find updates from the ambulance regarding which hospital he was being taken to. He also had a text from the hospital itself, since he was the person to have called the ambulance, informing him of the room number and the severity of the case.
Both of them smoked on the way there, as Roxanne braced herself for a possible encounter with her family, who could just side with David.
She was wondering what proof she had to show that David had been the one to bring the gun and threaten their lives, but little did she know that as soon as the ambulance found the crash site, they sent the gun to the forensic department, which would then find that the gun was owned by David’s father, Sirius Hunt, who had already been called to the hospital as well.
By the time they reached the hospital, the police had already confirmed that David hadn’t taken the gun with his father’s permission, and had no license to carry it around, let alone point it at someone and take them hostage. Given the history he had with Roxanne, this was very obviously, a crime in the eyes of the law.
He drove quickly to the parking lot of the hospital, then the two made their way upstairs to the assigned room. In the corridor, they could see people gathered, a couple of news reporters along with mainly police, doctors and what seemed like the Hunt family engaged in a heated discussion.
But disregarding all this activity, they knocked on the door, which was opened by Amber to let the two in.
Roxanne hadn’t even gotten time to absorb everything in her environment, the smell of disinfectant and sanitizers, the white walls and the central air conditioning. She felt disgusted just looking at David’s face, that creepy smile still lingering on his battered and bandaged face.
“Hello.” Roxanne whispered upon entering, giving a nod to her and David’s parents, as the latter eyed Chris suspiciously.
Roxanna was glad to see a police officer sitting in the corner of the room, lest there was any anger or reaction from her ex-fiancé’s parents. She was greeted back by the rest in the room, as the one nurse that was taking the readings noted something down on her hardboard, then went and stood in a corner to silently listen to the conversation.
“Hello dear.” David’s mother, this middle-aged woman with a lean figure, greeted Roxanne.
Roxanne’s eyes met her own parents’, the nurse’s, David’s closed eye lids, and back to Chris, to whom she now looked for emotional support. Both Chris and Roxanne nodded in return to everyone, feeling as if they had been called here to be investigated.
After some obviously awkward silence, Roxanne took the lead in addressing the matter at hand.
“I am glad all of you are present here with us today, it would have been better had this been done in better circumstances, or if David was conscious to join, but I cannot wait any longer. And quite frankly, David being awake makes no difference.”
She was able to do this because of the information Chris and she had about the handgun.
“Sirius, if I can ask you, you’ve been like a father to me for the longest time, how would you react if I told you that your gun was used by your son to threaten your future daughter-in-law, all because she called off the marriage because she did not want to go through with the marriage?”
Sirius looked speechless, his arms folded and looking down at the ground. Roxanne’s parents were also in a similar state, embarrassed and guilty for having ever doubted her about what she would say about David, they all thought she had some personal agenda against him.
But now that everyone had evidence in the form of fingerprints on the gun, the wounds on David and Chris’ faces and bodies, their torn clothes, and two onlookers on the highway who reported seeing suspicious activity and two men fighting each other in the distance, until they heard a gunshot and called the police, there was no room left for doubt regarding David’s actions.
Considering the car belonged to Dean Hunt, Roxanne’s parents were also directly involved. Little could they say either, for they had defended their son to their last breath, claiming that Dean and Margaret’s daughter must be crazy for her to have rejected their son, but little did they know that their son had the potential for such creepiness, and still found it hard to believe.
“I would suggest that we wait for my son to wake up, before we reach any decisions about character.” David’s mother barged in, trying to protect their image.
“Do you really want to see your son deny it, and lose more faith in him? Because I can prove him guilty for sure. There are too many messages, too many persistent calls at night, too much evidence to show just how desperate your son was for me, and how much he wanted to control me!” Roxanne replied while becoming hysterical.
Chris could see that she had been reduced to tears by the whole situation, and her internal feelings were showing now as she lost grip on containing herself. There was much anger she had been repressing, and all it needed was a trigger to make it burst.
There was yet again no reply from the room, as all of them except Chris started to hear Roxanne, actually listen to her words, for the first time in their lives.
She felt a hatred towards her own family that went further than her hatred toward David’s. Since his parents she could understand, wanting to defend their son, not wanting to accept that they could have raised such a child, she could almost feel the disappointment that Sirius and Margaret were going through.
But it was her own parents that baffled her, how they preferred blaming their own daughter for a problem she wanted nothing to do with. She couldn’t understand how they must’ve seen her for them to have hated her so much, that even when she feared for her life their reaction was to accuse her of lying.
“Roxanne, what is this?” Dean asked angrily, worried only about saving his name in front of his relatives.
“Really? Is that all you have to say?” Chris asked sarcastically, wanting to punch him the same way as David.
“I would like it if you don’t interfere in our personal matters!” Dean yelled back with a raised finger, and added, “I have barely any idea who the fuck you are!”
“Stop right there, dad.” Roxanne intervened.
There was silence yet again, as it became clear that Roxanne was the one to be heard here. She saw her mother, Margaret, tugging at her father’s arm telling him to step back and calm down.
“Here’s what this is. I called you guys here, and came here myself, only to show you what a piece of garbage you were pushing me to marry, against my will. And as for Chris, he has every right to interfere! I brought him here myself!”
“Why?! Who is he to you?” her father asked in return.
Roxanne’s face went blank, as she realized that her and Chris hadn’t really agreed on anything for the future, except that they both meant a lot to each other. She had no idea what to reply to Dean, and felt scared that Dean would catch on to this and make fun of her or Chris.
“Well, you could say I am to her whatever she wants me to be. Whatever.” Chris answered on her behalf, maintaining full eye contact with her father, man to man.
Roxanne’s heart was overwhelmed with love, and she wanted to crush him to her breast right then and there, but instead slid her hand into his and folded it tightly. She could not have imagined doing what she was doing right now if Chris wasn’t standing at her side, and she had no idea how to thank him enough for it.
“That’s right. Unlike you all, Chris doesn’t have to share my blood to treat me like family.” Roxanne said finally, and taking Chris’ hand, led him out of the room.”
There was no reaction or reply to this from anyone, and neither did she expect any. The only good thing in all this was that her family finally seemed to be letting her make her own decision, and weren’t putting up a cement wall of resistance.
Just as she was about to open the door, she heard a cough behind her, immediately realizing that it came from David’s mouth. All heads in that room turned toward David, as he opened his eyes slightly and stretched his face, taking his time, as if he had been hearing this discussion from the start and had now been called to give his valuable input.
Just for a second or two, Roxanne made eye contact with him, and felt her lips widen into a smile of sorts, finally being able to look into his eyes without feeling afraid. She could almost see his ego shattering right then and there, watching Chris standing next to her, hand in hand.
Suddenly, she turned away with indifference, and pushed the room door open, headed toward the exit in a march celebrating her life’s freedom.
While stepping out the hospital, both looked into each other’s eyes and smiled, knowing full well what their next destination was.