TWENTY-FOUR
When Ellie woke again, Fee was sitting up in bed next to her, eating a yoghurt and watching TV.
‘Oh, thank goodness. You’re alive,’ Ellie whispered in her hoarse voice.
‘Morning, sleepy.’ Fee turned to her and reached her arm out of bed towards Ellie’s bed. Ellie carefully reached her own arm out to meet Fee’s hand, brushing her fingers lightly. ‘’Course I’m alive. Thanks to you.’ She finished the yoghurt and replaced the oxygen mask over her face. ‘Throat feels like I’ve been on fifty a day, though.’ She coughed, scowling at the sensation.
‘Same here.’ Ellie blinked, focusing on her surroundings again. ‘How long was I out?’
‘Dunno. I woke up in the night and you were out cold until now.’ Fee’s voice was as scratchy as Ellie’s. ‘Nurse says it’s going to be a few days until we can go, all being well.’
‘I woke up and you were unconscious. I must have passed out again.’ Ellie tried to sit up, but a jolt of pain sliced through her skull. ‘Oh, my head.’ She pressed her hands to her forehead.
‘Headache is normal, apparently,’ Fee said, huskily. ‘Mine’s passing a bit now.’
‘What the hell happened? I mean, the fire?’ Ellie found a remote control attached to the bed and set the back of her bed more upright. ‘It didn’t start inside the house. I’m sure of that.’
‘No. It was from the outside.’ Fee closed her eyes and lay back on her pillow. ‘The nurse told me. I reckon it was Darren. Coming back to have another go.’
‘Darren? But why would he do that?’ Ellie coughed.
‘Why wouldn’t he? He’d already hammered the doors and broken the windows.’
‘God. Maybe. Is Jamey okay?’
‘Yeah. You got her out pretty quickly, I think. I don’t think she’s here, anyway.’ Fee took a sip of water from her plastic beaker.
‘The nurse told me she tried to help us but the smoke was too much,’ Ellie added.
‘Fair enough. You pulled her out, she was right to stay out.’
‘Hello, hello… ready for visitors?’ Mara opened the door to Fee and Ellie’s room, holding a huge bunch of flowers and a carrier bag.
‘Hi, Mara.’ Ellie coughed. ‘Come in.’
‘You poor sausages.’ Mara set the bunch of flowers down on a table in the corner and stood between the beds. ‘I can’t believe what happened. Are you okay? I mean, obviously you’re not okay, but you know what I mean. I brought your phones, by the way. I found them in the house and thought you’d want them. They seem all right, not that I’ve been nosy or anything.’ She handed both of them a phone, and pulled a charger out of her bag. ‘Thought you might need to charge them too.’
‘Oh, you’re amazing. Thank you. We’re okay. I think.’ Fee coughed again. ‘Excuse the coughing. We’ve got sooty lungs at the moment.’
‘Oh, it’s just terrible.’ Mara sat down on the edge of Fee’s bed, facing Ellie. ‘I’m so sorry. I feel somehow responsible.’
‘How are you responsible? It’s your house that was on fire. How damaged is it – if you don’t mind me asking?’ Ellie rasped.
‘It could be worse. The back of the house is brick up to a certain point, as you know, and then wood. Seems whoever set light to it – and the fire brigade definitely think it was arson – set a fire onto the wood.’ She shook her head, blinking.
Ellie could see that Mara was trying to hold back her feelings, but she was clearly upset. Of course she was upset. It was hardly surprising.
‘Ah, look at me, coming to see you both in hospital and going on about the house. I brought you some snacks and drinks too.’ Mara took out some chocolates, cans of fizzy drinks and a large paper bag with ‘Maude’s Fine Buns’ printed on the side.
‘So… how much damage is there?’ Fee prompted, gently.
‘It’s mostly the kitchen. We’ll need to put a whole new one in, again. It just seems like five minutes ago we restored it in the first place.’ Mara sighed. ‘Other than that, it’s mostly smoke damage. Most of the furniture will have to be replaced. I mean, we’re insured, so it’ll be fine. But it’s more the sentimental value of some of those things.’ She sighed again. ‘The thing is, I love that house. But in some ways, it’s kind of cursed. I mean, not literally. But bad things happened to my mum there. Not specifically in the house, but nearby, I think. And she was unhappy there, afterwards.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ellie squeaked. She took a drink of water.
‘Yeah. Magpie Cove’s a funny place. On one hand, loads of brilliant things happen here. People come here and change their lives completely. But…’
‘But what?’
