At the End of the Garden

Chapter Forty

The world seemed to be turning slower now I was in a hospital bed. Before I got here, things were happening so quickly, or I was missing time by sleeping through it. Now every time I looked out the window, I expected the sun to be somewhere else. Setting or gone completely and replaced by the moon. It was only mid-afternoon.
Distantly (or what felt like distantly) the menu music from a game on my WiiU played. Michael and I had done one level before deciding neither of us could concentrate enough to play anymore, even though the plan was to distract ourselves. Now he sat silently on Dad's chair, scrolling through his phone while I pretending to read one of the books Dad brought from home. I didn't think Michael was paying much attention to his phone either but just pretending scored us a brief moment of peace where we weren't 100% consumed by our individual panic.
In the silence, it was very much noticeable when the door opened. Unexpectedly gently too, making it slightly out of character. The behaviour of someone acting professional in an attempt to try and negotiate. Though, you really shouldn't approach a rebellious teen with a temper, I thought.
"I need a word." Fay said, glancing towards Michael who looked like he was in the presence of ghost.
He nodded politely and scuttled out the room like he'd never been here at all. Fay waited until he was gone before she moved to stand at the foot of my bed, dropping her bag by my toes.
"Negotiation." She said.
"No."
"You like that boy? Stefan or whatever it was."
"Sidney."
"I don't care." Fay crossed her arms and then let them drop again, remembering why she was here. (Very unlawyerly, she must have been tense.) "No-one can find him, and as things are that's the way it's going to stay. Unless, I get the charges against him dropped."
Promises from my mother were rare, and for a second I got excited on instinct. But it didn't take me longer to remember that she wasn't offering something for free. "What's he even being charged with?"
She tapped the side of her head, indicating to my head injury.
"Your boyfriend did that, not mine."
Lot's of lies there, Sidney wasn't my boyfriend and the head injury actually came from my collision with a wall. But Fay found this amusing.
"You don't get your humour from your father."
She had a point and I cringed at that. But then again, I wouldn't have been saying anything like that a few months ago either. If it was her genes, they took their time. I decided to ignore her.
"You haven't got any evidence Sidney did this." I told her.
"I can find some witnesses. Don't you worry."
Of course she could.
"I can't imagine him going away, with everything considered." She said. "His foster mother could arrange for him to be remanded into her custody if she still wanted him. But this wouldn't go away. I heard he was a smart boy too, so it would be a shame." She said, pretending care.
She didn't know his name but she remembered all of that... I admit I wasn't thinking much about how this could all effect Sidney's future. All I could focus on was how he could be on the streets right at this very second.
"So, what's the catch?" I asked.
"You admit that accusing Victor was just revenge at us for our affair, and we'll all get to go on with our lives with only minor damage to our reputations." She told me, seeming pretty proud of herself.
It was almost tempting for this just too be over. Sidney wouldn't have to carry on taking food from Ren's doorstep. What if he was freezing somewhere? Getting hypothermia like I almost did? I knew Ren was looking out for him, but that didn't make me feel much better. Then again, would he want this? Would he be okay with pretending like none of this happened? Considering what he said when he started the stupid ghost rumour, it was all 'just out of curiosity.' Well, that curiosity had long been answered. Angie would definitely be happy to pretend none of this ever happened, just like she had been before. Ren and Michael hadn't said anything, but I guess what they wanted was obvious. And what Luka would want. And whoever might be next will have wanted someone to do something about it now.
"What about the next one?"
"What?"
"The next kid he kills or almost kills?" I elaborated.
"It won't happen."
"I bet you said that the first time."
"I'm not the victim here Marie." She dismissed me.
I didn't doubt that. But what was she going to do, put Victor Quinn on a leash? Put cameras in his home? Give him a curfew? God, what if the next kid is Eden?
"Why are you even defending him then?" I asked, if she wasn't a victim, why not just walk away?
"You do realise that I had a hand to play in covering up the last one?" She said, scowling. "This isn't just about him."
"You lie to people all the time." I told her.
She snorted. "True. But I have the whole law firm to protect as well. I don't want to tarnish it's reputation by dropping one of our highest paying clients in his moment of desperation. That would look suspicious enough."
Why did it always come back around to reputation?
"I used to think I was doing you a favour by not forcing law onto you." She sighed, which seemed like acting. "I'm not like your grandparents, I'm not fully against looking for my own apprentice to someday take over. But it if I had involved you, maybe you would have understood a little better." Then she smirked, returning to her usual self. "You could have been Marie Park, wouldn't that have been cute?"
By my expression, she must have realised I didn't think it was cute at all and laughed at me.
"So what do you think then?"
"About what?" I asked.
"Putting this all behind us - oh don't look at me like that. I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" I said. "If that's the case, you can go get on with it."
"Excuse me."
I mean, it's not like I knew what I was doing but...
"If you know what you're doing then - no. I won't argue with you. Just go."
There was a sigh, not a fed up sigh but a work sigh. Not like she was annoyed but as if she would have to try harder now. "You're getting on my last nerves, thinking you're all grown up now."
She picked her bag up from the top of my bed. "I'll be back later to take you home where I can keep a proper eye on you."
The only thing that was left was the sound of heels clicking against the floor. Her work shoes. Her work blazer. Her work voice. Good. I didn't want her to care either.