Chapter 181: The Bitter Pill (2/2)

At the very end of the hall, in a VIP room was Benny Phillips. He was still the Director General's son and so far, the police officers hadn't questioned anyone and found him guilty of being one of the assailants.

I sank to the floor and waited patiently for them to tell me she was fully conscious. I wasn't allowed inside. Who knows what they were doing to her in there?

It felt like an eternity before I felt a pat on my shoulder. I looked up to find Nash.

”Are you doing okay?” he asked calmly. His eyes held pity.

I shook my head in response. ”I can't possibly be okay. She is still sleeping,” I told him. ”She should have been awake already, but she keeps sleeping.”

Nash sighed. ”Sebastian, you know that the body is not the only thing that controls us. She needs to sleep. She needs to process what happened,” Nash soothed.

”She shot all of them,” I told him. ”She didn't shoot to kill them even though they had guns.” I hung my head in defeat.

”She didn't want to die, Sebastian!” he told me. He was shaking my shoulder, trying to make me listen.

”How do you know that?” I asked defiantly.

”I sat in on Jade Walsh and Gene Winters' interviews. They painted a very vivid picture of what happened,” he told me in the lowest voice. ”Evie had only one aim: get all of them out of there alive. She assured Gene and Jade everything would be okay and she knew they wouldn't kill her. That's why…” he trailed off.

”Her reckless streak. It scares me. I thought it was getting better after her sessions but… how did her instincts not make her think of herself first?” I questioned. ”She… she is so preoccupied with not becoming a monster that she didn't kill them. It was self-defense, she knows that but she still didn't.”

Nash sighed. ”She would never be able to forgive herself. Even if they are evil incarnate, she couldn't kill them. It would destroy her.”

Stupid Evie.

”She watched so many people die… she doesn't look at death the same way as others do. If you give her a dilemma, she tries to debunk it and save everyone. That is how Evie is. She mourns everyone.”

I shook my head. ”Why can't she be selfish? Others who undergo a trauma or go to the brink of death… become selfish… they are violent. But not her. She's always so scared she will hurt someone…”

I don't know how long I cried, but Nash accompanied me throughout.

It was the middle of the night when Nash brought in packets of food. ”I asked someone from the station to send over the food I bought,” he said with a smile. ”See? We can eat it with her in front of us.”

He placed the boxes in front of me. ”She can't eat because she is on intravenous medicines and saline, but we need to eat, right?” he joked.

I sniffed as I nodded. ”What happened to Billy Phillips?” I had forgotten all about it.

”You have another solved cold case under your belt. I spoke to the lawyers. They are ready to waive trials and admit all counts of murder. I dangled the carrot in front of him: if he tells me everything about Benny's movements and the things he has cleaned up, I would plead with the prosecutors and judges to forego the death penalty.”

”And he said everything?” I asked. ”I thought he was an affectionate father.” I scoffed. ”He saw his son as a location to show off his power. When said son went out of control, he must have felt a mixture of pride and fear that he would be found out. He didn't want to die, so he chose to rat out his son. That is good for us,” I analyzed.

”And it's all because of your brain. I don't know how you make connections like this, but you did so well. If you keep this up, they are going to transfer you to the capital to work for the central investigation bureau,” he frowned. ”What will I do then?” he asked.

”You could just come along,” I shrugged. I looked over at Evie. ”She will need time off. A lot of time off. I don't even know if she will ever be able to work in the field again.”

I shook my head at the thought.

”I highly doubt that would happen. The… research assistant position at the central research institute… I wrote her a recommendation letter for it. Dr. Singh did the same. If she gets through… she can get away from direct cases and focus on getting her Ph.D. What do you think?”

I didn't have an opinion on that. ”It's her decision to make,” I told him softly. ”If she doesn't want to work anymore… I'll go along with her. I don't care as long as she is healthy.”

As long as she is alive and well, I didn't care for anything else. I had just learned what those books glorified. It was a hard pill to swallow.