Ann’s eyes closed a moment then opened. “No, I didn’t,” she replied. “I remember hoping he would, but he didn’t.”
Ann said that with such intensity that Cindy felt jarred. “Did you hear him say anything to her?”
“I actually did,” Ann spoke hesitantly. “It was strange, it bothered me, I didn’t like it.”
“What did he say?” Cindy felt alarmed.
“I kept hearing him say over and over that Tara would never be beautiful again,” Ann mouthed the words carefully.
Cindy started to shiver. She’d heard that exact report before. How else could Ann know if she hadn’t really heard?
“I wanted Owen to stop saying that,” Ann continued, gripped by the memory, “but I couldn’t speak. It was a terrible feeling.”
“Horrible,” Cindy sympathized. “Please tell me, did Owen say anything else that you remember?”
“That’s all I remember hearing from him,” Ann trembled for a moment. “When I came down here to my new room I heard that someone put something into Tara’s IV to help it be over.”
“Exactly,” said Cindy, “that’s why I’m here.”
“I also heard they’re blaming Owen,” Ann spoke very slowly, trying to put the pieces together.
“Yes, that’s so,” said Cindy. “I need to talk to you about it because you were there in the room with them.”
“Yes, I was,” said Ann promptly, “But I recovered and Tara did not. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s not the point,” Cindy reached out to her, soothingly. “Is there anything else you remember Ann? I need you to tell me.”
“Yes, I heard other things, but no one believes me,” Ann started to babble.
“Tell me, I’ll believe you,” said Cindy. “Not only will I believe you, but you may be the one able to help Tara.”
“How?” Ann looked frightened.
“You can help me get justice for her, find the real killer,” Cindy breathed.
“Oh God,” Ann exclaimed, “yes, there was a lot I heard, a lot happened.”
“What? What?” asked Cindy intensely.
“It was never peaceful on her side of the room,” Ann started, “but the night Tara died the upset was awful. I felt it and heard it. It was just before they transferred me to a different floor. I thought they transferred me because of all the commotion going on over there.
“What commotion?” Cindy was both startled and thrilled to hear this. She felt as if she’d hit a vein of gold. Ann was an incredible find. Could it be she was the perfect witness and held the key to unlocking the case? After all, she was there and awake the night Tara died.
Ann’s voice dropped lower then, as if making sure no one else could hear. “All of a sudden Tara’s part of the room got very crowded. At first I thought it was because the night nurse was off and others were coming in to take over. I wondered if it was Tara’s family, but then I realized that the day nurse, Alana, was there.”
“Alana? You’re sure it was her?” Cindy’s body grew chilled.
“Absolutely,” said Ann. “She was restless, irritated, you could feel it from a mile away. By the way, did you know that Alana was also the nurse of the other woman in the hospital who died unexpectedly a few weeks before?”
“No,” Cindy gasped, “I had no idea of that at all.”
“It’s true though,” Ann was on a roll now. “I heard my nurse speaking about it to someone yesterday.”
“Was Alana your nurse as well?” Cindy felt all a stir. Was it possible that Alana was a killer, had harmed all of her patients? Was she getting some kind of revenge?
“Alana wasn’t my nurse, just Tara’s,” Ann continued. “Anyway, that last night, Alana kept pacing around, muttering loudly. She thought she was in the room alone with Tara, but she wasn’t. I was there, I could hear her, but she had no idea.”
“Did Owen do anything about it?” Cindy was quick on the draw.
“Not that I know of,” said Ann. “I just heard Alana’s voice getting louder and louder. She was snapping at Tara, saying she was fed up. I wondered what she was fed up with, or if maybe she was drunk. Then Alana started cursing her job and telling Tara to make up her mind already, live or die. It was enough, time to make up her mind!”
“How dare she?” breathed Cindy.
“Alana’s a tough customer,” Ann continued, “I never liked her the whole time. I felt her resentment pour through the place.”
“Owen didn’t say anything?” Cindy had to be certain.
“I didn’t hear him,” Ann repeated, “but, believe it or not, I heard Tara’s voice.”
“You heard what?” Cindy couldn’t compute it.
“I heard Tara say, I want to die, I want to die, please help me,” breathed Ann.
“How is this possible?” asked Cindy.
“It’s more than possible, it’s what happened,” Ann insisted. “I remember how shocked I was to actually hear Tara’s voice. It was thin, but lovely. But I didn’t like what she was saying. It hurt me that she wanted to die.”
“My God,” Cindy breathed. “Did you tell anyone about this?”
“Of course I did,” said Ann fervently. “I told everyone – no one cared or believed me. They thought I was still foggy from the coma. My husband said I should stay out of the quagmire, that I’d been through enough.”
“Did your husband believe what you heard Tara say?” Cindy was incredulous.
“I don’t think he did,” Ann’s eyes filled with tears. “Then I told my nurse but she brushed if off. She said we think all kinds of things when we’re half awake, half dreaming.”
“Could you have been dreaming Ann?” Cindy quieted down.
“No, I wasn’t, I’m sure,” Ann looked at Cindy beseechingly. “You have to believe me, you promised you would.”
“Did you hear anything else?” Cindy didn’t want Ann to lose her faith in her. But this was a lot to believe.
“Yes,” Ann went on fervently, “I even heard Konrad come into the room to talk to Alana.”
“How do you know who Konrad is?” Cindy’s teeth suddenly started chattering.
“I know who Konrad is because Alana called him by name,” said Ann. “Alana sounded surprised to see him and said, Konrad, what in the world are you doing here?”
There was no possible way Ann could know about Konrad unless she actually heard his name, thought Cindy. Was it possible everything she said was true?
“What was Konrad doing there in the hospital room?” Cindy asked, agitated.
“Konrad said he’d just come to see Alana, that he loved her and she had to trust him. Does any of that make sense? You can check out Konrad’s schedule if you need to see where he was the night.”
It all actually made perfect sense to Cindy, but she couldn’t say that to Ann yet.
“And what about Owen?” Cindy continued, desperate to know where he fit in. If he’d been there constantly, Ann had to have heard him say something.
“I didn’t hear Owen say anything at all,” Ann repeated.
“You never spoke to the police about this, right?” Cindy just had to be certain.
“How could I? Up to now nobody paid any attention to what I said,” Ann’s face suddenly flushed. “I’m glad you’re listening, I really am. It’s a huge relief to tell you this.”
“I’ll do more than listen,” said Cindy mobilizing. “I’m going to confront both Alana and Konrad myself.”
“Do what you have to,” Ann suddenly seemed very tired then. She slumped a bit back on her cushions.
“Thank you, Ann, thank you,” Cindy stroked her shoulder gently. “You’ve helped so much, you can’t imagine.”
“I’m so glad I could,” Ann managed to say, before her eyes closed once again and she drifted back to sleep.
*
Trembling, Cindy fled from Ann’s room to the head nurse, Beatrice Flann’s, office.
“I’ve heard incredible things about Tara’s case,” Cindy dove in without any preamble the moment she entered the room and saw Beatrice standing there.
“Heard what, from who?” Beatrice was flustered by the way Cindy barged in.