“Were you getting her things ready to take to the hospital?”
She nods. “Yes. She likes having her things around her. She’ll want something there for when she wakes up.” Her eyes close, a painful expression tightening her features. “If she wakes up.”
I squeeze her hand. “She will,” I assure her. “I’m sorry we’ve bothered you at such a hard time.”
“No, if it’s Scott you came to talk about, she’ll want to help. She might not have told me everything, but I know he did something bad. And I’m not talking about his wife attacking her either. He did something. It happened the night she was going to surprise him.”
“Surprise him?”
She nods. “Yeah. She saw an invitation to a party in his pocket the night they finally had sex, and decided she was going to surprise him by going to make up for it not being that good. We went to get her a new outfit, and she was so excited, but after that day, I didn't hear from her for a long time. She shut me out for weeks. I think he hurt her that night. I know he did.”
I clench my eyes shut, trying to hold the tears at bay. “He hurt me too.”
“Have you contacted the police?”
I nod, glancing down at my lap. “I have, but he gave me a false name— or at least, his last name is fake by the sounds of it. I never went to his house or met any of his friends. He didn’t let me take pictures either, so I don’t even have that to give to the police.”
She tenses. “Amber has one.”
“Has what?” I ask, sitting straighter.
“A photo. Someone at her old club was taking photos for the new website, and he caught a photo of them together in a booth. Because he never got written consent to use the image, he gave it to Amber instead. It was before the place was open to the public so he knew they must have been at least friends.”
My pulse picks up. “Do you have it? We could give it to the police.”
“I’m not sure where she would have kept it but we definitely have it. I remember spotting it when we moved in.”
“She didn’t chuck it?” Harriet asks.
April shakes her head. “No. She kept it to remind her that she shouldn’t trust so easily.”
Harriet continues to ask about her sister— how she is; do they know who ran her over— but I can’t focus on the answers, not when my mind is reeling over it all. I stare at the picture of Amber’s smiling face, and can’t help but notice the resemblance between the two of us. It isn’t that we have red hair, or even that we were virgins, but from everything the girls are saying, we’re similar in personality too.
Do I trust too easily? I believe in trusting until proven otherwise. Is that what I’m doing with Drew? Should I trust him, only to have him hurt me? Am I repeating a cycle I won’t get out of?
I want to believe that isn’t the case, but I have spent my life being made fun of. Some don’t even realise they’re doing it. I might give them a smile and a polite nod, but deep down, their patronising, snide comments… it’s like nails raking through my soul.
“Charlotte,” Gabby calls, poking me in the shoulder.
I shake the thoughts away and paste on a smile for my friend. “Yes?”
“We are going to get her stuff ready to take to the hospital. Do you want to help?”
I nod, and stand. “Point me to what you need.”
I have to keep busy, to keep my mind from those thoughts. And helping April, in any way I can, will do that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHARLOTTE
April’s arms wrap around me after she programmes my number into her phone.
“Please don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything. And I mean anything,” I tell her.
This may be our first meeting but I already feel like we’re going to be close friends.
We went to the hospital with her to visit Amber and as predicted, no one was allowed in, not even April. They were running some more tests. We decided to stay anyway to give her moral support. She’s due to go back to the ward soon to hear what the doctors have to say and if it wasn’t for the fact the girls need to get back, I’d stay with her.
“Same,” the girls offer.
“And tell Amber we won’t lose touch next time,” Gabby assures her.
“Thank you all for coming. I know she’s not awake to know yet, but she’ll appreciate it. She’s always saying how much she misses working at Tease.”
“I’ll come visit you soon,” I promise. “I’ll text you before to make sure it’s a good time though.”
I step back, letting her give the girls a hug goodbye, then we head off to find the car. It’s a massive car park and none of us were paying attention to which space we parked in.
Before I make it three steps, April is calling me back. I turn, giving her an encouraging smile. “You okay?”
“I’m sorry for what he did to you and I hope they catch him.”
My shoulders drop a little and I give her a small smile. She is so darn cute. We told her what Scott did to me, and she felt it, her empathy there for us to witness.
“Me too,” I reply. “Take care, April.”
She jerks her chin before heading back inside the hospital.
Harriet, sensing my mood, steps up beside me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, you know.”
“Will it though?”
Gabby interrupts. “Did anyone else find it weird that Amber got run over the night before we were coming to see her?”
Harriet inhales. “You think it was done on purpose?”
It’s Olivia who answers. “As much as it kills me to agree with her, I think she’s right. It seems too coincidental to me.”
“Bitch,” Gabby mutters.
I chew on my thumbnail, and tense. Harriet tilts her head to the side. “What’s wrong?”
“My receptionist is in the hospital too.”
“Who did the bitch piss off?” Emily asks. “I still think you should fire her arse.”
I hesitate for a moment but if I don’t get it off my chest, I’ll explode. “You know the cupcakes I was telling you about?”
Emily snorts. “The one’s you miraculously think tasted amazing?”
“Not those, though I did take them into work.”
Gabby groans. “Oh God, you gave her food poisoning, didn’t you?”
“I’ve never purposely given someone food poisoning. You can’t prove it was ever my baking either.”
“Tell that to Dave. He still rants about it,” Emily teases. “Those muffins were the only thing he ate and he said coming back up, they tasted like acid.”
I roll my eyes because that was just a coincidence. “It wasn’t my cupcakes. Apparently, someone had a batch sent to the library and they were poisonous.”
“How do they know it was from the cupcakes?”
“Because they tested one. She must have taken them home. But they were for me. She just never told me.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Harriet mutters. “Karma really is a bitch.”
“What’s stranger is it came with another note addressed to me. At first, I assumed they were from a random person, then I thought Scott, but my cousin seems to think it’s a woman. Now I’ve received this note, I’m more inclined to think it’s Scott again.”