Don't Wake Up
Page 28
Before she left she tipped over the stool and packed everything that had ever belonged to her; she wiped her presence from his life and erased the images of his death from his camera. His last role – the one he would be most proud of if he had lived to see it – was an Oscar winner.
Her beloved Oliver was dead. He could do no wrong until his eyes told her it had all been a lie.
Maggie saw the single-decker bus, saw the driver’s face clearly, coming from the left. The blue flashing light on her right was almost upon her. She gazed at both drivers coming her way and, at just the right moment, she pressed her foot on the accelerator.
The ambulance driver only just managed to brake before crashing. The bus driver didn’t get the chance. Maggie’s Explorer was hit sideways on by close to fifteen tonne of steel. Later both drivers would recall glimpsing a dark-haired woman at the wheel, and both felt that she had placed herself in harm’s way deliberately.
Chapter Fifty-Six
It was Laura Best who brought the news to Greg. Maggie Fielding had been declared dead outside the hospital after being hit by an ambulance and a bus. Both drivers were being treated for injuries in A & E. The second crew member in the ambulance had also been admitted with a suspected heart attack. And a baby was delivered at the scene as its mother died.
Greg felt the news like a depression. She had taken another life, and two were still in the balance. Alex’s condition was still critical, which was why he was still at the hospital.
Laura Best held a clipboard in her hands as if she were doing a tour of inspection. Her chocolate suit and cream shirt were of good quality. Her hair shone and her skin and make-up were immaculate. She would one day reach the higher ranks, if only because she looked good.
‘Is Alex Taylor up to talking?’ she asked.
He raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you think?’
She tapped her pen on the clipboard impatiently. ‘I’m asking you, Greg.’
He snatched the pen out of her hand and snapped it in two. ‘You will address me as Inspector, DC Best. Why do you want to speak to Dr Taylor?’
Her face flushed and her eyes immediately sparkled with temper. ‘Because I want to clear up this mess and all the rubbish I’m now hearing about her being innocent.’
Before Laura Best knew what was happening or could utter a word of protest, Greg dragged her halfway down the theatre corridor. He shoved her through the double doors and let her see the place where Alex Taylor almost died. The blood-soaked cloths and towels still lay on the floor, the equipment used to save her life left abandoned. They had only just moved her down to ITU, and no one had yet had a chance to clean up.
‘That blood you see is Alex Taylor’s blood. She is fighting for her life, you stupid woman!’
Laura’s face had now gone white. ‘Well, she tried to kill herself, didn’t she? Jakie Jackson let her escape. She was bound to try and commit suicide.’
Greg clamped his hands around her shoulders and dragged her over to the operating table. He pointed at the blood-stained armrests. ‘Alex Taylor was strapped to this table, her arms pinned, her legs bound, unable to defend herself, and Maggie Fielding slit her wrists and left her here to die. Everything Alex Taylor told us was true. All of it. Maggie Fielding abducted her and put her through unimaginable torture. She killed Amy Abbott, Lillian Armstrong, Fiona Woods, and tonight she attempted to murder Alex Taylor.
‘You were wrong, DC Best, and so was I. But guess what? I’ll probably get a promotion for collaring Maggie Fielding, while you, Laura Best, all the time you’re working for me, will stay a DC. So you might want to think about a transfer, far away from me, where you can dig your spurs into some other fool’s back.’
There was a brief silence after she left the theatre suite before Nathan took her place. ‘I take it that was personal?’
Greg shook his head. His voice was firm. ‘No, not any more. That was professional.’
Nathan gave a faint smile. ‘Alex is stable. She’s going to make it.’
Then Nathan suddenly doubled over and vomited. Greg grabbed the only clean cloth he could find, discarded swabs from the suture tray, and handed them to him.
He felt the depression inside lift as hope took its place. ‘That’s great news, Nathan. You’re a bloody good doctor.’
Nathan shrugged, spitting hard before wiping his mouth. ‘I had a good assistant.’
Greg remembered her cold bloodless lips beneath his own and knew that it had been a close call. He looked at the two clocks on the far wall – one counting minutes and the other simply telling the time – and was shocked to see it had just gone midnight. ‘What time do you knock off?’
‘Four hours ago,’ Nathan replied.
‘You want a Christmas drink?’
Nathan nodded. ‘Yeah. A big one. A hell of a big one.’
They walked back along the corridor, seeing Alex’s blood still on the floor. It had dried now and would soon be washed away. Greg kept his eyes on the trail all the way down the corridor, and then suddenly he realised: Alex had let them know where she was being taken. She had led them to her. He didn’t know how she did it, but he was sure she had somehow let herself get cut so that she could leave them this trail.
His admiration grew stronger. She was the bravest person he knew – in the face of no one believing her, she still coped.
Alex opened her eyes and knew she was safe. She could hear ventilators and monitors beeping and the noise of colleagues working. Nathan was the first face she had seen when she opened her eyes earlier, and he had quickly reassured her that everyone knew she was innocent and that the police were now out looking for Maggie Fielding. He had also spoken to Patrick and let him know that she was safe. Patrick, he said, had cried. Nathan said it in a way that would allow her to forgive Patrick. Allow her to walk away from Nathan.
She had seen the greyness in his face and the strain in his eyes and, separated from all other emotion, standing alone, she saw his uncertainty. Questioning his right to be in her life? They had only just begun the first step on this new path. It was a beginning. When he placed his hand against her cheek she had leaned into its warmth.
Maybe one day she would tell him how she had tried to kill herself. The clear decision she had made as Maggie Fielding abducted her in the corridor. She had so badly wanted to die there and then, and put an end to her fear. It hadn’t mattered to her in that second as she sliced her neck along the blade that she would die – only that it would be over.
Maybe one day she would tell him when she was brave again. When she accepted that she was Alex Taylor, a doctor who saved people’s lives, who had faced things that most people can’t even imagine . . .
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from my husband, Mike, our three children, Lorcan, Katherine, and Alexandra, and daughter-in-law, Harriet. You guys inspire me daily with your utter selflessness and determination to be good people. Thank you for allowing me time to finally finish!
Thank you also to my six brothers and five sisters, especially to Sue, Bernie, and brother-in-law, Kevin, for reading the earlier drafts—how lucky are we to have shared so much, especially our incredible parents.
A very special thank-you to Dr Monica Baird, consultant anaesthetist, and Dr Peter Forster, MBBS, FRCA, for their generous time and expertise. Thank you both so very much. Any mistakes are of course mine!
Thank you to Martyn Folkes for always keeping opinions honest!
Last but not least, thank you to Joel Richardson, editor and publisher extraordinaire. Thanks to you and the amazing team at Twenty7 for making this book the very best it could be.
Without working in the medical profession, I would not have been able to draw on past experiences (I promise no nasty stuff ever happened, bar eating patients’ leftover cold toast), and I would not be able to give true praise to the medical and police professionals out there fighting the good fight to make all our lives better. There
are no finer people.
For you, Mum—who I miss sharing books with.
And for Darcie—who I love reading to.
About the Author
Born in Chatham, England, and partly raised in Dublin, Ireland, LIZ LAWLER is one of fourteen children and grew up sharing socks, pants, stuffed bras, and a table space to eat at. Liz spent more than twenty years working as a nurse, and has since worked as a flight attendant and as the general manager of a five-star hotel. She now lives in Bath with her husband. Don’t Wake Up is her first novel.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
DON’T WAKE UP. Copyright © 2019 by Liz Lawler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Originally published as Don’t Wake Up in Great Britain in 2017 by Twenty7 Books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover photograph © WIN-Initiative/Getty Images
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-287614-0
Version 12292018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-287613-3 (pbk.)
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com