‘Should you be up?’ he asked, solicitously enough. ‘How are you feeling? Patricia said not to wake you. I’m sorry, Maeve shouldn’t have been up here.’
‘No, she didn’t wake me. It was the woman singing.’
He gave her a puzzled look. ‘The woman?’
‘Yeah, the woman with Maeve. With the long hair the same c—’ Alex swayed on her feet and, before she knew what was happening, Nick caught her arm, steadying her.
‘Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t be up yet. You could still have a concussion. Let’s get Patricia to give you another look, eh?’
‘Patricia?’ she echoed as Nick tried to steer her back towards the bedroom.
‘Dr Neary. She came up last night when you fell. I called her in. Look, I’ll get her. She’s just down in the kitchen. Won’t be a minute.’
Alex sat down on the edge of the bed, counted fingers, answered questions and admitted that she had a splitting headache but no blurred vision or dizziness. Nor was she confused. She saw Nick frown when she said that and tried to ignore it. No doubt he’d say different but she wasn’t sure why. That wobble on the landing maybe. But that had just been tiredness.
Hadn’t it?
‘Really, I’m fine. I just…I don’t know what happened. I thought…I thought I heard something downstairs but when I went down there was nothing. I was going back up when…there was someone on the stairs. Was it you?’
Nick stared at her and slowly shook his head.
‘Oh.’ She didn’t know what to say to that.
‘I heard you fall and came running – no one else was here.’
‘I thought I saw…’ Alex trailed off. She really didn’t want to say any more.
Patricia glanced at Nick and something passed between them, something Alex wasn’t sure how to interpret.
A spear of a sensation very like fear pushed its way up under her solar plexus, stealing her breath. She must have turned pale and the doctor didn’t miss it.
‘Now, you’re going to need to rest,’ said Patricia. ‘Doctor’s orders, my dear, so no arguing. A day in bed at least. Maybe two. And then you can ease back into things. No screens, no internet, none of that. Any relapse and you get Nick to ring me, understand? I’m away a couple of days but if it’s an emergency I can be back up in no time. Nick can look after you and Maeve.’ It struck Alex that Dr Neary, Patricia, must also be ‘Granny’. Alex started to protest, but Patricia glared at her. ‘No arguments.’
Nick’s face was frozen. Had he been about to argue as well? Alex wondered. He glanced at Patricia, who took out her phone and checked her messages, clearly signalling an end to the discussion. Great. Now not only was Alex the enemy, she was his patient as well.
‘All right,’ he said, his voice subdued. ‘But Maeve…’
‘I can’t take her with me, Nick. You know that. And the childminder’s on holidays. I know you were going to stay at mine but…well, it’ll have to be here after all.’
He swallowed hard. Alex watched the column of his throat work, his Adam’s apple clearly visible now he’d shaved. ‘I’d forgotten with all that’s been going on. Yeah, I promised, didn’t I?’ He didn’t exactly sound delighted about the prospect of time with his daughter all of a sudden and Alex suddenly felt like she was overhearing something intensely private. ‘Yeah,’ he said at last, his tone subdued. ‘I’ll keep her here with me. She’ll be no trouble.’
Had Alex imagined the emphasis onshe, as if Maeve wasn’t the one he was worried about?
But the older woman smiled ruefully. ‘She never is, the pet. And she’s missed you something terrible.’
CHAPTER 19
ALEX
‘What’re you doing?’
Maeve swung around the corner of the door to the study clinging to the door jamb like it was a gatepost.
‘Working.’
‘Granny said no screens.’
‘That was a couple of days ago.’ Alex didn’t even bother to look up from the laptop. ‘I’m much better now.’ Besides, all she was doing was checking emails and a couple of the online forums. Gabe had asked her to look over some case notes and see what she thought about some new locations for the show. One of them was a haunted abattoir, no less. He’d probably wet himself with excitement when that came up as an option.
