Chapter 19 - The Final Visage
Two days later, Detective Ruiz accompanied me to Saint Jude Memorial Hospital. Bernice had regained consciousness, though she was heavily guarded by two armed bailiffs stationed outside her private room.
Julian waited in the hallway, respecting my need to face this final chapter alone.
"You have five minutes, Mrs. Vance," the officer said, nodding respectfully as he unlocked the heavy door.
I stepped inside.
Bernice Vance lay propped up on the mechanical bed. The monitors beside her beeped in a slow, monotonous cadence. Her face was gaunt, the skin around her cheekbones sunken and gray. When she heard my footsteps, her head turned slowly on the pillow.
Her pale blue eyes locked onto mine. For a fraction of a second, I saw a flicker of the old Bernice—the imperious matriarch who could reduce me to tears with a single arched eyebrow.
"You..." she rasped, her vocal cords raw from the intubation tube. "You came... to gloat."
I didn't answer. I walked to the edge of the bed and stood there, dressed in a simple cream-colored wool coat, looking down at her.
"Sterling is in county lockup, Bernice," I said quietly. "He has been denied bail. He confessed to tampering with your IV. And he confessed that you planned the entire scheme to defraud Arthur’s trust."
Her chest heaved, a sharp, wheezing breath escaping her throat. "He... he lied. The ungrateful boy... after everything I sacrificed for him..."
"You sacrificed me for him," I interrupted, my voice steady, carrying no trace of hatred, only the cold, unyielding weight of truth. "And in the end, he tried to kill you for the very money you stole to keep him happy."
Bernice tried to reach out a trembling hand, her fingers clawing weakly at the crisp white sheet. "Elaine... you’re my daughter. You can’t let them put me in prison. Talk to the prosecutor... tell them I was confused... tell them I had dementia! You have the money now! Arthur’s money... pay off the debts! Save your family!"
I looked at the woman who had spent my entire existence making me feel like a worthless trespasser in my own home. I remembered the silk wedding dress melting into black ash on my wedding morning. I remembered the cold floorboards where she hid the deed. I remembered every sleepless night wondering what was wrong with me, why my own mother couldn't love me.
"I don't have a family here, Bernice," I said softly.
"I am your mother!" she hissed, a venomous burst of energy returning to her withered face. "I gave you life!"
"Arthur gave me life," I replied, pulling the signed probate certificate from my pocket and placing it on the bedside table where she could read my name stamped in gold foil. "You gave me nothing but a bill for breathing your air. And today, the account is closed."
I turned my back on her and walked toward the door.
"Elaine! Elaine, look at me! Don't you dare walk out of that door!" she shrieked, her voice cracking as the monitors spiked with erratic warning beeps. "You will always be nothing without me! Elaine!"
May you like
I didn't look back. I opened the door, stepped into the sunlit corridor, and let the heavy latch click shut behind me, severing the last thread of the nightmare forever.
***
