It was all a bit blurry after that. She had a vague sense of everything spinning around her, of Jakob holding her and something icy cold pressed to the back of her head. Her next memory was of being in an ambulance with a paramedic asking if she could tell him her name. To her embarrassment, her answer was to be horribly sick.
Not long after that, things became less blurry and by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital she was fullycompos mentisand able to deal with the admissions procedure herself. Jakob then arrived, having driven himself to the hospital and was a great support during the interminably long wait before she was examined and stitched up.
While Jakob had driven them home, Nina had scrolled through the messages on her mobile, having been alerted by various members of Hugh’s family to keep away from social media. Which meant there was nothing on earth that could stop her from looking. What she’d found horrified her. Keith had tried ringing her and had left several messages on her voicemail, none of which she’d listened to. They could wait. It could all wait, even Cassie’s message asking how things had gone and wanting to know – oh, the irony – if she’d had fun.
The lightest of knocks at the door had Nina opening her eyes. ‘Come in,’ she said.
‘One peppermint tea, as requested,’ Jakob said, stepping into the room and placing the mug on the bedside table. She’d forgotten she’d asked for it but thanked him anyway.
‘Aren’t you going to join me with a drink?’ she enquired when he moved towards the door.
‘I will if you’d like me to.’
‘I do,’ she said softly.
He returned a few minutes later, mug in hand and with a strip of paracetamol. ‘For your headache,’ he said. ‘It must be time for you to take some more.’
‘Probably. I’m sorry about your shirt.’
He looked at the bloodstains on his sleeve. ‘It will be fine when I’ve washed it. I’m not so sure about your suit though.’
They both looked over to the built-in wardrobes where her skirt and jacket had been put on a coat hanger and hooked over a door handle. She had no recall of having put it there herself, Jakob must have done it while she was in the bathroom. There was a dark red stain on the left shoulder of the jacket – the blood from the back of her head must have found its way there down her neck.
He sat on the chaise longue in front of the large sash window that was hidden by the curtains he’d drawn when he’d helpedher into bed, despite her protestations that she wasn’t an invalid. He hadn’t helped her undress, that would have been unbearably embarrassing, but he’d been most solicitous in his attention, as though he were worried she was going to keel over at any minute.
He had the same look of concern on his face now.
‘You’ve been very kind,’ she said.
‘It’s the least I can do,’ he responded, ‘after all, this is my fault. I should never have kissed you. I should never have suggested that I be your plus-one. It made a difficult situation for you far worse.’
He looked so solemn, so full of anxious regret.
‘If anyone is at fault, it’s my crazy mother-in-law,’ Nina said, ‘she’s the one who attacked me. And for the record, I kissed you as much as you kissed me.’ Her memory might have failed her when it came to certain parts of the evening, but the memory of how she’d felt while dancing with Jakob and the delicious moment their lips had touched had not been lost.
‘Your mother-in-law needs help,’ Jakob said gravely. ‘Her behaviour was not that of a well woman.’
‘I agree,’ said Nina, after taking a few seconds to tear herself away from remembering how shockingly she’d desired so much more than just a kiss from Jakob. ‘But I don’t think I covered myself in glory.’
He looked at her puzzled. ‘Glory?’ he said.
‘I mean I behaved badly in what I said to her. I went too far.’
‘You were provoked into saying what you did.’
They sipped their drinks in silence.
Then Jakob said: ‘I know it’s nothing to do with me, but what was all that business about a grandchild?’
‘It’s a long story,’ Nina said with a sigh. ‘And it’s late. You really should go home; it will be light soon.’
‘I’m not going anywhere. I shall sleep on the sofa in the sitting room.’
‘There’s no need.’
‘There is,’ he said firmly. ‘You might have delayed concussion. You shouldn’t be alone.’
‘I think I’ve had all the concussion I’m going to have.’
