Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 171

There was little to do in the hospital other than chat with Sebastian. Vivian wasn’t allowed to move around much, as she’d given herself a Grade II sprained ankle. Dr Romero had come by, instructing her to stay off her feet as much as possible for at least two weeks, to give her ankle ample time to recover.

All of the other injuries Vivian had incurred, minus the cut on her hand, were superficial and didn’t need any special treatment.

While she was forced to stay in bed, Sebastian was told to get up and move around. It always ended with him sitting on her bed, the floating table between them as they played card games to pass the time. He taught her how to play Poker and Blackjack, and she kicked his butt at Bullshit; lying during the course of a card game was different from doing so in real life, and she was very good at fooling her brother.

Friday came, and they were in the middle of a game of Bullshit when someone knocked at the door. “Come in,” Sebastian called out without turning around, his eyes firmly locked on the cards his sister was adding to the growing pile.

“Three sevens,” she told him, face devoid of expression as he looked for any sign she wasn’t being truthful. Watching him trying to figure out if she was bluffing was amusing to Vivian, and she enjoyed the fact that, nine times out of ten, he got it wrong.

The door opened and Samuel walked in. He was looking better than the last time Vivian had seen him. The swelling around his eye was almost gone, though the skin was still bruised. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder and grinned at their father. “Hey, Dad. You’re looking a bit roughed up.”

“I could say the same for you,” Samuel replied with a shake of his head. “How are you two doing?”

The siblings exchanged looks. “Not too bad,” Sebastian answered. “The doc says we should both get discharged by end of the day, given how our recoveries have been progressing.”

Vivian nodded in agreement. “Pretty much that. Dr Ahuja wants to give my hand another look, but says I’ll be good to go once the attending doctor signs off.”

As she spoke, Samuel pulled up one of the visitor’s chairs and took a seat at her bedside. “I’m glad to hear that,” he told her, reaching up and gently putting his hand on her forearm. “I think we need to talk, though.”

“I should take a walk before the nurse comes back and yells at me for not moving around,” Sebastian suddenly said as he carefully slid off the bed.

Vivian watched her brother leave, heart beating uncomfortably fast at the thought of whatever her father wanted to talk to her about. “What’s up?” She asked once the door closed.

“What you did… for your brother and I,” her father began, sounding hesitant but gaining confidence as he spoke. “I’m not okay with what you did, Vivian. Running off like that, putting yourself at risk… You can’t do that.”

“I *can* do that,” she informed him, meeting his eye. “And I’ll do it again. I don’t regret any of it.”

Samuel let out a frustrated breath. “Your life is worth mor—“

“Stop it,” she snapped. “My life is mine, Dad. *Mine*. I’ll decide what it’s worth. And it was worth it to get you and Gabriel out. Nothing you say can, or will, change how I feel about that. I already lost Mom because she was protecting me; like hell I’m going to lose anyone else for the same reason. If she can do it for me and not get yelled at, then I can do it for you without getting in trouble.”

Samuel was staring at her, wide eyed. “…you called me Dad…”

Face suddenly feeling like it was on fire, Vivian averted her gaze. “…so what?”

“You’ve never called me that before…”

“Yes I have,” she muttered, embarrassed at being called out on this matter.

“Not that I recall.”

“I called you Dad twice, during the ransom exchange,” she reminded him, still unable to meet his eye.

A soft chuckle made her sneak a quick glance at her father. “The drugs they had me full of… both Gabriel and I… we can barely remember anything that happened after the crash, up until Wednesday morning. It’s all a bit of a blank.”

“Well, I called you Dad twice. So, this isn’t the first time.”

His hand left her arm and the bed shifted a bit as he sat on its edge. An arm snaked around her shoulders as Samuel brought her into a side hug. “I’m just happy, that’s all.”

The bruises on her upper arms and shoulders were unhappy with the gesture, but Vivian endured it because it felt like her father needed this more than she did. She was also beginning to enjoy hugs, not that she would admit it out loud. Being wrapped in someone’s embrace made her feel warm and safe, protected but not suffocated. “Am I in trouble?” She asked after a moment.

Samuel sighed. “No, you’re not. I’m not *happy* with what you did, but I can’t argue with the outcome. I spoke with Jacques at length, and, honestly, the second they shot you down, they should have known you’d do something about it.”

“…huh?”

With his chin resting atop her head, he explained. “In your file, when people try and impose rules and boundaries you don’t agree with you tend to… retaliate, by doing exactly what you want to do regardless. When they told you no, and your immediate response was to fight back, they should have understood that shutting you out of the decision would result in… exactly what happened.

“I’m not saying what *they* did was wrong, either — they were following orders — but everyone, you included, should have sat down and worked together to find a solution, instead of shutting each other out.”

“That mean Jacques isn’t getting in trouble for helping me, right?”

Another chuckle came from her father. “Not this time. He was warned that, if it happens again, his response to the situation will need to be different.”

“It better not happen again,” Vivian muttered as she poked at the pile of cards on the floating table.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

There was a minute of comfortable silence before Vivian felt the need to break it. “Is Gilbert mad at me?”

“Hm? Should he be?”

“Well… I kind of gave him the middle finger when I ran off, didn’t I?”

She could feel her father shake his head. “He’s mad at himself, for not listening to your side when he should have. He’s also annoyed it was Jacques who ended up being there for you, but that’s a different issue. You did turn to Gilbert in the end, though, which helped soothe his pride,” he finished.

While they’d been waiting for confirmation from the runner that Gabriel was alive, Vivian had been busy composing a quick text to both Tyrell and Gilbert. Since their numbers were so close to the other, she’d easily memorized the latter’s after seeing it only once. In the text, she’d explained where she was, that Jacques was with her, and her makeshift plan on getting both her father and brother out.

She wasn’t stupid; she knew there would be hell to pay for what she’d done, and that them knowing what was going on would only up the chances of her survival. Even if they didn’t know where she was, knowing where she’d been could be just as helpful.

It’d been pure luck that the park was located only ten minutes from the factory, which meant a number of her father’s people were in the vicinity when Jacques called for backup.

“So, he’s not mad?”

“He’s not mad.”

Another comfortable silence settled between them before Samuel broke it this time. “So, what’s this about you saying you’ll only tell us what happened if everyone is there?”

“It’s exactly what you said; everyone has to be there or I’m not saying anything.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not going to tell it more than once.”

Samuel was quiet for a moment. “Is there a reason why you’ll only tell it once?”

It took her a minute to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. “Once is bad enough,” she finally said. “Once is already one time more than I’m comfortable with.”

He let out a sigh. “I can’t argue with that, I suppose. Who all needs to be there? I’ll find a way to make it work.”