The Anniversary

Toby’s throat tightened. He couldn’t believe that he was here looking at his son’s broken body. When the hospital had called him to tell him Simone and Carl had been rushed to the hospital after being attacked he had feared the worst. But he was not prepared for what he was looking at.

Simone was just as bad. She lay in another room, also unconscious but due to the morphine without pain. She had bruises down the side of her face and her arm was covered in plaster. Toby had taken one look at his wife and had to fight the urge to cry. They had fought and Toby was angry with her but he still loved her. That wasn’t going to turn off anytime soon. He wanted to gather her into his arms and hold her but the doctor had advised not to touch her just yet as they were still tallying up her injuries.

Toby felt sick. This was disgusting and brutal.

“Toby?”

Emil stood in the doorway. His friend looked as haggard as he did.

“The cops are here. They want to talk to you.”

But Toby couldn’t move. He kept staring at Carl. His son would never hurt anyone in his life. This just seemed like a bad dream. But it was real and Toby was staring it in the face.

Emil touched his arm and gently guided him away from the bed.

“Come on. He’ll be here when you get back. It won’t be long.”

Toby allowed him to take him into the corridor. Two detectives stood by the opposite wall. Charlotte stood with them. She was white as a sheet. When she saw Toby she burst into tears and hurried over to him.

“Mr Reynolds, I’m so sorry.”

Toby opened his arms and Charlotte ran into them, sobbing into his shirt. Toby hugged her tighter. Charlotte was a great girl. He liked her. It was just a pity Carl hadn’t figured out after many years that his best friend was in love with him.

Maybe Carl would realize that when he woke up.

“Thanks, Charlie.” He pressed a kiss to the girl’s head and eased her away. He wiped away her tears. “How are you holding up?”

“Not great.”

Charlotte’s bottom lip trembled. She glanced towards the open door but Emil quickly shut the door. She sobbed and Toby pulled her back into his embrace, rocking her gently.

“Toby Reynolds?”

Toby looked over Charlotte’s head. The two detectives approached them. One was in his early thirties, tall and slim, blond hair cut close to his head and his suit looking like he had slept in it. The other was a woman, short and plump wearing a dark blue blouse and gray trousers. Dark hair was held back from her face with a simple silver clasp. Toby guessed she was around his age.

“That’s me.”

The male detective flashed his badge.

“I’m Detective Cole. This is Detective Dodds.” His expression softened. “We’re very sorry about what happened.”

“Thanks.”

Dodds glanced at Cole and gave a slight nod. Then she addressed Toby.

“How’s your wife?”

Toby swallowed back the tightness in his throat. It didn’t go away.

“She’s still unconscious. They’re still checking all the injuries she might have but she’s got a broken arm, a shattered kneecap and some internal injuries.”

Dodds nodded. She looked pained as she glanced towards Carl’s room.

“What about your son?”

“He’s in an induced coma. With his previous head injury, they wanted to minimize the risk and let the swelling go down.”

Charlotte whimpered and Toby held onto her tighter. Dodds looked sympathetic, touching Toby’s arm.

“I have a daughter his age. I don’t think I’d be keeping myself together as well as you are.”

“My other two are in the cafeteria with Simone’s sister. I don’t want to break down in front of them.”

But Toby wanted to. He wanted to find a quiet room and bawl his eyes out like a baby. How could he have been so foolish? There was no way he was losing his wife and son like this.

“I’ll go and sit with them.”

Cole left and Dodds urged Toby and Charlotte to some nearby chairs. Emil followed close behind.

“I’m sorry to do this now but do you mind answering a few questions, Mr Reynolds? Charlotte?”

“Of course.”

Toby urged Charlotte to sit and collapsed into the chair beside her. Dodds crouched in front of them while Emil leaned against the wall, his arms folded. Barely contained anger was in his expression. Toby tried not to look at him or he would have snapped.

Dodds touched Toby’s knee to get his attention.

“When was the last time you saw your wife and son?”

Toby gulped and rubbed his hand over his face.

“I saw Carl just before midday. He was going to meet Charlotte for lunch and then he was going to meet another friend.”

“What about your wife?”

“I saw her this afternoon.” Toby’s gut tightened as he remembered how they parted. “She went to take Carl to the friend. He doesn’t have a license so we drop him everywhere when we can.”

Dodds glanced at Charlotte.

“Did Carl meet you for lunch?”

“Yes.” Charlotte snipped and wiped her nose with her sleeve. “At the pizza parlor. Then we hung out for the afternoon at the bowling alley and the mall. He left me about half past four to meet his mom.”

“Who was he meeting later? Do either of you know?”

Toby sighed.

“He told me it was someone he was interested in making his girlfriend. They seemed to have some good chemistry and they were going to hang out at the park.”

“He said the same to me.”

“Do you know her name?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Louise Reveley. She goes to school with Carl and me.”

It was small but Toby noticed it. Emil had gone as stiff as a board, stunned outrage in his eyes. He frowned.

“Emil? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Emil pushed off the wall and took his cell phone from his pocket. “Give me a moment, Toby. I need to make a call.”

He walked away, Toby watching him go. He wondered what had happened. Did Emil know something that was important? He hoped so and he hoped that Emil was going to say something to the cops. If not he was going to beat it out of him.