‘All right,’ Andrew said, feeling himself a hero. ‘Hold on to your seat!’ He flicked the sirens and lights on and Ally watched as the cars parted for them all the way down the carriageway.
Ally hadn’t known what to expect when she reached the ward, but it wasn’t an armed officer at the door of Jamie’s room. She’d shown her ID and been ushered in.
Chief Inspector Edwyn stood in the way of the bed, his back to her. Robert Mason stood up as she came in.
She peered at the white bed, the drip bag and tubes, Jamie’s hands pale over the blue waffle bedcover, his chest and throat exposed through the chequered hospital gown. His lips were parched and he had a great big bandage over one side of his brow with a red, stitched gash showing around its white edges. The deep brown of his eyes deepened further when he saw her.
‘Ah, and here she is,’ said Edwyn, stiffly. ‘Your friend’s arrived. I’ll file your statement back at the station. Robert, take over as security watch from Officer McNally at the door.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Robert, before turning to tell Jamie he’d be right outside.
‘Mind and get some rest,’ Edwyn told the patient as the door closed.
Left alone, Ally wasn’t sure how to act. A monitor clamped over Jamie’s finger charted his heart beats and oxygen levels on a screen attached to a trolley by his bed. It beeped reassuringly every few seconds.
She wanted to sweep across the room and hold his bruised face in her hands and kiss the web of red scratches on his cheekbone. But she stood stock-still at the end of his bed.
‘You came,’ he said simply.
‘You asked for me.’
He tried to nod, winced, and let his head press back into the pillow. The green line on the screen spiked then fell sharply again. It was enough to get her feet moving.
‘Come here.’ She fixed his pillows, thinking how this felt like a movie and not her real life at all. ‘If I asked what happened, would you tell me?’
A smile formed at the edge of his mouth. ‘I don’t remember much of it. The Garten patrol unit found me knocked out in a back alley, the suspect long gone, along with the informer. They said I’d been out cold for hours.’
‘Christ! Who did this to you?’ Her hand twitched with the impulse to touch the padded bandage over his lovely brow. Would he tip his head and rest against her hand if she did?
‘Francie Beaumont. Heard of him?’
Stumped, Ally pulled a face.
‘No reason you should have, but the constabulary have known him a long time. Small time crook but persistent, and slippery with it.’ His voice broke into a crackling cough. Ally offered him the water glass, and even though Jamie’s arms seemed fine, he sipped from it like a helpless man.
‘Where is he now?’
‘In a cell,’ Jamie said, letting his eyes close for a moment. ‘Him and nine of his pals will be paying a visit to the High Court.’
‘Nine!’
Jamie still hadn’t learned his lesson about the stiff neck and attempted a nod.
‘Tshh!’ He inhaled sharply.
Ally slipped her hand under his jaw and cradled his neck. He was cool to the touch.
‘Stop trying to move!’ she scolded him. ‘Silly thing.’ All she could do was smile, even though it was patently unfunny seeing him in pain. Yet, he was all in one piece and smiling back at her.
‘They were traced back to a property half a mile from where I was found. Recovered the stolen jewellery too,’ he added, his eyebrow lifting as he told her the good news. ‘Along with a fair few other things linking the gang to robberies all over the central belt and enough coke to get them custodial sentences for intent to supply alone.’
‘Wow! So you’re the hero of the hour then?’
‘Hardly, I just about got handed my own heid to play with.’
Again, they laughed. It was grim and absurd, but he was in a warm bed, in the arms of the NHS, and with Ally’s thumb softly stroking his cheek, even when she told herself she really shouldn’t.
‘Thank God you’re all right. How on earth did you know where to look for this…’ She’d already forgotten the guy’s name.
