The White Robe: Epilogue
#22 of The White Robe
Caitlin is home again, and the story comes to a close.
Caitlin sat on the couch in the warm beam of sunlight that filtered through the living room window. The bandages were finally off, and the stitches had come out. She was healing nicely, at least on the physical side.
The nightmares still came, and she wasn't able to leave the house without a sense of panic and dread descending upon her, but she was getting better. the therapist they'd given her when she left the prison was helping in leaps and bounds.
She'd still been in the infirmary the night that Poppy had been executed, and she still awoke some nights to the haunting melody that the girls sang, her dreams telling her that the song was being sung for her.
The television was on, and she sat transfixed, staring at the screen. There was no sound, but she didn't need it. The screen showed shaky footage of Senator Lewis being led out of the capitol building by his attorneys, trying to dodge the cameras and the newsies that were likely shouting questions at him about the scandal involving his son.
They'd come and camped out on the Kincaids' front lawn for a time until the day Orfeo had come to visit. One word with the reporters and they'd scattered like mice in her wake. Caitlin's mother had baked cookies for the older guard for that.
Today the newsies were gone, but the world was engrossed in the enfolding scandal. With Hunter dead and the footage Corbett had released, there was no question about the outcome of the Senator's trial, but Caitlin felt strangely numb. With all that had happened, she still felt Hunter's loss in her heart. She'd loved him despite everything he'd done. She didn't understand how she could loathe him with all her being and yet still miss him.
He was gone, though, and he wasn't coming back. He'd paid for what he'd done by his own hand. She almost envied him that. He took the easy way out and she was still here, dealing with what Sinclair had done to her.
She took comfort in the fact that Sinclair had been both dismissed and tried for what he'd done to Caitlin. Even with the condemned, there were apparently limits to what could be done. He'd crossed them. Orfeo had told her the last time she'd visited that even when he was let out of his prison sentence, he wouldn't be working anywhere in the city ever again.
The news switched away from Senator Lewis and a familiar face appeared on the screen. Caitlin turned the volume back up.
"...are still searching for Richard Corbett and Leonard Alexander. No formal charges have been made, but they continue to be regarded as persons of interest in the case. Anyone with information is urged to call the number on the screen."
Caitlin smiled and turned off the television, then she stood and walked to the window to look out over the back yard.
"Thank you," she whispered as she pressed her hand to the glass. One day she hoped that she could talk to Corbett again but for now, this was the only thanks she could give.
She let her hand fall from the glass and then turned to walk into the kitchen where she could hear her father making pancakes for breakfast. A few steps brought her into the room, and when he saw her come in, he held her arms open for her.
Caitlin took the invitation and she cried once again as her father's arms enfolded her. Nothing would ever erase what had happened, but she could finally rest, assured that her father would die before anything happened to her again.