I'm stepping out of the restroom area when my eyes land on her. She looks just as surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"
The first thing I noticed is her blood stained skirt and the dried blood on her hands and some part of her legs.
A crease formed between my eyebrows. "What happened?" I asked, my eye is still fixed on the blood on her skirt.
She shook her head and then scoffed. "You can't be kidding me right now, are you seriously asking me what happened? Pretending like you don't know?" her tone was accusatory.
"Oli- Bianca, is this something that you would like to ask me or speak to me about because I don't understand where you're driving at."
She folded her arms against her chest. "How convenient is it that the person that wanted to tell me the truth about what happened to me that night, suddenly get shot and then you're here in the exact same hospital that they were brought to."
The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked in my mind. "Bianca I don't understand what you're talking about, who wanted to tell you the truth and who shot them?"
"Wow, I should really give you an acting award because you would definitely make a great actor you know that?"
"Bianca I'm serious this is not a joke, you have blood all over you, what happened." I instinctively took a step forward but then she took an equivalent step back.
"Know this Aiden, I won't stop until I make you pay, even if it's the last thing I do."
From the corner of my eyes I saw Ava approaching. She paused when she was standing just a few meters away from us. "Olivia, Aiden…" she trailed off and her eyes also landed on the blood stained skirt Olivia was wearing.
"Oh my goodness what happened," she rushed forward and tried to touch her sister, but Olivia evaded her touch.
"You two are perfect fit for each other, liars and pretenders. The investigations are ongoing and I will make sure that they find out who did it."
I exhaled in frustration. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking we had a hand in but I can guarantee you that we have nothing to do with this. My wife and I came here to see the gynaecologist."
"Hm. Your wife."
She didn't wait for a response from the both of us before she intentionally brushed my shoulders to get past me and head into the restroom.
"Aiden, what's up with her? What is she talking about?" Ava asked worriedly.
"She said somebody that wanted to tell her the truth about what happened that night was shot."
I could see the shock spread on Ava's face. "Well how? Where? Is she alright?'' she was about to turn around and follow Olivia when I grabbed her arm.
"Don't. Olivia is very unreasonable, she doesn't want to talk to any of us, if you try to go in there it'll probably turn into a fight."
Ava's shoulder slumped. "What did I ever do to her, what did we ever do to her? Why does she hate us so much?"
I let out an exasperated sigh. "We will never know until she tells us."
"Let's go." Ava and I interlocked fingers and made our way out of the hospital.
We had come to see the gynaecologist, following our discussion earlier. Ava and I were ready to try other means to having a baby.
The doctor ran some tests and told us that the results will be out within a week, however we were to start preparing for an IVF.
When we got into the car, I couldn't help but turn to face her. "Do you think it will work?"
"What?"
"The IVF, do you think it'll work?"
She extended her arms and held my face. "I'm sure it will Aiden, we will become parents soon."
It was moments like this that made me realize why we even got married in the first place. Olivia's death devastated me, I was in a vulnerable place.
Ava and I shared a common grief and we were always there for each other. I won't deny the fact that it felt wrong and forbidden, but then I eventually began to fall for her.
I think what fostered our love was our common grief for Olivia. Truthfully I would never love anyone the way I love Olivia but I thought she was dead.
Now she's back from the dead, and she hates me and her sister. She's married to another man and has a family with him.
As I drove home I couldn't help but I wonder how our lives would have turned out if what happened that night never happened.
The next morning when I woke up, my wife was still fast asleep beside me, so I got up and prepared for work. She joined me downstairs when I was having breakfast.
"Why didn't you wake me up for breakfast?" She said in a whiny voice.
I was in the process of chewing my eggs when I stopped. "I'm sorry, you were still sleeping and I didn't want to bother you."
She pulled out a chair for herself and sat down while the maid brought her food. The first thing she did was to grab the glass of orange juice and take a gulp.
"You know honey, I'm making a dress for the senator's wife and she's coming personally for the fittings today."
A proud smile spread across my face. "That's amazing I'm proud of you, I'm sure she would love the design."
We were still talking when the doorbell rang. "Isabella, go see who it is," I ordered.
The door opened to reveal a woman in a gray suit standing by the entrance. She had wavy brown hair. "May I come in? Detective Kate Brooks," she introduced herself, holding out her ID card.
Even though I couldn't see the details from where I was sitting, I gestured for Isabella to let her in. Ava looked confused. "Why is there a detective in our house?" She asked me.
I shrugged.
"Sorry to interrupt breakfast," Kate said with an apologetic smile.
"It's okay, so what do we owe this visit?"
"I'm here to investigate a murder case, a woman was shot yesterday, Grace Waterston. She was shot at the abandoned bridge."
Ava forced a weak smile. "Okay, but what does that have to do with my husband and I?"
"Well the woman was shot when she was meeting up with Bianca Black, your ex-wife, or technically still your wife." She looked uncomfortably between me and Ava.
"Whatever the case may be, I'm not here to discuss the technicalities and legalities of your marriages. However, Grace claimed to have some important information for Bianca but when they met up Grace was shot dead on the spot. So I investigating all leads, and Bianca happens to think you and… your wife have something to do with this."
Ava banged the table. "This is outrageous, how could she even think such a thing about us?"
"Ava, calm down. Let me handle this."
I faced the detective. "You can ask me whatever you need to ask, I guess that's why you here."
She nodded. "Okay, where were you yesterday evening on the night of the incident?"
"I went to the hospital to see the gynaecologist with my wife."
She scribbled it down on her note. "Do you know Mrs Grace?"
"Not so much personally but all those years ago when she testified to seeing Olivia's body in the river, we did have a small talk."
"And since then you and Grace have never spoken?"
I folded my lips and shook my head. "No not at all."
Kate's gaze landed on Ava, "and you miss?
"No of course not, what would we even be talking about?"
Kate asked a few more relevant questions and then eventually she got up. "I'm done here, I'll still keep in touch with you if there's any need."
When she left, Ava spoke. "The nerve of Olivia to even accuse us of something like this."
I gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Your sister is still hurt and angry, she'll say anything. Don't sweat it."
She remained frowned in while I got up and headed to work. As I was driving I couldn't help but think about everything that the detective said.
It was obvious that somebody was trying to keep the truth from Olivia, from the rest of us.
Even when I arrived at the office, I was still so absent minded that I ignored a lot of people who were greeting me.
I plopped down on my seat. Tiffany entered my office with my usual cup of coffee to help me jump start the day.
"Thank you," I said without looking at her.
She was about to leave when she paused and turned to look at me. "Sir is anything the matter?"
I raised my head. "I think Olivia is in grave danger."