‘That doesn’t even make any sense; if we heard him falling down the stairs, of course we would have rushed out behind you from the kitchen to help. And anyway, when the paramedics arrived, he was lying on the kitchen floor so the story doesn’t add up.’
‘I told them that Hugo carried him from the foot of the stairs to both of you in the kitchen because you’re both trained medical professionals.’
The first rule in emergency medicine is never to move a person where there was a chance of spinal injury. It’s the thing taught at every first aid course, you see it on every TV hospital drama and yet she expected the Gardaí to believe that she and Hugo had never known about it?
‘And they bought it?’ I asked in disbelief.
‘I don’t know, to be honest; I told them we were in shock, that we weren’t thinking straight…’
‘Look, Maya, the Gardaí haven’t been over to us yet. Hopefully, they’ll accept your story and we won’t need to be put in that position,’ I said coolly. I knew she was in a horrible situation but she was asking for something too great and I wasn’t making any promises. I would need time to think it through, togo through the repercussions for all of us if Elliot took a turn for the worse. ‘I’ll need to talk to Jay, get his take on it all.’
‘Thank you,’ she gushed, as if I had already agreed to her request. ‘I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. You’ve been such a rock for me; I can’t tell you how grateful I am.’
That was the thing with people like Maya, I suddenly realised: they always got their own way.
59
LIV
Two Days Later
I turned down corridors, passing time-pressed medical staff and patients shuffling along in dressing robes. I eventually entered the room where Maya had told me Elliot had been moved to.
It was two days since we had been in the Laurences’ house and Elliot had been knocked unconscious. Maya called me earlier that morning to say that the doctors had brought Elliot out of the coma and that he had woken up. The relief in her voice was palpable.
‘I know he has a long way to go yet but he’s awake and I’m taking it hour by hour. I could really use a friendly face, Liv. Could you come in? He’s no longer in intensive care so I don’t think they’ll mind one visitor.’
I took a deep breath to steel myself, then I pushed open the door and went inside. I saw Maya sitting at Elliot’s bedside.
‘Hey,’ I said softly to announce my arrival.
‘Liv,’ she said, turning around. ‘Sorry, I never heard you come in.’
She stood up off the chair and made her way towards me. Creases and shadows lined her face and her hair was lank and unwashed. I was used to the polished, glamorous Maya but this barefaced woman before me was the antithesis of that; she looked frightful and I knew that the last few days had taken their toll.
‘How’s he doing?’ I nodded towards Elliot, who was now sleeping. His bruising had turned a dirty-yellow colour, but his pallor looked so much better than it had when Jay and I had arrived at the hospital two nights ago.
‘He’s doing well. He was confused when he woke up at first but he recognised me. He’s sleeping a lot but the doctors told me that that’s normal; it’s going to take a while for his energy levels to get back to what they were before all of this.’
‘Well, I’m so glad he’s on the road to recovery. That was a scary couple of days.’ I exhaled.
She nodded. ‘They have been the worst of my life.’
I pursed my lips together in sympathy. ‘I can’t even begin to imagine what you’ve been through. W-where’s Hugo?’ I ventured, wondering how things were between them now.
‘He went home to get some sleep now that Elliot is out of the coma.’ She paused and lowered her gaze to the floor. ‘Did… ehm… did the Gardaí call you?’ she asked, fear pooling in her eyes.
I shook my head.
‘Oh thank God.’ She exhaled heavily and squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Hopefully, they’ve accepted what we told them and that will be the end of it.’
‘Yeah, hopefully,’ I agreed evenly, feeling a flicker of anger at the difficult position she had put both me and Jay in. I couldn’t let it pass without saying something to her. Something that had been on my mind and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I thought about all those times Julia had told me I had to be honest withmy feelings, that I didn’t have to please everyone or be afraid of hurting people. Never had that advice seemed more apt. ‘Maya, I’m so glad Elliot is awake and I hope he makes a full recovery,’ I began.
‘Thank you, Liv.’ She smiled at me.
I put my palm up to stop her. I needed to say this and I didn’t want her to put me off course. ‘Wait, there’s more… There’s something I need to say to you.’
Her brow furrowed in confusion.
