"Isn't that weird?" Doctor Giles leaned back in her seat as she reread the newly added words on her tablet. Her fingers combing back the ashy pale roots that faded into ebony ends.
"What do you mean?" Cherry inquired with a concerned look on her face.
"Your house is located somewhere in the middle of the woods, but you don't know exactly where?"
"Yes."
"You haven't seen or spoken with your friend and parents ever since you got discharged?"
"Yes…"
"And you haven't been able to contact your workplace?"
"That's, That's because I don't have my phone-"
"Ah, yes," Doctor Giles scoffed. "how could I forget that you still don't have a phone? Doesn't anything of what you have just told me strike you as odd?"
"Well-" Cherry wanted to say something but couldn't. "That's… because…" Her voice had assumed lackluster and a doubtful tone, and before she knew, she turned reticent. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, wallowing in slight shame as she couldn't retort back, but- She's right.
Hearing the thoughts that continuously got silenced by her heart being vocalized by someone else had her throat stricken. It for sure smacked her into reality- a crack forming in her fantasy.
The doctor stood up from her seat and made her way over to where Cherry was. Despite the carpet absorbing the sound, Cherry still felt the shockwave of the high heels reverberate through her heart, causing her breathing to become labored. And once the Doctor knelt in front of her, placing her hand kindly on her lap, her eyes searching Cherry's lost ones, Cherry wanted the bolt. Because before the woman opened her mouth, Cherry already knew what words would hit her.
"Are you in danger, Ms. Graywood?"
The muscles in Brandon's jaw tightened. Why are people so eager to die early these days? He exasperated. So nosy. Brandon stood up from his seat and was about to enter the room to put a stop to the session when he felt pressure being exerted on his shoulder, turning him incapable of any further movements.
His eyes snapped at the hand clasping his shoulder. "Hey!" And the grating, familiar voice coming from behind him made him scoff, "great." Running his eyes up the arm, he noticed the doctor standing there, like a needle under his feet.
The indignant look of Brandon didn't go unseen under the Doctor's dissecting stare. Brandon swatted the doctor's hand off his shoulder. Not even trying to gather the energy to give the man a smile, he spoke with a sharp voice. "Was there anything that you wanted to from me, doctor?" He removed the earbuds from his ears before placing them back in their covers and shoving them back in his slacks.
Simon's lips, that were stale at first, now transformed into a cordial smile. "I have the feeling that I have offended you with my behavior earlier, which wasn't my intention at all. I came to find you, hoping to reconcile." The doctor stretched his hand out. Brandon eyed it silently, ignoring it, before moving his gaze up to meet Simon's.
His eyes molded darkly. "Tell me, do all doctor's care whether their behavior offends their patients or do they only care when they obviously want to covet something precious that isn't theirs?"
The doctor stiffened in place, hand stuck in the air, but kept his lips curved. With his experience dealing with difficult patients, it took a lot more to wipe the smile off his face. "I'm not sure what you mean. It goes without saying that every employee of the hospital cares about keeping their patients happy."
The dull expression on Brandon's face told the doctor that he didn't believe that. "Sure." From the back of his pockets, Brandon pulled out his phone, scrolling through it in search of something. Once he found what he was looking for, he pointed the screen of his phone towards the doctor.
Simon's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as he watched a footage of him tracing Cherry's footsteps with his own, making sure to stay unnoticed by dwelling in her shadows as she wheeled around the vicinity during her stay in the hospital. Each new transition showed how the young doctor hid behind a wall, a colleague or patients but his penetrating stare never left Cherry.
"You really must be hungry for those good reviews to even go as far as stalking my wife, huh?" Brandon questioned with a smile that seemed forgiving, but his eyes were like vines ready to choke the doctor out at any moment.
Guess not a lot was needed to erase the smile on Simon's face after all. His face blanched, and he instinctively reached for the phone, but Brandon, who foresaw that nimbly took a step back, watching in amusement how the doctor stumbled passed him. Hobbling on one leg clumsily before coming to a halt, correcting his posture and snapping his eyes back at Brandon.
"I wonder if your colleagues share the same opinion once I show them this."
Simon's hand coiled at his sides into fists, small tremors moving up and down his body in an attempt to control his anger as he gritted through his teeth. "I was trying to protect her."
"Hm?" Brandon tilted his head to the side, his brows arching up in a mixture of curiosity and pretentious surprise. "From what?"
"You..!" Simon's voice jumped aggressively high, but upon receiving the startled look of the elderly lady walking by he reeled back his tone, inched closer to the man wearing a devil's smile where their faces were now hairbreadths away from each other. "I know you had something to do with Cherry's accident and I'm even more sure now after seeing you have footage of the hospital which must have been illegally obtained. You think that you'll be fine after I inform the police of this?" He narrowed his eyes at Brandon, challenging.
Wearing a thoughtful expression, Brandon hummed at the doctor's threat, tapping his phone against his chin and shrugged. "Sure."
This had the doctor blink in startlement. "What?"
"You want to go to the police? Sure, be my guest, but I wonder how you are going to convince them without evidence?"
This had the doctor's face scrunched up. "What are you on about? I could easily show them the footage of this day-".
"I mean," Brandon interjected languidly. "How did I get access to the security cameras anyway?"
"Obviously, by infiltrating the room. The cameras in the security room will proof that." Simon stated only for his eyes to narrow in suspicion when he saw the sinister gleam born in Brandon's eyes.
"Will you be showing them something that has been tampered with? Or even better deleted?" It took a moment for Brandon's words to sink in, causing Simon's eyes to broaden and a soft, surprised gasp to escape his mouth. The fact that Brandon could receive any footage at all meant that he either was a hacker skilled enough to penetrate through the security wall of the hospital or- someone in the hospital handed the footage over to him. So, no matter what Simon would do, Brandon would make sure that the police will stay unaware of anything.
Witnessing the features of the doctor's face marring with dismay brought forth a wicked grin on Brandon's face. "It seems that our doctor got a good head on his shoulder. Here is a small advice. Man to man." Brandon leaned forward, his mouth inching closer to Simon's ears. Subsequently, the smile that graces his lips evaporated. "Stay away from Cherry if you value your life."