Chapter Five

The ambulance siren was blaring loudly in front of her house when she got home. There were many newspaper reporters there even before she knew what was going on. That was how she knew in the first place. She had been working on some papers in her office when Sandra called her asking her to tune to any news channel and there it was, already a headline, video feed live from her house. Her tragedy was already on air before she even knew about it. It was a miracle she arrived in one piece from her frantic driving. She arrived as they were closing the ambulance door. She caught a glimpse and her heart fell. Her father, almost lifeless as they worked to connect as many tubes as possible to sustain him so he could make it to the hospital. She asked those around but nobody could give her a satisfactory answer. Her mother was on the stairs drenched in her own tears. The servants were in utmost confusion and went about without purpose or coordination. She looked around and saw Ellie Standing with arms folded, her face pale but expressionless. She couldn't think straight, her mother's wailing, the servants' rowdiness and Ellie's nonchalance. The ambulance had left, nobody followed it.

"If I were you I wouldn't be here, you better leave the healthy" Ellie said coldly with arms folded, implying she was the reason he was sick. Silvia felt the burning desire to strangle her. 

"What did you do to my father?" Silvia asked harshly 

"Now you remember that he is your father, better hurry and hope he's alive" Ellie said as she entered the house closing the door behind her. Silvia was confused, hurt and angry but she managed to get herself together. She grabbed her car key, patted her mother's shoulder, entered her car and drove off. As she left she happened to turn back and glimpse Ellie's face with the mirror. Silvia could see the wicked gleam in her eyes and the smirk on her lips. If she had a hand in this, she would get what's coming to her, Silvia vowed.

She got to the hospital. Her father was in the intensive care unit with a lot of machines connected to him. She wasn't allowed any closer than the transparent window. His breathing was not yet regulated and neither was his pulse and heartbeat. She had to wait before she could talk to the doctor in charge.

"He is still unconscious and we have no idea when he is going to wake up. What is actually going on?"

"It's a long story"

"A very funny story if you ask me. Traces of soy and blue berry were found in his system. Seems like someone is after his life knowing fully well that he is allergic. We also found certain toxins in his system, it's like someone was poisoning him. Now I don't know what the situation is but you have to be very careful. He's been under a lot of stress, I can tell and has been missing checkups for some time now. Whenever he shows up he keeps saying he's sorry for something" the doctor said. 

"That's the point he refuses to say what!" Silvia exclaimed. 

"You'll need to keep him alive if you ever want to find out what. I'll send the nurses over. My regards to your mother" with that he dismissed her

Silvia ran a hand through her hair. She was at lost what to do. Too many things and she barely had time. She got out her phone and called Sandra

"How much evidence do we have to nail Ellie?" she listened to the reply "what do you mean. Since she materialized out of nowhere things have gone from bad to worse. My father was poisoned, he's unconscious, and what's she going to do next kill my mother. Nobody wants to tell me how on earth she is related to me including the hospitals. What on earth am I going to do if I am constantly in the dark?" she was heading towards the elevator, when she got another call. She put Sandra on hold and answered the other call.

"Oh Detective Bill" she said

"Heard your father is hospitalized, it was in the news before you heard about it "the Detective said

"Imagine my own surprise when..." she stopped midway starring all around her. Something wasn't right

"Hello, Silvia are you there?" the Detective called from the phone

"Why are there so many reporters outside?" she finally asked

"What kind of question is that, what happened today is a huge event, every newspaper and TV station will want the details" the Detective answered

"Where are you?"

"I'm on my way" he said and hung up. He collected few of his men as backup and headed for the hospital. It could be a false alarm, he knew but then something in her tone suggested otherwise. Better safe than sorry.

"Why are all the reporters looking weird?" she asked connecting back to Sandra who told her to wait let her men check out the area.

She looked around most of the reporters were weird looking men with equipment she doubted was functional. The reporters weren't allowed inside the hospital building so it seemed they waited patiently for her to come out. News indeed! How they could turn another person's demise to be a topic of national gossip. Despite all this she couldn't help thinking about her father. Obviously he had a daughter all along, all the files signed by Ellie were signed Ellie Chamel. Displacing one daughter with another and apologizing for it. He ruined her life or at least his daughter did. Even with this she didn't want him to die. He had neglected her since Ellie arrived it was Ellie this, Ellie that. She gradually faded to the background. Was that jealousy, no it couldn't be, it was anger. She had every right to be angry. They wanted to strip her of everything she had and toss her out on the street, unfortunately she refused to relinquish her hold on the company. Although there was a possibility she might go back to jail if the case wasn't closed by the stipulated time and right now they were running out of time. Her only consolation was that both the Detective and Sandra feel confident that the closure was nearer than expected. However they have refused to give her any detail, she felt left out, I mean the case was about her yet nobody was telling her anything. She sighed and turned. 

There was Ellie walking into the hospital. She seemed not to care about the murmurs her entrance invoked and the sympathetic glance people gave Silvia, the innocent girl with a wicked sister framed for a crime she did not commit. When she frowned at Ellie, there were looks of understanding in their eyes. At least the people were on her side. 

Ellie sneered, pretending not to notice the commotion her presence caused. Silvia was so pitiful glorying in the sympathy the people gave her. The same people that would mock her behind her back and would definitely change camp if she went back to jail. Sympathy? Was that what she wanted? She better be careful what she wished for or she just might get it. There may be more sympathy when she is lowered to the ground and by evening the world would forget her existence. She had planned walking past her but now she preferred to witness the look on her face clearly, so she changed course and walked towards Silvia. Of course Silvia was surprised she had expected Ellie to display a show of arrogance and ignore her presence but now Ellie was standing in front of her looking right into her eyes without saying a word. She didn't know what to do. Her first idea was to strangle her but that would just create a scene besides Ellie looked quite strong, so for a moment they just stared at each other. The hostility was obvious. It was hard to believe they have been living under the same roof for quite sometime without any accident apart from today. Silvia tried to read Ellie but all she could read was contempt. 

"Fancy this, I never knew you had a sense of commitment and loyalty towards family members" Ellie said.

When Silvia first met Ellie she had the impression of a shy and weak woman who was being controlled by somebody but over time that impression had changed. She had revealed her true nature. The devil himself. Wicked and arrogant.

"If I haven't shown any commitment towards you it means you are not a member of the family"

"I'm not denying it but somewhat surprise at how fast I took your place, supposing I was a member then...?" Ellie replied. Silvia was beginning to wonder were the Detective was.

"Come to check if he's still alive?"

"Blind and stupid" Ellie said with a scoff and walked past her. 

Silvia turned to stare at her retreating back. She didn't know whether to follow her or to ignore her. She wouldn't attempt to kill the man in the hospital. Then she remembered this was Ellie whom she knew nothing about. Blind and stupid. These words kept ringing in her head. The woman sure knew how to dish out insults but definitely didn't know how to sugar coat them. Looking at the facts, she couldn't leave the hospital. The reporters both weird and normal were still outside, plus she was still waiting for detective Bill, Sandra hadn't called back and Ellie was probably trying to strangle her father this very minute. Although she didn't want to, she found herself going back to check on him. Her phone rang again, she was expecting Detective Bill but it turned out to be Sandra. Sandra was anxious about where she was and told her to stay there till the Detective comes. It appeared that someone had been trailing her for quite some time, someone with the will and resources. She was advised to act natural and not to put herself in a compromising situation. Easier said than done. How was she to act normal when she knew people were after her? She really wanted to know whose idea of a joke this was.

The Detective finally showed up and from the look on his face whatever delayed him was not funny. He inquired after her father's health but since he was not one to beat around the bush he went straight to the point.

"What! No it's not possible" but the Detective wasn't joking.