Second Sight by Elizabeth Cooke

Author:Elizabeth Cooke
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781504019378
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Five

When Harry got to the hospital at lunchtime, he went immediately to Mark Werth’s office. Lin had called him at half past nine that morning; Werth himself called ten minutes later.

As he opened the door, he saw Lin sitting stony-faced next to Werth’s desk. Harry introduced himself to Werth, then bent to kiss Lin’s cheek. Her gaze flickered over him.

‘Mind telling me what all this is about?’ he asked. ‘What the hell are you doing out of bed?’

‘Just take me home,’ she said.

Harry looked at Werth. ‘How is she?’

‘Don’t act as if I weren’t in the room,’ Lin said.

‘OK, OK … have you rung Kieran?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I rang Kieran, but Ruth answered.’

Harry winced. ‘I see,’ he murmured. He lowered himself to a seat, looking at Werth, who still offered no comment at all, but nevertheless never took his eyes from Lin.

Lin’s expression was equally unreadable, but she reached up and touched his arm. ‘Harry, I’ve got to see Theo,’ she said. ‘He won’t bring him here. You have to take me home. You’re the only person I can turn to.’

Harry put up two hands in a warding-off gesture. ‘Hold on, hold on,’ he said. He looked up at Werth. ‘This is all right?’

‘No,’ Werth replied. ‘But I can’t stop Mrs Gallagher discharging herself if she insists on it.’

‘You mean she’s still ill.’

‘I need to do more tests.’ Werth looked back at Lin.

‘Don’t start again,’ she muttered. ‘I never rang anyone: only Harry and Kieran. She rang them. I didn’t want her to. She never consulted me.’

Harry looked from one to the other. Werth leaned forward on the desk.

‘Several local newspapers have been calling Mrs Gallagher’s ward. There are two reporters there now. An hour ago a national paper contacted me. It’s not a situation I like. It’s not good for the hospital.’

‘It’s not good for me either,’ Lin protested. ‘I never rang anyone!’

Harry pulled up a chair next to Lin. ‘Who never consulted you?’ he asked. He didn’t like her colour: she was deathly pale.

‘A woman whose son was brought in this morning rang the local newspaper,’ Werth explained.

‘She recognized me,’ Lin said wearily. ‘She came back out and she ran after me. She told the security guard from Reception who I was. She said she’d seen me in photographs with Kieran.’

‘What was wrong with the son?’ Harry asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Lin said.

‘You don’t …’ Harry looked hard at her. She rested her elbows on her knees, settling her head in her hands in a gesture of despair. Harry turned back to Werth.

‘The boy was brought in with multiple injuries following a traffic accident,’ Werth said. ‘He stopped breathing in the ambulance. He’d been crushed by a delivery van. His mother was with him.’

‘And she made the phone calls,’ said Harry. ‘OK, finally the mist clears.’ He gave a short sigh, and got up to sit down opposite Werth. ‘So Lin is there when the ambulance comes in …’ He glanced over at her. ‘What were you doing outside, Lin? Never mind—don’t answer that,’ he added quickly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.