‘One lot have gone towards Henbourne,’ said Maureen, her usual gruffness somehow softer.
‘The others are doing a wider house-to-house,’ chipped in Rhonda. ‘We’ll do tea for them all when they’re back.’
Doris was pulling to get inside, drawn by the smell of cake that was wafting out. ‘Great, thanks, ladies.’ He pulled Doris back and set off towards the cottage. He stopped by the willow tree and parted the fronds to peer inside, but there was no sign of Ernie. Come to think of it, Jack hadn’t seen Ernie all day. He told Doris to sit and because he had a treat in his hand she obeyed instantly.
‘Leo. Doris, find Leo.’ He gave her a treat, she inhaled it and wagged her tail. He stood up straight. ‘Find Leo,’ he repeated. Feeling like a prize idiot he checked no one was watching over his shoulder. Doris certainly didn’t look like a sniffer dog but he had to try. Doris stared at him hopefully but remained sitting and lifted a paw. ‘This is useless. Come on.’ They set off past the pub and down to the ford. Two groups of parents were sitting on the grass nearby where a few children were running about in the water and some others further up were feeding bread to the ducks.
‘Have you seen a young boy here today? Six years old, dark hair?’ he called. They all shook their heads. He marched on over the small footbridge and out of the village. He’d walk his usual jogging circuit as he didn’t have the energy or lungpower to run right now.
Beth balled up the cloth in her fists and pulled hard at the sheet she was lying on. Leo was on a conveyer belt being propelled away from her and towards Nick who stood on the other side of the canyon, his arms folded and his expression smug. She felt something up her nose and she tried to dislodge it but someone took her hand away from her face. Her eyes popped open and for a moment all she could see was white light that emphasized the pain in her head and made her blink hard. Her eyes darted about her alien surroundings and she saw nothing that was familiar to her. She was suddenly confused and still had the uncomfortable sensation of something up her nose, but her hand was being held down.
‘Can you hear me?’ said a soft voice to her left. Beth turned to look, trying to clear the fuzz that was currently occupying her head and stem the anxiety she felt rising inside.
‘I’m a nursing assistant, you’re in hospital,’ said the voice.
A frown burrowed across Beth’s forehead as she tried hard to focus on the rather young person in blue seated on her left. Confusion turned to panic. She tried again to reach her nose and was thwarted by the warm touch of the nurse’s hand.
‘It’s oxygen,’ she said. ‘It’s helping you. You’re going to be fine. Your friend will be back in a minute. I’ll go and tell Staff Nurse that you’re awake.’
Beth was trying hard to make sense of what was going on. Was she still dreaming? Her mind would have been a blank had it not been filled with something akin to swirling marshmallow. She felt sick and she wanted to sleep but she also wanted to know what the hell was going on. She closed her eyes until the sound of someone moving the chair next to her forced her curiosity and she opened an eye. She watched Petra’s bottom jiggle about as she moved her bag and coat off the seat.
‘Petra?’ said Beth, her voice barely a croak. She was still totally confused but pleased to see something she recognized even if it was Petra’s behind.
‘Dovraga!’ Petra held on tight to her paper cup and cursed in Croatian. ‘You’re awake! I was here for ages and I only left for the toilet and this,’ she said, waving the cup. ‘Oh, but this is very good that you wake up, even if I am not here.’ She gave Beth a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. ‘How do you feel?’
‘Rubbish,’ said Beth, her hand reaching up to touch the tubes that were uncomfortably violating her nostrils. She tried to swallow but her mouth and throat were too dry. ‘Leo?’ He was always the first thing on her mind, even when her mind was a blur of confusion.
‘He’s fine,’ said Petra sharply and she began fussing with Beth’s covers.
‘What’s going on? Why am I here?’ She gazed around to check her surroundings again but still nothing rang any bells – she had no recollection of how she had got there.
‘Your boiler is leaking gas. It made you very sick and you collapsed.’
Beth stared at Petra while her addled brain attempted to take in the information.
‘The boiler?’ said Beth. Her head hurt and her brain felt like it was on a go-slow. Nothing was making sense.
‘Jack got you out. I came with you in the ambulance.’
‘Ambulance? I don’t remember,’ said Beth, shaking her head a fraction. It was a frightening feeling that something serious had happened and yet she had no recollection of any of it.
‘I am sorry. I think the plumber was a not very good one. Jack worked it out and ran out of the pub and I wondered what …’
‘Where is Jack?’ asked Beth, scanning the busy area as the many moving people and accompanying chatter in the busy hospital ward started to register.
‘I don’t know,’ said Petra, sipping from the paper cup and breaking eye contact. Beth could sense the tension in her voice. ‘Still at the cottage I think.’
‘Petra, you’re a terrible liar.’ Beth spoke slowly. ‘What’s going on?’
She winced. ‘When they bundled me into the ambulance with you Jack was with the paramedics.’ Petra’s expression was one of grave concern.
‘Paramedics?’ Why couldn’t she recall any of this herself? The effort of trying to remember was making her head pound even more.
‘He was lying on the ground. He wasn’t conscious.’ Petra shook her head.
‘Why? What’s wrong with him? What happened?’ Beth fidgeted in the bed, getting impatient with the drip-fed story.
‘When he was rescuing you he was also poisoned by the gas,’ said Petra, closing her eyes.
Beth sensed the seriousness of the situation but without any recall it was difficult to comprehend what exactly had happened, like switching on a murder mystery part way through. But there was one thing that was suddenly very clear to her.
‘Who’s looking after Leo?’
Carly spun round in her seat to check she wasn’t imagining it. Fergus was blinking slowly and a smile played on his lips.
‘Oh my God, you’re awake!’ Carly forgot the wires and threw herself onto Fergus, setting off alarms all over the place and two nurses came running over.
‘Oof,’ said Fergus. ‘Mind the spam!’
Rosemary clutched his arm and cried silent tears, her lips moving in hushed prayer.
Cormac stood up, leaned over and clasped Fergus’s hand in both of his. ‘You took your time there, son.’
Carly moved out of the way while the nurses reconnected wires and started checking Fergus over. Fergus appeared more than confused by the tears and attention.
‘Hello, Fergus. I’m a nurse and you are in University College Hospital. Can you remember what happened to you?’ Fergus stared at the nurse’s moving lips as she spoke.
‘I got engaged?’ he said, looking happy but still confused.
‘Is the boy delirious?’ asked Cormac, swinging his head round to address the older of the two nurses now engrossed in jotting down information from the surrounding machines. The nurse gave Cormac a hard stare.
‘Fergus is deaf,