The Wrong Move by Jennifer Savin

Author:Jennifer Savin [Savin, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473568471
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Published: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Lauren and Sofie stood by the water cooler not knowing what to say. It was gone midday.

‘I just can’t fathom it. Who would do something like that?’

It was Sofie who eventually broke the silence in hushed tones, repeating the same refrain they’d already wheeled out countless times. The hours in the waiting room were crawling by.

‘I’m so glad those girls found her,’ she continued, shaking her head in disbelief, glancing at Jessie’s bag lying on a chair next to them, the strap torn and half the contents missing. ‘I wish we’d left the club sooner, instead of spending so long searching for one another in there.’

Thinking back to the crowd of people gathered around Jessie’s limp body made Sofie shiver. A group of strangers on their way home had found her lying across the path at an odd angle, a dark pool around her head, and immediately phoned an ambulance.

‘Imagine if we hadn’t walked that way too,’ nodded Lauren. ‘We’d still be sitting in the flat, wondering where she was.’

She looked tearful and her face was blotchy.

‘Why would anybody ever want to hurt her?’ Sofie repeated.

Neither of them wanted to answer that, not daring to acknowledge how much worse things could have been. Paramedics had taken Jessie to the Royal Sussex to run precautionary tests and keep her under observation. Lauren was grateful they were taking things so seriously. Her feet were pulsing in her platform shoes so she leant forward to unbuckle them and sat back down. Sofie took a seat beside her and rested her head on Lauren’s shoulder. Eventually, they both fell into a light doze until a nurse holding a clipboard came over and woke them with a gentle shake.

‘We’ve cleaned and stitched Jessica’s facial wounds and have the results back from her CT scan, which shows she has a linear fracture on the back of her skull,’ the nurse explained, tilting her head to one side. ‘What that means is the break is in a straight line and that she’s a very lucky girl not to have suffered a depressed fracture, which would require surgery, given the level of force she was subjected to. The police have been informed, of course.’

Lauren looked up at her aghast.

‘We’re currently waiting for the consultant to prescribe antibiotics to prevent any infection and then, as Miss Campbell is proving neurologically sound, I expect she’ll be able to leave later on this afternoon. Are you able to arrange her transport home?’

They nodded that they would.

‘Someone will also need to keep a close eye on her over the next few days, given that she’ll be suffering from a heavy concussion, along with bruising. It goes without saying that your poor friend has been through a hell of a time and is very shaken. She may well experience post-traumatic stress disorder and might want to think about counselling when she’s ready.’

The nurse removed a couple of leaflets in primary colours, bearing the words ‘Concussion’ and ‘PTSD’, from her clipboard.

‘Are we able to see her?’ Lauren asked in a wobbly voice, clutching the pamphlets tightly.

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