Chapter 32: Thirty

The first thing that registered as Hope pried her heavy lids open was the unmistakable smell of disinfectant or whatever it was hospitals smelt like. The next was that her head ached, and she figured she'd probably been asleep for a while. The next was the hopeful voice calling her name.

"Hope . . . Hope!"

Her mum's hands that had been wrapped around hers all along squeezed hard and as she tried to sit up while focusing on her mum's face through her grogginess, she realized her mum was shedding silent tears even though her face was split into a wide smile.

"Mum . . . "

"You this child . . . " Her mum seemed incapable of further words as she buried her face between her laps.

They stayed like that for a while, her mum full on sobbing into her lap while Hope could do nothing but pat her gently as guilt consumed her as she imagined what she'd put her mum through for the last couple hours.

"H-How could you do this to me?" Her mum sobbed, voice breaking. "How could you have kept such a secret from me for years, Hope? Years!"

"I'm so sorry, mummy," Hope whispered, her throat clogging up with all the words she had to say but couldn't put into words. "I'm really sorry."

"How could I not have known?" Her mum continued, almost as if she was in her own world. "I call myself your mother, but I had no idea you were going through all that by yourself. I'm such a bad mother!"

"Mummy, please don't say that," Hope pleaded, her eyes filling with tears. "It's not your fault that you didn't know and it's over now. That's all that matters."

Her mum kept on sobbing, her hold on Hope's hand tightening until she could hardly feel her blood circulating anymore. Frustrated at being unable to console her mother, Hope's tears fell as well and they painted quite the picture, the mother and daughter weeping uncontrollably.

Hope lost track of how long they remained like that; both of them failing to console each other until the door opened and the rest of her family walked in. It wasn't hard for anyone to tell what was going on.

Sophie heaved out a huge sigh, one filled with relief and exasperation and walked up to her to wrap her arms around her. "It's okay, mummy. Hope is fine. You've cried enough. You don't want her to get sick crying so much because of you, do you?"

Relief swept through Hope when her mum's sobbing finally started to ease out, and she sent a grateful look to Sophie who nodded once before she coaxed her mum up and started leading her out. Her mum tried to protest but gave in when Sophie insisted Hope wasn't going to get any better if she kept making her cry like that. She had to pull herself together first.

With Sophie and her mum gone, that left her with Alex and Raymond. Alex walked up to her and he stared at her for the longest minute before patting her head gently and smiling.

Hope couldn't help but smile back even though she probably looked horrid with her face stained with dry tears.

"I'm glad you're alright, Hope."

She could only nod, unable to muster up the right words to say to him, or anyone for that matter.

He nodded back, understanding without words what she must be feeling. He spared a glance at his brother before motioning to the door. "I think it'll take more than Sophia to fully calm your mum down."

Hope chuckled, although she didn't feel very amused. Alex gave her another nod and pay before leaving as well.

Hope had kept herself from glancing at Raymond since the moment they'd walked in, not sure her heart could handle it. He, on the other hand had done nothing but stare at her, as if trying to commit the sight of her to memory all over again.

Now that she had no choice but to look at him however, he was looking away from her. She realized she'd rather have his gaze fixed on her rather than not.

He looked stressed, but then everyone else had as well. Hope's heart ached even as it swelled with how worried everyone had been for her. Maybe it was a selfish thought to have, but she didn't want to ever get over how much her family cared for her.

"Please don't tell me you're crying as well. There's only so much I can take in such a short time," Hope teased.

He didn't seem to find her funny because when he finally turned to meet her gaze, her mouth parted open in surprise.

"Are you really crying?"

"No," he replied even though his teary eyes spoke otherwise.

"Oh my God, Raymond . . ." Hope whispered, motioning for him to come to her. "Come here."

He hesitated, but was soon sitting beside her on the bed. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on tight as she immediately felt the sense of ease and security he always brought her.

"I'm really sorry, Hope," he said, voice muffled against her. "You have no idea how scared I was. I could only imagine how scary it'd have been for you."

She wanted to assure him there was nothing to be sorry about, that the thought of him had been what had kept her sane and given her hope and comfort despite what'd happened, but she knew he'd still keep blaming himself anyway and all she could do was console him with the assurance that she was okay now.

"Shh. Let me just hold you, okay?"

He nodded, finally putting his arms around her as he hugged her like he was never going to let go.

Hope wasn't aware of the ear splitting smile that she was now sporting, but she loved what she was feeling; what she'd been deprived of the last few hours -- peaceful, secured and safe.

Raymond was home, and she was glad to be home.

The door barged open and before either of them could fully look up, Tayo's loud voice boomed, "Hope! I'm going to kill you!"

Before she could say jack, Raymond had been pushed aside and the weight of her loudly wailing best friend was pinning her on the bed in what should go into record as the tightest hug that ever existed.

•     ~     •

The worst of it was over, but the scar was definitely not going to fade anytime soon. Hope could hardly believe the course her life had taken in just the span of one day. Was that really it? The man that had tormented her for years had finally been arrested and that traumatizing part of her life could finally be put behind her? It was even more unbelievable that she'd gotten out of it without a scratch at the end -- at least, physically. Emotionally, she had a lot of those.

Hope had hoped for the day she'd finally be free for a long time, and now that she was, all she seemed left with was the question of why? Why had he targeted her out of all people? Why hadn't he hurt her when he held her hostage? Why hadn't he made any move to ask her family for ransom?  And why had it been so easy to capture him even though he'd tormented her for years?

Hope was no closer to getting her answers seeing that she was stuck in the hospital room for the rest of the day. According to everyone, she had to 'rest and recuperate' even though she'd sustained no injuries and all she'd done since the day before was sleep. She'd been sleeping so much an headache had started to form, but she dared not admit that to anyone, wary they'd force her to 'rest' a bit more.

They'd finally managed to get her mum to go home after she'd insisted on staying with Hope since the day before when Sophie'd had to take care of the children and Alex and Raymond had gone to the police station. It'd been hard convincing her Hope wasn't going to disappear on her again and she hadn't given in until Hope played some emotional blackmail cards on her. They'd made Sophie go with her as well because of her children. Tayo had been adamant to stay but the girl had been crying even harder than Hope's mum and Paul'd had no choice but to take her home. Alex and Raymond were the only ones left with her, which was perfect because they were the only ones close enough to answer the questions she had.

"He won't say anything," Alex said in response to the question Hope had asked him. "He's done nothing but keep silent since he was caught."

To say Hope was shocked was an understatement. "What do you mean he isn't saying anything?"

"It's the truth," Raymond admitted, exhaling exhaustedly. "The police have tried for some sort of confession but nothing so far. The man literally won't even open his mouth."

"He won't say anything?" Hope repeatedly dumbly. "After everything he did, he won't at the very least say why? He's not going to give me an explanation after everything he put me through?"

"The police won't stop interrogating him. He won't be able to hold out for long," Raymond reasoned but Hope was hardly seeing the logic behind his words.

"I want to see him," Hope decided with a new resolve.

"You don't have to do that right now," Raymond opposed, clearly objecting the idea. Left to him, Hope would never have to see the bastard ever again.

"No, right now," Hope insisted. "I need answers, Raymond. Maybe he'll talk if he sees me . . . I can't stay here a minute longer if things are like this."

"Hope--"

"Will you be able to handle seeing him?" Alex asked, shaking his head when his brother shot a disapproving look at him.

"I would have to face him eventually anyway," Hope reasoned. "I might as well get that out of the way."

"The police have been trying to speak to you, honestly but we didn't grant them access. We didn't think you were ready, " Alex admitted.

"I don't think there's anytime I'll ever be ready, but I need to do this now and get it out of the way."

"It won't be easy to compose yourself," Alex warned. "I do agree that you should see him once you're much more stable, physically and mentally."

They didn't get it. She would never be able to move past it unless she had answers. "I didn't crumble the past few years. I won't start now."

Raymond fell back against his seat, looking every bit resigned. There was no stopping her when her mind was made up, there was just no point.

•   ~   •

Hope had never been in a police station all her life and she'd never imagined she'd be in one, especially in those circumstances, but who was she to fight fate?

She jolted a bit but relaxed when Raymond's hand slipped into hers, and a grateful smile blossomed on her face. It'd been easy for her to pretend to be okay, especially since she'd had practice for most of her life, but she was anything but. She was nervous, scared and more than a bit apprehensive. It might sound ridiculous to some given she was literally in a police station and she was well aware he couldn't possibly hurt her there, but she couldn't help what or how she felt.

"It's okay," Raymond reassured, giving her hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Hope reflexively held on tighter and he gave her an understanding nod, communicating without words that he understood how badly she needed him to be her anchor at that moment.

"Are you okay, Hope?" Alex inquired.

Hope nodded, feeling a bit better. "Let's go in."

They did exactly that, with Alex taking the lead and Raymond and Hope on his trail. They made their way into the station and were about to state their business when they noticed that the police officers present were occupied with trying to calm an obviously agitated woman. The woman looked about the same age as Sophie, give or take a few years but there was something a bit off that Hope couldn't immediately place. Maybe it was the way the woman was looking a bit rough with her skirt worn inside out or the fact that the woman was putting on two pairs of slippers.

"It's not him!" The woman cried, both hands gripping onto a police officer while some others struggled to no avail to free him of her. The woman looked more than desperate, almost mad as she shrieked, "I'm begging you, it's not him!"

"Madam--" One of them tried.

"I want to see him!" The woman screamed again.

"That's what we've been saying. We called you here so you can see him, but I can't bring him if you keep holding onto me like this," the police officer she was clutching onto reasoned.

The woman seemed to consider it a bit before shaking her head vehemently. "Let me see my brother!"

"Ma--" The officer's words were cut off again as unexpectedly, the woman's hold loosened and she swayed. She would have fallen if not the policeman's quick reflexes in steadying her. "Are you okay?"

"My . . ." The woman whispered so it was barely noticeable, a far cry from the woman that'd been intent on bringing the station down just a few seconds prior.

The officers shared a look, unsure what to think as the man lowered the woman into a chair.

"Who's she?" Hope blurted before she could reason out her words. The woman didn't seem like she saw her anyway.

"She's the sister of a man that was brought yesterday for kidnap," an officer supplied. "She keeps insisting he could never have done something like that."

Hope's heart skipped. Was that . . . ? "K-kidnap?"

"How did you get ahold of her? I thought he wasn't saying anything," Raymond inquired.

The man's face scanned them, understanding dawning on him as he lingered on Hope. "So you're the . . .  I see. We managed to secure his phone but it took a while to access it. She'd been the last person he'd talked to and her contact had been saved with 'My life' so we called her here. We're hoping he'll talk when he sees her."

Hope nodded but said nothing else. Soon enough, their meeting was arranged and a little too soon, Hope was sitting across her tormentor.

He had a bandage wrapped about his head, but that seemed to be the only sign of injury on him.

Hope could never be able to describe what she felt looking at him. She could feel memories of the past few years replaying in her head like it was yesterday, but it seemed she was numb to feeling anything else. It was quite an unexplainable feeling.

She felt Alex's hand comfortingly squeeze her shoulder and she let out a sound as she gathered the courage to say something. She'd never felt more grateful that Alex and Raymond had insistent of being in there with her despite the officers' protests. They'd held their ground and made it clear there was no giving in on their part.

"H-Hi," she squeaked.

Hope chuckled, laughing at herself for her stupid choice of a conversation starter.

"You're still refusing to talk abi. We have something that might help that glued lips of yours to open," the policeman who was in there with them spat before exiting, the door slamming behind him.

The man's face remained impassive even though his interest had obviously been piqued. The door opened a few minutes later and Hope watched with interest as the man's face gradually became pale as his sister came into view.

"Why is she here?" the man mouthed, growling when she got pulled back by an officer after she tried to rush towards him. "Leave her out of this!"

"Philip!"

"That solely depends on your level of cooperation. Are you ready to talk?" The police office shrugged, ignoring the woman's attempts to get to her brother.

"I already told you my brother would never do such a thing!"

Hope had never before then seen the true definition of a rat caught in a trap with absolutely nowhere to go. She could tell just by the look on his face that they had him, and it wasn't going to take him much longer to crack.

"I will. J-just get her out of here. Please."

The policeman contemplated for a bit, probably weighing if he could take his words for it before signaling for the woman to be taken out despite her protest. Once that was done, he turned back to the man who now looked all shades of defeated.

"Now talk."