I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Was she a bad person? She didn’t dare ask herself that question.

“Close the blinds and turn that TV off.” The doctor scowled at the flustered nurse and Ashley lay still, exhausted. She could have told them not to bother because the news images weren’t showing her anything she hadn’t already seen up close. When the car had eventually stopped rolling she’d registered two things. Firstly, that somehow she was still alive and all her limbs appeared to still be attached to her body. Secondly, that Cliff Whitman hadn’t been so lucky.

She’d never seen a dead body before but she hadn’t been in any doubt that she was looking at one.

And it was all her fault.

Would the outcome have been different if she’d picked another moment to tell him what she needed to tell him?

She could still hear his voice saying, That isn’t possible, and remembered her high-pitched reply, If you have sex, then it’s always a possibility!

In that moment she’d had his full attention, which was why he’d driven off the road.

Did that make her a murderer?

You are in deep trouble, Ashley.

She wanted to run, but she couldn’t even sit up let alone move from the bed.

The doctor adjusted the drip running into her arm. “Do you remember anything at all?”

“I remember climbing into his car.” She could imagine what they thought of her. What was going through their heads.

But whatever they were imagining, the truth was probably far juicier.

She felt hot and then cold. She thought about Joanna Whitman and squirmed. The woman had looked awful.

“When you’re feeling strong enough, the police want to talk to you. They want to know if you have an idea what might have caused the accident. It wasn’t raining. Visibility was good.”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember much. One minute we were driving and the next we were flying over the edge.” She didn’t want to talk to the police. She didn’t want questions. How much could they find out?

Could you be locked up for telling someone something they didn’t want to hear?

She saw the nurse turn to look at the machine and hoped they didn’t have a lie detector rigged alongside all the other medical equipment.

The doctor gave a reassuring smile. “Try not to worry. Short-term amnesia isn’t uncommon after an accident like yours. You were lucky. But you might as well settle in because we won’t be discharging you for a while. The good news is that the baby is fine.”

Ashley stared at her. “Baby?”

“Yes. Your baby. You’re pregnant. Around ten weeks.” Dr. Ramirez paused. “You didn’t know?”

Yes, she’d known. Of course she’d known. That was why she’d been in the car with Cliff.