The Geary Series Boxed Set (56 page)

Present Day

Lilly and Elijah hurried along the corridor and arrived back at the nurse’s station to find it empty once more. Elijah left Lilly and walked further into the main hallway to see if he could see her coming from either direction.

“Mickey?” Elijah said.

Lilly left the station and joined Elijah to see who he was talking to. As she turned the corridor corner, she saw an ashen-faced Mickey stood with Elijah. Elijah had his back to her and spoke quietly to Mickey, speaking rapidly, firing question after question. She heard the urgency and intonation rather than the words.

“What’s going on?” Lilly asked once she had reached the men.

“Thank God you are both here, I’ve been trying to call you Lilly. Angie has been hurt and has been admitted for possible head injuries.  I can’t believe you’re here. Why are you here actually?” Mickey said.

“My mother collapsed, she’s had a stroke and is here having further tests carried out. What happened to Angie?” Lilly asked urgently, dismissing her mother’s scare for her best friend’s well-being.

“A hotel guest hit her over the head when she took his room service tray up to his suite. He waited until she had placed the tray on the table and then he used the lamp to hit her over the head. The gutless bastard fled the room and left her lying there to bleed. She managed to crawl to a phone to get help and now she is being checked out and hopefully stitched up.”

Mickey stood with his hands on his head looking lost. Lilly hugged him tight to her, he dropped his arms and circled her back with them and buried his head in her shoulder. Squeezing his eyes closed he exhaled long and hard blowing her hair over her shoulder. He released her and looked to Elijah for help.

“She’s going to be fine Mickey, it sounds like they have her in good hands. How did you find out?” Elijah asked him.

Mickey smiled ruefully, as he explained what had happened. It was fate or luck that decided that he would have dinner with her every night she worked. Mickey still had his stolen painting case he needed to do some research for and had already planned a late night studying his latest client’s background to narrow done how he would win the bid. As he arrived in the lobby of the hotel, he heard the receptionist frantically calling the emergency services, giving Angie’s details. She was also shouting into her walkie talkie to the night manager to get to the Lennard Suite. Mickey’s heart sank and he raced to the suite leaving the coffee and Danish pastry on the counter top of the reception desk. He arrived at the room to see the door wedged open with a fire extinguisher and to see the night manager pressing a towel to Angie’s head. Her face pale and her eyes closed. The carpet stained red and the night manager sobbed his cries of her to stay awake.

Mickey strode into the room and took over pressing the towel to her head, the man’s shaking hands were becoming useless and he was grateful for Mickey’s arrival. Mickey pressed the towel firmly and asked the other man to grab another as the one in his hand had become soaked through. As the man scurried off into the bathroom, Mickey whispered words of encouragement. He told her she was going to be fine and that help was on the way. He stroked her hair away from her face with his free hand and kissed her forehead. He had seen this type of wound before when he had served in the Navy. He hoped that the knock on her head wasn’t too hard and wouldn’t leave any lasting damage.

The ambulance crew had arrived before the night manager had come back with more towels. By the sound of the heaves coming from the bathroom he assumed the situation had got the better of him. Mickey was grateful for the manager’s quick thinking.

Mickey sat back and let the professionals do their jobs and followed them down to the ambulance. He travelled with Angie to the hospital, he had no way of contacting her family. Mickey tried to call Lilly and Elijah but assumed that they hadn’t answered because they were still at Jack and Olivia’s dinner party. He had never been so happy to see them than when he walked down the hospital corridor. Elijah was the closest he had to family.

“I hope she’s going to be ok, I’ve no idea why someone would want to hurt her,” Mickey said.

“I’ll come with you to see her,” Lilly said as she stood in front of him holding his hands.

“That’s the thing, we can’t go and see her, it’s family only at this stage and it would take me too long to search and find her parents. I don’t know her surname.” Mickey said, he was all out of ideas and not thinking straight.

“I could call them?” Lilly suggested, she didn’t want to state the obvious. She was Angie’s best friend and knew who her parents were.

“You have their number?” It seemed bizarre that Lilly would have Angie’s parent’s number, his state of mind didn’t add the facts together.

“Yes, of course, we have been friends for a long time. Her dad programmed his number into my phone as a threat. If anything happened to his daughter, he wanted to be the first person I called.” Lilly fished around in her handbag for her phone and searched for the number and hit dial. That was as far as it went, Mickey took the phone out of her hands and asked what her father’s name was.

She pointed to the phone screen, Mickey rolled his eyes and mouthed a thank you. She let Mickey walk away with her phone only too grateful that someone else was going to make the call to Angie’s father. He would be incandescent with rage that someone had hurt his daughter. His protection of Angie moved up a notch as she was his only child and he doted on her from the moment she was born. Angie described his love as tough love, he pushed her to be the best woman he thought she was capable of being. Angie had other ideas, she tended to take the slow and steady route, taking her time with her career. Her father was an American Senator. Angie missed her family over in America but found her home in Scotland. Lilly had met Angie’s dad once a few years ago when he had come over for a political conference and it was on that visit that he had issued several instructions on the safety of his daughter.

Lilly had nodded faithfully at the time, agreeing to all his conditions while thinking it was extreme and over the top. She had put it down to the American way and accepted the responsibility of looking out for his daughter.

“He wants to speak to you,” Mickey said, he had wandered back to where Elijah and Lilly had remained in the corridor.

“Hello, Mr Moore,” Lilly said those were the only words she spoke for the entire conversation. It lasted for three minutes and then the line went dead.

Elijah spoke first “What did he say?”

“He has put me on the list of people who can make decisions on Angie’s surgery if she needs it. You too Mickey, he seems to have faith in you after one phone call. Well done, he is a hard man to please. He wants me to keep him updated on what is going on this end and then if any decisions have to be made I can make them on his behalf. Although I doubt I would make the decisions, I’d be the spokesperson.” Lilly decided.

“We need to get down there Lilly, I promised her father that I would get to the bottom of why she was attacked. I can’t do that until I speak with her.”

“I’m sure it was a random act of violence Mickey, nothing sinister.” Elijah volunteered.

“Maybe, anyway, Lilly can you get me down there and then you can get back to your mother. I don’t want to keep you from her.” Mickey said and hugged her briefly.

“My mother can wait, she is spouting nonsense at the moment, I doubt I would get much sense out of her anyway. Elijah’s parents are with her as well as Aunt Jane and my dad.” Lilly said.

“I bet that’s a tense reunion.” Mickey volunteered.

Lilly frowned at Mickey’s choice of words but dismissed them, she left Elijah to go back to her mother’s room and her family while she too Mickey down to Angie’s room.

Mickey and Lilly walked down the corridor in silence, she held his hand as they neared the room where Angie had been wheeled into after she had been stitched up. She shared the ward with five other beds of which only one had a man lying in it. His face, pale and wrinkled and appeared he was fast asleep. They quietly tip toed to Angie’s bed that hid behind a material curtain. At the same time, Mickey and Lilly squeezed their hands harder as they turned the corner.

A nurse in a white top and navy trousers took Angie’s blood pressure. Their arrival didn’t disturb the nurse’s duties. She carried on while they stood at the foot of the bed. Lilly stroked Angie’s foot over the blankets that covered her body. The touch moved her head and once she saw Lilly’s face, Angie burst into tears. The nurse left them to it and gave them some space now that she had finished marking the results of her hourly check.

Lilly rounded the bed and sat on the edge to take her hand while Mickey followed the nurse to find out what the outcome of the tests had been.

“I’m so glad you came, how did you know I was here?” Angie asked once she had stopped crying.

“I was already here lovely, we bumped into Mickey in the corridor and he told us what had happened at the hotel. I’m so sorry this has happened. How do you feel?” Lilly asked.

“Tired, mainly, I can’t believe that man attacked me. I brought his dinner up and he thanked me by walking towards me while I had my back to him and then running out the door. I wasn’t that late bringing his order up.” Angie said and giggled once and winced.

“Are you taking this seriously Angela? You could have died.” Lilly hissed out.

“I’m in the hospital, nearly dead and you’re telling me off? I don’t get any sympathy?” Angie asked and pouted.

Lilly’s guilt kicked in and she clasped both of her hands around Angie’s hand and held on tight. She didn’t speak for a while, choosing her words carefully.

“I’m so glad you’re ok Angie, I’d be lost without you,” Lilly confessed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you’re a married woman.” Realisation dawned. “You’re a married woman Lilly, only a few weeks ago, how was the honeymoon? Why are you here with me? Why were you already here Lilly? Oh hell, is Elijah ok? There I am worried about being told off and you have far more worrying to do.” Angie babbled at a garbled pace.

Lilly put her hand over Angie’s mouth to silence her rambling questions. She raised her eyebrow as a warning to stop talking. Angie kissed her palm and Lilly dropped her hand just after Angie licked it.

“My mother collapsed and has been here for a few hours, you probably arrived at the same time. She’s rambling nonsense and, oh, I was supposed to get a nurse for her.” Lilly looked around the room for a solution to her problem. Mickey walked back into the ward, smiling, but it soon dropped when he met Lilly’s frown.

“Is everything ok?” Mickey asked and plonked himself into the chair next to Angie on the other side to Lilly. He lifted his boots and rested them on the hospital bed. 

“No Mickey, it’s not ok, I nearly died, her mum almost died, your muddy boots are on my death bed and Lilly is looking lost,” Angie announced in the quietest voice she could manage.

“You’re not dying or nearly died, Lilly’s mum is not anywhere near death, that one will be getting a letter from The Queen and my boots are not muddy. Are they?” He asked Lilly.

Lilly inspected the bottoms and they were pristine, not a mark on them.

“They look brand new actually, your blankets are safe Angie,” Lilly confirmed.

“Aww, did you wear new shoes to bring me late night supper, that’s so sweet.” Angie said.

Mickey visibly shuddered at Angie’s saccharine voice and faux concern. He had been caught out with the new shoes. He didn’t have any smart shoes and had gone to the shopping mall to buy a pair.

“Oh hush up about my shoes, they’re just shoes,” Mickey said and muttered inaudibly.

“Why did you say Angie didn’t nearly die, she was hit over the head and bled,” Lilly asked pointedly and folded her arms under her breasts.

“It’s a superficial wound, the cut wasn’t that deep and didn’t do very much damage. She just bleeds a lot it would seem.”

Mickey uttered these words while reading a woman’s magazine aimed at the over sixties. He found the article on window ledge herb gardens fascinating.

“Mickey, why are you minimising what happened?” Lilly asked.

“Because she is dramatising what happened, it pisses me off. Tell it accurately and then everyone can assess how they feel and what they are going to do.” Mickey answered.

“Typical military man,” Angie said.

“Typical spoilt brat,” Mickey replied.

“Oh, enough you two, I’m going to go back to my mum and see what is going on with her health. Try not to kill each other and I’ll come back tomorrow to see you.” Lilly said.

She kissed Angie’s forehead and stepped away.

“Hey, where’s my kiss?” Mickey whined.

Angie tried to take the magazine out of his hand, but the pain in the side of her head prevented her.

“Stay still Angie, you could have died tonight, I don’t want you to rip those stitches before I take you home,” Mickey said.

“Stop being dramatic,” Angie said, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of Mickey’s hand in hers as she drifted off to sleep once more.

Mickey took the dog-eared picture from his pocket, it was the same photograph that he had showed Elijah when they were investigating William Harrison. The four teenagers arm in arm, looking happy. He had no sympathy for William sitting in a jail cell. He couldn’t have been more proud of Lilly, leaving her brother to wait for another solicitor to assist him in his defence. She had been browbeaten by her mother for all of her life and since meeting Elijah she had found her feet. He hoped she didn’t regress now that her mother lay in a hospital bed.

“What are you looking at?” Angie asked.

Mickey stuffed the photo back in his inside jacket pocket and blinked away his thoughts. Smiling warmly at Angie, he struggled out of the chair and stood next to her bed. He had been sleeping on and off for the last ten hours. Nurses came and went and brought him a blanket and a mug of tea. He would leave the hospital once Angie left, he hoped she would leave with him. She had no one else to look after her and he hated to think that she was alone.

“Nothing. How are you feeling?” He asked and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Angie lifted up her chin so that he could tuck it under.

“My head’s a little sore. Tell me what’s going on with Lilly’s mum, is she ok?” She asked.

“I’ve not moved from your side all night. Do you want me to call Lilly for you?” He asked her.

Mickey had moved on from chin tucks to slicing his hand into the side of Angie’s body, making sure the blankets were snug to her whole body. Angie followed him around the bed with only her eyes, she daren’t move, Mickey had taken his job seriously. He would have done it regardless of what her father had asked him to do. The tests had come back all positive and no surgery would be needed.

Angie wanted to get up and go to the bathroom to shower. She remained still until he reached her head again, turning her head to look up at him she waited for the kiss. He leant down and kissed her forehead and left the room.