"The day before yesterday Molly's mom, today Olivia Parker's husband Roger Parker, something is strange about all this" John said frowning. "Maybe just a coincidencehe" he added.
Thomas was still silent.
"I'm sorry, John, but I think I'm going to go home".
"What's wrong with you, Thomas, you look pale".
"I'm not feeling well" he answered, saying goodbye to John and heading home.
Thomas was really sick, and he didn't know why. He walked into his house and to his surprise the door was open. His mom wasn't there, but Carol was. His arm seemed to be healed from when he was hurt by that maniac, but his head hurt.
"Thomas, are you okay?" Carol asked, kneeling down beside Thomas who was sitting on the couch breathing heavily. "Your hand" suddenly she screamed. It was bleeding and Thomas himself didn't understand why.
Now it wasn't just his head that hurt.
"Thomas, you need to see a doctor" Carol said in a pleading voice.
"I'm fine, I just need to calm down, I don't know what happened to me, I just got weak all of a sudden".
"But your hand" Carol quickly ran to get the first aid kit, Thomas had to take off his shirt and she turned away as he did.
"It's okay" he said. She suddenly blushed and began to wrap a bandage around his arm.
Thomas looked at her. She was dressed in a short skirt and a white blouse that barely covered her breasts, which already seemed too revealing to Thomas. She was dressed as when Thomas first met her. Her face was heavily painted and her hair was neatly styled. .
"I just got home from work" Carol told him, catching his eye.
Thomas didn't say anything, and a short time later someone knocked on the door.
Carol stood up quickly, and Thomas looked at her thin but rather beautiful legs.
"Are you going somewhere? "
"I've been invited to dinner by a client, so I might be late".
"Really? " Tomas arched his eyebrows.
Carol walked to the door but didn't open it yet.
"I hope you don't mind".
Thomas was silent for a moment and then said.
"Be careful".
She smiled and went out, closing the door behind her. Thomas stood up, despite the pain in his head and arm, and looked out the window.
There was an old Ford and a guy walking next to Carol, who was much taller, he opened the car door for her. She sat down and kissed him, then he quickly got behind the wheel, still holding the bouquet of flowers, and drove off.
Soon his mother came back and Thomas was still naked to the waist and his arm was still bleeding.
"Oh my God, what happened to your hand again?" she was stunned.
Thomas didn't answer, he seemed to be about to faint, and he did. When he woke up, he noticed a man.
He was telling Thomas's mother something and Thomas heard a few words from the conversation.
"It was poison, but I've removed it, so you don't have to worry about it now".
The doctor left and Thomas tried to get up, breathing heavily, but his mother noticed and made him stay where he was.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked "when that maniac attacked me, was there poison on his knife?"
Mom looked down sadly.
"We should go to the police in case he attacks someone else".
"No, mom, I'm fine now, and I doubt they'll find him".
"Why do you say that? "
Thomas didn't answer, but he didn't think it was the right time to involve the police and give his testimony.
"I called a doctor right after you fainted and he somehow got the poison out, so you're fine now".
"Thank you, mom" Thomas said and put his hand on hers.
His mother handed him a sweater and helped him pull it on.
"Do you know where Carol is? "
"She went out".
"Where? "
"Someone asked her out on a date or something".
Mom was silent for a moment and then said:
"I'm going to make you something delicious".
Thomas suddenly felt hungry and said.
"Okay, Mom".
It was already evening and Carol was still gone. After mother gave Thomas some food he fell asleep but woke up when he heard the door open.
His mother was asleep.
Carol quietly put something on the table and tried to go to Thomas's room, but he sat on the couch.
It was well after midnight.
Carol noticed Thomas waking up and came over to him.
The curtains were open and Thomas could see her face. He didn't know if she had walked or if the guy had driven her, but he was sure she was anxious now, seemingly ashamed of something as she had been when he first saw her, and there was fear.
Her white blouse was unbuttoned and Carol's hair, which had been so nicely done up, was now disheveled. She pulled her skirt down as if to cover her knees, but it didn't work, it seemed to ride up even higher, exposing her thighs.
"What's wrong with you? " Thomas asked.
"Nothing" she exhaled.How's your arm, by the way? she asked.
Thomas stood up. Carol was standing in front of him and the moon shone on her face, which seemed much older than her real age.
"You should give up this business" he said suddenly.
Carol looked at him and then tears welled up in her eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about" she said, wiping away her tears.
"Look at yourself now, you look like a whore"
Thomas shouted in a half-hearted voice.
Carol started to button up her blouse but Thomas grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me, you're hurting me, Thomas".
Thomas let her go, but he was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of hatred that he could hardly contain himself.
"I believed you" he said, holding back his anger and poking her in the spot between her breasts.
Now Thomas seemed big and strong compared to Carol who stood there shaking, she was so defenseless.
"Thomas I am…" Carol started to cry.
"Don't say me anything"
She suddenly grabbed his hand in hers and held it to her chest. Thomas felt her heart beat fast and then he pulled his hand away and grabbed her arm tightly. Thomas pulled her to the door, pushed her out and locked it with the keys she had left on the table.
"Please don't do this, Thomas".
"You must be punished".
"I'm sorry, Thomas, please forgive me".
Thomas was silent, his insides were burning, he couldn't even feel the pain in his hand. He frantically tried to move away from the door, but Carol was still there behind it, crying. Thomas felt regret in her, and most of all fear.
"Thomas I... "
"You didn't want to listen to me, you didn't hear what I said".
"But you can't leave me" Carol sobbed "I don't know what I'll do without you".
"I don't care" Thomas said indifferently and finally stepped away from the door, calming down a bit.
Carol was no longer standing, she was sitting on the cold concrete.
"It's cold outside in the evening and she's only wearing this skirt and .... No damn it, it's her fault, don't feel sorry for her" Thomas said to himself "She has to be punished and that's it".
Thomas lay down on the couch but couldn't sleep, he was still thinking about Carol and didn't know if she was still sitting there or if she had gone out, but where would she go?
But he felt her presence, she was still there, sitting on the doorstep, Thomas assumed. He didn't realized when he fell asleep, but he didn't sleep long, maybe an hour, and when he woke up, he saw that it was raining outside, and it was pouring through the windows. Thomas suddenly thought what if she was sick. He went to the door, slowly opened it and without feeling her presence said
"I haven't forgiven you, but you can.... "