I Saved My Sister, So They Drowned Me Chapter 07
The next morning, a Police Officer arrived.
She was a young female officer.
She spoke politely with Dad in the hallway.
“We found the individual’s phone and a pair of shoes at the scene.”
“A family member will need to sign for these personal belongings.”
“There’s also a Notes entry on the phone.”
“The content appears to have the nature of a farewell letter.”
“I recommend that you read it carefully.”
She handed Dad a clear evidence bag.
Inside was the phone with the cracked screen.
And a pair of white canvas sneakers.
The dried mud had cracked into tiny patterns across the surface of the shoes.
The shoelace on the right shoe was tied perfectly.
Dad’s hand trembled slightly when he took the bag.
He placed the shoes on the chair.
Then he picked up the phone.
The screen lit up.
The Notes app was still open.
It was stopped on the last entry.
“This is the last time I’ll ever do this for you.”
Dad stared at those words.
For a long time.
Then he pressed back.
And opened another note.
The title was:
“Lily’s Care Instructions.”
The first note:
“Her medication will upset her stomach if she takes it before eating.”
“Make sure she eats at least half a bowl of food before giving it to her.”
The second note:
“She can only drink warm milk.”
“If it’s too hot, she gets irritated.”
“If it’s too cold, her stomach can’t handle it.”
The third note:
“When she cries, don’t ask why.”
“Just hand her a tissue.”
“Questioning her will only make her cry harder.”
The fourth note:
“She’s afraid of thunderstorms.”
“Don’t turn off the lights in her room on stormy nights.”
The fifth note:
“The sleeve cuff on her gray hoodie is coming loose, but she won’t let me throw it away.”
“It was a gift from her best friend in middle school.”
The sixth note:
“The water temperature for her shower needs to be set to 42 degrees Celsius.”
“She gets uncomfortable if it’s too hot or too cold.”
……
Line after line of details.
All the little things.
All the way to the twenty-third note.
“Autumn is come.”
“Lily tends to have emotional ups and downs when the seasons change.”
“Don’t leave her alone.”
“Spend more time with her and let her get some sunlight.”
The twenty-fourth note:
“Everything written above was something only I knew.”
“Now it’s all yours.”
Dad held the phone in his hand.
He read from the first note to the twenty-fourth.
His hands shook harder and harder.
Until the phone shook violently in his palm, as if it might fly out of his hand.
He raised his head.
His eyes were bloodshot.
His mouth opened several times.
But no words came out.
Mom walked out of the hospital room.
When she saw him like that, she walked over.
“What happened?”
Dad didn’t answer.
He handed her the phone.
Mom took it.
She looked down.
The first note.
Her eyes froze on the words.
The second note.
The third note.
Her lips began to tremble.
Then she reached the fifth note.
The gray hoodie.
She remembered.
She had once scolded Nina.
She had told her that Lily’s old, worn-out hoodie should have been thrown away long ago.
Nina had argued with her.
And insisted on keeping it.
Back then, Mom thought Nina was deliberately opposing her.
But that wasn’t it.
The eighth note:
“When she says she doesn’t want to live, don’t try to reason with her.”
“Just hold her hand and pat her back.”
“Keep the same rhythm as her heartbeat.”
“Slowly.”
“She’ll calm down little by little.”
Mom stared at those words.
Keep the same rhythm as her heartbeat.
Slowly.
She had taken care of Lily for seven months.
But she never knew.
The person who sat beside Lily’s bed night after night knew.
The twenty-fourth note.
“Everything written above was something only I knew.”
“Now it’s all yours.”
Mom gripped the phone tightly.
Her whole body leaned against the wall.
Slowly, she slid down.
She sat on the hallway floor.
Without making a sound.
Tears fell one after another onto the phone screen.
Onto the words:
“Only I knew.”
They kept falling.
For a very long time.