Linda was now convinced that her father was not in the urn. Thankfully, Joseph told the family driver to follow them, giving Jeremy the chance to cuddle and comfort his emotionally shattered fiancée. "Linda...Linda...can you hear me?", he ran his pale finger over her wet face, barely in control of his own breath, "Linda..."
Her body was trembling in shock, and the light had drained from her eyes while she kept unconsciously mumbling the same thing over and over, "He is alive...he was never dead...and he killed my mother. He took her away."
"Drive quickly...please," Jeremy pleaded with the driver, seeing his woman broken and losing light in his arms.
"We will be home soon, sir," the driver reassured him as he pressed hard on the gas, and they arrived in no time.
The moment the car door opened, Jeremy rushed out with Linda in his arms, barely balancing his own weight. He was sick, and he could feel it - but Linda needed him more. The doctor saw a distressed Jeremy and rushed to help as if hearing his silent prayers. She was placed in a bed that had already been prepared next to her grandmother.
"Will she suffer another fever?" Joseph asked the doctor worriedly, but his answers were not reassuring. Definitely not what he wanted to hear, "I don't know, sir. I gave her something to calm her down, and we will see in an hour if she comes round.", the doctor said despondently.
Both granddaughter and grandmother were hooked up to the drip. The mood in the house had become gloomy, reflecting the sadness and worry in the hearts of those around them as they patiently waited for at least one of them to wake up.
"I have never seen both of them like that...", anxiously Joseph said, "I hope they wake up soon. My old heart cannot take any more of this. Jeremy gently touched his shoulder, but he could not find the right words at that moment; Joseph understood his heart. Jackie appeared in no time, holding answers to the questions Linda couldn't put to words.
"I am back", she said, giving Jeremy a signal to meet him privately. She feared Joseph had had all the shock he could take for one day, and Jeremy understood.
"I will go assist Jackie with the tea..."
"No.. the doctor told you to-"
"I know ...I know...but going to make tea doesn't count as pushing myself too hard. Besides....", he smiled warmly, " Someone has to be here for when they wake up...".
He strode to where Jackie was patiently waiting...
"How are they?" she asked, her face darkened with worry, "I have never seen her like that before...it broke my heart"
Jeremy gave a sad sigh, "The doctor said the shock was too much for both of them, but they'll be okay..."
"And you?!", she glared at him, "What you did earlier was reckless...and you still don't-"
"Enough about me...I am fine", Jeremy reassured, "What did the old man say..."
"Well....in a nutshell, it was your uncle who handled the logistics and her father who orchestrated the whole thing...."
"Oh my goodness...", Jeremy whined, "This will destroy her, Jackie"
"So this is why you insisted on making the coffee... so you could all whisper and sneak around in the corridors like rats..." Joseph spoke, sending their hearts into a minute's shock,
"Jesus...", Jeremy jumped, while Jackie tried to explain, "It's not like that... we just"
"I am stronger than you both give me credit for, and the real reason to worry is you, Jeremy. He moved closer to him ...you heard the doctor saying he suspects that the drugs have not yet left your system...and you should stop this moving around..."
"He said what?!", Jackie gasped, "And you said you were fine...what the hell, Jeremy!"
"Exactly...but since all of us are stubborn, and none of us are willing just to sit idle and do nothing, maybe you can help with some of my concerns", Joseph sighed, "There must be more to the story... can he really have killed my daughter and framed his own death, and how did he meet Tony? Why would Thomas hire someone like Tony to kill his own wife? The mother of his child? Why would he want her dead? ",
"Did you just say Tony killed my sister? And Thomas is alive?" John's eyes widened in shock as he marched through the kitchen, "I heard about what happened to mother, and I was just coming to check on her when I heard your voices", he answered the question written in their gloomy faces, "Tony....Tony killed my sister?? That's what you said, isn't it?", he felt the blood drain from his face as he began to tremble, "...he killed...he killed my sister?"
Overwhelmed by the feeling of betrayal and hurt, he tried to make sense of the situation,
"That can't be right...", he denied with a broken heart, "Tony is my best friend...he was there for me when-", another wave of realisation hit him, and his heart clenched even harder as the feeling of being betrayed sank deeper, "Was I played? This whole time I was being played?"
His legs let go as his knees buckled in, and he fell helplessly to the floor, thinking of all the times Tony picked him up and threw him a lifeline to the possibility of being framed for the plane crash. His kindness was just a scam.
"No wonder he knew so much about my sister and me- it was all because of Thomas-"
His feelings of betrayal instantly turned to rage, and he stood up, "I am going to kill him with my bare hands-"
Joseph rushed to hold him back, "No... No... I can't let you go out like this-"
"Let me go, father!" he yelled, "Let me go..!", he struggled until he broke free from the old man's grip, "How dare he make a fool out of me... pretending to be my friend?",
Seeing the pointless struggle, Jackie sighed heavily at the sight, "Let him go...", said Jackie, "Clearly, he is more worried about his friend than his mother, who lay helplessly in her bed because of a broken heart",
He turned to Jackie with anger dancing in his eyes, "Little girl... I don't have the patience for you tod-", he said sternly,
"And who has patience for you? You barged in here and heard some unpleasant news that clearly left the entire family in shambles, but for some reason, you are behaving as if you're the only one who's hurting.... at least you got betrayed by your friend. Your niece was betrayed by her father and your mother by his son-in-law, whom she trusted with her daughter's life - so really, who's got energy for your tantrums?", she bumped him on her way out, " I am going to check on my friend and her grandmother", with disappointment and frustration painted boldly in her body language and simultaneously managed to quiet John.
He had a lot to say, but could only resort to snide remarks, "I can't keep arguing with a child". He unloosened his tie in anger and pulled a kitchen chair, "Anyway, no wonder mother still hasn't woken up. If I had known it was this serious, I would have come a little earlier -"
With a sigh of relief, Joseph patted him gently on the shoulder, "There was nothing you could do, besides, if anyone could understand why you couldn't come back earlier, it would be her...",
John sighed helplessly, "I just can't believe something like this happened right under our noses... And seeing that Linda is also unconscious - I am guessing she didn't take the news very well?",
"Imagine if that were you. Finding out that your other parent is the reason you grew up without parents... How would you feel?",
"You're right... that was a stupid question. At least she has Jeremy and you guys -"
"Wait a minute.... Are you worried about Linda right now?", Joseph teased
"Of course not, if anything, I am plotting to take the company while she's away-", his face blushed, and Joseph could see that he was bluffing. He may have been everything, but he's never been one to beat someone while they were down.
He snickered, "It's okay to be worried. At the end of the day, she's family and Rosie's one and only child."
With the mood now lighter, Joseph and John were happily chatting, unaware of the flare of rage slowly growing within Jeremy. All the questions Joseph asked deserved answers. Meanwhile, his fiancée lay helpless and tormented on the bed, while the culprits were out there going about their day as if it were just another Tuesday morning. To make matters worse, she was now being hunted like an animal. He couldn't take it any longer. Fuming, Jeremy marched out of the kitchen. Before Joseph and John realised what was happening, a car was already speeding out of the driveway. "Oh no...he's going straight to the lion's den. What is he thinking??" muttered John worriedly. "Not good.... definitely not good...", Joseph seconded with a heavy heart.