Page 14 of The Happy Family

‘No. Go and be with Arthur and Ruby. It will be better if you are just in case it’s bad news.’

I can’t disagree with that so I give Luna another kiss before standing to leave.

‘Try and get some sleep. I’ll be back soon,’ I say, noting how wide awake Luna looks and realising, at the moment, sleep might be a bit of a far-fetched concept for her.

‘Just let me know as soon as you have any news,’ she says.

‘I will. I promise.’

I slip through the curtain that surrounds Luna’s bed, and once I’m off the ward and onto the corridor, I am trying to remember the route that will take me back to the part of the hospital where Arthur, Ruby and my in-laws are anxiously waiting. But before I can do that, I see two police officers talking to the doctor who just helped us. I figure it must have something to do with Luna, so I approach.

‘Is everything okay?’ I ask.

‘I’m just trying to tell these officers that your partner needs to rest before they can ask her any questions,’ the doctor replies, while the policemen look a little agitated that they are being held up from doing their job by this man in the white coat.

‘We understand that, but we would like to talk to her while she is awake and the incident is still fresh in her mind,’ the first officer says.

Now it’s my turn to be irritated. ‘She was stabbed by my ex in our home and she’s only just had a scan to check on the health of her unborn baby, so I am pretty sure this incident is going to be fresh in her mind for a long time yet,’ I snap. It might not be the politest or most sensible way of dealing with the police, but I’m tired, it’s been a long night, and it’s certainly been a stressful one.

‘I’m sorry for what you and your partner have been through this evening,’ the second, more diplomatic officer says, but I still shake my head to show that I’m going to be as hard to convince as the doctor about this.

‘No, she needs some rest, and you can speak to her in the morning,’ I say adamantly. Thankfully, with the doctor’s backing, we are able to make the police drop it. But only partially.

‘May we ask you a few questions about what happened at your house?’ they enquire then.

‘I need to go and be with my children. They are worried about their mother, and we are waiting for an update. Can this wait?’

‘Again, we’d prefer to do it now while it’s still⁠—’

‘Don’t say fresh again,’ I snap before letting out a very deep sigh. ‘Okay, let’s talk while I walk back to my family. But the questions stop when we get there, understand?’ It’s a testament to how frazzled I am that I am being bold enough to give a couple of policemen orders rather than the other way around, but I’ve done it and the officers seem happy to agree.

We start walking and as I follow the signs to the ward where Sadie is being cared for, the questions from the police begin.

‘Where were you at the time of your ex-wife’s alleged break-in?’

‘I was upstairs in bed. I was asleep. I thought we all were.’

‘You thought?’

‘Yes, but when I woke up, I saw that Luna was not in bed with me.’

‘What woke you up?’

‘I heard something. A shout. I’m not sure. I thought it was my ex-wife’s voice, but I’d only just woken up so I was confused. I was concerned about where Luna might be, and my children were concerned too because they came into my bedroom. So I got up to check. I heard her calling out for me then, although she seemed far away and frightened.’

‘So you didn’t see your ex-wife break into the house?’

‘Well, no, but she must have done. I mean, how else did she get in there?’

‘She could have knocked, I suppose. Luna could have let her in. She no longer has a key.’

‘If she had done that then she would have told me. But she says that Sadie broke in, so that’s what happened.’

I push through a set of double doors before quickening my pace, aware that the sooner I can get back to my children, the sooner this ‘conversation’ can end.

‘Has your ex ever done anything like this before? Or hinted at it?’

‘Has she ever broken into my home and used a knife to attack my girlfriend before?’ I ask rhetorically. ‘No, she has not, or you would have heard about it.’