‘I need to use the toilet first,’ Mary informed the officer.
‘Make it quick,’ the officer replied, closing the door again.
Mary quickly returned to the call.
MARY: ‘I guess it’s my turn to have a surprise for you.’
She smiled at Thomas.
THOMAS: ‘A surprise?’
He looked curious.
MARY: ‘Just a little package detailing all the abuse I’ve suffered at your hands for the past year and a half. Something that I’m sure the detectives and the DA will love to see.’
THOMAS: ‘Abuse?’
MARY: ‘Surprise, motherfucker.’
At the other end of the line, Thomas coughed once… twice… three times before it turned into a coughing frenzy. While coughing, he extended his unbandaged hand, as if asking someone to get him a glass of water. All of a sudden, a hand appeared on the left side of the picture, handing Thomas a new cup with a straw – a friend… a nurse… his lawyer… someone was in that hospital room with Thomas, and it made Mary’s whole body freeze, including her heart.
The small camera on Thomas’ phone was able to capture a little more than just the hand – it captured part of the forearm as well, where Mary could see a tattoo, a tattoo that she’d seen plenty of times in the past two years. It showed the two main characters from the classic Christmas animation movie –The Nightmare Before Christmas– Jack Skellington and his girlfriend, Sally. In the tattoo, Jack and Sally were facing each other. In their hands, they held each other’s bleeding hearts.
MARY: ‘Who’s that?’
Mary’s voice faltered.
THOMAS: ‘What do you mean? Who’s that where?’
The coughing frenzy had all but gone.
MARY: ‘Who is that in the room with you? Who handed you the glass of water?’
Mary’s tone sounded desperate.
THOMAS: ‘Oh… that’s my sister – Rose. She’s been helping me out from the start.’
He turned his phone so that Mary could see her.
Mary’s entire world stopped spinning for a second, before it completely collapsed around her. She was looking at Dr. Lillian Fox, standing by Thomas’ hospital bed.
ROSE: ‘Hi, Mary.’
‘Dr. Fox’ was waving at her.
THOMAS: ‘What? You don’t think that you’re the only one who has a sister who can help you with a con, do you?’
Another attempted chuckle failed.
THOMAS: ‘She was hiding in the house last night, Mary. She got in while we were having sex, up in the bedroom. Who do you think placed all those photos on that second wall, down in the basement? Who do you think added the headshots to the “murder” wall? Who do you thinkhelped me obtain these bruises and the knife wounds to my back? Who do you think cut the phone line before you could make the 911 call? Divide and conquer, remember? This is for Phil.’
Rose winked at Mary before blowing her a kiss.
ROSE: ‘Gotcha!’
One Hundred and Eight
Something that Mary had heard plenty of times before was the presumption that a person’s entire life would flash before their eyes at the moment of death. She didn’t know if that was true or not, but maybe the saying was wrong. It wasn’t exactly at the moment of death that a person’s life flashed before their eyes, it was at the moment that they lost ‘all’ hope, because right then, hiding under the thin blanket in her holding cell and staring at the screen of a cellphone, Mary saw her entire life flash before hers.
