Page 3 of Their Darkest Needs

“It’s the 3rd of April, 2025, sweetie. But don’t you worry, there are lots of people who had their memories return after a couple of weeks or months,” she says a little too happily for myliking. How can almost five years of my life be completely gone? My breathing turns more ragged and starts slowly building up into a panic. What am I going to do?

The nurse picks up on my panic and rushes over to me. There’s a kind smile on her face while she helps me guide my breathing.

“Don’t worry! Your husband will be back soon, and then you two can talk it out. I’ll warn him too, so he’s prepared, and it doesn’t strain your mind. If you need anything, I am Kathy, your nurse, and this is my health care assistant, Angelina, but don’t worry, she’s very skilled. Over to your right, there is this red button that you can press if you need anything. Okay?” She smiles up at me, so I smile awkwardly back at them.

“Okay.” I nod uncertainly at them, and they both walk away, leaving me alone in this room. I have a husband. I am actually married. Where is Mara? Shouldn’t she be here too? She always worries about me, and it’s odd that she isn’t. Maybe she could help me gather everything that happened over these past few years.

Not too long after the nurses leave, there’s a knock on the door. Maybe it’s my so-called ‘husband’ who has finally come to visit.

“Come in,” I say, my voice still hoarse. I think I must have been screaming when the accident happened. My throat hurts, and my voice sounds like I am a chain smoker of fifty years.

I frown seeing two officers come in and sit down on the chairs next to my bed.

“Mrs Addams, we are here in regard to your attack. May we ask you some questions about the events?” The officer who spoke first looks kind of cute. He has short brown hair neatly cut and brought into model. His uniform is tight around his muscles, and I can see a hint of a tattoo on his lower arm. I wonder if my husband also has tattoos.

“Mrs Addams?” I look back at him, not realising he had asked me a question. I nod at him, uncertain how this all will play out, since I don’t remember a single thing.

He takes a picture out of his pocket and shows it to me. “Do you know this man?” I grab the picture from him, trying to remember him, or at least remember anything that could help, but I don’t. He looks to be over forty with a bald head and broad shoulders. “Sorry, I don’t. I don’t remember.” I give the picture back to him, and he places it back into his pocket. He sighs, clearly annoyed with my answer.

“I am afraid I have some bad news for you, Mrs Addams. A couple of hours after the attack on your life, we had a call about a possible murder. When we went to look, it turned out your friend, Mara, whom you went to the party with, had been found dead in her home. We have found evidence of it being the same man—the man in the picture—that attacked you last night. Thanks to your husband, we were able to make a clear image of the man, but we don’t know where he went when your husband scared him.”

Shock takes over the moment I hear him speaking the words ‘found dead’. Mara can’t be dead.This is not real. This is some sick joke.

“I—I’m sorry, but I think you are wrong. Mara isn’t dead.” My hands are shaking, and I start to tear up. All I see through my blurry vision is the officer looking at me with pity.

No, no, she’s not. She can’t be.

She’s like a sister. I’ve known her all my life.She is not doing this to me.As my anxiety and the shock of the news I was just given rise, my machines start to alarm.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs Addams. I think you should rest, take in the shock of your loss.” He grabs a small card from his pocket. “If you remember or see anything, please call this number.” Angelina rushes in to try and stop the alarms.

I open my mouth a couple of times, but instead of words, all that comes out is a pained wail. How can she do this to me? She can’t just leave me like that, and what fucking party is he talking about.This cannot be happening.But it did happen, didn’t it?

The officer leaves after giving me a tissue from the side of the bed, with Angelina shooing them out

My heart feels like it’s being shattered into pieces, and there’s something sharp stuck down my throat. I start to cry harder until I feel like I might pass out from lack of oxygen.

Kathy walks in after Angelina presses buttons on my machines. She starts to curse, taking something from her back pocket, walking over to me. I can't fully hear everything she is saying, but she rubs something cold over my arm, and suddenly there's a small sting. My eyes grow heavier, and the room starts to spin. I close my eyes and let the darkness take over me, hoping it’s all just a bad dream.

Ryan

I clench my fist at the sight of this cop giving my girl his number. After that, she starts to cry, and I get up, close my laptop, and walk to her room.

Anger boils my blood; he made her cry because he was or he’s too incompetent. I told him to let me give the news, but of course, he acted like he would know it better and didn’t listen.

“What did you think you were doing? She needs rest, not you making things worse for the poor girl!” I see her nurse shouting at him. He’s clearly cornered by her, and I hold back a laugh.

Over the telling off he’s getting, he looks at me with hooded eyes. “I think it’s odd with one girl murdered and one on the brink of death, that no one else heard or saw anything but you, and there’s no sign of the attacker.” I sigh and take a step closer to him.

“Unlike you, I actually was able to save her. I know there were neighbours calling the cops because of screaming, but your men didn’t show up until forty minutes after that. Where the fuck were you, huh?” I ask angrily. He scoffs at me and hits my shoulder with his while passing through.Bastard!

He really thought he could try framing me, well, good luck. It was his incompetence that got Mara killed, and I can prove it since I saw them through their cameras, getting the call while eating, and waiting until they were finally done to go over there.

I didn’t know Mara that well; I knew about her like any stalker would know their prey’s best friend, which isn’t much, but enough to know she wasn’t a threat and meant a lot to Taylor. I’m filled with worry over the thought of how all of this must lie heavy on her. I don’t yet know what to say to her. I lied to the hospital, saying we were married, which technically isn’t acomplete lie since I had those papers filled out at the end of last year. She just has no idea about any of it.

A young nurse walks out of the room, giving me the perfect opportunity to see how she is doing and if she knows about me.

“We had to give her something to sleep. Your wife was very upset over the news.”

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