Chapter 34

It was Tuesday morning when she started driving back to her work just to resign. We would be visiting the place together next weekend with a van, but now she just wanted to get things started. I had suggested to her that she should just give her notice and leave, but she had insisted that she must also give some explanation to her boss. After all, he had helped her a lot after her mother's death. I complained that she was too good a person, and kissed her goodbye before starting my own cycle trip to school. It would be much later until I would see her again, but she had agreed to take a cab after the bus trip.

Sometime in the middle of the day I got a message from Sara with lots of hearts telling me that she had quickly visited her apartment and returned the company car, and that she could hardly wait to see me again. I could not help smiling when I sent back my wishes with hugs and kisses.

It was early evening and Lily was playing by herself when I got a call from an unknown number. I assumed that it was a business-related call as the negotiations considering some parts of the code we had been developing were currently running hot.

"Eric Weston speaking."

"Oh, good. Sir, we need your help and attention for a moment."

Suddenly I was worried. This did not feel like a business call at all. The voice on the other end belonged to a woman who had sounded quite worried, too.

"Yes?"

"Look, there has been an accident, and ... and your wife is trapped inside a car. We have her stabilized, and she is fully conscious. I'm here to keep her company as we wait for the better equipped ambulance with a doctor to arrive. But she insisted that she could talk to you."

There was a moment of shouting voices.

"Hi, Eric. I almost made it back home. But I'm sorry I didn't fully believe you."

"Sara, oh Sara. I heard it was an accident - how could that be your fault?"

I could hear that her breathing was a bit shallow and I could almost feel my stomach turn upside down. No, the woman had said that they needed my support.

"No, this was no accident. My boss tried to kill us both here."

"But why?"

"He was one fucking sick puppy."

I could hear her gasping for breath after that burst and then the woman who had first spoken to me interrupted.

"Miss, you should not move. There should not be much bleeding if you stay still. But you cannot move before we get the doctor here."

"It is Mrs., not Miss. I'm talking to my husband here. Been married for almost two weeks. Can I speak to my man again, now please?"

"OK, but you must stay calm. and awake."

There was a brief silence before Sara continued.

"Eric, when I told him that I was now married and had already resigned, I could not guess that he would do something like this. He congratulated me and asked some everyday things about us. Finally he insisted that I should allow him to drive me back here. He said that after all the things I had done for the company it was the least he could do. I was so silly that I allowed him to do that."

I could hear her breathing for a while, probably calming herself.

"Sara, you don't need to tell me all this, now."

"No, Eric, they said that it is important that I stay awake. For me the best way of staying awake is to talk to you, please."

Luckily, Lily was still playing by herself. I didn't know how I could have handled this in front of her.

"OK, but you need to promise me that you follow the instructions they give you."

"I will, Eric. I love you and I love Lily."

"We love you too."

There was again a short silence before she started talking again, now with a quieter voice.

"He had an obsession about me. He also told me that he had AIDS and he wanted me to get it, too. But not from him. He had gotten his infection from his ex and she was already dead as she was not treated properly. His sickness was now in control but it meant that he could not have a partner. So he wanted me to get it from someone else so, that he could then come to my rescue. That is why he pimped me for the company. Un-fucking-believable."

She was taking shallow breaths again.

"But I always insisted protection. He had already planned to use some infected ex-pornstar actor to get me infected after the holidays. But I met you again and we got married and ruined his plans. Then he decided that if he couldn't have me, nobody else would either."

I heard some more shallow breathing.

"He was driving like a madman and I didn't dare use my phone. I just tried to keep some conversation going. Look Eric, there may be some of our conversation recorded on my phone. I just lost it when this accident happened. but he failed."

"Sara, just stay calm. They'll come to rescue you. Remember that we love you."

"I know."

More breathing, but now with some voices in the background. All of a sudden I could hear those foreign voices came closer, both male.

" ... but the rich guy is already dead."

"Yes, but that lady needs a doctor before she can be moved."

Some more shouting sounds together with Sara's shallow breathing.

"I know her. She's no fucking lady. She's nothing but an ex-high school slut. That whore was probably blowing him when he drove against the bridge."

I felt terribly cold as I had a sudden deja-vu moment, I would probably never forget the voice of that bastard. I still can remember how the local police chief had claimed that my parents had committed suicide by driving. I could hear the other woman gasp and the voice indicated that he was turning away when he yelled again.

"Cancel the other ambulance. No sense in paying the big bucks for that slut there."

"Sir, you can't."

"What are you, a fucking paramedic? I can, and I just did. Come on guys, get some gloves and we'll get the slut out for these hussies and we can go back home."

I almost yelled back at the phone but I could barely get any voice out of me. Hoping that the phone was still there close to Sara I managed to say.

"Sara, I love you. Please try to hold on."

"I love you, Eric."

She was there. She just had to make it.

"Sir, I need to hang up now and try to help her."

Then there was silence followed by constant beeps. I looked at my phone still unable to accept what I had just heard. I noticed that I had automatically recorded the call as I had expected it to be a business call. I ended the recording and stood still for a moment. The terrible coldness inside me just kept on gaining more and more space. I needed to do something. I needed to be there for Sara. I called for Lily and asked her to get ready to leave to go to my aunty's.

Once we were inside the car I called to my aunty and asked them to be ready to take Lily as I had to go to the hospital to see Sara. They did not ask any further questions. As soon as my call was over, my phone rang again. Now I recognized the number and I was afraid to answer. But I had to. I answered and started recording the call again.