33. July 2024
33
July 2024
W illow felt her sanity start to slip. She wasn’t good at sitting idle, even when her body demanded it of her. It was during her third day in hospital that the doctor finally announced that she could go home the following day. Willow phoned her mother to tell her the good news. Alice had been waiting for details of her discharge so she could book a flight to come and help her at home.
‘I have one landing at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow,’ Alice said. ‘I’ll book it now.’
‘Are you sure?’ Willow felt bad that her mother was going to waste her precious annual leave sitting around her apartment and sleeping on the sofa.
‘Of course I’m sure. I’m having two whole weeks with you.’
‘Because I can manage?—’
‘I know, but you’re my daughter, and you’re injured. Liam sends his love.’ Some keyboard tapping sounded through the phone as she continued to book her flight. ‘Harrison has been absolutely wonderful these past few days. He’s kept us up-to-date with everything.’
As though summoned by the mention of his name, Harrison walked into the room—without knocking.
‘Speak of the devil,’ Willow murmured into the phone. ‘He just walked in.’
Harrison flashed her a smile. ‘Is that your mum?’
She nodded, barely.
‘Put him on the phone, love.’
Her mother’s eagerness had Willow closing her eyes. ‘Okay.’ She held the mobile out to Harrison. ‘She wants to speak to you.’
He took it from her with a wink, then wandered away from the bed. ‘She’s definitely looking better today.’
Willow watched him converse in that breezy, familiar way with her mother. She couldn’t shake the discomfort at his constant presence and direct line of communication with her family. They trusted him, because they had no reason not to. After all, he’d been in Willow’s life since she was thirteen and given her a career. Now, he was being cast as the hero of this tragic event, even though there was only one hero in Willow’s view. The man who dug her from the rubble—who ironically was also the man responsible for the rubble.
‘I’ll pick you up from the airport and bring you straight here,’ Harrison was saying. ‘It’s really not a problem. Yes, of course. She’ll be well taken care of until you arrive.’ He laughed at something she said. ‘Okay. Call me when you land. You too. Bye-bye.’
Returning to Willow’s bedside, he handed the phone back to her. Willow put the mobile to her ear, but her mother had already hung up. She glanced at Harrison as she set it on the table beside her bed. The room felt smaller with him in it.
‘I’ll bring her here, then drop you both at your apartment once you’re discharged.’ He leaned both hands on the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’ Reaching up, he brushed his thumb down her cheek. ‘The swelling has definitely gone down.’
‘I’m fine.’ Willow sank deeper into the pillows, trying to put an extra few inches of distance between them. ‘Thanks for picking her up. I’m sure she appreciates it.’
‘You know I adore your mum.’ He straightened. ‘I’ll handle everything. You just focus on your recovery.’
He said all the right things, but the discomfort remained. Willow tugged up the stiff hospital sheet covering her.
‘Right.’ Harrison clapped his hands together. ‘I’m going to continue my rounds. Piper still hasn’t spoken a word to anyone, but I’ll keep showing up.’
Willow’s chest tightened at hearing that. The pin in Piper’s leg meant she would never dance at a professional level again. ‘I’ll go see her before I leave tomorrow.’
‘Given you’ll likely be back in the Pilates studio within six weeks, she may not want to see you either.’
Willow swallowed down her guilt.
‘Can I get you anything before I leave?’ he asked.
‘No, thanks.’
‘Okay.’ He looked her over a final time. ‘Then I’ll see you in the morning.’
When he exited the room, Willow let out a relieved breath. She knew she should be grateful for his help, but she couldn’t simply forget that evening at the restaurant. It had altered their relationship forever. As much as she wanted to believe that he was trying to make amends and repair the friendship, she just didn’t trust him anymore. It was far more likely that he was using the stage incident as an excuse to gain back some of the control he’d lost.
Willow’s mind didn’t remain on Harrison for long. Her thoughts drifted to Vaughn, as they always did. The memory of being engulfed in his arms. His body covering hers, prepared to take the brunt of whatever came down on them. She wanted to call him, thank him, cry angry tears at him. But she had promised Lili not to contact him until he was cleared of any involvement. It was the right thing to do for the sake of her career. She simply had to hang in there until the mess blew over. And it had to blow over, because the alternative would break her heart all over again. The heartbreak of seeing him charged or going to jail. The heartbreak of never seeing or speaking to him again.
She wondered if that was worse than seeing him walk free, knowing deep down that he was ultimately responsible. Was it naive of her to think they could find a way through this new mess? The people in her life would never accept him, no matter the verdict.
When Willow’s eyes began to burn, she closed them for relief, drowning in the realisation that there was no happy ending to their story, only cold reality.
Vaughn and Salvatore stepped out of the Prahran police station, fatigued after hours of questioning. They blinked against the icy breeze blowing from the south, stopping so Vaughn could light a cigarette.
‘Still with the smoking,’ Salvatore said, ‘even knowing it’ll kill you eventually.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Vaughn exhaled smoke in the other direction. ‘This life will kill me before the cigarettes do.’
Salvatore averted his gaze to the traffic and pulled the collar of his coat up. ‘Let’s get to the car before we freeze to death.’
They headed towards his father’s BMW. The driver got out and went to open the back door for them. Salvatore climbed in first, sliding across the seat to the far side. Vaughn put his cigarette out, then climbed in after him. Once the door closed, they were free to say the things they couldn’t say standing outside a police station.
‘They’ve got nothing,’ Salvatore said. ‘They want to blame us, but everything Tony said stands up. Our lawyer has all the necessary reports, all the paperwork.’
‘It didn’t just fall down for no reason,’ Vaughn replied bluntly. ‘Cops will keep digging until they can pin it on us.’ He wanted another cigarette. ‘Can’t say I blame them.’
Salvatore glanced in his direction. ‘It almost sounds like you want the blame.’
Vaughn looked out the window. He needed someone to blame. Willow was still in hospital, and the question of where to point the finger was like a splinter underfoot.
‘The contractor Tony used for the flooring might not have the cleanest record, but he takes pride in his work, no?’ Salvatore asked. ‘You used him yourself.’
‘I did.’
‘I don’t always trust Tony’s judgement,’ his father continued, ‘but he’s managed DeLuca well since you stepped away.’
Vaughn nodded. ‘I know.’
‘Ever since we took care of that nasty Chinatown business, he’s been really trying.’
‘As he should. He received a get-out-of-jail-free card and had his debt paid for him.’ He paused. ‘But the bottom line is that people got hurt because of a stage we refurbished.’ His mind hadn’t stopped searching for plausible explanations. ‘We can’t just wipe our hands of it and walk away.’
The car stopped at a red light as heavy sheets of rain began to fall, coming in sideways. Vaughn watched it hit the window.
‘Sometimes things happen that are just beyond our control,’ Salvatore said, eyes ahead. ‘No one could have predicted what happened. Everyone is sorry that the dancers were hurt. The important thing is, we did the best we could with the information we had.’
Vaughn shook his head. ‘There’s something we’re missing. Something the cops are overlooking.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. But I suggest you let them miss it,’ Salvatore warned. ‘When our name is cleared, we put it behind us. If you start digging around, you might end up making things worse for everyone.’
The light changed, and the car accelerated. Vaughn stared out the window, knowing he would have a lot of difficulty moving on when Willow had suffered so much because of what had happened. His resolve to uncover the truth was only growing stronger by the second.
‘I know you want me to let this go,’ Vaughn said, looking at his father, ‘but I can’t.’
Salvatore released a heavy sigh. ‘Because of the girl?’
‘At the very least, I owe her some answers.’
His father took in his resolute expression. ‘All right, all right.’ He shook his head, like he couldn’t believe he was going along with it. ‘We’ll look into it—quietly. Carefully. Discreetly. We don’t want to stir up any trouble.’
It was exactly what Vaughn needed in the moment. ‘You have my word.’ With his father’s help, he was confident of getting what they needed.
By the time the car pulled onto their street, a plan of attack was taking shape. Soon Vaughn would have answers. Even if they weren’t the ones he was hoping for.