Perfect Illusion

   6 months earlier   “Stay with me, Chay. I will not let you die, can you hear me? Open your eyes! Look at me, my love.”. I couldn’t concentrate on Murphy's voice. The pain was excruciating. He was on top of me, his hands pressing against the wound above my chest. A trickle of blood was running down his face. His left eye was a catastrophe. I looked to the side to see if Peter was moving, and even with the blurred vision, I saw that his body remained motionless by the pool of blood. “Did you kill him?”. My voice came out as a moan. I licked my lips and felt a bitter taste. “I called the emergency and I need you to listen, Chay. You have to say that the man came in here and tried to kill us. He attacked me and when I tried to disarm him, he fell, hit his head on the nightstand, and the gun fired at you. Can you understand?”. I blinked for several seconds. Murphy's strong hand hit my face twice. I think he was trying to keep me conscious. “You killed him. We're going to jail”. I groaned in pain. “We're not going to jail, Chay. So you better pay attention to what you need to say.”. “I don’t want to die”, I said desperately. Murphy did not stop pressing my wound, he remained by my side until we heard the sound of the sirens. “Promise me that we will never do this again, please!”. I begged. My eyes began to close. Everything around spun like a carousel. “Let's not think about it, okay? You'll be fine, my love. Be strong!”. I took a deep breath and the pain intensified. I saw the moment the paramedics entered the room and intubated me. “White woman, blond, about 1,70m. Bullet wound. The victim is still conscious, but has lost a lot of blood”, a police officer spoke on his radio. Murphy was pulled away by paramedics as they carried me into the ambulance. I couldn’t see much, but I realized that there were several police cars surrounding the house. And from a distance, he was talking to one of the cops, totally changed. Despair washed over me and it was hard to breathe. I started to get agitated, because I wanted Murphy by my side, and as soon as the ambulance doors closed, I panicked. I couldn’t lose him. I didn’t want to lose him. What did we do? I thought, closing my eyes, and then the darkness came in terrifyingly.   *   “Miss Harris! Miss Harris, are you feeling alright?”. A soft voice struck my ears. Disoriented, I looked at things around me. A woman stared curiously at me dressed in a white coat named Dr. Sarah Smith, embroidered in her pocket with a cursive handwriting. It was not long before I realized I was in a hospital and all the previous episode came to my mind. “I want to see Murphy. Is he here? Where's Murphy?”. I tried to sit down, but the doctor didn’t let me. “Miss Harris. Do you remember why you're here?”. “Can I talk to Murphy? Please!”. “Your lawyer is out there wanting to see you.”. “Lawyer?”. I don’t have a lawyer. I thought for a moment. It could be Murphy. “It's all right. I am fine.”. “Can I authorize the visit?”. “Yes, thank you.” The doctor offered me a warm smile and turned her back. “Doctor!”, She looked at me intrigued. “How long have I been here?”. I felt confused. The deafening sound of sirens was still in my mind. “Not much, Miss. Harris. Today completed two days.”. “Thanks.”. I looked for the doctor to disappear. The man who came in immediately alarmed me. “Miss Charlotte Harris?”. “It's me.”. My lips were dry. “I'm Mr. Murphy's lawyer. He asked me to give you these papers and this key.”. “Where is he? I want to see him. Why is he not here?”. “He was arrested. He was charged with murder.”. “What? I need to get out of here and see him immediately. He had nothing to do with Peter's death”, I say desperately, trying to get up from the damn bed. “I'm already taking care of everything, Miss Harris. Unfortunately, there was Murphy's fingerprints on the gun that was fired at you, and the bodily injury on the victim was confirmed. The police will take your testimony soon.”. “I can clear him out. I was there.”. “Yes. Your testimony will be of paramount importance, but that does not undo the fact that there was a fatal victim.”. “For how long? How long will he need to stay there?”. “As far as I'm concerned, as little as possible. In the envelope is a small amount that he kept secret and the Florida deed in his name. He said you knew what this is about.”. “Thank you. He is okay? You saw him? - My heart was tight.”. “Yeah. He'll be fine. Well, I must go. Murphy left me clear instructions. He doesn’t want you to see him and he says that as soon as everything is resolved, he will meet you.”. “It's ok. Thank you doctor...”, he noticed my embarrassment at not knowing his name and said, “Henry.”. I give him a smile and he's gone. My chest tightened in such a way that it was difficult to breathe. Arrested? Damn it! The tears fell on my face and I began to feel pain in my wound. When did things start to go so wrong? What had we done? I began to pray in silence. “God, if Murphy comes out of this I promise I'll never do it again. Just bring him back to me”, I said with my eyes closed and cried silently for a long time. The bedroom door opened again, and a black-skinned gentleman with black eyes and a beard stared at me. “Charlotte Harris?”. “Yes.”, I wiped away my tears. “I'm Detective Joe Larson. I need to ask a few questions about Murphy Davis and your fiancé Peter Walker.”. “Ex-fiancé! Me and Peter ended our relationship a month ago.”. The detective stared at me with a strange look, as if he knew more than he seemed. All the hair on my body bristles. I feel the fear exhaling from my pores. I couldn’t let him find out the truth, or we would rot in jail.