Caroline gripped his shoulder. ‘I need you to be strong, Nathan. I need someone I can trust out in the department looking after all the other patients. You need to be out there while I look after her in here.’
Caroline knew there were enough other doctors to do what she’d just asked Nathan to do, but his presence was a distraction and Alex had to come first. Seb stepped in and took the bag out of Nathan’s grip and then, placing his arm lightly around Nathan’s shoulders, he led him away.
Caroline took a deep breath and turned back to the remaining people: the trauma doctors, the obs and gynae doctor, the A & E registrar, the two nurses and Greg Turner. She thought the senior police officer looked nearly as shaken up as Nathan Bell, and was surprised. Her patient was still spitting and shouting obscenities; the pink dress she was wearing was rising above her thighs, showing her underwear. She needed to be cared for and examined thoroughly.
She looked in the direction of the trauma team and other specialists she had called, all waiting with their backpacks on their shoulders full of emergency equipment, and smiled at them apologetically. They were not needed and could now go. To the nurse she’d just spoken to, she said, ‘Call security and have them come down. If she starts kicking off we’ll need more than just us to hold her down.’ And to the other A & E doctor and nurse: ‘We need full obs, ECG and bloods. Check the contents of her handbag and ascertain, if possible, how much she’s taken and of what. Ring path lab and ask them to be ready to do paracetamol and salicylate levels. We need to know exactly what she’s overdosed on.’
To Greg Turner she said, ‘This could take a while; you might want to take a seat somewhere. I’ll keep you posted. And if you haven’t already, I’d be grateful if you could ring the family and let them know she’s here.’
*
It was several hours later when Caroline finally stepped into the relatives’ room and spoke to Greg Turner. He’d been waiting for an update for most of the night and she was grateful that he’d stayed because he’d been there when Alex’s parents and sister had arrived. Caroline briefly spoke to them and let them know Alex was stable, but the rest of it, the horrific crimes she was suspected of, she had left to Greg Turner to explain. The three of them had gone back to their homes with their worlds turned upside down.
His eyes were closed and she saw they were bloodshot when he opened them. He rolled his neck and blinked a few times as he became more awake, and then he was quickly alert.
‘What’s the story?’
Caroline sat down in the chair facing him. ‘She’s sleeping at the moment, but she’s now lucid. She’s aware of where she is and is just sleeping off the effects of what she’s taken.’
‘Any lasting damage?’
Caroline shook her head. ‘No. I thought she might have taken other substances, but paracetamol levels are normal. She’s had a hefty dose of diazepam and taken ketamine too, which is why she’s sleeping now, and also accounts for her behaviour when they brought her in.’
Caroline arched her neck tiredly. ‘When she’s more awake the psychiatrist will come and do an assessment.’
Greg remembered seeing the ketamine in Patrick Ford’s surgery and wondered if she’d stolen it from there, but the consultant admitted the most obvious source: ‘I meant what I said earlier. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I was sure she was taking something else, apart from alcohol, and I should have checked stock levels ages ago. She’s been falling apart before my very eyes and I ignored it.’
She closed her eyes and sighed despondently, before focusing on him again. ‘What’s going to happen now?’
‘That will depend on the psychiatric review. If she’s deemed unfit for questioning I won’t arrest her. While she’s here I’ll keep an officer stationed. What medical treatment does she need?’
‘Repeat bloods and observations. And wait for the psychiatric review.’ She sighed. ‘I just wish I’d been more observant and noticed her breakdown.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘I’d say it’s a little more than a breakdown. She’s suspected of killing two people – possibly a third, if Amy Abbott was also a victim.’
The consultant briefly shut her eyes in despair. ‘Dear God. Has this all happened because of that actor?’
He undid the top button of his shirt and loosed the slightly grubby tie. Then he said: ‘Which reminds me, can I use one of the computers? I googled your actor from last year and it seems that I’ll not be able to question him, because he’s dead.’
Caroline was shocked. ‘How?’
Greg shrugged. ‘That’s what I want to find out.’
There was a light tap on the door and a nurse popped her head into the room. She smiled politely. ‘Sorry for disturbing you, but she’s asking for you, Caroline.’
Caroline stood up and Greg Turner did the same. ‘Do you mind if I come in and listen? I’ll stay in the background so as not to alarm her.’
Caroline nodded. She was glad the officer would be in the room. As a senior consultant she should be able to deal with any situation brought into the department; she had had dealt with many criminals, but she had never treated someone she knew who was also a suspected murderer. She had no past experience to draw on and no way to know how this would proceed.
*
Alex smiled tearfully and gratefully at the people surrounding her. They all looked shell-shocked and exhausted by their efforts to save her. This was the second time Caroline Cowan had cared for her, and she could only imagine how hard this had been for her. Her poor bruised face was haggard. Seb and Nathan were standing on either side of her bed, like bodyguards, looking equally shattered; Alex would for ever more be grateful to these two men in her life. They had searched for her and found her and now finally she could put this whole nightmare into the hands of the police and begin to heal. They would finally believe her.
‘Oh, Caroline, thank you for being here. I thought I was going to die.’
Caroline gazed at her and smiled kindly. ‘You’re safe now, Alex, and you’re not going to die.’
‘Thank you, Seb, for finding me,’ Alex said to her friend through teary eyes. ‘And you, Nathan,’ she added, reaching for his hand. ‘Thank you all for looking for me.’
Seb Morrisey kissed her on the forehead. ‘Just returning the favour, Doc. You’re my VIP, remember.’
Nathan didn’t comment; he simply squeezed her hand.
Alex switched her attention back to Caroline. ‘I’m scared to ask, but how bad am I?’
Caroline’s expression was light, and her voice calm. ‘So far so good. Blood pressure up a little, heart a little fast. Temperature a little low. Otherwise you’re in pretty good working order.’
‘And what about physically?’
‘Nothing.’
Alex smiled bitterly. ‘So a mind fuck again.’ She raised an arm over her head and touched her scalp, and after a second said, ‘So they weren’t actually put in?’
Caroline frowned. ‘What weren’t?’