‘You must be shattered. These viruses can take a lot out of you, and you’ve had Louisa to deal with too.’
‘A bit.’ Billie sank into the bank of cushions propping her up and closed her eyes.
Zoe made for the door but was halted by Billie’s voice.
‘Iamsorry for what I said this morning.’
‘Let’s say no more about it,’ Zoe said, before turning back to the door. ‘It’s already forgotten.’
None of her messages received a reply, and Zoe couldn’t decide if it was because things were bad where Alex was or because he was angry with her about their spat earlier that evening. If things at the hospital were so bad that he’d been forced to stay with the family and wasn’t able to contact her, then they had to be very bad indeed, and she didn’t want to think about that. But if he wasn’t replying simply because he was annoyed at her, then she didn’t particularly want to think about that either. The best she could hope for was that there was a bad signal where he was…assuming it was the accident and emergency department. Why was he still there?
Sitting at the table with a cup of tea, Billie having gone to bed and taken Louisa with her, Zoe glanced up at the clock to see it was gone eleven. She ought to be in bed herself – she had an early start for work the following day. But how could she go to bed? Even if she did, there was no way she’d be able to calm her racing thoughts enough to sleep.
At the risk of being demanding, she was about to message again when the door opened and Alex walked in. Grizzle shot from his basket and danced around him. Alex put a vague hand to the dog’s head and ruffled his fur before sitting at the table across from Zoe.
‘That’s an evening I don’t fancy repeating any time soon.’
‘What happened?’
‘One of the party we have staying on the field had an accident. Fell down a hole or something – at least, that’s what they’re saying, though I can’t think for the life of me what kind of hole there’d be on the fields that would be big enough for him to get stuck in. But they’re insisting that’s what happened. He got his leg caught, but the rest of him carried on going, and the damage is pretty bad – torn ligaments and a couple of nasty fractures. He’ll need pins – the works – and loads of time…Thedoctor who saw him said he might be off his feet for months rather than weeks.’
‘That’s awful!’
‘I know.’
‘It was good of you to take them to the accident unit.’
‘It was the least I could do, considering the accident happened on our land. I don’t want to tempt fate, but I’m worried we haven’t heard the end of this. They’re all packing up and leaving in the morning. I said I’d give them a full refund, but someone mentioned compensation.’
‘You’re insured?’
‘Yes, but I don’t know if it will cover something like this. I can’t be sure until I see for myself where he did the damage and whether we could be held liable for what happened.’ He rubbed a hand through his hair and wrapped it around the back of his neck. ‘It’s a bloody mess, Zo. I don’t even know where to start with it.’
‘You must be knackered.’
‘I’m all right. I mean, I’m tired but I’m too wired to sleep right now. I’ll stay up for a while and go through my insurance docs to see if I can get a handle on where I stand. What about you? You didn’t have to stay up for me.’
‘I was too wired to sleep as well. I didn’t hear from you, and…’
‘Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to keep them all sweet, you know; I didn’t want it to look as if I was more bothered about being on my phone than paying attention to what they were saying. It was relentless, to be honest. I’ve never been set on by a pack of wild dogs, but I have a pretty good idea after tonight how it might feel. To think I actually liked them when they arrived.’
‘I’m sure they’re still nice people – they were just dealing with a crisis.’
‘So was I. You were right – I should have kept a distance.’
‘That wasn’t what I meant. Who knew something like this might happen?’
‘I’ll go over to the field in the morning to see what’s what…Call me a coward, but I’m going to wait until they’ve gone.’
‘I don’t blame you. But it might not be as bad as you think, even if they are still there. With luck, they’ll have all calmed down by then.’
‘Hopefully.’
‘How have you left things?’
‘He’s been kept in – they’re doing his surgery as soon as a theatre is free, so they might even be doing it now. His wife is there, and the rest of them have come back down here to pack and get ready to leave. Some are heading home, and some are going to stay in a hotel close to the hospital until he’s discharged.’ He reached for Zoe’s tea and took a gulp.
‘I can make one for you if you want.’
