I was so shocked that I did what he said. Before I’d even had time to analyse how to respond, I was on my feet, legs and arms suddenly cold.
What did I do now? I couldn’t go down and ask hotel reception if they had another room – it would be too humiliating. Besides, I hadn’t got a credit card or money to pay for one. Justin took care of all of that. ‘But where will I—’
‘There’s a perfectly serviceable bathroom in this suite, but don’t use the sofa – I have a feeling I won’t be able to sleep much, so I might want to get up and watch TV.’ His words were as empty and passionless as if he was ordering a coffee, less so, maybe, because he always charmed the baristas at his favourite cafés, especially the young, pretty, female ones.
I opened my mouth to protest, but he reached out to my side of the bed, grabbed a pillow and flung it in my direction. It dropped onto the floor beside me. I picked it up and stared at his silhouette in the darkness. My prince charming, the love of my life, my groom …
And then I hugged the pillow to myself, turned and walked towards the bathroom.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Now.
IT WAS FAR too hot in the hospital, so Alice took her coat off and laid it on the trolley next to her. She still couldn’t quite get used to thinking of herself as ‘Lili’, even if her sister kept calling her that. She and Lo were sitting inside a cubicle in the Accident and Emergency Department. Lo’s fiancé and their parents were outside in the big waiting area near reception.
Lo had insisted they drive slightly farther to the Princess Royal University Hospital in Bromley, saying that if Alice was kept overnight, it was much closer to where their parents lived in Penge. It was a large, modern hospital with a dizzying amount of floors and corridors and so many people.
‘You really ought to go and be with Isaac,’ Alice told Lo. ‘I’ll be fine on my own, or someone else can sit with me.’
‘No,’ Lo said from where she was sitting on a hard plastic chair on the other side of the cubicle. ‘I’m staying right here.’
‘Okay.’ From what Alice had gleaned on the car journey here, Lo had spearheaded the search for her, almost cancelling her wedding, so if her sister wanted to stay, she could stay. ‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Sure. Fire away.’
Alice frowned, gathering her thoughts. ‘Back at the castle, you said you thought “the bastard” had done something to me. What did you mean?’
Lo sighed heavily and ran a hand through her wavy, highlighted hair. ‘I’d spare you this if I could, but it’s probably better that you know. I wouldn’t want him using this situation to reel you back in, especially not after recent events.’
Alice swallowed. This did not sound promising.
‘You were married. And he wasn’t a good guy.’
‘I was married?’ Just the idea of it made her stomach roll, reminding her of how she’d felt on the concourse of Glasgow station.
‘But it’s okay. You’re doing better now. You’re not with him any more.’
‘I’m divorced?’
Lo nodded. ‘You moved out more than a year ago.’
Her throat was dry, and it was getting hard to swallow. ‘Why did I leave him? Or did he leave me?’
‘You left him. After four years together. Three as his wife.’
Alice absorbed that, then asked, ‘You mentioned that you thought he might have hurt me. Was he … Was he abusive?’
‘Not in the physical sense but, like I said, he wasn’t a good guy, and even though your divorce was made final a month ago, it hasn’t prevented him from causing trouble. Recently, he—’ Lo stopped herself, abandoned the hard plastic chair and came to sit on the trolley beside her. ‘Listen … I know you said you’ve been checked over and everything, but the story of your marriage … Well, it’sa lot. I’d really rather wait to say more about Justin until after we’ve seen the doctor. Does that make sense?’
Alice nodded. Unfortunately, it did.
Justin.She’d had a husband called Justin. And yet she had no memory of him. But from what Lo had said, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. ‘Do you really think he has something to do with what happened to me?’
‘We don’t know what happened to make you leave. You’d filed for an injunction against him, which he definitely wouldn’t have taken lying down, but you disappeared before I could ask you how he’d reacted to being served.’ Lo paused, looking stricken. ‘When you first went missing, I … I wondered if it was my fault.’
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Because of where Isaac and I decided to have our wedding.’
