‘I wanted to call and see how you are.’ Nancy smiles. Have you heard anything from the police?’
‘They’re questioning people that knew Jo Deacon,’ Toni says, suddenly animated. ‘But she was such a loner, Nancy. No family or friends to speak of and they questioned all my work colleagues last time and didn’t come up with anything.’
‘You said the two of you were friendly. Didn’t she tell you anything about herself?’
Toni shakes her head. ‘She was always really guarded when it came to speaking about the past or about herself generally. She was more interested in me and Evie, for obvious reasons, we can see now.’
‘I suppose they have to go over it all again in case anything was missed the first time,’ says Nancy. ‘But surely, if Jo Deacon took Evie, there should be signs of that in her home.’
‘They’ve sent hairs and other bits off for analysis,’ Toni says. ‘What I want to know is, where is Evie now? What has Jo done with her if she isn’t at her house?’
Nancy shivers.
She knows then what her next question to Jo Deacon must be.
* * *
The next morning, Cheryl Tong, the ward manager, stops Nancy at the desk.
‘You’re back on Ward C,’ Cheryl says, handing her some wrongly directed mail for the other ward. ‘You can go there right away.’
Nancy doesn’t move. ‘But why?’
Cheryl looks up sharply. ‘Why what?’
‘I mean, I’ve only just come onto Ward B. Why am I being moved already?’
Unconsciously, Nancy feels her eyes drift towards Jo Deacon’s private room and she sees her manager register this.
‘There’s no specific reason, Nancy, just staffing logistics.’ Cheryl hesitates. ‘Although I have noticed you’re spending a lot of time in the stroke patient’s room.’
‘I do what I need to do in there,’ Nancy replies tersely. ‘Sometimes it takes a little longer because the patient is unresponsive.’
‘Well, they’re moving her later today, anyway,’ Cheryl says in an offhand manner. ‘Can’t say I’m sorry, if it’s true what she did to that Cotter girl.’
‘Evie,’ Nancy says. ‘Her name is Evie. Where are they moving her to?’
‘No idea.’ Cheryl busies herself with a pile of paperwork. ‘You’d have to ask Dr Chance.’
‘I just remembered I left my fob watch in there yesterday,’ Nancy says, feeling grateful she placed it in her handbag this morning instead of pinning it to her uniform. ‘I’ll just get it now and then I’ll get off to Ward C.’
Cheryl gives her a vague nod and moves to the other side of the admin station to take a telephone call.
Nancy enters the room. It’s quiet, save for the hiss of the respirator and the particularly loud tick of the wall clock. She pads over to the bed and leans forward so Jo can see her.
‘They’re moving me today, Jo. They’re short-staffed on another ward,’ Nancy says, leaning in closer. ‘I wanted to tell you that I saw Toni Cotter last night.’ Nancy pauses for a moment to observe her but there is no reaction at the mention of Toni’s name. ‘And I have one last question for you before I go.’
Nancy takes a breath.
‘Jo, do this for Toni. Was there someone else involved in the abduction of Evie? Yes? No?’
No reaction.
‘Jo, please. This is so important. Does someone else know what happened to Evie? Yes? No?’
No blink.
Nancy asks the last question again and adds in ‘I don’t know’ as an option, but still nothing.
Nancy looks over at the door. She doesn’t have an excuse if Cheryl Tong comes into the room right now. She’ll want to know what Nancy is saying to Jo and why she’s acting strangely with a patient.
‘Jo, please. For Toni’s sake, and for little Evie, tell me. Is there someone else involved, who knows what happened to Evie, knows where she is? Yes . . .’
And Jo Deacon blinks.
‘Does Toni know this person, like she knew you?’
Jo blinks.
The answer is, categorically, undeniably, yes.
67
Present Day
The Nurse
Nancy leaves Jo Deacon’s room and reports directly to her ward manager, Cheryl, who has just finished her call.
‘The patient blinked,’ Nancy says. ‘Jo Deacon blinked.’
Cheryl’s eyes widen. ‘Are you sure? There’s been no sign of life at all.’
‘I’m certain,’ Nancy says. ‘She just blinked.’ She can’t reveal her experimental communications with Jo because it would be very dimly looked upon. A nurse taking it upon herself to use unconventional techniques on a patient when she should be busy with other duties? Trying to save a grieving mother’s sanity by getting information from the patient who broke her world in two?
That wouldn’t do at all.
Fortunately, on this occasion, Nancy doesn’t give a toss about their ethics.
* * *
This time, when Nancy is shown into the sitting room by Anita, she is greeted by a very different Toni Cotter. She stands up as soon as Nancy appears and walks across the room to envelop her into a hug.
‘Thank you,’ she whispers. ‘Thank you for helping me.’
‘But you don’t know what I’m here to tell you, yet,’ Nancy says, struggling with how to break the information she’d managed to extract from a now-blinking Joanne Deacon. ‘I don’t even know if she’s telling the truth.’
This had occurred to Nancy after she had relocated to Ward C. When she’d asked if someone else was involved in Evie’s abduction, Jo hadn’t responded at first. What if she was playing games? She would probably never make a full recovery, even though the blinking was a sure sign that movement was returning. Though Nancy has no intention of spelling it out for Toni, she knows that Jo Deacon will probably never face justice. She can lead Nancy to believe anything she likes. She has nothing to lose.
Anita brings steaming mugs of tea through and the three women sit, bound only by their desperation to find Evie. Nancy feels selfish even thinking what she was about to say next, but she is going to say it anyway. Just so there is no ambiguity.
‘I have some news for you but I have to ask you not to repeat what I’ve told you or tell anyone where you got this information.’ Both Toni and Anita nod solemnly. ‘I could lose my job, you see. What I’ve done is totally unethical and talking to you about it now is breaching patient confidentiality and data protection.’
It’s too late for Anita – she’s so frail, like a burned-out shell – but Toni Cotter leans forward in anticipation, reminding Nancy of a small, hungry bird, quick in her movements.
Nancy hopes that what she’s about to say won’t disappoint her.
She outlines the communication method she has used and also gives them a short explanation of what locked-in syndrome is.
‘Are you saying that she is fully compos mentis behind that dead face and body?’ Toni looks horrified. ‘That she’s actually alive and probably laughing at us for what she’s done?’
‘I doubt she’s laughing,’ Nancy says. ‘I would imagine it feels like being buried alive or locked into a transparent prison where no one can reach you.’
‘Good,’ Anita mutters, twisting her fingers together. ‘I do hope so.’
‘Through the use of blinking, Jo answered a few of my questions.’
‘Go on,’ Toni urges, although Nancy notices her face has drained of all colour.
‘She did take Evie that day—’
Toni jumps up out of her seat. ‘Why? Why would she do that? What has she done with her, where’s Evie?’ She begins pacing up and down the room, grasping and rubbing at her own throat. ‘Where’s my baby?’ She releases a wail of pure grief – one that Nancy has inadvertently unleashed without the correct environment or supporting professionals to help. A knot of panic twists in her stomach. She has made a terrible mistake in thinking Toni can deal with this.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Nancy shakes her head and stands up. ‘I should never have burdened you with this. I’ll go now.’