Chapter 110: Chapter 110

It felt as though her mouth was packed full of cotton and her eyelids were held down with heavy bags of cement. Carol tried her best to fight this feeling, struggling to open her heavy eyes for the better part of twenty minutes. She could hear voices, and one of them warmed her heart so much. It was Sebastian's voice. Her father too was there, as she could hear his voice. They were talking worriedly, discussing her.

"I'm right here..." Carol wanted to say, but her mouth refused to open. Why were they discussing her when she was right there in the room with them? She was only asleep and if they wanted to talk about her, all they needed to do was to wake her up.

"I really don't know how to break all this to my aunty. I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that my uncle is dead, and I was not talking to him before his death." She heard Sebastian say. Carol gasped, or maybe she jerked, but whatever she did was noticeable because she could hear the quick pattering of feet and then both men were by her side, calling out her name.

"Carol? Are you awake? Squeeze my hand if you're awake, okay?" She heard Sebastian say.

"I'll do more than that." Carol thought to herself, finally forcing her eyes open, although it took much.

"Thank God." Donald, her father breathed with relief. "Thank you, God. Carol, I was so worried." He finished, coming over to her side to caress her hair lovingly.

"Why am I here? Where is this?" Carol asked feebly, trying to look around, but her head felt like it did not belong to her and she could not even move it.

"You don't remember?" Sebastian asked and at the faint shake of her head, he nodded, looking away.

"This is a hospital, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, Carol."

"What am I doing here? Why on earth am I in a hospital? Did something bad happen to me?" She asked faintly. She was feeling quite parched and really needed some water, but she also really needed to know why she was here.

"Rest, Carol. It'll all come to you. There's no rush." Her father said, still caressing her hair.

Deciding that it was best to obey them for now, Carol sighed and closed her eyes again, falling asleep in no time. By the time she woke up again, the room was dark and her father was gone, but she could make out the silhouette of someone sitting in a nearby chair and probably drowsing. The events of what must be the previous day, or even two days before came flooding back to her and she gasped out loud, sitting upright in her bed as though she expected Charlotte to jump out from the shadows, needle held at ready. The figure in the chair jumped out of it at her gasp, causing Carol to give a muffled scream as she shrunk back against the bed, fear gripping her entire being.

"Carol, relax. It's just me, Sebastian." Sebastian said quickly, turning on a bedside lamp that he must have had brought in. Carol heaved a heavy sigh, placing a hand on her chest as though to calm her beating heart.

"You scared the living daylights out of me." She told him in an accusatory tone.

"I'm sorry about that, although I think we're even because you scared the daylights out of me in turn. How are you feeling?"

"I feel better than I did this afternoon. I guess that is something, huh. Where's my dad?"

"I made him go home. He'll be back in the morning. I take it that you remember everything, then?" Sebastian asked quietly, coming over to sit beside her and taking her hands in it. Carol held onto it tightly, as though she was sinking and it was the only solid thing that she could find.

"Yes, I do. I'm so sorry about your uncle, Sebastian. It's all my fault..." Carol began, tears filling her eyes immediately and pouring down her cheeks, but Sebastian shushed her.

"Shhh. Don't say that. It's not your fault that that woman is a psychotic bitch and you thought that she was your friend. Don't blame yourself for that."

"How could I have been so stupid?" Carol continued, burying her face in Sebastian's neck, her heart pounding. She wanted to ask him the obvious questions, but she was too afraid to hear the answer.

"I wish you will stop blaming yourself, Carol," Sebastian said again. She could hear the bitterness, self–disgust, and regret in his voice, and knew that he was angry with himself for not forgiving his uncle for whatever reason he had before he died.

"Did they catch her, Sebastian? Did they catch that crazy bitch?" Carol asked finally, unable to bear it any longer.

"I'm sorry, Carol. She escaped before I could get here with the police. They are hot on her trails though, and should be able to catch her any moment from now." Sebastian said reluctantly, stroking her back with his hand, something he knew that she loved a lot. She could tell that he had not wanted to divulge that particular information to her, but there was no way he could keep it from her forever.

"Oh my God!"

"Don't worry, though. It's only a matter of time before she is caught. We have the footage of her stealing from my uncle and there is also the video from the baby camera that was in his sick room. She'll be found. Don't you worry yourself about that. Meanwhile, she said a lot of crazy things in that recording we got. As a matter of fact, my uncle did too, but whether he was doing it because he wanted to agree with her until help could come, knowing that she was crazy, or it was the truth, I have no idea."

"What on earth are you talking about? Meanwhile, how about Jessica and the guard? Are they okay?"

"They're fine. The guard is the worst off of the two of them. Jessica is fine. She's getting better by the minute. Okay, so this is where things get crazy. I need your opinion on this because it's killing me."

"Okay, sure. What is it?"

"So, I don't even know how I've managed to keep this a secret from you all this while. On the day that Jessica was shot, she told me before she became unconscious that it was my uncle who arranged for her to be kidnapped, tortured, and eventually killed." Sebastian said heavily, pausing when Carol gasped in shock.

"You surely don't believe that Mr. James can do that, do you?" She asked, groaning at the shame-faced look that he got on his face at her question. "Oh, my god, Sebastian. Was that why you were refusing to talk to him? Why didn't you tell me about this? I would have made sure you didn't do that." She said.

Sebastian stood up, going over to stand by the window and staring unseeingly into the dark night.

"I don't know, Carol. In my defense, everything seemed to support that fact. After all, he had bullied your parents into making you marry me, there was the hatred he suddenly developed for Jessica and the threat he made to her that last night just before she was kidnapped. But then, I should have been willing to give him the benefit of a doubt. Even when he vehemently denied the accusation when I finally brought it up, I still refused to believe him. Now, he is gone forever and I cannot tell him how terribly sorry I am, and how I wish that I had never caused his last days to be filled with so much anguish. That is a pain and guilt I will have to carry for the rest of my life, Carol." He finished, his voice breaking as silent sobs shook him. Carol guessed that this was the first time he was crying since his uncle had died.

"I'm so sorry, Sebastian and I will do anything to take away your pain. I just want you to know that your uncle loved you very much, regardless, even to the very end. I know that as surely as I know my own name. He'll be glad you now know the truth." Carol told him, getting up on wobbly legs to go hug him from the back. He leaned into her embrace gratefully, sighing softly.

"I hope so, Carol. I really hope so." They stayed this way for some time, and then Sebastian spoke again.

"There's more, Carol."

"Oh, no. what is it this time around?" Carol asked, drawing away from him and leading him back to the bed.

"Before she died, your friend, whose name is 'Charlotte' and not Melissa, apparently, told my uncle that she was the one who had framed him for what happened to Jessica and that she was the one behind everything."