She sniffed and smiled back at him. ‘Pig.’
‘That’s more like it. Now then, how soon before you’ll be up and annoying us all again?’
‘I’m not staying here in bed any longer than I have to. But the thing is, and don’t you dare breathe a word of this to Mum or Dad, my chest hurts like hell, inside and out. If Blake hadn’t saved my life, I’d have him for assault, I’m black and blue.’
‘Better a few bruises than the alternative. From what I hear, it was pretty impressive what he did.’
‘Yeah well, I had no idea what was going on, but what I’m told is that I wouldn’t be here now if he hadn’t known what to do.’
Callum suddenly looked serious. ‘What was it like?’
‘What was what like?’
‘I’m trying to be sensitive here. What was it like coming so close to, well, you know …’ His voice trailed away.
‘Death?’
He nodded.
‘Tunnels and white lights, you mean?’
‘Were there any?’
She shook her head. ‘Not that I was aware of. It was just darkness. But before that, I could have sworn Orla was there with me. Except she wasn’t saving me, she was taking me further down into the water, as though she wanted me to be with her.’
‘You were probably hallucinating, or something close to it.’
‘Jenna reckons it was when she had grabbed hold of me and my brain was all over the place with lack of oxygen.’
‘Sounds eminently feasible, and just as likely that you would associate drowning with Orla.’
Rachel scrunched the tissue she’d just used into a small hard ball. ‘It’s a horrific way to die, Cal,’ she said. ‘I keep thinking of Orla and how awful it must have been for her.’
‘I don’t think that’s something you should dwell on,’ he said, ‘not after what you’ve been through.’ He took the screwed up tissue from her and tossed it into the wastepaper basket.
‘But that’s just the point. After what I’ve gone through it’s hard not to think of Orla. I keep wondering if her death really was an accident? Do you suppose Alastair asks himself the same thing?’
Callum got to his feet and went over to the window. With his back to her, he said, ‘Orla was always an up and down sort of person, for all we know she might have hit a particularly low point and wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘So youdothink she could have committed suicide?’
He turned around. ‘I didn’t say that, and really what’s the point in going over it? Intentional or not, she’s dead and that’s an end to it. Let’s talk about something else. After all, you did want me to cheer you up.’
Rachel glanced towards the door, which Callum had left ajar when he came in.
‘Do you want me to close it?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
When he had, and he was sitting on the bed again, she said, ‘I want to talk to you about Jenna.’
She saw a flash of wariness in his eyes. ‘Oh yes,’ he said lightly, ‘anything in particular about her?’
‘Yes. You need to be proactive.’
‘In what respect?’
‘Don’t be obtuse,’ Rachel said, noting how his body had stiffened at her words. ‘I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at her.’
