Kin's heart pounded and his ears rang with Aunt Prim's words over the phone. As soon as he hung up with her, he sought his supervisor. After being excused from the film set of his current commercial project, Kin rushed the two-hour distance to get to the hospital.
Lida's transfer went through. After an agonizing week of phone calls and waiting, she was finally back. Kin couldn't wait to see her beautiful face. He'd missed her very much and had been worried sick over the news of her incident abroad. When Kin arrived in the hospital ER's parking lot, he dialed up his aunt's number to let her know he was here. He sprinted inside and met her in the lobby.
"How is she?"
Aunt Prim looked gaunt with tears stained eyes. "Stable but they don't know when she'll wake up. Oh, she's been in a coma for five days, Kin. I'm so afraid she won't ever wake up."
Kin hugged the woman who'd raised him and been like a mother to him since he was orphaned at the age of five. "She's strong. I believe in her. I believe she'll come around. We just need to be patient, aunt Prim."
"Go in, go see her." Aunt Prim urged.
Kin nodded and disappeared behind the sliding doors. He passed several beds before he reached Lida's side. His breath stopped mid-way in his throat when he saw the state she was in. Lida, his beautiful sunny Lida, was reduced to a black and blue body with bandages running from her arms up to her neck.
With a shaky hand he pulled the nearby chair to sit at her bedside. He ran a loving tender hand over her forehead to brush off some loose hair strands. "Oh Lida, what have you done to yourself...Lida." He whispered as he pressed a kiss to her hand. "I shouldn't have let you go...I should have done more."
Kin remained by her side, his hands trapping her small slender one in them. He closed his eyes and silently prayed for her to wake up soon. His phone pinged then and looking at it, he saw that it was a text from aunt Prim. The text informed him that the cops were in the lobby. He rose to go meet with them.
"You're the other relative?" The taller cop asked.
Kin nodded. "What can you tell us about her accident?"
The shorter cop viewed his notes and then looked at him and aunt Prim. "According to the British authorities and their surveillance video, it was no accident."
"I knew it. It's that bastard, he did this–"
The taller cop raised a hand to stop Kin's outburst. "The evidence states otherwise, sir."
"What do you mean officer?" Aunt Prim's voice was frail from worry.
"What we're saying is," the taller cop continued, "the video shows Miss Lida being the guilty party. Do either of you know whether she's prone to manic outburst or suicidal tendencies?"
Aunt Prim shook her head. Her eyes were glassy again from held back tears. "No, no. Lida isn't that sort of person, she could never...would never...oh my Lida is kind and so warmhearted. She would never do such a thing."
"Mam, we're only telling you what the evidence shows. If you want to see the footage, please stop by the station. For now, the gentleman's family hasn't said anything about pressing attempted murder charges. We're just here to inform you of the evidence we have and to tell you that you may want to get yourself a good lawyer. The young man wasn't as badly injured as Miss Lida since the collision happened on her side but he did suffer some damage. Depending on how bad his condition gets, his family may want to sue."
Aunt Prim broke down the moment the officers left. She turned to Kin and cried as he held her. "Lida would never do something like that. She would never."
Kin held her to him, running a soothing hand over her arm. "I'll go see the evidence. You stay here with her."
Aunt Prim nodded and then looked at him. "Didn't you have a project shooting today?"
"Yes but I informed my supervisor I'll be taking a few days off to handle Lida's affair. I have to go collect her luggage from the airport and from there we'll figure out how to handle her medical situation."
"I'm sorry. It seems we only add more burden on you."
"Don't say that, Aunt Prim. I owe you my life and Lida's your family. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for either of you. Please never feel like that. But I should go to the station now. I'll be back in a bit."
Kin drove down to the police station and went up to desk sergeant. He gave his info and why he was there. In a bit, the sergeant led him to a computer desk. The cop logged in and put in the evidence code to bring up the footage they'd received from the London police.
"Once you're done, just click the log off button." The sergeant told him.
Kin was left to view the footage by himself. There were two videos, the first was about fifteen seconds long and the second about a minute. The footage condition wasn't all clear since it was taken at night and the black Bentley Lida was riding in was parked two cars behind the first one at the intersection light. He could make out part of Lida's face from the angle the video was taken but the driver remained obscure. The only thing he could see was Lida speaking as if she was furious at the driver. The clip ended and he moved on to the second video. There he watched the black Bently drive through a tunnel. Inside the car, he witnessed Lida shouting even more at the driver then she abruptly reached over the driver's side and pulled on the steering wheel. Her sudden action caused the black Bentley to skid in circles, hitting other passing cars, before it crashed forcefully against the concrete wall right where the tunnel ended. Lida was thrown out of the windshield window.
Kin was numb from what he saw. The cops earlier hadn't exaggerated. Lida really did cause the accident but...why? She'd been angry. The footage had shown her in distress and yelling at the driver so she hadn't acted without reason. He logged off and slowly took to his feet. A million words ran through his mind. What was he to tell Aunt Prim now? How could he go about what he saw without causing Aunt Prim more distress.
He was crossing by the desk sergeant area when an expensively dressed couple in their fifties walked into the station demanding to speak with an inspector. To Kin's astonishment, the couple announced their family name as Thanatwanaseti, parents of the man who'd gotten involved in the accident in London. The desk sergeant showed them to the visitors seating while he ran up to fetch his superior.
Kin lowered his chin as he walked past the open visiting section. He reached the entrance and the glass door began its automatic slide to the side. Just then he heard the woman in the visiting area call out to the person crossing the sliding door threshold at the same time he did. Only the man entering didn't stop to look at him but seemed busy scrolling through his phone.
"Tor, son, will you stop diddling behind and hurry to join us." Said the woman.
Kin froze right outside in front of the glass door. His immobile presence caused the sensors to keep the door open longer than usual. That man was Lida's hi-so boyfriend. During the short interval the door remained open, Kin was able to fully see that man for the first time. He had only ever heard Lida talk of her boyfriend, the rich handsome Tor Krissada Thanatwanaseti, but never bothered to learn who the guy was. Jealousy had stopped him from having any interest in looking the man up.
What Kin saw was enough to make his breath stall a bit longer from fully exhaling. Despite the bruise around the corner of one of his eyes, or the cast arm in the sling and the medical boot on his leg, Tor still exuded an air of grace. The man was tall. Much taller than Kin by a good six centimeters. And he was gorgeous. Not in the fair skin rich pretty boy fashion but in the perfectly toned and dark exotic features of a slick panther. The man, perhaps feeling someone staring at him, turned his head to the doorway.
Kin quickly sprinted off to avoid making contact. Once inside his car, he debated between cursing or crying out his frustration. Lida remained in a coma but that bastard was up and walking with just a few bruises here and there. It was a good thing he had never bothered to ask about her boyfriend because now that he had seen the man, he hated the bastard even more.
Tall, dark and devilishly handsome with sharp facial features that would land him on any magazine cover if he so wished to, Tor had the sort of face that could mesmerize many. No wonder Lida had been so captivated by him. Even Kin wasn't spared the affliction of the man's strong presence.
Kin shoved all nonsensical thoughts out as he recalled how Tor's parents had asked to speak with an inspector. Were they there to press charges on Lida? If so then Kin and Aunt Prim were screwed. Their combined income didn't hold a candle to Tor's family's wealth, and the sort of legal representation they could afford if he believed the stories Lida had once told him.
Gnashing his teeth, Kin started his car. Hell, if they were going to go down, he may as well find out the truth behind Lida's action. From the footage, he knew something had set her off and caused her to react the way she did. He was going to dig into Tor Thanatwanaseti and get the bastard's every little dirty secret out to the public. If he couldn't punish the man legally then he'd humiliate him across all social platforms.
Kin wasted no time. As soon as he settled Lida's medical situation, he began working on making sure his and Tor's path crossed like some random coincidence.