Dual Harvest
Page 18
Tears started streaming down Amber’s face and David once again wanted to comfort her. But he knew that she didn’t want to be touched right now, and it would not have been the right thing to do, considering what she had just confessed to.
“Next he must have hit me over the head because it becomes a little hazy. I think my neighbor called 911. I knew that the paramedics and the staff at the hospital were worried about me. I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but I could hear the concern in their voices. I remember a lot of blood pouring all over everywhere. I know I tried to grab the blood that came out from between my legs. That’s what was left of my baby and I wanted to hold her just once, if only just once. I was going to name the baby Echo Rain. Isn’t that a beautiful name? But they wouldn’t let me sit up. I lived in a drug-induced haze for several weeks. Once I came out of the coma, I vowed that no man would ever control me again. I told myself that no woman ever needed to be hit by another man. Men should never use their strength to make women fear them. Never!”
David felt a little dazed after hearing such a tragic story. “Amber, can I talk to Lila?” he asked.
“I don’t know why you want to talk to her, she doesn’t know anything,” Amber said indifferently. “She doesn’t even remember anything about the accident. That’s how fucked up a man made her life. Do you see now, David?”
“I need to tell her what is going to happen when the papers get processed.”
Amber shrugged her shoulders, “Suit yourself.” She turned away from David.
David touched Lila on the shoulder, “Lila, I need to tell you what’s going to happen.”
She looked up at him fearfully. “Ok,” she whimpered, her voice wavering.
“Someone is coming from the state hospital. You need some help and there are doctors up there that can provide what you need. You suffered from a traumatic accident and a horrible loss when you lost your child, and I know that you never got the psychiatric help you should’ve had back then. So, I want you to go talk to them and get control over your life. All right?”
Lila was crying, “What did I do? How come I need to go?”
“Lila, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just think that you need to talk to the doctors for a while. They’ll help. I promise you they’ll help.”
Lila Amber Patterson looked up at David. She took a deep breath, “You think they’ll help me remember what happened before the accident?”
“Lila, I think they will indeed be able to help you cope with your accident, yes,” David reassured her.
“What will happen to Amber?” Lila asked.
“That will be up to you,” David said. “Amber did a lot of bad things, Lila.”
Joe and David went back out of the room to wait for the people from the state hospital. They gathered back into the observation room. From this point, they could view Lila/Amber as she walked around the room, as if lost in a daze.
“This is the first case we have ever had that involved a schizophrenic,” Joe said. “How do you suppose she kept it hidden for so long?”
“Lila isn’t a schizophrenic. She suffers from multiple personality disorder. Schizophrenics tend to not perceive reality, and have trouble communicating with the world. Lila wasn’t aware of Amber being the same person,” David explained. “Amber didn’t arrive until after the accident. Amber was created when Lila couldn’t cope with the fact that the man she had loved so diligently beat her and killed her unborn child. Even though Amber didn’t even really like Lila, she was there to protect her from the evilness of men.”
“It’s so fucked up someone could inflict so much damage upon another human being like that,” Joe said. “No woman deserves that, especially one as sweet as Lila is.”
“Makes you want to take care of her doesn’t it?” David asked rhetorically.
The two men looked at Lila as she came up to the observation window and peered in. “Come on,” David said. “Let’s go see where the state people are.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Lila looked through the mirror of the interrogation room into the observation window. She saw the two detectives talking. They returned the stare and soon after left the room. Lila stood there, wondering how long it would be before she was locked up in the mental institution. As she remained there deep in thought, someone else entered the observation room.
Lila tensed as the ominous guest approached the opposite side of the glass. She was hard to make out since it wasn’t real clear from her side. But Lila stood there looking at Amber and Amber stood there looking at her. The two put their hands on the glass as if embracing for the last time.
“I didn’t want John to get away with what he did,” Amber explained. “I didn’t want another man to ever hurt you or any other woman again.”
“Thank you for trying,” Lila said in a whisper.
“I don’t think you’ll be the victim ever again,” Amber told her.
“Neither will you,” Lila said, forming a sad smile.
Then Amber tossed her hair, turned and blew a kiss Lila’s direction, and waved goodbye as she walked out the door.
About the Author
Lori Michelle is originally from Los Angeles, CA where she was born and raised to be a classical ballerina. Having injured herself before she could start her dance career, she turned her creative talents elsewhere. Now living in San Antonio TX, she is the single mother of two children. By day, she is a bookkeeper/IT tech for a real estate company, and by night she is the managing editor of Dark Moon Digest Horror Quarterly and Dark Eclipse Monthly E-magazine. She has had stories published in several anthologies, including Slices of Flesh. In her spare time, she is also the Artistic Director at By the Beat dance studio and dabbles in graphic art design. You can find Lori at www.LoriMichelleAuthor.com