By
Jan
Chapter 8
“She’s
on G-Wing…” the nurse called as Alex grabbed his bag and started running. He
cursed himself for not taking notice of the nurse immediately. His
pig-headedness by ignoring her had lost vital seconds and Karen could already
be…he shook the thought out of his head…he didn’t want to go there. Just lately
he had realised how much Karen meant to him but he had tried to keep his
distance from her because she hadn’t given any sign that she felt anything for
him.
He
hurried onto G-Wing to find a group of officers standing round Karen who was
face down on the floor. He shouldered them out of his way and dropped down on
his knees beside her. There was a small slit in the back of her pale grey
jacket surrounded by a spreading circle of blood. Protruding through the slit
was a two inch long piece of metal that would once have been enclosed by a
handle. The weapon had obviously been fashioned from some sort of table knife.
“Have you called an ambulance?” he demanded as he mechanically checked her
pulse. It was weak but she was still alive!
“Yes,
doctor,” Sylvia replied. “It will be here in a few minutes.”
“Sylvia,”
Karen murmured and the older woman moved closer and leant over her. “Make sure
the women are banged up.”
“Don’t
worry, ma’am, that was the first thing we did.”
“Karen,
you’ve got to rest,” Alex told her calmly. “Save your strength.”
“And
do a thorough body and cell search,” Karen ordered, ignoring his advice. “But
be careful, there’s
a
maniac with a knife amongst them.”
“As
opposed to the usual maniacs without knives,” Sylvia muttered tartly.
Alex
ran damp palms down his trouser legs, Karen obviously didn’t realise the knife
was still in her back. He opened his bag as a couple of paramedics, one of them
carrying a stretcher, hurried onto the wing. He stood up and let them do their
job. The way he was feeling, they were infinitely more use to her than he was.
He had never had to face the possible death of someone he cared about.
“I’d
like to go with her,” he said almost pleadingly when Karen was finally lifted
onto the stretcher.
“Alex.”
Karen held out her hand to him and he slid his fingers in hers reassuringly.
‘You’ll
be alright, my darling,’ he thought then realised he had spoken aloud when
Karen smiled and whispered, “You called me ‘darling’.”
In
her cell, Reb sat on the edge of her bunk, furious with herself that she’d had to
relinquish her weapon. She had stolen the knife at her last prison and
painstakingly ground it down until it was pointed and as sharp as a scalpel.
She hadn’t realised that once it was in Betts’s body that’s where it would stay
because as she’d tried to pull it back out the handle had come off in her
hand. As long as the bitch was dead
though, that was the main thing. She would just have to find another way to get
rid of Stewart.
Nikki’s
reverie at what to do about Sarah was interrupted by the shrilling of the
telephone. She picked up the receiver and grimaced when she heard
Stubberfield’s voice.
“Helen?”
“She…er…she’s
not here at the moment.”
“Then
can you get her to call me urgently? It’s Simon Stubberfield.”
“Hold
on I’ll just get a pen.” Nikki placed her hand over the mouthpiece and smiled.
Stubberfield was such a pompous pain in the arse let him wait! After a few
seconds she removed her hand. “Sorry, what did you say your name was? Steven
Blubber…?”
“Stubberfield!
Simon Stubberfield!” he barked down the phone at her. “Be sure and tell her
it’s urgent.”
Before
she could reply the line went dead. She replaced the receiver with a frown,
wondering why he was ringing Helen in such a flap on a Saturday morning.
She
didn’t have long to wonder because she heard Helen’s key in the lock a few
minutes later. “Stubberfield’s just phoned you,” she informed her as she
planted a kiss on her cheek and relieved her of the two bulging carrier bags
she was holding.
“He
didn’t recognise your voice, did he?” Helen asked worriedly.
“Does
it matter? You’ve almost finished serving your notice.”
Helen
shrugged. “What did he want anyway?”
“He
didn’t say, just that it was urgent. I’ll put the shopping away while you give
him a ring.”
As
she emptied the bags she strained her ears trying to listen to Helen’s
telephone conversation but apart from hearing Helen’s voice raised in shock at
the beginning of the call, she seemed to have been doing most of the listening
since.
“I
got extra veges with Sarah being here,” Helen remarked as she walked into the
kitchen.
“So
I saw, I’ve just put them all away,” Nikki replied dryly then, as Helen brushed
her hair behind her ear and licked her lips nervously, continued, “Wish you
wouldn’t do that, you know how it turns me on.”
Helen
forced a smile. “Stubberfield…he rang to tell me Karen’s been stabbed.”
“What?
Is she dead?” Nikki demanded incredulously.
“No,
she’s in the hospital but she’s going to be out of action for a while.”
Nikki
folded her arms and looked at her expectantly. “And?”
“And…he’s
asked me to take over as acting wing governor.”
“Well,
I hope you told him to get stuffed.”
Helen
looked down at the floor, unable to meet the accusing glare of her partner.
“Fanbloodytastic!”
Nikki exclaimed angrily. “You wouldn’t have a baby because you wanted me to
yourself but how much time will you spend with me when you’ll be at Larkhall
every hour God sends!”
“It
will only be for a couple of weeks,” Helen replied defensively.
“And
if Karen snuffs it, it will be another couple of weeks until they find someone
else and another couple of weeks because they can’t find the right person and
before you know it you’ll be stuck with the job permanently!”
“That’s
not true…”
“Why
don’t we just forget all this and admit what we’ve always known. You’re the
best person for the job and they won’t find anyone better.” Her shoulders
drooped dejectedly and she started out of the room. “I’ll pack my bags!”
“Stop!”
Helen’s voice snaked through the air like a whip. “When the going gets tough,
Nikki Wade gets going,” she sneered as Nikki turned round and glared at her.
“Is this what it would be like if we had a baby? After a few sleepless nights
you wouldn’t be able to cope so you walk out on me?”
“How
could you think I’d walk out on you?” Nikki demanded. Helen looked at her
pointedly and she flushed guiltily.
“I
told Stubberfield I’d let him know about taking over temporarily because I
wanted to talk to you first but I left him in no doubt that it would only be
for two weeks and not a minute more.”
“I’m
sorry,” Nikki muttered sheepishly.
“One
day I might start to believe that,” Helen remarked sarcastically then on a
gentler note added, “Come here.”
Nikki
shuffled forward until she could run her fingers down Helen’s cheek…if she’d
wanted to!
“You’re
an idiot. Do you know that?” Helen asked teasingly. Nikki nodded and Helen
laughed and hugged her then drew back and looked at her lovingly. “You’re also
my whole world and you mean more to me than anything or anyone.”
“But
I sometimes feel I’m ruining your life,” Nikki protested.
“How
can you be ruining my life when you are my life?”
Nikki
gave a laugh that sounded like a breathless relieved sigh.
“I’ll
tell Stubberfield to find someone else,” Helen said decisively.
“No,
don’t do that. I was being stupid. Take as long as you like, we’ve got all the
time in the world.” She lowered her head until her mouth met Helen’s not
knowing if someone had her way their time together would be tragically cut
short!
Alex
sat perched on the edge of the chair, his eyes never leaving the woman on the
bed. He didn’t think he had ever seen her look more beautiful with her blonde
hair spread out on the pillow. Since she had been wheeled out of the operating
theatre he had sat beside her, scarcely daring to leave her in case…suddenly he
jerked upright and realised his head had started to droop, which was hardly
surprising since he hadn’t slept for almost twenty-four hours
“Alex.”
His
face lit up when he heard Karen’s voice. He leant towards her and took her
hand. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty. I thought you were never going to wake up.”
“You
need a shave,” she murmured as she reached out and stroked his cheek.
“I
was so afraid to leave you.”
She
smiled. “Will I live?”
“You’ll
be fine. The knife missed your vital organs…thank God!” His voice wavered and
he took a deep breath.
“Alex,
what you said…what you called me…did you mean it?” Karen asked falteringly but
before he had time to reply the door opened to admit two men…one, a short
stocky man in his mid-forties with a mop of dark hair and a bristly moustache
and the other a thin, cocky young man with close-cropped hair.
“Good
to see you’re awake, Miss Betts. I’m DI French and this is DS Bennett.” The two
men held up their warrant cards as proof.
Alex
drew back and released her hand leaving a bereft Karen glaring at the
interlopers.
“We
just want to ask you a few questions,” French informed her.
“Have
you found out who did it?” Karen demanded.
French
shook his head. “Not yet. The whole wing has been interviewed but we didn’t
come up with anything. Everyone claims to have been somewhere else when it
happened.”
“How
can I help you then?”
“Did
you see the assailant, Miss Betts?” Bennett spoke for the first time.
“No,
she came up behind me.”
“But
it was a woman?”
Karen
looked at the young man in surprise. “Of course it was a woman! I work in a
women’s prison for Christ’s sake!” she snapped impatiently.
Bennett
smiled superciliously. “I meant, was it an inmate?”
“I
assume so, unless one of the staff took a pop at me.”
“Is
there any bad feeling between you and any of the staff?” Bennett continued
doggedly.
“I’m
sure I piss them off on a regular basis but I hardly think one of them is going
to stick a knife in my back!” She glared at him. He was really beginning
to piss her off! “Although I’m sorely tempted myself sometimes.”
“We’re
just trying to do our job, Miss Betts,” French put in as if realising his colleague
was in danger of harassing the lady.
“Doctors
and nurses…even ex-ones…make the worst patients,” Alex interjected in amusement
before Karen had time to reply and she shot him a withering look in response.
He coughed nervously and looked down at the floor.
“Thank
you for your time, Miss Betts,” French said kindly. “We’re sorry we had to put
you through this so soon after your ordeal but time is of the essence if we
want to catch who did this to you.”
“They
aren’t going anywhere, are they?” Karen replied dryly.
“That’s
true,” the detective inspector agreed. “But we also want to prevent anything
happening to one of your work colleagues.”
“Do
you think that’s likely?” Karen asked worriedly.
French
shrugged and frowned so that his bushy eyebrows seemed to form a continuous
line across his forehead. “Since we don’t know the motive for your attack we
can’t be sure of anything.”
When
they were alone together, Karen reached out and gripped Alex’s hand tightly,
grateful for his quiet strength. She felt relieved that she was away from
Larkhall and out of danger but at the same time fearful for the people left
behind. She was at a loss to comprehend what she had done to provoke such
hatred in another human being because whoever it was had been desperate enough to
try and kill her in cold blood in front of the whole wing. She shuddered and
gripped Alex’s hand even tighter.
He
looked at her and smiled then said reassuringly, “It will be alright. I won’t
let anyone hurt you ever again.”