Into the Light (Dark #2)

by J. G. Sumner

  Josh didn’t even try to stop the tears from trickling down his face. He never expected to hear any of this from his mom. She had essentially just lifted a two-ton elephant off his chest. Josh was happy and yet so sad at the same time. He never felt as though his family was a burden, more of an obligation he took seriously and never thought twice about doing. Now his mom was telling him to move forward with his life and for the first time, he felt as though he could and not feel guilty about it.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Listen here. There’s nothing to say. We’ll get through this and so will your sister.”

  Josh nodded even though his mom couldn’t see him. “You’re right. I know we will.”

  “I hear you’re in your car. Are you on your way to the jail?”

  “Yes.”

  “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, can you pick me up? I want to go with you. I don’t want you to do this alone.”

  Panic flashed through Josh’s body. He didn’t want his mom to experience what it was like inside of a prison. “Don’t worry about it. I can handle it. You don’t really want to see Jillian that way. Let me take care of this.”

  “This isn’t your cross to bear. It’s high time I helped out with your sister. I think it will do her some good to see me there with you. The more support she has, the better she’ll feel.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve never been more sure about anything. Now, how long until you get here?”

  Josh studied the signs on the highway to orient himself. “I can be there in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Fine, I’ll be waiting outside.”

  Josh heard the click of the phone line going dead. He smiled. His mom had taken control of the situation, something she was very good at. And something he hadn’t seen in a very long time. Josh liked seeing the spunk back in her. It was just a little disappointing it took this situation with Jillian for it to come out.

  An hour later, Josh and his mom walked into the police station with an aura of self-confidence and grace. They looked as though they belonged there, and they were about to take control of the situation whatever situation that may be. They approached the officer who sat behind a sign that read ‘VISITORS.’

  “Hello. We’re here to see my daughter, Jillian Stone.”

  “What’s your name and his relationship to the inmate?”

  “My name is Elizabeth Stone and this is my son, Joshua Stone.”

  “May I see some identification?”

  They pulled out their driver’s licenses and relinquished them to the guard. He did a quick once-over and handed them back.

  “Just a moment.” The guard got up from his seat and walked around the corner. A few minutes later, he reappeared. “This way, please.”

  The guard opened a door adjacent to his counter. He guided them down a long corridor to a small empty room with only a desk and four chairs. The room was stone gray and illuminated by fluorescent lighting.

  “Have a seat here, and the inmate will be brought in shortly. You’re not allowed to touch the inmate or hand her anything. An officer will be present at all times monitoring the exchange.”

  “Yes, sir.” Josh squared his shoulders.

  “They won’t even refer to her by name. They just keep calling her the inmate. Can you believe it?”

  He felt bad for bringing her. He should’ve refused. Josh squeezed his mom’s hand.

  “Try not to think about it. We need to be strong for Jilly.”

  Doors opened and clanked closed. A few minutes later, his sister stood in front of him wearing an orange jumpsuit with her hands and feet handcuffed and shackled. The sight of Jillian caused Josh to choke on his breath as if a dagger forced its way through his heart. He couldn’t imagine what this was doing to their mother. Josh straightened his posture and put on his best face to be strong for Jillian.

  The guard ushered her to a seat. He reiterated the no touching and no exchanging of goods rule. Jillian sat without saying a word or looking at either of them.

  Josh was at a loss for words. What did someone say in this situation? ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ He knew damned well she wasn’t okay.

  He took a seat across from Jillian and leaned forward talking in a soft voice. “I want you to know, I’ve hired a defense attorney. We’re doing everything we can to get you out of here as soon as we can.”

  Jillian didn’t speak, make a sound, or even make any eye contact.

  “Honey. Is there anything you need? Can we do anything for you?” Jillian rolled her eyes at her mom’s questions. At least there was some reaction.

  “Tell us what happened? When did you get arrested? Last thing I knew, you were at home with me. I didn’t hear them come to our house.”

  She looked at Josh with fire blazing from her eyes. “Yeah, I went to go visit your little girlfriend to tell her I was sorry we upset her. Before I could get to her room, an officer slapped handcuffs on me. I never got a chance to say anything. It was ridiculous. I don’t even know why.”

  Josh was shocked Jillian had the nerve to go back to Laney’s room. After everything she’d done. He wanted to ask what she was thinking, but didn’t want to say anything incriminating in front of the guard like yeah, they arrested you for unplugging her ventilator and trying to kill her. Anger churned through Josh’s veins as the realization of what Jillian was going to do hit him like a ton of bricks. She wasn’t going back to Laney’s room to apologize. She was going back to finish her off.

  “What were you trying to accomplish by doing that? Why wouldn’t you just leave her alone?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe to help her see reason? Let her know it was a bad idea for her to stay with us. I mean really, we’re just now starting our lives together. Everything has finally gotten on track with us. We didn’t need her getting in the way of that.”

  “What is that exactly?” Josh wanted their mom to hear how Jillian had become so delusional.

  “Don’t play dumb. I’m talking about our family.”

  “Just to be clear, when you talk about our family, what exactly do you see?”

  Jillian rolled her eyes again. “You sound like my therapist. What do you want me to do? Give away the details of our wedding? Tell you how many kids we’re going to have? I thought we could make those decisions together.”

  Their mom’s face was a picture of disbelief. “Jillian, honey. You realize you can’t marry your brother, don’t you?”

  “Why does everyone keep referring to him as my brother? He’s my Joshy. We’re in love! That stupid twit keeps trying to break us up!”

  “Josh is your brother. He loves you, but he’s not in love with you. You can’t marry him.”

  “So now you’re on his side, too? Is this all some conspiracy to break us up?” Jillian turned to Josh. “Tell her!”

  Josh’s heart was slowly breaking into a million pieces. Jillian had completely gone off the deep end. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner?

  “I can’t. Mom is right.” The words falling out of his mouth were so foreign. She was too far gone to understand the meaning. For his own sake, Josh needed to remind Jillian what their relationship was.

  “Is that really how you feel? I thought we had something. I thought we were building something great. What about all of those wonderful nights we’ve spent together lately? I was taking care of you. We laughed. We were happy!”

  “I’ve told you more times than I can count. We weren’t building anything. You need to accept things.”

  “Fine. Then just leave me here. My life is over anyway.”

  Josh rolled his eyes. Jillian had a flare for the dramatic. As a child, she created her own plays and acted out all the characters while he and her family watched. She seemed to embrace the attention she received. When her performance was over, she quickly designed another.

  In her early teens, when she started high school, she took drama classes and acted in the school plays. She had such an imagination. It was difficul
t to recognize her impending mental disorder. For a while, it seemed as though she were using her creative imagination. It wasn’t until she became somewhat paranoid that Josh and his mom took notice. She came home with stories saying everyone was laughing at her while she was performing, and the other actors were out to get her and take her parts. She quickly moved on to complaining about how her admirers followed her around school and to their house. It grew progressively worse from there.

  Josh couldn’t shake the guilt he felt for not picking up on more of Jillian’s warning signs over the last few weeks. He’d seen several of them over the years, and he knew all of the warning signs—a sudden change in character, paranoia, and delusional thought processes.

  Damn! Now, his sister was facing a lifetime in a mental institution.

  “Don’t shut down on us. We’re just trying to help you. Josh has gone out of his way to help you.”

  “Josh abandoned me for some tramp. Now I’m locked up in this hell-hole. All you people think I’m crazy. Well, there’s nothing wrong with me! I’m perfectly fine!”

  “I haven’t abandoned you, nor will I ever. Clearly, you’re unable to understand reality. I should’ve seen it when you started planning little dates for us. I was overcome seeing you in a good mood and so happy that I overlooked it.” Josh stood up and pointed his finger at Jillian. “You need help. Forget it, you need a padded cell!”

  “We should still put a deposit down somewhere so we can get the date we want.”

  Josh was exhausted trying to reason with her. He stormed out of the room. If he stuck around, he might lose his mind. He felt bad leaving his mom alone in the room, but he needed to get some fresh air. He tugged the collar of his shirt.

  Outside, he took several deep breaths as though he had been held under water and deprived of air. What the hell has happened to my life? I thought I had everything figured out. I was in control. Everything was going so well. Josh continued pacing on the sidewalk outside the jail. It was all just too much. In a way, he wished someone would lock him in a padded cell so he didn’t have to deal with any more of the stress.

  But no. His sister would never have a normal life, and she would never experience the normal trials and tribulations. This was life, and he had to move on and try to make things right in his own world.

  Time seemed to stand still while he was pacing the sidewalk. Josh had no idea how much time went by since he left his mom and his sister. The warm hand that tugged on his arm stopped Josh dead in his tracks. His mom wore a grim look on her face.

  “You can’t let her get to you. She doesn’t understand. She’s in another world where everything makes sense. Nothing you say is going to change that.”

  She was right. While he wasn’t a psychiatrist, he knew Jillian was too far gone. It was just hard to accept his own sister was this messed up. “I know. You’re right. I shouldn’t have lost it on her like that.”

  “What I’m about to tell you may sound cold and callous, but I want you to listen and heed my advice.”

  His mom was serious. She didn’t often have this sound to her voice, but when she did, Josh quieted and listened.

  “I want you to move on and try not to think about what has happened with Jillian. I don’t want you to come visit her, and I don’t want you getting all wrapped up in her trial. Let me be that person. I want you to go to Laney, take care of her, and make sure she recovers. I can tell by the way you talk about her and the look in your eyes that you’re head over heels for her. Don’t let her get away. Don’t pour any more energy into Jillian. Can you do it for me?”

  This was the last thing he expected to hear. She appeared so fragile. He never thought she could muster the strength to lead them through this tragedy. “Mom, I—”

  “Shhh. I know. Let me take on this burden. You’ve done enough.”

  “I don’t know if I can abandon her.”

  “You look at me.” His petite little mom looked up into his eyes with the stern mom eye-contact that all moms develop the moment they conceive their child. “You aren’t abandoning her. She doesn’t even know what’s going on. Do you understand?”

  Josh instantly felt as if he were six years old again. He nodded.

  “Good, now take me home, please. I’ll need the number to that attorney. We have some business to discuss.”

  Josh walked to the passenger side of his car and helped his mother in. He closed the door and walked around to his own side. He couldn’t remember the last time his mother took charge like that. He liked seeing this side of her. He loved to see how feisty she could be. She was strong. She was Superwoman. It made him hopeful she’d be alive and kicking for many years to come.

  Chapter 38

  Laney

  Laney stretched her arms and opened her eyes.

  “Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep?”

  “Mmmm. Surprisingly, I slept well. These hospital beds aren’t half bad.” It was the second morning in a row she woke with Josh at her bedside. I could get used to this. She reached out for his hand. “I missed you.”

  Josh smiled. “I missed you too.”

  “How did things go with your sister?”

  Josh’s smile faded into a clenched jaw.

  “It’s all right if you don’t want to talk about it.”

  Josh took a deep breath before he filled her in on the details from the day before. There were many times he paused during the conversation. He struggled with the idea of walking away from his obligations to his sister. Secretly, Laney was happy.

  She loved that Josh had no issues opening up to her. He was the best communicator she’d ever met. Laney wasn’t such an open book. She’d learned to keep her feelings bottled up so her mom wouldn’t get upset. Needless to say, Laney hadn’t changed much as an adult. Hopefully, Josh would be able to break down some of those walls.

  “Your mom sounds like an incredible woman.”

  Josh smiled. His eyes indicated he was in a distant place—most likely thinking about his mom. “She’s an amazing woman. Sometimes I forget how strong she can be. I guess she had to be in order to deal with us kids while my dad was on deployment. Then when he died, to continue to make sure things ran smoothly. I’m lucky to have her.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “She’s looking forward to meeting you, too.”

  Laney debated whether or not to bring up the elephant in the room. She decided to get it over with. “I know we talked about me moving in with you and having a private nurse to help take care of me. We also discussed that I shouldn’t because you’re going to busy taking care of Jillian. I’ve been thinking…”

  “Oh, don’t tell me you’re dumping me.”

  “How did you know?” Laney faked a frown and Josh raised his eyebrows. “Ha! Gotcha!” She snickered and then continued.

  “Here I thought I was pulling one over on you, and instead, you turned it back around on me. Quick lady. No wonder I find you so endearing.” Josh chuckled.

  “All kidding aside, I don’t think now is a good time for me to move in with you. If and when we get to that point, I want it to be because we’re looking to get married and start a family.”

  Josh held Laney’s hand in his. “We are getting married.”

  “I know, you always say that.”

  “No, you already said yes.”

  It was Laney’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

  “Yeah, don’t you remember? It was right after we extubated you. You opened your eyes and I proposed to you. You accepted! Please tell me you remember.” Josh held his hand over his heart, feigning injury.

  Laney scanned her memory trying to think of when and how this happened. She couldn’t recall any of it. Josh laughed.

  “You suck!” Laney laughed as well.

  “You should’ve seen your face. It was classic!”

  “You’re awful, taking advantage of a sick girl who was shot in the heart. What kind of doctor are you?”

  “I’m the ki
nd who likes to see his girl laugh. I think I succeeded.”

  Laney had missed this interaction with Josh. Their banter was one of the things that turned her on about him. She had hoped there would be many more opportunities to laugh so hard her belly hurt.

  “As I was saying, I appreciate the offer to move in. I’m going to have to decline.”

  “I already knew you weren’t moving in. It wasn’t that long ago you thought I was an ass. I know I have some work to do, and we need time together without all the drama. I want you to be comfortable with your decision and do it when it’s right for you. Know that when you’re ready, the door is open.”

  Laney couldn’t have met a better man if all the men in the world had been screened based on her likes and selected by some computer. He was understanding and patient, and for some unknown reason, he loved her unconditionally. How on earth had she gotten so lucky?

  “So, you aren’t mad?”

  “Not at all. I could never be mad at you. But…I plan to be with you every free moment I have. You’re my life. You’re my soul mate.”

  Tears trickled down her face. Is this what it would be like if they ever got married? Would he dote on her endlessly, treat her like a princess, and all the while make her laugh?

  “So, Doc. When are they springing me from this place?”

  “Are you serious? You haven’t even been out of bed yet. You just had your first regular meal today and already you are trying to go home?”

  “Well, yeah. I’ve been walking since I was a toddler. It’s like riding a bike. I’ll just take it slow.” Laney winked at Josh.

  “All right, now I know you are playing with me. In reality, it will probably be another week before you leave. You need to start on some physical therapy, and your pain needs to be under control.”

  “What about my broken heart? Is it fixed?”

  “Oh sweet, Laney. The only way your broken heart can be mended is by spending some alone time with me outside this hospital.” Josh’s mouth curled up at the corners and a hungry look shot from his eyes.