Page 39 of Dying Breath
‘We’re doing everything we can to make sure that he does.’
‘Thank you, doctor.’
She began to cry and Browning, who looked like a fish out of water, did his best to comfort her. Stephen patted her arm. ‘One of the nurses will come and get you as soon as he’s comfortable and you can sit with him.’
He turned to walk out of the door and Mattie said, ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome, Mattie. Is Lucy around?’
Mattie shook his head and Stephen went to leave. Browning mouthed, ‘Why’s he want Lucy?’
‘They’re very good friends.’
Browning rolled his eyes. ‘She’s a dark horse, is Lucy.’
All three of them sat in silence, Alison no doubt regretting her behaviour towards her husband in the last couple of hours. Mattie was worrying if Lucy was coping with it all. He suddenly stood up and turned to Browning.
‘Are you two okay if I go back to the scene? I feel bad leaving Lucy on her own.’
‘I was thinking that.’
The door opened and a flustered looking nurse smiled at them.
‘Mrs Crowe, would you like to come with me? We’ve made your husband comfortable now; it will be nice for you to sit with him so he knows that you’re here.’
Alison stood up and went after her, turning her head to look at them both. ‘Thank you for everything.’ And then she was gone. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
‘What a night.’
Mattie nodded. ‘Come on, there’s nothing more we can do here. We might as well go back and see what trouble Lucy has managed to get herself in to.’
Browning laughed and followed Mattie, who was already walking out of the door.
Chapter Thirty-Five
It was just after midnight when Browning dropped Lucy off at her house. She looked up at the dark windows and wished there was someone waiting inside for her. What she’d do for someone to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be okay.
‘What a long night. Thank you for the lift.’
‘Are you okay, boss?’
Lucy nodded. ‘I think so – what about you?’
‘I’m going to be frank with you, Lucy; I don’t know if I’ll ever be all right after tonight.’
She knew what he meant; this one was going to be even harder to let go of. ‘Do you think Tom will be okay?’
‘All that running and healthy eating must kick in at some point. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Now if it was me, with the amount of crap I’ve consumed since Wendy left, I think my heart would have just given out. It goes to show that being a fitness freak isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. If your time’s up it’s up and there’s nothing anyone can do.’
‘Good night, Browning.’
She got out of his car and walked along the path to her front door. Once inside she double-checked that she’d locked it behind her, then reset the burglar alarm. Her stomach did somersaults every time she thought about Tom. She couldn’t get the picture of him collapsing out of her mind; it kept replaying over and over. Coupled with that and the image of Arran Martin, if she didn’t have nightmares tonight it would be a miracle.
She went straight into the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of wine, then completed her nightly ritual of checking every door and window before tucking the bottle under her arm and going upstairs into the bathroom. She ran a bath; she was going to soak away everything and drink enough wine so that sleep would come regardless of what was going on in her head. She even lit the Jo Malone candle that Mattie had bought her for her birthday and she’d been saving for a special occasion. By no means was this a special occasion, but tonight she needed to remind herself that she was alive and had a beautiful life to be grateful for. Life was too short to keep things stuck in drawers to save for best.
Her phone beeped and she read the text from Stephen.
Hi, just wanted to let you know Tom’s stable. Hope you’re okay, miss you and if you need to talk ring. I’m on my break.
