‘This isn’t regular procedure,’ says the nurse. ‘But I suppose it won’t hurt if I check now.’ She takes a small light from her pocket. ‘You’re sure she wears them?’
‘Positive.’
The nurse lifts Martha’s right eyelid first and then the other. I try to peer over her shoulder but I can’t see properly. ‘As I thought. Green. So, we’re safe to say no contact lenses in. I’m sure I would have noticed them anyway.’
‘Thank you, I just wanted to check. Peace of mind and all that.’
‘Okay, well, like I say, just a few minutes.’
I draw the seat up next to the bed and wait for the door to close behind the nurse. I lean forward, supporting myself with my right arm. ‘I know you’re not Alice,’ I whisper into Martha’s ear. ‘You need to tell me what’s going on. Who is in this with you? Who am I in danger from?’ Martha’s eyelids flicker for a second. Has she heard me? I try again. ‘Please Martha, I need to know.’
Martha’s arm twitches and her head moves to one side. Her eyelids flicker once more. I say her name again, this time close to her ear. ‘Martha, wake up.’
Her eyes ping open and there is a look of confusion and then one of fear on her face. She flinches from me and gives a little moan of pain as she does so. ‘Go away.’ She wheezes as she speaks, saliva stringing the corners of her mouth together. ‘Go away.’ She turns her head and closes her eyes.
‘Not until I get some answers.’ I grab her arm with my right hand and her eyes open. She tries to move her arm away but doesn’t have the energy to fight me off. ‘Who killed Alice?’ I feel a sense of urgency take over me. I don’t know how much time I’ll have before someone comes in.
‘Leave me alone,’ says Martha, her speech not so slurred now.
‘If you don’t tell me, then I’ll call the police and tell them who you really are.’ It takes all my self-control not to climb up on that bed and shake the living daylights out of her until she talks, broken arm or not. ‘For God’s sake, Martha!’ I thump the bed in frustration.
Martha looks at me with disdain. ‘You’re just like her.’ The sneer in Martha’s voice matches her expression. ‘You want everything your own way. It’s pitiful. Pathetic.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Her breathing is more rapid and I hear the pace of the heart monitor pick up. ‘Got everything you always wanted, haven’t you?’
‘Is this about the money?’
Martha lies perfectly still and then, taking a breath, she opens her eyes again. ‘Not only have you had everything you’ve always wanted but you’ve always been loved. You have no idea what it’s like to be rejected. Not to be loved. To have nothing.’
‘You have no idea about what I feel or don’t feel, but this isn’t about me. It’s about Alice.’ I stand up and loom over her, our faces a mere inch apart. I grab her shoulder with my one good hand, pushing her into the mattress. ‘What happened? Where is Alice?’
I’m vaguely aware of the door to the room opening but I can’t stop myself as I push Martha’s shoulder deeper into the bed, my face now just millimetres from hers.
‘Hey! What’s going on?’ A voice shouts from behind. Two hands pull me from Martha.
Chapter 27
Tom pushes me back into the corner of the room. ‘Clare! Clare, stop.’ He looks back over his shoulder at Martha, who I haven’t taken my eyes from. She looks back at me and I see her acting abilities come into play. She genuinely looks frightened.
‘Get her away from me,’ she wheezes as she grabs the buzzer to alert the nurse. The ECG needle starts to jump erratically and alarms starting ringing. A nurse rushes in.
Tom lets go of me but holds onto my hand, to make sure I don’t go anywhere.
‘What happened?’ demands the nurse as she tries to calm Martha, whose breathing is coming in small and fast puffs. Her eyes are bulging and she’s grappling frantically at the nurse.
Another nurse hurries into the room and, with an expert eye, surveys the scene in front of her.
‘Oxygen,’ says the first nurse as she simultaneously offers calming words to Martha not to panic.
The medical staff busy themselves with Martha while Tom and I stand helplessly watching from the far side of the room. Tom gives me a questioning look, which I ignore.
I can’t so easily ignore the small voice of revenge that is whispering in my ear. If Martha dies now that will be some sort of justice for Alice, for I’m sure something awful has happened her. It will be karma. What goes around comes around. An eye for an eye. All these clichés rush through my mind and for a few seconds I allow myself to enjoy the idea.
‘Clare, you okay?’ Tom’s voice brings me back from my dark thoughts.
I look at him and then back at Martha. ‘Yes, I’m fine.’
The nurses have placed an oxygen mask over Martha’s mouth and nose. Her breathing is calming down. I don’t know what they’ve done, given her a sedative, perhaps, to lower her heart rate. She seems to be slipping into a sleep.
The nurse looks up at me again. ‘Did something happen?’
I shake my head. ‘No. She was talking to me about the accident and then got upset.’
I’m not sure if the nurse believes me or not.
‘Maybe we should leave now,’ says Tom, taking my elbow.
‘I think that’s a good idea,’ says the nurse, clearly unimpressed with me.
Tom guides me from the room. ‘I thought for a minute we were going to lose Alice.’ He takes my arm again and he walks me down the corridor. ‘Come on, you need a coffee.’
We make our way to the rooftop café. It’s a blustery day out there and the sky is full of battleship-grey clouds. We sit inside by the window. I’m already fed up being trapped indoors and have a craving for natural light, albeit it stormy.
‘The weather doesn’t look too good,’ says Tom as he puts an Americano down for him and a cappuccino for me. ‘I think there’s a storm forecast for tonight.’
We lapse into silence while we assess the weather outside and sip our coffees. It’s me who speaks first. ‘Tom …’
‘Mmm,’ He looks up at me.
‘Do you trust my judgement?’
‘Your judgement? Yeah, of course.’
‘You consider me to be of sound mind and all that. You know, not known for rash decisions or jumping to conclusions?’
‘Reliable. Dependable. Yep.’
‘Thanks for not saying “boring”.’
He gives a wry smile. ‘I don’t think we have to worry about boring. Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on?’
I pause while I choose my words. ‘You know when someone commits identity theft, they find out the other person’s bank details, home address and all that sort of thing?
‘Yeah and usually fleece them for every penny.’
‘Kind of. But what about identity theft being taken to the extreme? Where it goes further than just remotely taking on someone’s financial identity. Where they actually pretend they are that person, in real life, to other people. They go about calling themselves by that assumed name, they take on their history, they even kid themselves that they are that person.’