The nurse began to busy herself popping a thermometer under her tongue and then wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm.
‘Your blood pressure is really low, Angela, no wonder you passed out.’
‘It is?’
‘Yes, dangerously low. I’ll speak to the doctor now; I think you’re going to need some blood taken and some medication to help. I’ll get you some toast and a cup of tea too, you’ve had a terrible shock.’
Angela began to sob; she wasn’t used to anyone being so nice to her. It would explain why she was feeling so rotten all the time. Maybe she hadn’t meant to hurt the baby, it really had been an accident. But that didn’t excuse the feeling of sadness that he was still breathing. She wanted her baby to die andwhether she had low blood pressure or not that still made her the most terrible mum in the whole world.
TEN
Morgan had gone into the station by the side door that led into the Task Force changing room. She was not in the mood for banter or conversation. She had already worked her eight-hour shift, this was a call out and she couldn’t help feeling that it was a call out that should never have happened. The guilt was almost unbearable, how the hell was she going to get over this? They had pegged Justin, Lydia’s horrible boss, as a potential suspect, then it had all gone a bit feral. Jack’s murder had thrown them all, then Amy had given birth to her gorgeous baby girl. She stood still, the smell of stale sweat, body odour and the damp smell of clothes that had been wet and were now drying out filled her nostrils. Morgan had to bend double to suck in a gulp of air and try to calm her nerves. She stuffed a fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming out in frustration. The automatic lights finally kicked in and flickered into life just as the door to the room burst open, and Al let out a screech she would have been proud of to see her bent double in the middle of the room.
‘For God’s sake, Morgan, you scared the shit out of me.’
She’d straightened up, but her cheeks were damp from the tears.
‘Hey, are you okay, kid? You look like crap.’
This made her chuckle. ‘No, I’m not okay, Al. I think I’m losing the plot.’
He nodded. ‘Completely understandable. Look, let’s go grab a coffee out of the machine in the canteen. I know how I can get two for the price of one. I’ll show you my special trick.’
‘You’re admitting to stealing from the canteen?’
He shrugged and grinned at her. ‘Not technically, if the piece of shit machine can’t count, who am I to argue with it.’
‘Are you not off shift?’
He shook his head a little. ‘Paperwork, lots of it, and I honestly need a coffee to clear my brain fog so I can type. You can keep me company for ten minutes, can’t you?’
She nodded. ‘Of course I can, thanks, Al.’
‘Hey, no need to thank me, I’m just doing my job.’ But he winked at her, and she felt all of the tightness in her chest begin to slowly ease. She could have a coffee with Al; it might help her.
They walked to the lift, and she grinned at him. ‘Thank God you didn’t suggest running up those bloody stairs. I’m knackered.’
‘Yeah, I thought you were into running and stuff. Aren’t you and Cain like running buddies?’
She laughed so loud it echoed around the atrium. When the lift doors slid open, he shoved her inside. ‘Easy, you’ll have Madds out here asking why we’re this happy in our work.’
He jabbed the button for the second floor and the doors slid shut. Morgan was still laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I am like the least healthy person in the world. I blooming hate exercise and I live off coffee. I only took up jogging to beat Cain at a bet, and I failed miserably, although he failed worse than me, as he went and got himself stabbed so he didn’t have to race me.’
It was Al’s turn to laugh. ‘You lot are crazy; I had no idea that you had to be off your tits to work in CID.’
Morgan nodded. ‘It helps if you are and yes, we are. I don’t know how Ben copes with us.’
‘I think Ben is pretty lucky to be fair, you’re all far more exciting than my team.’
‘Come join us then, Al.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think I could cope with that level of commitment.’
They walked into the canteen and the lights flickered into life; Morgan followed him to the vending machines. He stopped at the one that dispensed coffees and began feeding money into the machine. He pressed the button for a latte then looked at her. She nodded and as soon as the cup dropped, he pressed the reject button and by some miracle his money was spat out, but the coffee still dispensed. He was grinning at her, passed her the cup when it had finished and put his money in to get another. This time he didn’t press the reject button. She took the coffee from him.
