‘Morgan, Morgan.’
Her eyes opened to see Ben next to her in bed, shaking her gently.
‘Oh my God that was horrible.’
‘Really, you scared the crap out of me. I was flat out, and you screamed down my eardrum. I thought something terrible had happened.’
Throwing off the duvet she sat up, turning on the bedside lamp, scared that Sally Lawson was going to be standing in the shadows in the corner of the bedroom, waving that stump at her. Wild-eyed she looked to Ben as she tried to slow her breathing down.
‘I’m sorry, it was so real.’
He was sitting next to her rubbing her back. ‘You’re telling me, you were thrashing around as if you were possessed.’
‘Just a bad dream, that’s all, about the Lawsons.’
He leaned his head on her shoulder and kissed her neck. ‘It’s been a rough couple of days.’
She glanced at her phone on the bedside table to see what time it was: almost time to get up. She didn’t think she could go back to sleep after that.
Ben yawned. ‘Let’s have half an hour.’
She kissed his cheek. ‘You have half an hour, I’m awake now.’
Standing up as he lay back down, she saw Kevin sitting by the bedroom door staring at her in disgust, and she shrugged.
‘Sorry, cat, I scared myself just as much.’
He turned and walked out of the bedroom.
She followed him downstairs, where he disappeared out through the cat flap they’d had installed, and she began to fill the coffee machine with fresh water. She’d put the photos of the crime scene away, but they’d stayed fresh in her mind as she’d fallen asleep. There was a lot to do today, and she wanted an early start. After her coffee had brewed and the milk had been warmed and frothed, Morgan opened the back door and took her mug outside. It was going to be a lovely day; she could already feel the heat of the sun as it burned through the clouds. She looked at Ben’s garden, it was much bigger than the Lawsons’ and need a lot of TLC but suddenly she was glad it didn’t look anything like theirs. She sat down on one of the white cast-iron chairs, putting her mug on the table and enjoying a few minutes’ peace before she bombarded her mind with the to-do list she had to tick off as well as find the Lawsons’ killer. She was getting close; she could feel it in the pit of her stomach, and she’d learned a while ago not to ignore those gut feelings.
Coffee drunk, she stood up and stretched then went back inside the kitchen. Phoning the hospital switchboard she asked for the Intensive Care Unit.
‘Hello, I’m a close friend of Maggie Wilkes, please could you tell me how she is this morning?’
Morgan had her fingers crossed that they would tell her and that it was good news.
‘Hang on, I’ll just grab the nurse who’s looking after her.’
Moments later she heard a soft voice ask who she was.
‘I’m, Morgan, she’s a very good friend, she also has no family.’
‘Yes, she said she was on her own.’
‘She’s awake and talking?’
‘She most certainly is, she’s doing amazing and by all accounts will be home later today to check on her dog.’
Morgan laughed, a huge grin on her face as the relief that Maggie was made of as tough a stuff as she was filled her with hope.
‘Will she be home today?’
‘I don’t think so, but she’s off the ventilator. She’s a bit sore but breathing fine considering one of her lungs was perforated. I’d let you speak to her, but she’s drifted off with the painkillers. We are moving her onto a ward soon though, which is good news.’
‘That’s amazing, please tell her that Roley is fine and I’m looking after him. I’ll pop to see her after I finish work.’
‘I will, bye.’
