Oh, for God’s sake. I head out into the corridor, equipped with the only information I really need. Tasha is awake and at St. Mary’s Hospital, wherever that is. I need to go and see her. I march away from the studios and back towards the foyer.
Jess isn’t here yet. I fumble for my phone (which, to be quite honest, gives me the heebie jeebies now, but I can’t afford to replace it) and start to text her. I’m only halfway through a message when she appears in front of me.
“Jess!”
“Woah, hi.” She looks down at her arm and I realize I’ve grabbed her.
“Sorry,” I grimace, unclenching my fingers.
“Has something happened?”
“Yes!” Her face tenses and I rush to explain, “Nothing bad, but yes, something has happened.” She listens carefully, rolling her eyes as I recount Jasmine’s nasty speech.
“Why would that horror bag go to visit Tasha?” she says when I finish.
“I dunno, I wondered that too.” Just so she could brag about it? Guilt? Or for a more sinister reason?
“Well, let’s keep an eye on her, shall we? Anyway, back to Tasha: if she’s just woken up, I bet she’ll still be in ICU.”
“What’s ICU?” I ask.
“The Intensive Care Unit.” Jess glances at her watch. “Visiting used to be six to eight in the evening. It’s probably the same.”
“How do you know that?” Jess shrugs so I tap the details into Google and see that she’s right. “I thought you could just go at any time?”
“No, some wards have certain hours. Do you reckon they’ll let us in to see her?”
“Who knows? It’s worth a try though, right? Maybe she saw something when she was attacked.”
Jess nods. “Let me just run back to the library and tell Mum we’re going to the cinema or something; I don’t want her worrying.”
“OK.” As she runs back towards the library, I feel a seed of unease start to bloom. I don’t like lying to Ruth after everything that has happened, especially if it gets Jess more involved in whatever the hell is going on. I start to go after her, but when I reach the library she is already shutting the door behind her.
“Done.” She smiles, linking her arm through mine. “C’mon. Let’s go and get you some answers.”
A tall – well, actually not that tall for London, but huge by County Kilkenny standards – building stands in front of us. It makes me feel depressed just looking at it.
“I know Jasmine is a proper snob, but I see what she means. It’s kind of a dump.”
“Yeah, it is a bit grim from the outside, I guess,” Jess agrees. “Inside’s not bad, though, and the staff are amazing. Jasmine clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Anyway, all the Royals have their babies here.”
“Seriously?” I follow her around the side and we duck under the small blue porch at the main entrance. It drizzled all the way here and I refused point blank to get on the Tube, making poor Jess walk. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“Mum was in here for a bit.”
“Oh, God, Jess I’m sorry!”
“Don’t be silly.” She waves a hand and her nail polish sparkles in the dim light under the scaffold, all silver and gold glitter. “It was a while ago. In fact, it was when Kate Middleton was in having the second kid. Or maybe the third one, I can’t keep up. Didn’t get to see her though. Mum’s got epilepsy and sometimes her medication can interfere with it and cause fits, but she’s been stable for a while now.”
“That’s good,” I reply. Wow, profound of me.
“Yeah.” Jess consults her watch. “So, ten past six – you ready to give it a go?”
I hold up the shopping bag crammed with sweets and trashy magazines. “Yep.”
We enter through the sliding glass doors and approach a curving reception desk. A large, formidable woman sits behind a computer. She completely ignores me.
“Um, hi.” Nothing. I clear my throat nervously and she looks over the top of her glasses. “Excuse me, I’m looking for the ICU. Please.”
