A light tap on her left shoulder startled Sophie. She woke up and stretched lazily as the nurse served coffee. Victoria had already woken up and gone out to get a gulp of fresh air. When Sophie glanced at her watch, she realized that it was already way past dawn and halfway midday. While she was asleep, her father had been taken to the strange, hermetic world of the theatre and the bullet successfully removed. This was when Sophie realized that her father was awake. Her heart gave a sudden leap when she saw him.
She met his gaze without flinching. He was still in a state of numbness from the anesthesia that had been administered to him. The tension in the room began to melt. Jackson still acknowledged that the last stage, recovery, was crucial. Sophie munched on an apple as her parents sipped on cups of coffee. The coffee was just to their liking and all three were in a mood of cautious optimism. The hospital room was filled with a motley collection of furniture and paintings. It offered a fascinating mix of old and new. The simple, elegant paintings reflected the artist's principle that less is more. The gloomy atmosphere in the hospital oppressed Sophie and tears misted in her eyes.
"Whoever did this has to pay," Sophie said with a mutinous expression plastered on her face.
"Sophie, let's not discuss this right now," Victoria, who always minded taking a legalistic approach to family issues replied.
Jackson had not the slightest clue as to who would have wanted to perform such a malevolent act to him. A feeling of unease nagged at him when he was informed that Trenton had stopped by. He always carried with him a climate of mistrust and fear and his presence militated against a relaxed atmosphere. A miasma of stale alcohol hung around him. Jackson lingered on in hospital for several weeks after the incident. They idled their days away, talking and watching the television in the room.
His health improved in leaps and bounds and he expected to be back in his lordly mansion within no time. By now, the life-support machine had outlived its usefulness and had been disconnected. Trenton had sent in troops, or who Jackson laughingly referred to as marauders, ostensibly to protect the civilian population. They were ostentatiously dressed and carried the otherness of an alien culture. There was nothing they could do; outside of hoping things would get better. Though badly frightened, Sophie remained outwardly composed. Her cheeks had an unhealthy pallor and her face a pallid complexion.
Sophie had a partiality for exotic flowers and spent most of her time in the hospital sniffing the carnations and chrysanthemum in the garden mixed with the fresh morning air.
"Your father seems much of a paradox-I mean, a loner who loves to chat to strangers," one of Trenton's men walked up to Sophie as she admired the flowers and said.
"I don't know about that. But the shooting was a paradigm of the destructive side of human nature to him," Sophie replied. He perceived that Sophie was about fifteen years and it turned out right.
"By the way, I'm Morgan," he spoke again.
"Sophie," she replied as they exchanged pleasantries.
"What's this?" Morgan asked, picking something up from the ground. Sophie turned and noticed that she had dropped her locket.
"Oh! That. It's a picture of me in my palmier days, before high school."
"I also liked walking on the wet sand when the tide was out," they both laughed.
"Anyway, isn't it a curious paradox that professional comedians often have unhappy personalities?"
"I wouldn't exactly say that...'' Victoria who was shouting at Sophie to get back inside cut Morgan short. Sophie went back inside without uttering a single word. Victoria's make-up that day was a bit over the top and Sophie felt the urge to comment but thought otherwise and held herself back. When she got inside, she found her mother packing Jackson's clothes into a suitcase. Sophie was ostracized, "Are we leaving already?''
"Yes, as soon as it gets dark," her father answered.
"It's not safe here," her mother said patting her arm and wiping the tears from Sophie's eyes. Sophie nodded and sat beside her father. It seemed a perfectly legitimate explanation. Victoria remembered how she overheard Trenton's men receiving instructions to terminate their lives and wished she knew earlier. The afternoon shadows lengthened and she led a mundane existence for the rest of the day.
To the untrained eye, like Sophie's, Trenton's men were behaving ordinarily but to her parents it was a gripping Victorian melodrama for Trenton to send his enemy protection. Watching the sun disappear behind the tall, majestic town buildings was an almost mystical experience. Jackson glanced at the golden clock hung on the wall above the television and for the first time, noticed that it was simply for ornament; it did not work anymore.
The new evidence that had popped up obviated the need for further enquiries. Dusk descended quickly and Victoria grabbed her car keys. Jackson, who was leaning against the wall, limped across the room to the door, careful not to attract any attention from the nurses on night shift. He lifted the latch and opened the door. They set off at a leisurely pace. The weather made them lethargic but they were determined to get to the end of the tunnel. Everyone had wanted Sophie to conform, to be lily-white, like her father but she turned out as a sensitive and highly-strung child. Without warning, all the lights went out.
They interpreted it as a technical hitch and groped through the darkness towards the exit. They pushed their way through a herd of nighttime drinkers to where the car was parked. The hospital grounds had become a favorite haunt of alcoholics and delinquents. Sophie's new shoes were giving her hell and she got them off the moment she stepped inside the car. They faced the grim prospects of still higher risks of violent attacks. The hospital nestled snugly at the center of the town, which made it difficult to get to a safe house in time.
Victoria turned the ignition key just as Trenton's men arrived on the spot. The car sped off to a destination none of them had the slightest idea of. At night, the dark streets became menacing and Sophie hoped that fate had ordained she would meet Morgan again. The narrow gateway had given Victoria little margin for error as she reversed the car then set off with a loping stride. The wheels of the car sank deeper into the mire and it reminded Jackson that after the annual seating conducted by the Head of State, the government had been leery of changing the law.
Dirty streets and homelessness were no advertisement for a prosperous society and he could not see himself in the role of ministering angel, giving help to the needy. The thunder growled menacingly as Sophie curled up mute in the corner of the car, clad in a dress in muted shades of blue. Music from the car radio obtruded upon her thoughts that the car seats would be less obtrusive in a paler color. Jackson could feel a knot of fear in his throat because he knew there were dire consequences for putting the kibosh on Trenton's plans.
"We've got company," Victoria remarked, incandescent with rage. The storm blinded her view and she lost her grip on the steering wheel. Trenton's men narrowed down to a stone-throw distance as the car mounted the kerb and hit a tree. Jackson was bleeding profusely from a gash on his right leg. Sophie and her mother suffered multiple lacerations to the face and limbs. Sophie glanced outside and her heart jolted when she saw Trenton's men come to a halt behind their disfigured car. Her parents were drifting in and out of consciousness as she struggled vainly to mobilize them by trying to stop their bleeding.
Jackson took his daughter's hand in his and said, "Sophie, run.'' Dry tear streaks flowed freely down her cheeks as she stared painfully at her parents, "I can't leave you like this. I have to do something. I...'' Jackson placed his hand on her cheek, "Sophie, you have to go. Leave now before it's too late." Sophie realized there was nothing more she could do at this point. The tension in the air was almost palpable. Sophie pressed her foot down sharply on the latch and it broke free. With one last look at her parents, she took off and disappeared into the bushes.