Something told her that was bad. Something logical and reliable, that was desperately trying to reassert itself and push the nightmares away.
Nick murmured soft, comforting things to her. She wasn’t sure exactly what he said. He sounded like another man entirely.
She wanted to hear that voice. Like music. Like the distant sound of rain. She didn’t want him to stop talking, so she could just listen to him. He was music in the shadows, sliding through the sharp pain in her head. Much better than anything else she’d been hearing in her dreams, her nightmares, in the house at night.
When she tried to speak, to ask what had happened, he just shushed her and smoothed his free hand over her head.
His big, strong hand. How was it so gentle?
‘It’s all right. I’m here. Just stay with me, all right? I’ve got you.’
And then there was someone else with them, someone who shone a light in her eyes and spoke with a quiet authority which could only mean the doctor Nick mentioned had arrived. Alex tried to focus on her, a woman with that kind of firm but fair expression. No-nonsense, her mum would have said. The kind of doctor you wanted.
‘No concussion,’ the older woman said at last. ‘Just a nasty bump, I think. Nothing too serious. Still, you did the right thing calling, Nick. Let’s get her somewhere comfortable to start with. No need to keep her on the cold floor.’
Nick lifted her in his arms, so strong that Alex felt like she was floating. She rested her head – the side that wasn’t hurt – against his chest and was swept up in that scent again. Cedarwood, cloves and citrus. And something else underneath, an undoubtedly male scent. Nick Walker, she thought, and closed her eyes. That scent was him, entirely. She could feel hisheartbeat racing, but he held her so carefully, unwavering, as if she was something precious and fragile.
A few minutes later he set her down on the bed, adjusting the pillows and pulling the sheets up over her. At least until the doctor told him sharply to stop fussing and examined her again.
‘There now. Painkillers will see you right. Along with some rest. Honestly, what were you doing up in the dead of night in a place like this?’ Nick started to say something. ‘Not you,’ the doctor told him. ‘Off you go and sort yourself out or you’ll be no help.’ Her voice softened. ‘You look half dead. Take a moment, love. Breathe deeply. She’s fine. But it can’t have been pleasant for you finding her like that.’ Not pleasant for him, Alex thought in disgruntlement. She was the one who fell, the one with the thumping headache and possible concussion.
And then she remembered his wife. She’d died falling down the stairs. Just like that. And tonight, Nick had watched her fall. It must have been him at the top of the stairs. Who else could it have been?
The doctor’s mouth tightened as she studied Nick with a deliberating gaze. To Alex’s surprise, she wrinkled her nose. ‘And have a shave, for the love of God. That thing on your face looks set to crawl away to die all by itself. Go see to Maeve. She’ll be frantic.’
Somewhere outside the bedroom, there was laughter again, dark with mockery. It rang throughout the corridors of Wildewood Hall, from the floor to the rafters, and Alex started.
All three of them stiffened, just for a moment. Hearing it and making the decision to not admit that. Or just sensing the menacing nature of the house. Nick took another look at Alex, his face so pale beneath the ghastly beard, he seemed ghostly himself, and then he fled.
The doctor Nick had called sat down on the edge of the bed, a grey-haired woman with a dependable kind of face, wire-framed glasses and a stern expression.
‘Hello?’ Alex croaked.
The older woman smiled. ‘Ah, there you are then, pet. Here, I’ve some painkillers to help with your head. Nothing too bad. You won’t even need stitches. I’ve patched you up. Lucky Nick found you though. Don’t worry now. There’s no harm done. I’ll stay here with you tonight.’
‘Shouldn’t I be…a hospital or…’
The doctor gave a fond kind of laugh. ‘Nearest emergency department open now is more than thirty kilometres away. And an ambulance would take hours to get here, let alone back there. Besides, I don’t think there’s a need. You were lucky this time. We’ll see what morning brings, will we?’
There wasn’t much more to say. No arguing with someone like that, not that Alex had any wish to argue. It was comforting, the confidence in that voice. Something to cling to. Like Nick.
‘Is Nick…is he okay?’
‘Nick? He’s fine. Bit shaken, what with finding you like that and all. The state he’s got himself into the last few months, I don’t know. But you, young lady, need to close your eyes and get some sleep. Don’t worry about him. Here, painkillers. You’ll need them.’
Alex took the pills and drank some water. She fell back asleep a lot more quickly than she would have liked to admit.
CHAPTER 17
NICK
Nick paced the kitchen, his mind whirling, his stomach in knots. He couldn’t bring himself to sit still. Every noise made him jump.
She was all right. Shehadto be all right. Patricia wouldn’t lie to him.
But he’d rushed out to the top of the stairs and he’d seen her lying there. Just like Sally. Exactly like Sally.
It had been like reliving the whole thing again, that awful night.
