‘Right. Upstairs, you two, to brush your teeth now, please.’ Stuart waves his arms in the air, shooing the kids out of the kitchen. ‘I’ll be up to read a chapter ofHarry Potterin five.’
‘Who’s taking us to Lacey’s party on Saturday? Is it you, Dad?’ Beth asks.
‘What party? Have we got a present?’ I ask. My eyes pull to the calendar, remembering something about a trampoline park.
Beth sighs and Archie jumps up and down in front of me again. ‘It’s at Wicked, the new trampoline place. I’m invited too because Lacey’s brother said I could come as his friend.’
My head pounds. Stuart touches my arm. ‘It’s fine. We’ve got a present. I thought I’d take them. Get usout of your hair for a few hours,’ he says as though reading something in my face.
Is it that obvious? And if Stuart can see it, can Beth and Archie? I force a smile. ‘Actually, I’m not working this weekend. I’d like to come. It sounds like fun. Do they let mummies jump too?’
‘Yessss,’ Archie shouts at the exact same moment Beth huffs, ‘No way.’
‘You have to wait in the cafe,’ she adds.
‘OK then.’ I smile, pretending not to notice her outright disdain for me.
‘Teeth and ready for bed,’ Stuart says again. ‘Now, please.’
There’s a clatter of feet as Beth and Archie storm up the stairs. I listen to their light-hearted bickering over whose turn it is to use the bathroom first and whether Archie is big enough to give Beth a piggyback across the landing. There’s a high-pitched giggle from Archie and an almighty thud. He’s not.
‘Jenna, what happened? Did you call security?’ Stuart asks.
I slide on to one of the stools and feel the cry of relief from the muscles in my lower back. ‘He came in an ambulance. He was hit by a bus.’
‘Are you sure it was him?’
I picture you staring at me from the corner of the road yesterday and dozens of times before that. I think of the umbrella you had when the ambulance brought you in. A black one with a white logo. ‘One hundred per cent.’
‘Have you spoken to DS Church?’
‘Of course.’ It was the first thing I did when I left the resus bay, as soon as Diya had gone, when you were waiting for a porter to take you upstairs. DS Churchanswered on the first ring with her usual brusque I’m-too-busy-to-talk hello. I tried to be concise, ignoring the quiver in my voice as I told her that I knew not only who you were, but where you were. She made all the right noises and promised to get back to me after she’d looked into it, but I hung up feeling deflated, as though I was reporting a lost cat or a stolen bike rather than the name and location of the man who has been relentlessly tormenting me for months.
‘Good. They’ll arrest the bastard before he does a runner.’
I think of the text Diya sent me on my way home.
He’s out of surgery for the broken leg. Induced coma. Intensive care. Try not to think about it! Call me tomorrow xx
‘He’s unconscious and in intensive care so he’s not going anywhere.’ There’s more I want to tell Stuart. I want to tell him about the power I felt when I stood over you and how close I came to breaking my oath as a doctor, but something stops me – rock-bottom exhaustion probably.
‘Daaaddy,’ Archie and Beth call together.
‘I’ll be up in one minute,’ he shouts before coming over to me and sliding his arms around my waist. ‘Let’s open that bottle of champagne that’s in the fridge. This feels like something we should be celebrating.’
‘Does it?’ I make a face.
‘Jenna,’ he smiles. ‘He can’t get to you now. The only place he’ll be going when he gets out of hospital is prison. Don’t you see – the police will know who he is now? We can stay in the house, we can move onwith our lives, get back to how it used to be.’ His face freezes at that last bit, his smile dying a little on his lips. ‘Like when we were first married,’ he adds.
‘I know what you mean.’ I smile and wonder if Stuart is right – is this a celebration?
He opens the fridge, the jars in the door rattling with the movement. ‘Here,’ he says, ripping off the foil and popping the cork before I can say no. He slides the bottle and two champagne flutes towards me. ‘I’ll be back in five minutes.’
I lift the bottle and pour the fizzing liquid into the glasses before resting my head in my hands and breathing in the silence.
Stuart’s voice replays in my thoughts. ‘The only place he’ll be going when he gets out of hospital is prison.’
If you get better.My heart flutters in my chest – a trapped bird trying to escape. I could’ve stopped you today. I could’ve killed you.
