Sarah Laker

21 - Matters Of The Heart

The next morning passed in a blur. Sarah had been through this all before. Her absent father had left her to deal with her grandfather's death alone. Part of that had been making the funeral arrangements. It had also taken her a long time to get through visits to the bank and various government offices, before she allowed herself time to grieve.

On this occasion, things were different. This time, she opened up to assistance from her friends. On this particular day, Luke.

They didn't talk about the night before. She wasn't able to. Not right now.

Sergeant Fielding met them at the mortuary doors. Her short, slight figure stood in complete contrast to the image her voice had given on the phone.

"Thank you for coming, Miss Laker." Her tone was still as clipped as it had been on the phone, but softer in real life. "We found the legal documents pertaining to the transfer of Mrs. Harrison's business, to you, in her vehicle."

Sarah stopped biting her nails and half smiled at the police officer. "Yes. That came as a surprise to me too."

Turning to Luke, Sergeant Fielding gave him instructions. "You need to wait out here please. It won't take a minute." She then held the doors open for Sarah to go through.

It smelt the same, like the place her grandfather's body had been taken to. Bleach and something else underlying it, sweet and sickly. The room was too bright. Fluorescent strips outdid the light from the windows. A clinical, steel table loomed like an altar in the center of the space, with a white sheet covering the bulk of the body that waited for her.

She stood beside the table and listened to the click clack of the Sergeant's shoes as she joined her. With a flick of the wrists, Fielding threw back the top of the sheet.

Sarah's hands shot upward to cover her mouth. She nodded her head in recognition of the cadaver. It was definitely Elizabeth.

Fielding left the sheet down and asked if she wanted to stay for a moment alone. Sarah loosened her hands away from her face and nodded again. The police officer click clacked her way out.

The dead always looked the same in Sarah's opinion. They held a strange similarity to every other inanimate object. It wasn't as disturbing to look at this body, not as bad as seeing her grandfather. Then, she'd hardly been able to see at all for her tears. This time, she almost felt guilty for her lack of emotion. She felt sure that she owed Elizabeth some kind of goodbye at least. So, she said the first things that came to mind.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Harrison. I'm really sorry. It should have been your choice of when to go."

The fluorescent strip overhead gave a quick buzz and flickered. Was it a trick of the light or did the sheet twitch? Sarah frowned and peered closer at the covered body of the corpse. Had her imagination got the better of her or did that patch of cloth just become darker? She leaned in to get a better look at the area of sheet above Elizabeth's chest. The right side had changed colour! Shocked at the reality but unable to break away, Sarah stayed transfixed. The darkened area steadily turned from greyish white to a scarlet, brazen red. Blooming bright with fresh, new blood.

Sarah gasped and ran out of the room. She banged the doors into the wall as she fled straight into Luke's arms.

"Woah, woah! What's wrong?" He held her back, his face striken with worry. "What is it?"

Sarah shot Fielding a look of terror and yelled out in a high pitched voice.

"She's still bleeding. Her chest is still bleeding."

The Sergeant's eyebrows knotted with confusion and she quickly sped off to check.

Luke pulled Sarah near to hold her, but it wasn't what she wanted. She pushed away from his grasp and followed the police officer back in.