Not What I Expected

Part 25

Nicole ran down the hallway of the hospital until she saw Beth sitting in a chair in the emergency waiting room, her eyes red. She barely waited until Ryan's truck came to a complete stop before she jumped out, fuelled by worry, stress and terror. She sat down beside Beth and grabbed her hand. Beth looked over at Nicole for a moment before she broke down into a fit of sobs and fell into Nicole's arms.

"Nicole, I can't believe this is happening," Beth cried, holding on to her best friend like her life depended on it, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. I had no idea that Anna was in so much trouble...no idea."

"It was definitely scary Beth, but I was glad I got there when I did," Nicole replied as she ran a hand through her friend's hair, "Is she here yet? Do you know what's going on?"

"I saw her quickly as they rushed her in," Beth mumbled, "She was unconscious and they said they would come out and update me shortly. I haven't heard anything yet."

"Mrs. Sanders," someone said behind them, getting their attention, "Can I have a moment of your time?"

Nicole's blood went cold and she was sure that her face went a ghostly shade of white as she turned around and noticed it was a cop that had said her name. She never thought they would act as quickly as they had and now the panic was at the forefront of her mind and she was sure that it was written all over her face.

"Yes, of course," Nicole replied as professionally as she could.

"I am Officer Simons," the police officer stated with a small smile, in an attempt to make her comfortable and put her at ease, "I just wanted to get a statement from you about the events of tonight and get information on how you know the victim."

The victim? That's it, Nicole was going to jail. Nicole looked over at Beth and she nodded and gave Nicole a reassuring smile.

"Well, it was about 6:45 when I pulled into my driveway and noticed Anna hunched over in the corner by my front door," Nicole began, "When I got to her, I called out her name, but she was unresponsive. I called 911 and they instructed me check her pockets and bag for any indicators of what might have happened. I checked her pulse, which, at the time, seemed very strong. I also noticed blood on her jeans and on the ground beside her and that's when I noticed that her sleeves were dark and wet. Her wrists were cut and the razor blade was on the ground beside her..."

It felt like someone was squeezing Nicole's lungs in between two very heavy books as hard as they could. She rattled off the information much faster than she had planned and she was having a difficult time catching her breath. She always talked fast whenever she felt nervous or overwhelmed and this moment was a perfect example of that. Beth squeezed her hand and Nicole glanced over at her before she looked back at Officer Simons.

"I made sure not to touch anything when I was looking through her bag," Nicole continued, trying to explain things slowly, "I touched the bag, but I just shook it to get a look inside. I spotted two packets of white powder and one empty packet, which I could only assume had the same substance in it. I hope I didn't ruin any evidence..."

"Oh no, not at all Mrs. Sanders," Officer Simons stated, "We can't confirm who the finger prints belong to at this point, but it looks very much like a suicide attempt. But I just want to clarify something with you."

"What's that, Officer?" Nicole asked.

"You mentioned to one of the paramedics that Anna was your deceased husband's girlfriend," Officer Simons said, "Now, if it turns out that this incident isn't a suicide attempt, you would have motive to cause Anna serious harm..."

"Beth," the emergency doctor said as he walked down the hallway towards them, interrupting the Officer, "Anna is awake and she is asking for you. She is sedated and groggy, but she is going to be ok."