He bit his nails. He tapped his feet, then he picked up his coat and threw it on the floor in frustration. The doctor came back out of the room. He hurried off the chair, almost slipping on his coat. ‘Can I see her? I have to see her.’ If nothing else, he could hold her hand and tell her how much he loves her and hope that she could somehow hear him.
‘I’m afraid not, yet. She’ll be taken to intensive care in a short while where you’ll be able to sit with her.’
‘How long will she be on that machine for?’
‘I can’t answer that yet. I’m really sorry.’
‘I can’t lose her. Please tell me she won’t die.’
The doctor took a deep breath. ‘Ah, that room is now free.’ A woman came out with a doctor, crying as she was led up the corridor. Jacob wondered if that was the room they were taken into when they were told that their loved ones were going to die. His hands trembled uncontrollably, his arms shook and he knew if he spoke, his voice would quiver. The doctor was going to tell him that Jennifer would die.
SEVEN
Gina waited next to Wyre on the landing, listening to Cally’s grandfather, Doug Latham, speak gently to the little girl. His clear voice successfully concealed his own worry so as not to worry his granddaughter. A few moments earlier, Evan had left and gone to his own house next door citing that he was there if they needed him. She peered around the door and saw that the man was lying on the bed over the covers with little Cally snuggled under his arm. ‘Do you think you can tell the police what you saw in the garden earlier, darling? Gramps will be with you so you don’t have to be worried?’
‘Yes, Gramps. I’m not worried.’ The little girl giggled. ‘Can you read me a story after?’
‘Of course, but no more ghost stories. What did we say?’ His thick grey eyebrows raised as he spoke with a comforting smile.
Cally giggled. ‘There are no such things as ghosts.’
‘That’s right, darling.’ He kissed her head and waved Gina in. Wyre followed closely and stood in the corner of the room next to the plastic dressing table.
Gina smiled. ‘Hello, Cally. My name is Gina and this is Paula.’
‘Hello, Cally,’ Wyre said in a gentle voice.
‘This is a lovely bedroom. I have a granddaughter about your age. Her name is Gracie. I see you love Lego, just like her, and she loves Elsa fromFrozentoo.’
‘My favourites areFrozenandMoana.’ The brown-haired girl smiled and nestled shyly into her grandad’s arms. ‘Why are you here? It’s night-time.’
‘Well, your neighbour, Evan, told me that you told him that there was someone in the garden earlier and we just want to hear what you have to say.’
She gripped her snowman toy and pressed her lips together.
‘What’s your snowman called?’ Gina knew the character but she wanted Cally to feel confident enough to speak.
‘Olaf.’
‘I love Olaf. Who is your favouriteFrozencharacter?’
‘Elsa. I have the dress.’
‘How lovely.’
‘Do you want to see it?’ The little girl left her grandad’s side and ran over to the chest in the corner of her room and rooted through the box until she pulled out a blue dress.
‘That is beautiful.’
The little girl began to suck the ends of her brown hair.
‘You said to Evan that you saw someone in the garden.’
‘I thought it was a ghost. We were watchingCaspercartoons earlier. Evan looked out the window and said it was a fox. He checked my wardrobe and under the bed, then he said I should go back to sleep because there was nothing there.’
‘What did you see?’
Cally shrugged before running back towards the bed and almost diving onto her grandad. The man narrowly dodged a little knee in his groin and flinched. ‘It wasn’t a fox. It was a ghost, like a shadow.’ She looked up at her grandad, her big brown eyes wide open.
