AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Is there somewhere we can all sit down?’ PC Collins asks.
I lead them through to the living room, my whole body numb.Is this about Alice Hughes?‘I don’t want to sit,’ I say. ‘What’s happened?’
‘We’re sorry to have to tell you this,’ PC Jarvis says, ‘but your husband Max Chambers has been attacked. He’s in intensive care.’
FIVE
My legs buckle as I stare at the two police officers. One of them – PC Jarvis, I think, although I’ve already forgotten which is which – is well over six foot, with hair that’s a similar colour to Max’s. His blonde, younger-looking colleague, although far from short, is dwarfed standing beside him. I fold my arms across my body, a gesture I seem to have no control over. Although their words are loud and succinct, they don’t feel real. None of this does.
‘He was attacked near his office,’ PC Jarvis says. ‘We’re assuming he was on his way home.’
‘This must be a mistake.’
The pitying smile on the taller officer’s face tells me I’m wrong. ‘Paramedics were able to identify him from the work ID in his pocket. IBM Financial Services. York Road.’ His mouth twists into a half-grimace. ‘Emergency Services would have called you immediately, but your husband’s phone and wallet weren’t at the scene.’
‘Is he…is he okay?’ I’m seconds away from throwing up.
‘They’re doing everything they can,’ the younger officer says. ‘We don’t have any more details at the moment.’
‘What happened to him? When?’ Adrenalin kicks in and I stand up, unsure what I’m supposed to be doing.
‘He was found in an alleyway near his office building. Early indications are that it was possibly a mugging, but it’s too early to determine that,’ the tall officer explains. His words might as well be straight from a television drama. Not my life. ‘You might want to get to the hospital as soon as you can. St Thomas’. He was beaten badly. I’m sorry, but it looks like they left him for dead.’
Hearing these words should cause me to double over in pain, or force tears to flood from my eyes. But now all I feel is numb. ‘My daughter. I need to tell Poppy.’
‘Where is she tonight?’ the shorter one asks.
‘Staying the night at my friend’s house. Having a sleepover with her best friend.’
The officers glance at each other. ‘You might want to wait until morning, then, given the time.’
I nod, though this is the last thing I want to do. I need Poppy to be safe at home with me.
‘We can give you a lift to St Thomas’ hospital.’
Somehow, I manage to thank them before I grab my coat and follow them to their car.
Hospitals are strange places in the dead of night. For the most part, eerily silent, as if everyone’s been abandoned. And any sounds are amplified, demanding attention. My trainers squeak too loudly on the floor as I make my way to the intensive care unit.
The two officers escort me, and when we get there I see another uniformed police officer outside. The three of them stop to talk in low voices, while I look through the glass panel in the door. Max is in the bed closest to the door.
Even though my heart aches for him, the man lying under those stark white hospital sheets is no longer Max. Not the Max I love.
Without checking if it’s okay, I leave the officers and step inside the room. A nurse at one of the other beds glances up. Smiling, she comes to meet me at the door. She’s around my age with a round face that immediately puts me at ease. ‘Can I help?’ She has a soft Irish accent, infusing the room with warmth.
Shock at seeing Max lying here like this – at all of this being real – renders me speechless, but I manage to nod.
‘I know it looks bad,’ she says. ‘But we’ve seen people pull through with even more traumatic injuries. Please keep that in mind.’ She smiles. ‘And don’t worry about the police being out there. It’s just a precaution until they find out more about what happened to Max.’
I stare at my husband, and my chest constricts. There’s barely a patch on his face that isn’t covered with black and purple bruises, and his head is tightly bandaged. His eyelids are enlarged and swollen; even if he could open them, he wouldn’t be able to see clearly.
Despite everything, I feel the sting of tears welling in my eyes.
‘The doctor will come and speak to you as soon as he can,’ the nurse says. ‘He’s just dealing with another emergency.’
‘Canyoutell me?’
‘We’ve done a CT scan and he has an intracerebral haemorrhage. A bleed on the brain.’
