Untethered

16 | Visiting Hours

"I said, what the hell are you doing here, mom?" Emma's voice rang through the hospital room, bouncing off all the hard surfaces, giving it a hard, harsh tone.

Julie gulped, loudly. Between finding out Daniel somehow survived, and Greta intimating that she knew what they had done, she couldn't find her voice. Somewhat mercifully, Greta saved her the trouble of having to come up with a lie.

"Your mother just wanted to make sure I was alright," she said sweetly, drawing confused stares from her visitors. "She is leaving, now." Her tone changed subtly, but Julie got the message. Nodding her head quickly, and barely acknowledging her own children, she rushed out of the room as if there was a Doberman Pinscher snarling at her rear-end.

Once out in the large corridor, she leaned against the dingy, mauve-colored wall, trying to regulate her breathing and heart rate. A fluorescent bulb was flickering madly over her head, mimicking the chaos in her mind. She wasn't stupid. She had three major problems right now. First problem being, Greta was clearly on death's door, so it was highly unlikely she would bother bluffing about having evidence against her. The second one was just as scary: Daniel is alive!

She shuddered, and a cold, clammy sweat broke out on her forehead. He would come after her, she had no doubt about that. There was no way he wasn't holding a grudge. Thirdly, she was still no closer to finding out what Frankie did with the jewels, and she was running out of time and options to get her hands on them. Especially, since it seemed Danny was after the same thing.

She leaned against the wall a few moments longer, but moved when a nurse came by and asked if she was alright. No, I am not alright! Instead of screeching at her, she gave a weak smile, that looked more like a grimace, and nodded, before she staggered shakily toward the elevators on her four-inch heels. All the way to the parking ramp, she was oblivious to everyone and everything around her. It was amazing that she got off on the right floor, or remembered what level her car was parked on.

She entered the garage with fear building inside her—like smoke billowing up from a gasoline fire—the kind of fear that suffocated, made it hard to breathe, and blurred vision. Scurrying toward where her car was parked, her eyes darted nervously back and forth, as if Daniel would jump out at her at any moment. Finally, she reached her car, and slid into the driver's seat, breathing out a huge sigh of relief. She rested her head on the steering wheel for a moment before she started the car and pulled away, her mind riddled with worry.

~*~*~

Danny watched Julie pull to the exit of the parking ramp from across the street. He had been keeping an eye on the wing of the hospital Greta was on, hoping he could find something out. Mainly, was she going to wake up, and did she remember anything? Seeing Julie there was a shock, at first. He left after he saw her go past, afraid she would spot him. He wasn't ready for her to see him, yet. Thankfully, she seemed completely preoccupied.

Now, he saw her sitting in her car, and was torn. Stay, or go?

In a split second, he decided. As soon as she pulled away, he followed. It was doubtful he'd find anything out from the hospital, and judging by the way Julie was acting, she knew something. He needed to start working on a plan B anyway.

~*~*~

As soon as Julie left, Emma had hurried around the side of the bed. Perched on the edge, she gently hugged Greta, and then stayed there holding her hand.

"What the hell did she want?" she demanded.

"Nothing, girl, don't worry about it," Greta responded firmly, evading eye-contact.