Chapter 62
Sixty-Two
Morgan
I hate hospitals and I hate this stupid canteen with its stupid sandwiches.
I mean, why don’t they sell poke bowls? I’m starving.
Dad won’t be back for hours and who knows how long Mum will have to stay in hospital?
I rub my neck and I’m slightly sore where Zoe kept prodding the knife in me.
I leave the queue, then I run out of the hospital.
Gasping, I bend over and try to gain control of my breaths, but nothing is working. I nearly died last night.
The police interview gave me the chills. They took photos of my neck, asked me lots of questions and I can barely remember much, and I cried. I can’t believe I broke down. One day I want to be a detective like them but I acted like such a victim.
‘Detective Morgan.’
I flinch and look up. ‘Harry?’ He offers me a chocolate bar so I take it.
‘You here with your mum?’
I nod. ‘Been here all night.’
‘Same. Mum is going to be okay but I thought I was going to lose her.’
I place my hand on his shoulder and he leans in for a hug.
We sit on the bench in the cold, staring out at the snowy bits of grass dividing the grounds and car park.
We talk about everything that happened. Harry is as surprised as me to hear that Zoe was behind the letters and that she tried to kill me.
I told him how after she startled me in the woods, she told me that Harry was at the den and that he had something to tell me. Then I tell him about Jasmine’s bones.
‘I wondered why there were police in your house earlier.’
‘You went back?’
He nods and blinks a couple of times. ‘Mum forced me to call a taxi and go feed and walk Diggerty. To be fair, he was desperate to pee. Oh.’ He picks up a bag from next to him and pulls out a huge box of chocolates with a little note on the front.
‘From the neighbours. Word has got round. Sid told Tessa and then she told Ray. I saw the police heading to Ruby’s.
It looks like they’re questioning all the neighbours.
Anyway, some of them had a collection and got these for our mums.’ He pauses. ‘I was just heading back to Mum.’
‘My mum is with yours. I’ll come with you,’ I say, glad to have my friend back with me.
As we walk, he turns to me and smiles. ‘Morgan, do you know if you’ll be sticking around?’
‘We’re staying in Whitby for now. I’ll have Wi-Fi too, so I’ll be able to call you.’
‘Great. How would you like to go to the arcade one day, when your mum is better, obvs?’
I bite my bottom lip. ‘I’d love that.’ I frown. ‘What about James?’
He shrugs. ‘I’m done with worrying about him. I’ll face whatever comes.’ He raises his brows, ‘and I’ll deal with him myself, okay, Morgan?’
‘Okay.’
We hurry back to ward seven, and Harry leads the way to Quinn’s room. She smiles as we both enter, and Mum leans back in the wheelchair.
‘Detective Morgan and Detective Harry,’ Quinn says with a smile, although I feel for her. She looks so weak and is awkwardly hunched up with pillows.
Harry takes the chocolates out, giving a box to my mum and a box to his mum.
‘Who are these off?’ Quinn asks.
‘The neighbours. Ray said to get well soon.’
Quinn looks at my mum and they both raise their brows. She grabs the card on the box and reads it out. ‘“Quinn, we are sad to hear what happened to you. Please get better soon. Sending all our love, Tessa, Ray, Ruby and families.”’
Mum reads hers. ‘“Gemma, please can we start again? We’re saddened to hear what happened and we’re sorry for thinking you could have done all those things we accused you of. Please get well soon. Take care. Tessa, Ray, Ruby and families.”’
These people fed into what Zoe was doing, they fuelled the paranoia until it became an inferno and Harry’s mum could have died.
Quinn throws her chocolates onto the bottom of the bed, and Mum throws hers on top. Quinn throws the little card in the bin, and Mum does the same.
Mum raises her brows. ‘I don’t think we need them in our lives and they can shove their chocolates where the sun doesn’t shine.’
The nurse walks back in, and Quinn passes the chocolates to her and tells her to take them to the nurses’ station to share.
Normally, I’d play my face at giving chocolate away, especially as I’ll be plagued by crappy marmalade and health food for months, but good riddance to those chocolates and Clover Lane.
All the secrets are out there. There will be no more lies.
One day, I’ll become a detective and all will be good with the world, and I’ll have a cool being-held-at-knifepoint story to tell Cora’s grandkids.
I’m not having any kids. It’s over and I’m looking forward to our new start and, of course, Wi-Fi.