'Surely she should be kept in overnight?' Anna said to the nurse, who wound Emily's left arm in the black Velcro-tipped cloth. She slipped on the gauge and pumped, watching the dial, and then let the air hiss out.
The nurse was packing away her equipment when Edward Wickenham walked in. He gave a cold glance to Anna and said, curtly, 'You have no reason to be here with my sister. I would like you to leave, please.'
Anna wanted to say something to Emily, but she remained impassive, staring at the floor. Anna hesitated and then slowly left the room.
Outside in the corridor, Langton was ending his conversation with the doctor. Anna did not interrupt but leaned against the wall. It was almost midnight, and she was tired out. Langton gestured for her to join him, as the doctor went into Emily's room.
'I have said that we will need to question Miss Wickenham regarding a very serious incident, and quite possibly make an arrest. I do not want her removed from the hospital, blah blah!'
Anna looked to the closed door. 'Thing is, with her father being a doctor, her brother's no doubt given them a load of garbage about caring for her.'
'Yeah I know, but the doc's on our side; he thinks she should stay overnight and talk to their resident shrink.'
He shut up fast as the door to Emily's room opened and Edward and the doctor came barrelling out.
'My sister will have the best care possible. This is ridiculous; I can have her home in an hour. I can have her in bed with a private nurse in attendance. Her father is a qualified doctor!'
The young doctor closed the door. 'I am sure you have every good intention, but my patient is not, in my opinion, fit to be released this evening. Added to this, Miss Wickenham does not want to be…'
Edward interrupted him, irate. 'She's seventeen years old, for God's sake! She doesn't know what is best for her!'
'Then you must take my opinion very seriously. This is not the first suicide attempt. She has also had her stomach pumped, her blood pressure is frighteningly high and she is desperately underweight. I would say her family to date have not taken care of her health, and I am not prepared to release her into your custody this evening. Tomorrow may prove to be a different matter, subject to her recovery.'
They continued to argue for some time, moving into the small waiting room, leaving Anna and Langton standing in the corridor.
'Well, he's fighting in our corner,' Langton said.
Fifteen minutes later, Langton watched Edward Wickenham walking away, very obviously angry. He didn't even go back into Emily's room. When Langton tried to thank the doctor, he got a cool response.
'Your allegation that my patient is at risk from her family is not the reason I have insisted she remain here. Whatever questions you need answered must wait until tomorrow. Emily Wickenham is a very sick young lady, and, I would say, both mentally and physically she requires treatment.'
Langton put in a call to get a female officer stationed outside Emily Wickenham's room at the hospital. By this time, it was fifteen minutes after one. Anna drove him home; both of them were tired out. As she drew up outside his flat, only ten minutes away from her own, he rested his left hand on the handle of the car door.
'You did good work today, Travis.'
'Thank you.'
He was silent for a moment. 'How's your head feel?'
'Fine; bit of a bump, but nothing to worry about.'
Her heart flipped as with his right hand he gently rubbed the back of her head. 'A right little trooper, aren't you? Well if you want to make a late morning of it, come in at twelve, rest up.'
'Thank you, but I think I should get over to talk to Emily first thing.'
'Ah yes; tell me, why were you at her flat?'
She shrugged. 'Well, I had arranged to interview her. It was on my schedule before we went off to the Hall so I had a word with Barolli — well, he had a word with me — and I said I'd talk to her on my way home.'
'Well, cut the risk-taking from now on; you should have had someone with you. I thought you would have learned that from the last time we worked together.'
'I didn't know Justine would be there.'
'That is no excuse! Emily could have had a fucking gun with her, never mind that mad cow with a riding crop: learn to get backup organised. You are not a one-man band; we work as a team, so start thinking about being a team player.'
'Like you?'
'Exactly.'
Anna raised her eyebrows at the irony but bit her tongue.
'See you in the morning.' He leaned across and kissed her cheek. The smell of him physically hurt. It only happened in movies: the moment the heroine clasps the leading man's face in both hands and instigates a deep, lustful kiss. She hadn't the bottle to do anything so crass, but after he'd slammed the car door, she wished she had.
Anna parked her car, and used the lift though her flat was only two floors up: her legs felt leaden. Letting herself in, she tossed the keys onto the side table in the hall, eased out of her coat, and then toe-heeled each shoe off, leaving a trail of discarded clothes from the hall into the bedroom.
She flopped down on the bed, arms spread wide. She was so tired she didn't even have the energy to get up and clean her teeth.
She took a deep breath and moaned. 'Oh shit.'
James Langton was back, occupying so much of her mind and heart that denying it was pointless.
Chapter Seventeen
Sleeping, Emily looked so young and fragile. The glucose drip was still in place; both her long thin arms were above the tightly drawn sheet and her bony hands rested one on top of the other. Someone had drawn her hair back from her face with an elastic band, accentuating her high, chiselled cheekbones. Her big, wide eyes seemed sunken beneath the closed lids.
A nurse brought Anna into the room. She had been very concerned when she was told that Justine Wickenham had spent a considerable time sitting beside her sister.
'During the night?'
'Yes, apparently; in fact, you only just missed her.'
'Is the doctor going to release Emily?'
'I don't know; I'm just taking her blood pressure.'
'Will you wake her?'
The nurse checked the time and gave a rueful smile. "Fraid so. It was very high again last night, but it had dropped a wee bit earlier this morning.'
Anna stepped back as the nurse gently lifted Emily's arm and wrapped it in the black pad. The pumping action seemed loud in the silent room. Anna moved round to see Emily more clearly as she had her pulse taken. She was awake, staring ahead with dull expressionless eyes, ignoring the nurse. Anna waited until she had left the room before she went close to the bed.
'Emily, it's Anna Travis.'
'I'm not blind,' she said, in a low, bored voice.
'I don't want to disturb you more than is necessary.'
'Terrific.' She pressed the bed lift to sit up higher.
Anna drew up a chair. 'I need to ask you some questions.'
She didn't respond.
'Have you had breakfast?'
'I'm not hungry.'
At least it was a start. Anna debated how she should continue; Emily was behaving in a totally different manner to the previous night.
'I kept my part of the bargain: you remained here last night.'
No reaction.
'Emily, will you look at me, please?'
She turned her head very slowly towards Anna; her eyes were like saucers, and so full of pain. She reminded Anna of a sick bird; it seemed as if her head was too heavy for such a slender neck to hold up.
'You said you would talk to me and answer my questions. It's very important, Emily.'
'No. Go away.' She didn't say it in anger; her voice was tired and wavery.
Anna hesitated and then reached out to hold her hand. 'You know, if I can, I will help you again. Maybe I can arrange for you to be looked after.'