Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Being kept in hospital overnight while they monitored my oxygen levels meant that I couldn’t receive my bollocking off Wrigley for going in the house.
Even he had the sense to stay away, leaving any updates to Vinny, who was also complaining that he couldn’t wash the stench of smoke out of his hair.
“I can go and get you a burger, if you want?” He looked hopefully at me.
“I’m really not hungry. I want to know what’s happened to Lily.” I was propped up, still connected to a couple of machines, and desperate to get out of here.
I’d been taken straight to hospital by the paramedics, ordering Vinny not to let anyone call my foster parents, and then passing out in the ambulance. Smoke inhalation was not for the faint of heart, and I was starting to have the mother of all headaches.
Vinny sat back in the chair. “She’s in a slightly worse state to you. They’ve been more worried about her oxygen levels, but she’ll be okay. Once she’s fit enough to leave here, she’ll be going back to Millstone.”
“Has someone gotten in touch with her probation officer and Doctor McKay?” I reached for the glass of water a nurse had left by my bed with the promise to sip it.
“Doctor McKay’s on her way. We’ve left a message for the probation officer. There’s an officer stationed outside Lily’s room.” He sounded bored. “It won’t matter what we charge her with; she’ll be back in secure.”
“She needs to be there.” I dropped back onto the pillows. “What about Stefan Taylor?”
“In intensive care. She didn’t kill him, but she did knock him out in an area where he hadn’t poured accelerant.
He’s got second degree burns to his legs, and it’s touch and go whether he’ll make it.
” He made a face like he’d eaten something disgusting.
“He could do the decent thing and joss it then the taxpayer won’t need to fund feeding him. ”
“It’d give Lily closure.”
Vinny shook his head. “She doesn’t deserve your sympathy. She tried to kill you.”
“She came back and got me out. She didn’t have to do that.”
“She was responsible for that in the first place.” Vinny did not sound like he gave a shit. “She’s a killer, Mia. I get she had a fucked-up childhood, but she still made decisions that killed people.” He’d heard what she’d told me when he was on loudspeaker, before the line had cut out.
“What about Stefan?”
“We’ve searched his house and found the same rope used on his father.
He’s also got a shrine in there to various fires, a couple of others that killed people and the person responsible was never identified.
There’s a whole lot of shit that we’ll have to go through over the next few weeks.
” He stretched, seeming agitated. “I’ll pick you up in the morning. Take you home.”
“Thank you. Where’s my car?”
“Still at Roselea. I’ll get someone to get it back to yours.
The house is a wreck and it’s going to need demolishing, but I suppose that will be The Holding’s responsibility.
At least the glasshouses weren’t damaged.
” I thought of the building, the charred stone and the air filled with soot and ash, surrounding it like a blackened veil, concealing its secrets.
He stood up, cross with me, clearly. I knew why. “Get some rest, Mia. Try and follow some instructions at least.” He left the room, the rollercoaster of the day starting to slow down.
I stayed awake with my thoughts while nurses came and checked my statistics, unplugging me from both machines and bringing me tea and a fairly decent sandwich. I managed to eat even though it felt like I was swallowing glass and all I could taste was smoke.
Still, it gave me enough energy to get a shower, the water pressure even lower than my top bathroom, but it was hot and the hospital issued soap got rid of some of the grime, the water running off me a weak brown.
I was in there long enough for a nurse to come and check I was okay. By the time I got back to my bed, dressed in a hospital issued gown, I had a visitor sat where Vinny had been and a bag.
“Having adventures?”
I managed to smile at Taz, before bursting into another fit of coughing. He stood up and guided me to the bed, sitting next to me, an arm around my shoulders while the coughing turned to tears that I wiped away before he could not pretend to notice.
“A few too many.” I accepted the bottle of Vimto he gave me, a northern staple. “How did you find out?”
“The news, then a phone call. You can shower in your bathroom tomorrow.” He pulled out his phone, opening up his photo album and showing me a gloriously tiled and decorated bathroom.
“It looks amazing. I’ll use more adjectives tomorrow.”
“I expect at least twenty. I’ve brought you a change of clothes so yes, I have been in your underwear drawer. I washed my hands first.” He passed me the bag.
“Thank you. I don’t have the energy to make some witty comeback.
” I looked through the bag; the pyjamas that had been on my bed, some underwear out of the clean laundry I hadn’t put away yet, a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.
There was also a toothbrush and whatever he could’ve found from the pile outside the bathroom of face products.
“Your comebacks aren’t usually that witty.”
“Hilarious. What are you up to tonight?” I needed to talk about something other than Lily and the case.
“Putting up panelling on the walls of your hall, stairs and landing, so you being here’s handy.”
“Why are you being so helpful? I don’t know even know you.”
“Paying it forward.” He didn’t miss a beat. “But I won’t be round as much next week.”
“New job.”
“Yep.”
“You’re still not telling me what it is?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll find out.”
“I know you will. Lukasz will be sorting out some of the plastering on the top floor and his mate Ken’s going to check your electrics in a couple of places, but, on the whole, the wiring’s okay.
If you want any more sockets put in, you need to let me know by Saturday night.
” He stood up, the bed shifting without his weight.
“Don’t try to discharge yourself tonight. I’m going to bolt the door.”
“You’re staying at mine?”
“We’re getting the panelling done. It’ll be gone midnight by the time that happens.” He headed to the doorway. “Try to sleep.”
“I will.” I didn’t think much would stop me.
Strangely, I didn’t dream. I’d expected remnants of the day to reappear in my subconscious, especially as I wasn’t in my own bed, but they stayed away and I didn’t wake until a nurse came in at seven, needing to check my stats proved I was alive.
I took another shower, grateful for the toiletries and clothes that Taz had dropped off, trying not to cry at his gesture. I had no idea what his game was, but he was welcome to carry on with it, at the moment anyway.
I’d found out from the nurse that Lily was in a room at the end of the ward so once I smelled and looked more like the me that I recognised, I headed down there.
A uniform was outside her door, one who recognised me and let me through whether I should’ve been allowed in or not.
Lily was sitting on the hospital bed, knees pulled up to her chest, looking cleaner and relaxed, although she was still hooked up to the monitors.
“Mia,” she said as she saw me. “The nurse said you were on the same ward. I was hoping you’d visit.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired. But okay. I’m going back to where Doctor McKay can keep an eye on me. She came to see me before.”
There was no sign of any heightened behaviour or overt stress. I wondered how much she’d remember.
“How did Stefan find you?” I sat down on the grey chair next to her bed. “How did he know to look for you?”
“Don’t you know? It was Lily’s Blooms. I used to tell him I wanted my own gardening business, but making things look pretty, and I’d call it Lily’s Blooms. I knew he’d find me one day.
” She smiled again, looking ten years younger, dark eyelashes against pale skin and white blonde hair.
“I think he’ll visit me in hospital this time. Do you?”
I didn’t know if Stefan was dead or alive, but I knew he wouldn’t be visiting Lily any time soon. “No, I don’t. Stefan makes you do bad things.”
Her eyes widened, her expression altering, all placidity erased. “Or was it me who suggested the bad things?”
“I need to thank you for coming back and unlocking the door.”
I watched for her reaction.
“You’re my friend and it’s good to have a detective as a friend.” She stretched her legs out on the bed. “You will come and visit me, won’t you? I know I have to go back to Millstone, but I like it there. I wanted to stay there last time.” She was relaxed again, expression serene.
“Did you help Stefan with his father?” I already knew she wouldn’t be deemed fit to be questioned formally so this was probably my only opportunity for some answers.
She didn’t say anything, just looking at her fingers.
“I’ll have to cancel my clients. They’ll be disappointed, but it’s out of my control.
Maybe I can still do some designs in Millstone.
They have a garden there that I used to look after, and I expect it’s been left to overgrow since I’ve been gone.
A bit like the glasshouses at Roselea. Some looked like they used to, though. ”
“Did you used to grow plants in the glasshouses, Lily?”
She nodded, still smiling. “My father didn’t like the glasshouses, they made him feel claustrophobic, which was weird. I thought it was because he couldn’t throw his stones in there.”
“What do you mean?”
“People in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones, Mia. Didn’t you know that?” She pulled her legs up again, wrapping her arms around them and hugging herself.
“Did Stefan throw stones, Lily?”
She shook her head. “Why are you asking me about Stefan?”
“Because of what you did together. The fire at Roselea.” I couldn’t tell if she didn’t remember what she’d told me yesterday.
“I’m not sure what you mean. Will you come and see me at Millstone?” She picked up a book, an old encyclopaedia of gardening.