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Chapter Nine
Flashback
An image formed in her mind, an image of a man. She'd seem
him before... She didn't know where, but she knew he was a nice man. He always talked to her. Her father was yelling
at him. The man was yelling back. She was on the stairs listening, but she should have been asleep. She must have
made a noise because both men looked up at her. She was frightened. She'd never seen her father so angry before.
But then the other man smiled and told her everything was okay. That they were just having a disagreement, that
everything would be fine in the morning. But it wasn't fine, she thought remembering. It was never fine again.
Because something else had happened that night. Something far worse than he could have imagined.
Something had waken her. She could hear voices downstairs. She pulled back the covers and had just stood up when
she heard someone yell out. She ran down the stairs and there in the foyer was her brother holding a gun on a man
she didn't recognize. They were both angry, they kept yelling at each other. They sounded like her father and the
nice man had earlier. The man kept asking Julian where his wife was. She thought he meant Ivy, but then she saw
one of the maids come out of the living room. The woman was only half dressed. Sheridan didn't understand. Why
didn't the woman have more clothes on? And where was Julian's shirt.
The man lunged at Julian and then she heard a loud noise, like a firecracker. It was so loud that she covered her
ears. Then she looked down and saw the man fall to the floor. There was blood everywhere. That's when she screamed.
Julian had seen her then. He dropped the gun and started toward her, but she ran. She was running so hard she fell
and hit her head.
When she woke up, she was holding a bloody letter opener in her hand. Her father was standing over her and Julian
was telling him she'd stabbed a man. That's when she saw the body on the floor. It was covered with a white sheet.
Julian said he was dead. She heard Julian tell their father that she had hidden in the living room and jumped out
as the man came around the corner. Julian said he saw her stab the man. Sheridan didn't remember, but Julian said
she did so she must have. She was sure she didn't mean to hurt the man. She was sure she didn't mean to...
"Sheridan. Come on, Sheridan wake up and look at me. Don't do this to me. Dammit Sheridan, open your eyes.
Open your eyes and look at me."
Sheridan heard Luis calling her and tried to open her eyes. They felt heavy, they felt so heavy. "L... Luis."
She said forcing her eyes open.
"I'm here." Luis said grabbing her hand. "I'm right here."
"Wh... where am I?"
She heard him take a deep breath. "You're at the hospital. Do you remember what happened?"
She shook her head no or she tried to anyway. "N...no."
"You fell and hit your head on the coffee table. You've been unconscious for the last eighteen hours."
Fell? Unconscious? "How did I fall?"
"You fainted again. When Julian grabbed your hand, you just looked at him and starting screaming. Then you
pulled your arm away from him and the next thing we knew you were hitting the edge of the table. We tried to catch
you, but it was already to late."
Julian. The gun. The man. The blood. She remembered. Oh god, she remembered. "Luis, I... I remember. I remember
everything."
"What do you remember?" Luis asked looking into her eyes.
"I remember what happened. I was there Luis. I know what happened. Oh god, I know what happened."
Luis furrowed his brow in confusion. "You know what happened where, Sheridan? What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the night your father disappeared. I'm talking about the night Julian... Oh god. I was
there, Luis. I was there. I know what happened. I know what happened."
"Sheridan, calm down, you're getting hysterical on me. Let me go and get Dr. Russell."
"Noooo! Don't leave me. Don't leave me." Sheridan screamed. But it was already too late. Luis was going
to get the doctor. Would they sedate her like they had when she was a child? Would they send her away again?
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