Chapter 2 - The Story They Had Rehearsed
Sarah woke beneath fluorescent hospital lights.
For several seconds, she didn't remember where she was.
Then the pain returned.
Sharp.
Deep.
Relentless.
Her leg was immobilized.
A monitor beeped beside her.
She turned her head.
Vittorio sat in the chair beside the bed.
Emma was asleep against his chest.
Sarah stared at them.
“Dad?”
Vittorio opened his eyes.
“I’m here.”
Sarah looked at Emma.
“Is she okay?”
“She is now.”
Sarah swallowed.
“What happened to David?”
Vittorio didn't answer immediately.
That silence frightened her more than an answer would have.
“He's at the house,” he finally said.
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Dad, please don't hurt him.”
Vittorio leaned forward.
“I don't need to hurt him.”
“He'll make everything worse.”
“He already has.”
Sarah began crying.
“It's my fault.”
“No.”
“I stayed.”
“You survived.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand more than you think.”
He reached into his coat and placed a small envelope on the bed.
Sarah stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Photographs.”
She didn't want to look.
Vittorio opened the envelope.
The first photograph showed Sarah six months earlier.
A bruise on her wrist.
The second showed a cut near her eyebrow.
The third showed swelling around her ribs.
The fourth showed a broken glass beside her feet.
Every time, Sarah had smiled weakly for the camera.
Every time, she had said the same thing.
“I slipped.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
“Who took those?”
“Margaret.”
Sarah looked up.
Vittorio's voice became quiet.
“She documented your injuries.”
“Why?”
“That is what I'm trying to find out.”
A nurse entered.
“Mr. Vittorio?”
“Yes?”
“There is someone asking to see Sarah.”
“Who?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Margaret.”
Sarah's face went white.
“No.”
Vittorio stood.
“She doesn't see my daughter.”
The nurse nodded and left.
Sarah whispered, “Dad, you don't understand. Margaret knows things.”
“What things?”
Sarah stared at the ceiling.
“The kind that can destroy people.”
Vittorio waited.
Finally Sarah said:
“David isn't the person you think he is.”
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
She turned toward him.
“Three months before I married him, someone warned me.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
“What did they say?”
Sarah's voice shook.
“They told me if I ever tried to leave David, Emma would disappear.”
Vittorio's face hardened.
“Who told you?”
“I don't know.”
“Sarah.”
“I swear.”
A noise came from the doorway.
Emma stood there.
Her stuffed rabbit dragged behind her.
“Mommy?”
Sarah reached out.
Emma climbed onto the bed carefully.
“Grandpa said Daddy is gone.”
Sarah looked at Vittorio.
“Is that true?”
Vittorio's eyes remained on Emma.
“Not yet.”
Emma whispered:
“Daddy said we were going to leave tonight.”
Sarah froze.
“Leave where?”
Emma shook her head.
“He said Mommy couldn't come.”
Vittorio stood completely still.
Then the hospital room door opened.
A police officer entered.
“Mr. Vittorio?”
“Yes?”
“We need to speak with you.”
“About what?”
The officer held out a phone.
“We found this in David's car.”
Vittorio took it.
One message was open.
Sent thirty minutes before Sarah's fall.
SHE KNOWS. GET HER OUT TONIGHT.
Sarah stared at the screen.
Her breathing stopped.
Because she recognized the number.
She had seen it before.
May you like
Many times.
It belonged to someone she thought was dead.
