Gina approached the door and peered through the side window. Kapoor’s long black hair that was usually tied up in a low bun under her hat was splayed out all over the pillow and fell way past her chest. A white sheet had been pulled up to her bust and her arms lay on top of it, connected to the drip and bandaged up. The cabinet next to her bed was piled high with boxes of cakes and chocolates, bottles of pop and crisps that Kapoor’s family had brought with them. Tubes led to a beeping machine above and Kapoor lay there with her eyes closed. ‘I think she’s asleep.’
‘I’m not,’ she murmured, wincing as she forced her body to sit up a little. She reached for a cup with a straw in it and sucked with closed eyes.
‘It’s me, Gina, and Paula’s here too.’ The room smelled of disinfectant. Gina pressed the lever on the sanitiser dispenser and rubbed it into her hands.
Kapoor opened her red-rimmed eyes and squinted as she tried to focus. ‘I’m so glad you’re here. I have a lot to tell you. Grab some chairs. Do you want some of this food?’
Gina shook her head. She brought the plastic chairs close to Kapoor’s bedside then she and Wyre sat. Wyre pulled out her notepad.
‘We’ve been so worried about you. Smith told me to say he can’t wait to see you. Mrs O is making you some of your favourite Chelsea buns for tomorrow and we all miss you.’ Gina tilted her head to the same angle that Kapoor’s was tilted at and looked into her weary eyes. The last time she saw the young officer she’d been covered in blood and on top of Curtis Gallagher with a knife in her hands.
‘I had him, just before you came.’ Her torn cracked lips formed a smile then she flinched. ‘You think this would hurt more.’ She held up her bandaged wrists. ‘My lips kill.’ A tear slid down her cheek then she laughed. ‘Never superglue your lips.’
‘We got you some chocolate but it looks like you’re well sorted for goodies.’ Gina pulled out a large bar of milk chocolate from her bag and popped it on the food mountain.
‘My family are a bunch of feeders, I swear.’
Gina paused. ‘How did you end up on him when we got there?’
‘For hours, I’d been pressing through my flesh with the binds on that horrible chair and the skin on my wrists was literally peeling away. In my mind, I thought I’d scored them to the bone but when they were stitching me up, they said I hadn’t sawn away at them too deeply.’ She scrunched her nose. ‘Eventually, I managed to pull them free, then I was able to untie my legs, waist and neck. When he went for the knife, I knew I had to take the opportunity to fight for my survival. I did it and something came over me, the biggest surge of adrenaline ever. I thought of my mum and I knew I’d get one chance. I brought my fist quickly to his throat taking his breath away. He went to stab me and I managed to slide off the chair and he got the knife wedged in it. I reached up and grabbed him between the legs and twisted as hard as I could and he yelped like a baby and fell to the floor. We fought and scrambled for the knife. I pulled the knife out of the chair and he reached over and fought me for it, that’s when the adrenaline wore off and the pain seemed to take over.’ She shook her head. ‘The keys to the door were in his back pocket and I couldn’t get them from him so I hit him again, hard. He lolled on the floor.’
Gina placed her hand on Kapoor’s arm. ‘You were so brave. That fight you had in you saved your life.’
‘He started to come around a bit after rolling on the floor and I was still wrestling to get the keys from his pocket. He grabbed my bleeding wrist and began pulling me to the ground. Just as I reached the floor, I gripped the knife and knew I had to use it to get away from him. My wrists were stinging like mad and blood was dripping everywhere. I was sure I’d bleed to death. I awkwardly pushed the knife into the only place I could seem to aim which was his shoulder. He was going to kill me. I had to get him off me. He was shocked when I stabbed him, and I kicked him again but he still fought back. After a struggle, I managed to pin him down, then you arrived. I wanted to gouge his eyes out and smash his nose in. I saw red and that’s never happened to me before. I didn’t know I had it in me to feel that primal.’ She let out a sob.
‘You did what you had to do to survive, Jhanvi. You fought and you lived.’ Gina felt Kapoor’s hand grab hers.
‘Thanks, guv.’ She took a moment to gain her composure. ‘There’s more. Before he came in with the knife, he let me into his thoughts. He said other things and you need to hear them.’ Kapoor paused.
‘Are you okay talking about this now?’ Gina hoped she was but the nurse passed and peered through the window, giving her and Wyre a stern look.
‘Yes. I want to talk. Can you crack open a can of Coke for me? My mouth is bone dry and I’m sick of water.’
Gina gently eased a can of Coke from the pile and opened it, passing it to Kapoor who took a swig as her hands trembled.
‘The painkillers are good. I’m dreading when all the meds wear off. Anyway, while he kept me there, he kept referring to me as Hailey. He thought I was going to become Hailey and he would talk to himself as if he was in conversation with Hailey herself. I found out that she was his twin sister. He was weirdly trying to turn me into her in an effort to bring her back to life. There was something that he kept mumbling about at the end. His mother found out about Hailey being pregnant by some boy at school and she recently told Curtis that it was she who gave the tablets to Hailey. I think that was the trigger for all this. Their mother bullied Hailey into taking her life because of the shame she’d bring on the family. He kept saying how his mother beat them and was nasty all the time.’ She paused. ‘I don’t know where his mother lives.’
‘He killed his mother, Jhanvi. We found her body in the shed. He was keeping you at his mother’s bungalow.’
Kapoor took a couple of deep breaths. ‘It makes sense. He blamed her for Hailey’s death. He killed his mother and I think it sent him on a path looking for a replacement for Hailey. He fed me Hailey’s favourite food, spoke to me as if I was going to be possessed by her and become her. I think that’s what he thought.’ Her voice cracked and she took another sip of cola. ‘He kept playing this song over and over again and it was sending me crazy. Even when it wasn’t playing, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I can’t now. Every time there is a moment of quietness, it starts again and I hate it…’ Tears spilled down her cheeks and she dropped the can of Coke on her bed sheet.
Gina quickly grabbed it and Wyre pulled a handful of tissues from the dispenser.
‘I knew I had to become her to survive. I tried to play along, then I failed and it sent him crashing into reality. That was the start of the end, I know it was. He was going to kill me like he did Amber then he’d probably have dumped me in a lake too. All that time I imagined my family finding out what had happened to me. I thought I’d never find out if my mother got the all-clear or see my brothers again. I faced my end. I thought that was it, so to be here now, even in this state, I’m happy. I’m elated and I’ve never felt so alive in my whole life. I want things I’ve never wanted before and when I inhale, it’s like I’ve never breathed before. Everything is so vivid. The taste of this Coke, it’s like the best thing ever. Hailey wanted to die and I feel for her. I’ve been thinking about her. She must have been such a confused kid.’
Gina finished mopping up the cola and turned the sheet down so that the damp bit wasn’t pressed against Kapoor.
‘My mother got the all-clear by the way. She is finally cancer free. I just want to get better, get out of here and go home so that I can celebrate with her. I was thinking something else…’ Kapoor flinched as she sat up a little more.
‘What’s that?’ Gina helped to adjust her pillows and arrange the tubes that were coming from the cannula in her arm.
‘I’m going to study to become a sergeant. I’m ready for anything now. I fought him. I survived and here I am, standing to tell the tale. I have more to give, so much more.’ She paused and dabbed a little Vaseline onto her lips.
‘You just concentrate on getting better. You’re going to need all your strength.’
‘I’ll be out of here in a couple of days. A week of my mother fussing will force me back to my apartment and back to work. Scrap that, I can walk so I’m going home.’
Wyre finished making notes and closed her pad. ‘Is there anything else you want to tell us?’
