The Angel's Silence 40

Three days later,
Doctors told Maya that she would be released within the week.
Her condition was stable, and she felt fine.
The only reason they had kept her this long was because her blood pressure kept rising and falling, and they needed to keep an eye on that.

There had been no more arguments or fights between Rayna, Maya and Caelia.

The swelling in Antanas' brain had begun to gradually decrease, but he was still unconscious.

Doctors were still unable to identify the mysterious substance that John had been poisoned with.

He was conscious and alert.

It seemed that whatever the doctors were giving him was working.

Adamo had still not been found.

It was Thursday, and the realization that it had been nearly a week since Maya had been poisoned hit Rayna and Mariya.

Just one week earlier, things were very different.

Everyone just wanted this to be over.

***

John was up walking because of doctors orders.

This was a painful task, indeed, but they didn't want his blood to clot.

Though the wound was deep, doctors could find nothing wrong with any of his internal organs.

The fracture on his spine turned out to be an old work related injury.

It was 6 years ago, and John had just been recruited to the Middletown police department in New York.

He was young, and all too eager to impress.

He arrived at a burglary.

The perpetrator claimed out of a bedroom window, and onto the roof.
John went after him, and was pushed.
It was then that he fractured his spine, and was told that he would probably have to take a desk job.

However, John was resilient, and made a full recovery.

He didn't dwell on his accident, instead, he claimed that it was that incident that made him a better cop.

Just one year later, he was recruited by the New York Police Department.

A few days earlier, he had asked the hospital staff to go through their surveillance tapes, so he could find the mysterious young girl on it. The one that claimed to have been abducted by the Valle Pacifica Killer.
They did, but the girl was not on it at all.

This confused John because he was certain that she had come to see him.

The only other alternative was that the poison that he had been given made him hallucinate.

He still continued to beg the doctors to release him, so that he could try to find Adamo, but they refused.

***

Caelia and Rayna had left Maya's room to find something to eat.

Maya was lying in bed staring at the ceiling when a call came in for her.

"Hello?"
She said

"Hello?
Maya, is that you?"
Said the other person

"Yes, who is this?"

"Don't you recognize my voice?
It's Brent."

Maya placed the phone down next to her on the bed.
She didn't know what to say to him.
This was the person that she was now convinced poisoned her.

"Are you there?
Maya, are you there?"
Brent asked repeatedly as Maya contemplated what to say.

She finally decided to talk to him, but was still apprehensive.

"Brent?
What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you, and to see how you're doing."

"Well, I'm alive if that's what you want to know."

"Maya, what's wrong?"

"You know very well what's wrong.
You tried to kill me, everyone knows it."

There was a moment of silence, neither person knowing what to say.

"You think I'm the one that tried to hurt you?"

"Who else wanted me dead?"

"Certainly not me."

"You seemed like it the last time we spoke."

"I was just upset.
I realize that I've been a real jerk to you, but I care about you.
I love you, and would never ever do anything to hurt you."

This was the first time that he ever told Maya that he loved her, but she did not want to believe him, still convinced he was lying.

"Maya, please."

"If it wasn't you who tried to kill me, than where have you been?
I mean, if you cared about me as much as you claim to, than who haven't you come to see me, or at least called?"

"I wanted to, believe me, but I knew that everyone blamed me, and I had to go away for a while."

"Didn't you realize that leaving town would only draw more attention to you?"

"I do now, but I was scared, and didn't know what else to do."

"Well, my baby's dead.
That should make you happy."

There was yet another moment of silence before Brent said,

"That's awful.
I'm so sorry, Maya.
I never meant for any of this to happen."

Maya could hear him starting to cry before hanging up the phone.

As much as she didn't want to believe him, she was now starting to.

***

Rayna was looking for Caelia, when she found her with a bottled water taking her medication.

"Are you ever going to tell me what those are for?"
She asked.

"No, because it's none of your business."

"I know it's none of my business, but I'm curious."

"Here's the deal, I'll tell you what they're for if you tell me something."

"Fine.
What would you like to know?"

"I want to know why you hurt yourself?
I mean, what purpose does it serve?"

Rayna bit her bottom lip, unsure how to answer Caelia's question.

"I would tell you if I knew the answer to the question."

"There has to be some reason."

"Sometimes I do it, and am unaware until later that I did.
Your turn."

"When I was a child I was diagnosed with Epilepsy."

"That's it?
I thought you had AIDS or were an addict."

"What do you mean 'That's it?'
I have take this medication every day for the rest of my life."

"I'm sorry.
That's not an uncommon condition.
Why do you hide it?"

"Because for the first several years of my life, I lived in a small village where people didn't understand it, so therefor, I was constantly called names, even by the adults. They said that my mother was a whore, and God punished her with me.
After moving to Sardinia, I had my condition under control, and no one else even knew about it.
I try my best to keep it that way, but obviously I failed."

"I'm not perfect either, Caelia.
I don't think any less of you now that I know.
I'm just glad it's not the things I thought it was."

Rayna went to check on Maya.

She was visibly upset.

"Maya, what's wrong?"

"I can't tell you.
You'll just disagree with me."

"Maya, you can tell me."

"I just received a call from Brent, and he explained everything to me.
He said that it wasn't him that hurt me."

"... and you believed him?
Maya, it's obvious to everyone that he did it."

"Not to me!"
Maya shouted.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again.
What if he is the one who poisoned you?"

"I wanted to believe that it was him so badly.
At least, it would make sense.
I truly believe in my heart that it was not Brent, and I'm going to see him."

(To Be Continued)