Chapter 25
Cara’s hair still smelled a little of the sea when she woke the next morning. She’d been too tired to take a shower last night and she had slipped into the sheets, her limbs aching from the swimming, her left leg a little bruised from climbing the tiny inadequate ladder back into the boat and her eyes a bit sore from lack of sleep. But there was no doubt, somehow today she felt different. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly how she felt different but there was definitely a lightness flowing through her thoughts when usually her head felt clogged. And then she looked to her left. No Margot. And that side of the bed was virtually pristine.
Checking her watch, she saw it was almost eight o’clock. She hadn’t thought much about Margot not being in the room when she’d got back. She’d presumed Margot would have been many cocktails down regaling the barmen with stories, but now, with the sheets undisturbed and it being later than her aunt’s usual 7a.m. cigarette, it was a bit disconcerting.
She reached for the phone on the nightstand. Five missed calls. All around 6a.m. From an unknown number. Now Cara was worried. What if it was the police? Or the hospital?
As her mind started to perform an anxiety dance, she pulled back the covers, wondering what to do first. Phone Margot was the obvious first answer. She hit the call icon, phone nestled against her ear, as she searched for something easy to dress in.
She froze when the automated message she received was in Greek. What did that mean? Why hadn’t it just clicked through to voicemail? If it was the case of a flat battery that’s what would happen. What other explanation could there be? That Margot might have lost her phone? Or it had been stolen?
Find My Phone. Yes, Cara would check the app and it would provide a location for the phone.
She pulled her sundress on over her head as the app pinwheeled along. If this didn’t work she was going to have to phone back the number that had called her five times. She didn’t want to do that. There would be a sensible, logical, typical Margot explanation and all this panic would be for nothing.
Cara jumped as the phone next to Margot’s side of the bed rang. Reception. She camo-crawled across the duvet and dived for the receiver.
‘Hello.’
‘Cara?’
Cara frowned. ‘Akis?’
‘Yes, listen, I?—’
‘Akis, I can’t talk right now. I’m trying to get hold of my aunt and?—’
‘I know,’ he interrupted. ‘That is why I am calling.’
‘What?’ Cara sat up and paid better attention.
‘Listen, I am coming to pick you up.’
‘What? Why?’
‘Margot is OK, OK? But she is at the hospital.’
Cara’s heart dropped like someone had tossed it off the top of the Shard. ‘The hospital.’
She stood, looking around for things you might need to visit a hospital. What did you need for that? Why was she having to do that? She had only been gone for one evening. And what did ‘OK’ mean? Did it mean bruises and scratches or did it mean serious but stable?
‘Listen to me,’ Akis said, firmly but gently. ‘She is fine. I have been told she is conscious. She is talking. She hates it at the hospital, which is good, because she is right, so nothing mental is impaired. I am getting on the bike now, I will be as fast as the traffic lights let me, OK? Do not worry. Meet me out front.’
Do not worry. That was the biggest impossibility in this situation. She had been selfish. She had been so obsessed with herself and the surprise wedding performance situation, so angry that Margot had made another decision for her without asking and now this! This was the universe calling her out for being ungrateful for everything her aunt had done for her since Moldova, since her parents vanished to be nomads, since forever really.
‘Cara,’ Akis said forcefully. ‘I can hear you are worrying. Please don’t. Everything will be OK.’
Cara’s mind was racing but she needed to end this call, put on some shoes and get ready to face whatever had happened to Margot. Travel insurance documents. Margot had dealt with all that. Where would she have put that stuff? Her handbag? Her case?
‘Cara, I’m leaving right now. Meet me outside,’ Akis said.
‘OK,’ she answered. ‘OK.’