Chapter 2
Back to the Future
I hear a distant voice calling my name. Then as the vision of my younger self starts to fade, a sense of panic consumes me. I can’t leave her, not like this. And I need to understand why things happened the way they did…
‘Tilly?’
The voice has an accent I don’t recognise at first and as the image of the past disappears, I’m pulled back to the present; remember where I am. Crete. The rain storm. Michail’s house… Falling.
Relief fills me. I’m fine. I was obviously knocked unconscious, but it’s like I’ve come around from the strangest dream. I already know what I want to say. Don’t worry, it was nothing… I’m OK.
I try to open my eyes, to form the words.
But I can’t.
Fear floods through my veins. I’m alive. I can hear machines bleeping around me. I understand what’s going on… It means my brain is working. But I can’t communicate. Nor can I move.
‘Tilly? We’re taking you for a scan.’ This time, it’s a woman’s voice with the same Greek accent.
I’m aware of my bed jolting slightly, before it feels as though it’s moving. Suddenly I’m thinking of the boys. Oh my God… Will anyone have told them? But no one I’ve met in Crete knows about them, let alone how to contact them.
Panic fills me. I should have left an address with someone. No one will know that something’s happened to me.
My heart starts to race, as the bleeping sound that seems to accompany me speeds up.
The woman speaks again. ‘She’s tachycardic. We must hurry.’
I’m not sure what tachycardic means, only that whatever it is, from the urgency in her voice, it isn’t good.
‘Has someone called her husband?’
No… I try to whisper. You mustn’t call Gareth. He’s the last person I want here… It’s my last thought before the beeping sound grows louder.
Then everything fades again and my mind goes blank.