Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
REID
I wish we hadn’t had to leave Sadie so suddenly after she had woken up. I wish I wasn’t apart from Luna. I wish my children were happy and we weren’t stuck in this strange scenario.
More than anything, I wish we weren’t currently locked down in a hospital.
But that’s the situation we find ourselves in.
I’m currently with Jude, Arthur, Ruby, and Sadie’s parents and we are surrounded by other members of the public who had been here to see loved ones only to find themselves shepherded into this waiting area by a tense team of nurses.
Nobody is telling us what is going on and what the deafening alarm means, just that we have to stay here and are not to go anywhere until we are told it is okay to do so.
But that’s easier said than done when you have three children with you, including a very young baby who is hungry and tired and restless and about as happy as being crammed into a small room with bright lighting and a bunch of strangers as his father is.
‘This is ridiculous,’ Sadie’s father says and for the first time in a long time when it comes to us, I have to agree with him.
‘I just wish they’d turn the alarm off,’ Sadie’s mum adds and I certainly agree with that.
But even if the alarm was to cease now, it’s been blaring for so long that I imagine that I’ll still be able to hear it ringing in my ears for a long time yet.
Such is the loudness of it, I have taken to trying to cup my hands over Jude’s ears, afraid the prolonged alarm might damage his hearing, or at least make him even more upset than he is.
But it’s not easy to keep a baby in the position you want them to be, and he keeps wriggling his head away from my hands, understandably because I’d get annoyed too if somebody kept trying to cover my ears.
Jude wants his mummy, and right now, I want her too. But we can’t get to Luna because all the doors between us are shut and guarded by someone in a uniform, be it a doctor or a nurse, as if we can’t be trusted not to try and sneak out if they weren’t there.
Whatever is going on here at this hospital, it must be very serious.
But while I can’t get to Luna physically, I can message her, so I pass Jude to Sadie’s mum, which is slightly awkward, especially with Sadie’s father glaring at me as I do it. But having free hands allows me to take out my phone and text my girlfriend.
Hey. Are you okay? I have no idea what’s going on, but we’re all fine here so don’t worry about us. Do you know anything? Love you xx
I send that text to Luna and hope she sees it and replies soon, just to let me know she is coping with the same problem we have over here.
I’ve never known a hospital get locked down before, at least outside of the movies, and I’ve certainly never been caught up in it myself.
As if today hadn’t been dramatic enough…
With Sadie awake now, the dynamic in my family has taken another dramatic turn.
It means I’ll be back to navigating the treacherous tightrope that is the relationship between my ex-partner and my current one.
All while navigating life with a newborn and two children who are growing up fast and testing me even faster.
Oh, and my ex-father-in-law hates my guts and, on top of that, I still have a career to think about and a brand-new house to maintain with a big mortgage to pay on it.
If anybody needs admitting to this hospital as a patient, I think it should be me with all the stress I’m feeling.
Quick, nurse, give me a double dose of something strong and let me sleep until this is all over.
But that’s not likely to happen, although something positive does suddenly occur to temporarily lift my mood.
The alarm stops.
Silence falls across the hospital.
I can hear myself think again.
Does this now mean the drama is over and we can all go home?
That’s what everybody else in this waiting room, myself included, is now asking of the nurse who was watching over us all.
‘Please, just stay where you are until we have more information,’ the nurse says, her hands out in front of her as she tries to keep the frustrated masses back until her superiors say it’s fine for us all to leave.
‘Come on, we’ve been stuck in here for ages,’ one angry man cries.
‘Yeah, you can’t keep us caged up like animals forever,’ a woman shouts.
The poor nurse looks like she might need some painkillers and a bed for herself if this carries on for much longer, but fortunately, it does not. A voice comes over the hospital Tannoy telling us what will happen next.
‘Thank you all for your patience and compliance. The hospital is now fully open and operational, barring Ward E Corridors 2 and 3, which remain closed for now.’
I have no idea what has happened on Ward E between corridors 2 and 3, but that is obviously where the problem lies. However, it’s not the ward where either Luna or Sadie is, so they should both be safe, and I receive a text message a moment later letting me know that one of them is.
Hey. I’m fine. Thanks for letting me know that you’re all okay. Hopefully this ends soon and you can go home. I am feeling better myself, so I’ll try and come home too. Love you xx
That Luna says she feels better and wants to come home is music to my ears and should make the rest of this day a lot easier than it would be if I didn’t have her to help me with the kids.
More than that, I’m relieved that whatever caused her to faint and be admitted here seems to have been a one-off that hopefully won’t happen again.
As I suspected, it was probably just the stress of recent events getting too much for her and all she needs now is her own bed, a cup of tea and some sleep.
Don’t we all.
What about the worries I had that she could be hiding something and that there might be more to her story than meets the eye? I’ve decided to trust my partner over the words of Gemma and Jack, two people who clearly have their own agendas and are saying whatever it takes to get their way.
That’s great news. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Shall I try and come to you? I’m not sure if the staff here will let me but if you can leave I can drive you home xx
I hope I can get to Luna and get her out of here so she can be with us all again, where she belongs, but she replies to put an end to that particular idea.
It’ll probably take them a while to let me leave, especially with all this going on. You guys go ahead. Just get Jude home and fed. Arthur and Ruby must be hungry too. I’ll be home soon. I love you xx
Luna seems happy enough to make her own way home, and I presume she’ll get a taxi.
At least that solves the problem of me trying to get to her across this hospital because it’s hard enough as it is trying to get out of this room.
The nurse by the doors has stepped aside and several people are lining up to leave now, so I join that queue with my family and we patiently wait for our turn to reach the doors.
‘I want to go and see Mummy again,’ Ruby tells me.
‘We’ll see Mummy later, I promise,’ I reply. ‘She’s just resting now and we need to go home with Jude because he’s tired and hungry. Can you be a good big sister and help him?’
Ruby decides that she can, and Arthur is being compliant himself, so I’m not going to say anything more and risk upsetting the current balance of things.
We leave the waiting room where we had been trapped for so long and, eventually, we make it out of the hospital.
When we do, it’s impossible not to notice the number of police cars parked out here.
They weren’t there when we arrived and I can only assume that they are here because of whatever the issue was that just occurred inside this building.
But it’s time for us to get out of here and, after the kids say goodbye to Sadie’s parents, and I share a brief and awkward nod of the head with her mum, I plan on getting my children in the car and quickly home.
Before that can happen, Arthur suddenly spots something of interest and takes off running.
‘Hey!’ I call out to him, and then I notice he has seen the half a dozen police officers walking around the side of the hospital and wants to see what they might be here for.
Damn my son and his nosey ways, especially when it comes to people in uniform and any hint of drama or danger.
‘Arthur! Get back here right now!’ I call out to him, but he mischievously keeps running and then he disappears around the side of the building.
‘Come on,’ I say to Ruby, figuring we’re going to have to go after him, and together, along with the hungry and crying Jude in my arms, we follow Arthur around the side of the building.
When we do, I spot my son standing up ahead of us, in front of a police blockade.
There are officers everywhere, as well as the yellow tape that signifies this is a crime scene and nobody is allowed past this point.
Beyond that, I see a van with the word Forensics on it, as well as several paramedics and ambulances.
Whatever has happened here, we are closer to it than we were in that other part of the hospital.
I fear that my son might be about to see something bad, so I rush towards him, eager to get him away from here in case there are several grim sights about to emerge from the hospital to go into the back of the waiting ambulances.
‘Arthur. Get away from there. We can’t be here,’ I say, and I’m hoping one of the many police officers around here will notice us and come over to tell us to move.
That should get my son to comply if he continues to ignore me.
But before that can happen, there is movement by one of the doors and a second later, I see something being carried out.
It’s a body bag.
I want to avert Arthur’s eyes and Ruby’s too, but for a split second, even my morbid curiosity gets the better of me, and I find myself standing and staring at the scene unfolding right in front of us.
The body bag is fully zipped up, as I would expect it to be, so I cannot see the face of the victim. Poor person. I wonder what happened to them.
But they are not alone.
A second later, another body is carried out, and the zip is not fully fastened on this one. A paramedic’s oversight is my opportunity to morbidly glance at the face of this victim. But when I do, I almost drop Jude in shock.
That’s because I recognise this person in the body bag.
I recognise the corpse being carried from the hospital.
It’s a woman I was once attracted to, although now she looks deathly pale.
It’s Gemma.