I Want to Die, But I Am Immortal
Chapter 85: Police

Chapter 85: Police

Adam felt himself being lifted onto a stretcher. He heard the muffled voices of the police officers the urgent tones of the paramedics. They carried him out of the club and loaded him into an ambulance.

The sirens wailed as they sped through the city streets. Throughout it all Adam remained perfectly still his eyes closed his breathing shallow.

He was pretending to be unconscious but he was fully aware of everything that was happening around him. He was just waiting for the right moment to make his move.

He opened his eyes. The harsh fluorescent lights of a hospital room greeted him. He was alone. The police officers who had been guarding his door were gone. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

He threw off the thin hospital blanket and sat up. Before he had pretended to pass out in the club he had taken the precaution of storing his school bag and his ID card in his inventory. He knew it was only a matter of time before the police identified him. He was surprised it had not happened already.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed. The gunshot wounds in his abdomen still ached but the pain was manageable. He stood up and walked to the door of his room.

He opened it a crack and peered out into the hospital corridor. He saw two police officers walking away down the hall. They were not looking back.

Adam was surprised. He had expected to be under heavy guard. He had expected to be treated as a key witness a person of interest. But it seemed they had not identified him yet. They did not know who he was.

He was about to slip out of the room and disappear into the hospital when he saw them. A woman and a young girl were walking down the corridor towards his room. He recognized them instantly. It was Joseph’s mother Julie and his sister Anastasia.

Adam’s heart sank. He quickly ducked back into his room and closed the door. He jumped back into the bed pulling the blanket up to his chin just as the door opened again. He had seen the expressions on their faces. They were both crying their eyes red and swollen. They were overcome with grief.

He closed his eyes pretending to be asleep. He heard them enter the room. He heard their soft footsteps approaching his bed.

What I did was right, he told himself a silent mantra to quiet the storm of guilt that was brewing inside him. I didn’t do anything wrong. They betrayed me. They deserved it.

Anastasia approached Adam’s bedside. Her face was streaked with tears her eyes red and puffy. Seeing him lying there so still and pale made her even more emotional.

Adam kept his eyes closed pretending to be unconscious. He could hear their soft sobs the rustle of their clothes.

"I told you not to go with this boy," Julie said her voice choked with grief. She was speaking to Anastasia but her words were filled with a bitter regret directed at her dead son.

"I told Joseph to stay away from him. You don’t know what kind of people are after him. Your father constantly warned me. He told me to end your friendship with him as soon as possible. And now look what has happened. The thing we feared most has come true."

Julie broke down into fresh sobs her body shaking with the force of her grief. Anastasia looked at her mother her own eyes filled with tears.

"Mom please don’t say that," she said her voice trembling. "It’s not Adam’s fault. He needs us now more than ever. He’s all alone."

Adam listened to their words a storm of conflicting emotions raging within him. He was the cause of their pain. He was the reason Joseph was dead. But a part of him a small selfish part felt a flicker of warmth at Anastasia’s defense of him.

Julie’s grief quickly turned to anger. "Can’t you see your brother is dead?" she snapped her voice sharp with pain. "It’s all because of this boy! He’s the one who killed Joseph!"

"Mom!" Anastasia cried out her voice filled with anguish. "His parents are dead too! Can you imagine how much pain he’s in?"

Julie glared at Adam’s still form her eyes burning with a mother’s fury. "I just want to know who did this," she said her voice low and dangerous. "Who attacked my son? I want to know who killed him."

The question hung in the air a heavy weight. Anastasia looked at Adam as well her grief mixed with a burning curiosity. "I want to know too," she said her voice a soft whisper. "I want to know who attacked all of them. And what were they all doing there in the first place?"

Adam was trapped in a complicated web of emotions. He did not know what to say to them. He did not know how to answer their questions without revealing the monstrous truth. He had expected to be interrogated by the police not by the grieving mother and sister of the boy he had just murdered. He was unprepared for this. He noticed that Joseph’s father was not with them.

Anastasia turned to her mother her expression soft and compassionate despite her own grief. "You should go to Dad," she said gently. "He’s all alone. I’ll stay here with Adam. I’ll call you as soon as he wakes up."

Julie looked at her daughter then back at Adam. Her eyes were still filled with tears but she nodded. She took a deep shaky breath and walked out of the room leaving Anastasia alone with Adam.

As soon as the door closed Anastasia looked back at Adam. Her expression had changed. The sadness was still there but it was mixed with a knowing look a quiet intelligence that surprised him.

"Adam you can open your eyes now," she said her voice soft but firm.

Her words hit him like a jolt of electricity. He was stunned. He had been so sure that his act had been convincing. He had not expected her to see through his deception.