Forget Me Not

Ch 19. Open Wounds

Mrs. Chamberlain packed us all in her Toyota. Kevin beside the driving seat, me and Sarah on the backseat. After ending the call with the detective, she had cried and cried as we three had soothed her. Trying to calm her by telling her that those shoes could be anyone's shoes which looked like Hannah's shoes. And suddenly she had sat up straight, wiping her tears vigorously and ordering us all to get in her car.

Kevin had insisted her to let me or Sarah drive. But she was having none of it. A grieving mother's determination can lose no argument.

The car came to a screeching halt at the lake where couple of police cars were already waiting for us. We all got down quickly and spotted Detective Kaden, wearing glares and looking intently at the lake where the divers were looking for...a body.

My heart was almost in my mouth the entire ride to the lake and now I was sure it was going to come out. My whole body was buzzing and my knees felt weak. Whatever was in that lake, I wasn't ready for it. This is just too much. All this stuff happens to people in books and shows, or you read about it in newspapers, 'Teen girl found dead in lake. Police looking for cause of death.'

But happening to us? To our very own bestfriend? No. I refuse to believe that.

"Mrs. Chamberlain," Detective Kaden addressed as he saw her approaching him.

"How can you be so sure those shoes belong to my daughter? How can you be sure that my baby's down there?" She sounded hysterical.

"Ma'am, we don't know if Hannah is down there. We are just doing our duty," the detective remained calm, "And as for the shoes, two boys from Hannah's school found them two days ago and reported them in. We ran a DNA test and I'm sorry to tell you but, they were a match."

"My baby's not down there!"

"We all hope so."

All of us stood silently looking towards the ripples on the surface of the lake created by the divers. Despite the sun in the sky, I was shivering. Sarah put her left hand through my right elbow and used her right hand to hold my palm. This comforted me to some extent.

Hannah's mom stood as firm as a rock and her face was completely blank and unreadable. Kevin kept giving her sideway glances to make sure she was alright but we all knew that she was nowhere near alright.

My phone started vibrating in my jeans pocket and I decided to ignore it, knowing very well that it was either mom or Sal. Now was not the time to tell them where I was and what was going on. If I spoke to anyone, I was sure my voice would break and then I wouldn't be able to hold it all inside. The fear, the pain, the anxiety of what was coming next.

One of the divers surfaced, removed the aqualung from his mouth and called out to the detective, "Sir!"

*****

"Rachel? Rachel, are you okay? She's waking up." It was Sarah's voice. But why was it so far away? I could see the outline of a person looking at me. Blonde. Long hair. Sarah.

Then a few more outlines appeared in front of my blurred vision. Someone was touching my forehead. Rough hand. A man's hand. Dad? No, dad's in Sydney on some business trip.

Slowly my vision cleared and I saw three people leaning over me. Sarah, Mrs. Chamberlain and Detective Kaden. It was his hand on my forehead.

"Seems like exhaustion," he was talking to Mrs. Chamberlain.

"What's going on?" I managed to say.