Spiritwalker (26 page)

She dozed again the effects of the drugs he had her last night still hadn’t worn off. She didn't awaken until she heard the key turning in the lock. Kingston arrived in with a tray, on it was a bowl of steaming soup and thick slices of French bread.

Now it begins. She told herself, sitting up in the bed, she smiled at him.

“God I'm starving” She told him. She was rewarded by the brightest smile she had ever seen on anyone's face. He looked relieved and happy as though all his birthdays had come at once.

Jane forced herself to eat all the soup and some of the bread. Her stomach was protesting, after days of barely eating anything, it had shrunk and was trying to cope with the unexpected feast it was given. She finished all of the soup and was surprised at how much stronger she felt now that she had some nourishment inside her. She was feeling positive for the first time in a long time and it felt good. She asked him for a glass of water, he left taking the tray and its contents with him and carefully locking the door as he went. She sighed it was going to take time for him to trust her but she knew by his reaction at her sudden interest in food that it would happen. He returned with a glass of water and a cup of tea. She drank the water first then savoured the hot, sweet tea, she had forgotten how much she loved a cup of tea. He had even remembered to put a couple of biscuits on the side of the saucer. She savoured every bite, considering it a bite closer to freedom. After listening to more of his wittering’s about how glad he was that she was showing signs of improvement and how good their lives could be together, once she understood how much he loved her. She was worn out, trying to smile and seem interested. It was taking a lot more effort than she had thought possible. Finally she told him that she was exhausted and needed to sleep. She watched as he almost skipped out of the room. If it had been anybody else, she would have laughed at their enthusiasm. She just wanted him to drop dead. Once more he locked her in. She could hear him whistling outside the door as he went.

He brought her more food some hours later and she fought her way through it bite by bite. He left her for the night and she was surprised at how well she had slept. When she awoke the following morning she felt renewed, stronger. She was going to try and get him to take her outside today. She was able to get out of bed without feeling faint, her legs felt stronger. Her years of long runs, almost every day were standing to her now. She was regaining strength fast, she no longer needed to hold on to something while walking. He arrived in to her early the following morning, he was all smiles as he watched her eat the breakfast he had brought her with enthusiasm. She decided that it was time to broach the subject of a trip outside. He looked at her for a moment as though he could hardly believe what she was saying before smiling broadly and saying.

“Do you think you're up for it so soon?” He looked at her slightly concerned.

“Oh yes.” she enthused. “It looks like a beautiful day outside. I think it would do me the world of good to even just sit in the sunshine for a while.”

“Then outside you shall go.” he assured her and she felt certain then that it would be easier than she had first thought to gain his trust. It was obvious even to a blind man that he believed in his delusions totally. He really thinks that I will begin to love him and want to be with him forever. She almost felt sorry for him until she remembered that hostages often began to feel an empathy for their captors, what's it called again she mused, but the term escaped her. I'll be dammed if I’m going to start to feel sorry for that bastard she fumed inwardly.

After helping her to shower and dress, which she found totally humiliating, he agreed to take her outside. He had to carry her down the stairs as her legs were still too weak to hold her weight for long. The warm mid-morning sun on her face lifted her spirits. He walked her over to a sun- lounger and carefully helped her to lay on it. She basked there for a long time, staring at the magnificent views out across the water. He couldn't do enough for her, bringing her cups of hot tea and sandwiches anything she could possibly want. He turned on the radio for her to listen to some music. It was only then that she realised where she was. The DJ on the radio was speaking French. She had to be in France, that would make more sense, she thought as she looked aroun her. It didn't have the same feel to it that Spain had, yet she knew in her heart that she was no longer in Britain. He must have hidden her in the boot of his car that must have been an awful risk to take. She knew now that she had to tread carefully. If he was willing to risk getting caught then he was very dangerous indeed. Not that she had doubted for a moment how crazy he was. She remembered how he had dealt with Sylvia, a tear escaped down her cheek. She scolded herself, she had to forget about Sylvia…at least until she got out of his clutches…then he would pay dearly for what he had done to her. She forced herself to remember happier times and slowly she relaxed again. She had a contented smile on her face as she thought of happier times spent with her family. He glanced over at her and he was delighted to see a smile on her face. He thought she was thinking of their new lives together.

Later that evening after Jane had a nap, Kingston set the dining room table and he cooked dinner for both of them. He was almost shy when he asked her if she would like to join him. He looked like the cat that got the cream when she readily accepted. She enjoyed a couple of glasses of red wine with her food, and smiling all the way through the evening she continued to plot her escape.

Chapter thirty five

“I think she's waking up.” Were the first words Anna heard as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Anna, Anna, oh god it’s good to see you.” She heard as she slowly began to register the owners of the voices.

“What happened? Where am I?” Anna asked confused, she was wondering why she was in bed and Morley and Eva were both looking down at her and wearing silly grins.

“You're in hospital, we couldn't wake you so we had to call an ambulance. They brought you here.” Eva answered.

“Did something happen. I don't understand. Was I in an accident?” Anna asked sitting up.

“No your fine, Mrs Westhall couldn't get you on the phone and she got worried. She called me and we found you at her sister's house. We couldn't wake you so we had to call an ambulance. Morley was looking concerned at her lack of memory.

“I'm sorry, I don't remember any of that. Why was I at you sister's house?” She asked looking at Eva.

“You rang me and said you had a lead and asked if you could stay at Jane's place. Did you find out where Jane is?” Anna tried to remember.

“I'm sorry I don't remember anything. How long have I been here?” She was starting to get worried herself now.

“You've been here for two days.” Morley said

“Two days?” Anna said incredulously.

“What's the last thing you remember?” He asked

“Okay, let me think. I remember I had a meeting with Richard Kingston in the afternoon and I met you for lunch.....That's it. I don’t remember anything else. Two days! How did that happen?”

“You rang me at around three thirty and said you had a lead and asked if you could stay at Jane's place. The housekeeper let you in at around four. That was on two days ago. I wasn't able to reach you that night. I figured you were just busy but when I couldn't reach you again yesterday I rang Inspector Morley and we found you upstairs in the guest bedroom.” Eva explained.

“We tried everything to wake you. We thought you know.... That you were just in one of your trances. We waited for ages....Then we began to get worried that someone had drugged you or done something to you, so we rang for the ambulance. They haven't been able to wake you either.....until now.” Morley stated.

“I must have got lost. Or gone too far.” Anna said. Both of her visitors looked baffled.

“Has this happened before?” Morley asked

“Yes. But I've never been gone for two or three days before. “Anna said. “I remember one day years ago I was practising leaving my body and I was following my parents, they were going to Cork by car. I just wanted to see how far I could go, I decided to turn back after a few miles, everything was fine until I tried to cross a lake, the water… it does something to me. I began to get disorientated and next thing I remember, I was at home in my bed. My sister was calling my name and shaking me. She looked terrified cause Mum and Dad were away and she didn't know what to do. She said I had been like that for hours… That was the first time. I soon realised that I couldn't cross water without something strange happening to my spirit. I would just drift away”

“You must have been following someone, and had to follow them across some water.” Eva stated matter of factly. Try to remember... You were mumbling about Jane. You said, He has her.”

“Did I, oh god Eva I'm so sorry, I can't remember.”

“Maybe it'll come back. I've seem cases like this before, where people have short term memory loss.” Morley assured them.

“Maybe I found out something from Mr Kingston....did I definitely go there, something else might have happened.” Anna was desperate to remember.

“I checked with Kingston's office. His secretary said that you had arrived on time and spoke to Mr Kingston. Then you left. She doesn't know what you discussed though and apparently her boss is away for a few days.” Morley said.

“Miss Cotter, so you're awake. Why didn't someone inform me?” A doctor followed by a large group of student doctors entered the room and gathered around her bed. Anna hid a half smile at the sight of him, he was very tall and thin, he reminded her of Lurch from The Adam's Family. The way he brushed forward his greying hair to hide his protruding forehead was comical. It only emphasised it more. A young nurse rushed in looking flustered.

“Sorry Doctor. I didn't realise she had woken up.” She looked accusingly at Morley and Eva. They had promised to call her if there was any change.

“My fault Doctor.” Eva said smiling sweetly from the nurse to the doctor. “We were so delighted to see Anna awake, we forgot.”

He seemed placated, either by her words or the dazzling smile she bestowed on him. Turning to Anna he said. “Miss Cotter, I'm afraid I have to ask, did you take something?” When Anna looked baffled he said. “Are you on any drugs, wheather legal or illegal?”

“No of course not… why did you find some?” She was worried that since she couldn't remember, that maybe somebody had deliberately drugged her.

“No we didn't. We ran a lot of tests and couldn't find anything at all wrong with you. No reason for you to be in a coma. How do you feel now?”

“Perfectly fine but I can’t remember much of what happened, my friends say I have been out for two or three days.”

“You didn't have a blow to the head and you don't appear to have been in an accident. We'll run some more tests just to be sure we've covered everything but frankly I can't explain it.” He said looking perplexed.

I bet you can't Anna thought and you'd think I was crazy if I told you why I thought I was unconscious. “When can I leave?” she asked

“Leave...we don't know what's wrong with you yet. It could happen again.” The doctor said amazed that she had suggested leaving. “I'm ordering more tests. When we get the results of those then we can think about leaving.”

“What about my memory loss. Will it come back soon?” She looked hopefully at him.

“Some people get it back some never do. I'm afraid I don't have that answer.” With that he turned on his heel. His students opened a path for him to exit and he walked out followed closely by them.

“Great bedside manner.” Eva commented.

“He's not the worst of them.” The nurse said straightening Anna’s bed. “He's the best in his field. Believe me if there's something to find he'll find it.” She said proudly.

“Seriously though.” Anna signed. “When can I go?”

“Go? You heard the doctor. You need more tests.” She was writing something into the chart.

“Stay until morning at least, have the tests just in case.” Morley said. He knew Anna thought she was fine but he was still worried. He wasn't happy that she had been unconscious for so long and he agreed with the doctor that she should have more tests, just to be sure.

“Stay until morning.” Eva encouraged. “Your memory might come back.”

“Okay” Anna finally relented. “But I'm discharging myself tomorrow.”

They left, promising to return first thing in the morning. Anna was sent for more tests, when they had finally finished poking and prodding her, she was returned to her room and she spent the remainder of the evening trying to focus on her lost memory. Frustrated she switched on the telly and spent ages flicking through the channels before eventually turning it off altogether. She felt energised, psyched up not in the least bit tired. The days she had been unconscious had rejuvenated her body and spirit she hadn't felt this good in ages. And they want me to stay in bed and lounge around like a sick person, she thought miserably. It was late when she eventually drifted off. She dreamt about Jane and a mysterious man. In her dream he was doing awful things to her. She woke up sweating and almost screamed. I know, I know him she said aloud but the dream faded before she could remember.

It was after ten when Eva arrived the following morning.

“How are you feeling?” She asked “Have you remembered anything?”

“Sorry, it’s all a complete blank. But I do know something happened. Why can't I remember?” She asked frustrated. She didn't want to tell Eva about her dream. It had scared her and she wanted to spare Eva any worry. Inspector Morley poked his head around the door and smiled brightly at them both. Walking in he asked Anna “How are you?”

“I'm great thanks. The nurse said I have to stay until the doctor does his rounds. But I'm discharging myself then. I don't care what he says.”

“Still no memory then?” He asked casually

“No. Why can't I remember? Last night I had a dream, I know it was important but it just faded before I could grasp it.”

“I wonder if you would be open to a suggestion. It’s a bit unorthodox.” Morley said