At this point, Noah gave up. ‘The morphine’s kicked in. I’ll get his notes instead.’
Ridley spoke so quietly and calmly that Maggie didn’t feel worried, because he wasn’t. ‘Take your time, Maggie. He’s in resus at the moment, and needs to go to CT before anyone will be allowed to see him, so... sorry, I forgot you work here. All you need to know is that he’s fine and I’ll not leave his side until you arrive.’ Maggie asked nothing about Jack’s injuries or how he acquired them. She didn’t want to burden Ridley with the responsibility of trying to explain.
An hour later, Jack’s bed was parked in an ED cubicle, where he was told he’d stay until the results of his CT scan had come back. He wore nothing but an open-backed gown and Noah, who was folding his ruined clothes into the transparent property bag on top of the small black rucksack, had an inexplicable smirk on his face. Jack, now on strong pain medication, was more comfortable. His head and body felt like lead, but there was far less pain. Noah couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. ‘We’ve all been admiring your tan, Detective.’ Jack breathed out a weak laugh, which Noah took as permission to continue. ‘Your head, hands and feet look like they’ve been on holiday!’ Noah giggled as he put the property bag back underneath Jack’s bed. ‘OK, Jack, you’ve got a bit of a wait now till we get your results, but — sneak preview — Dr Okoya, our bang-on-the-head specialist, isn’t unduly worried. I mean, you look like you’ve fallen down a mine shaft but, all things considered, you’re in good nick.’ Noah leant in close to Jack again and lowered his voice. ‘That straight-lace in a suit who came in with you? That your boss?’ Jack immediately recognised the description as being Ridley. ‘Only I’m hearing all sorts of good things about that man from the nurses! Something about singing to babies?’
At that exact moment, Ridley approached. Noah stood bolt upright, put Jack’s buzzer within reach and then walked away singing the same lullaby Ridley sang at Hannah’s naming ceremony, the only difference being that Noah got all of the words right!
‘I’ve just arrested Alberto for, amongst other things, your attempted murder,’ Ridley announced. Now that he was sure Jack was going to live, Ridley had reverted to his official persona. ‘I’ll escort him to the station as soon as he’s fit to move.’
‘Don’t let him see Betina,’ Jack told him. ‘She makes him strong. And wind him up, ’cos he’s got a short fuse. But have someone in the room with you when you do.’ Ridley nodded his understanding. Jack had never actually seen Ridley in a physical confrontation but imagined that most villains would probably underestimate him. Most people, in fact.
Jack then asked how Maggie took the news of him being in hospital. ‘I didn’t go into detail,’ Ridley replied. ‘I said you’d been injured but were OK. I mentioned the CT. You can tell her the rest when she gets here. I didn’t want her overly worried while she was driving.’
‘Did we get Adidas Man?’ Jack asked.
Ridley chuckled. ‘Oaks did. He can’t wait to tell you all about it. Tomorrow, I’m going to head back to Chipping Norton to debrief with DCI Hearst.’
Jack smirked at the words ‘debrief with DCI Hearst’. Ridley noticed but didn’t seem to understand. He put Jack’s grin down to the morphine and continued: ‘I’ll also talk to Hearst about setting your Judas Horse free.’ Jack’s smirk disappeared and, although he said nothing, his eyes betrayed his heartfelt gratitude. ‘Charlotte won’t get away scot free, I’m afraid. I’ll do my best for her but... she gave target names to De Voe. I promise you this, though, Jack: the only person Charlotte will have to explain herself to is Annie. I’ll protect her from any community backlash.’
Jack nodded. ‘Thank you.’ Life’s moral grey area wasn’t a natural or satisfying place for Ridley to be, but he’d go there for Jack.
The next thirty minutes were taken up by Jack talking Ridley through the events that had taken place in De Voe’s office. It certainly wasn’t an official statement, but Ridley knew that Jack might recall now something he could later forget. Especially if he ended up having full sedation for any reason. This conversation was brought to an end by Maggie arriving. She hugged Ridley for longer than she’d ever hugged him before.
‘Thank you for looking after my Jack,’ she said simply.
He nodded, then left them together.
Maggie’s eyes explored Jack’s body, taking in every cut and bruise, every dressing that hid an injury, every cannula sticking into him. By the time her eyes came to rest on his bruised and tired face, she knew all she needed to know. She lowered the bed rail, kissed his forehead, sat down on the low plastic chair next to him and held his hand. ‘Want to see a video of Hannah smiling?’
With that image firmly in his mind, all of the pressure, stress and fear from the day disappeared, and Jack felt the overwhelming relief of being alive. The tears came quickly from both of them.
Two hours later, Noah arrived to take Jack up to a ward. As predicted, his CT scan had revealed nothing concerning — but Dr Okoya had admitted him for one night’s observation. Maggie opened her shoulder bag and handed Noah a carrier bag filled with toiletries and a brand-new pair of pyjamas. Noah smiled to Maggie. ‘Are you coming up with us, Doctor? Jack’s on the same floor as Regina’s poor little baby.’
Chapter 26
Jack swam in and out of sleep all night. There were so many sounds in the air, he didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t: buzzers, nurses whispering, doors creaking, shoe soles squeaking across vinyl floors. Every two hours, the patient in the bed next to him had his BP taken, and the humming noise made by the cuff inflating made Jack dream of Bjarne’s ‘quiet as a mouse’ EC12 °Colibri helicopter. And every four hours, Jack’s own BP was taken. Every time, he part-woke and asked what time it was. And every time, the nurse would say, ‘Too early for you to be awake, Jack.’ Then he’d close his eyes and listen to her humming something gentle and soothing.
When Jack woke fully for the first time, Maggie was standing at the foot of his bed talking to Mario. ‘Hey, there he is!’ Mario beamed down at Jack. ‘Mags told me what happened. Mate, I could never be Old Bill. Mad job! But a ride in a chopper. Nice!’ Mario then gibbered on for a while longer about a bungie jump he’d chickened out of when he and Regina went to Victoria Falls. ‘She was strapped to me, so couldn’t jump either. Heights man! Turns out I don’t like them.’
Jack, not thinking clearly, interpreted Mario’s talkative mood as a good sign and tried to ask about Regina and the baby. But Mario was purposefully talking so much that nobody could get a word in and ask him any questions he didn’t want to answer. Jack saw his mistake the instant Maggie put her hand gently on Mario’s shoulder and the combination of Jack’s clumsiness and Maggie’s kindness made Mario cry.
‘The name Princess has stuck,’ he said through his tears. ‘Her first operation is this afternoon, so we’ve got a meeting with the consultant this morning.’ Mario looked at Maggie, knowing she would understand what he was talking about. ‘By the time she’s three months old, she’ll have had two more operations. And that’s if everything goes well! She’s so tiny, Mags. But she smiles now, did Regina tell you? She smiles at everything, imagine that... I hear parents on the maternity ward saying things like, “I hope our baby is smart,” or, “I hope she takes after her mum,” or, “I hope he’s tall.” I just hope my baby lives. She doesn’t have to be smart, or tall. She just has to stay with us.’