‘We?’

‘Rhys and I.’ Mark looks confused. ‘Also a long story, but, basically, on his last visit she gave him a house key and asked for a book.’

‘Asked?’

‘Wrote a note.’

He nods his head, processing the information. ‘Okay, so what are you thinking?’

‘I don’t know. This isn’t my area. How do you deal with something like that without being confrontational and pushing her over the edge? The whole thing is unravelling out of my grasp.’ I rub my forehead, wishing I hadn’t said that last bit. Wishing I could take it back and present the picture of a ward sister in total control of her patient’s care.

‘I’m sure you have it all in hand, really. Have you filed a report on your visit?’

I hadn’t even thought of that.

‘Look, complicated patients always test our confidence, but I’ve only ever heard brilliant things about you, Kat. You will be dealing with it just fine, I am certain.’ He smiles, his eyes sparkling, and I feel myself colour a little. ‘You’ve got this,’ he says.

‘Gail’s coming round shortly. I’ll have to fill her in and see what she wants to do about things.’

‘Tell her we’ve discussed it. Write me that report on the situation, explain how you got to be at Susan’s, what you found and her responses throughout. Let’s try and get it over to the mental health team before this afternoon’s meeting. Can you manage that?’

I nod. ‘I’ll do my best.’

‘They can advise us on the next course of action from their point of view. She’s not going anywhere for now. We have time to help her. Don’t worry.’ He gets up to leave. ‘Is Rhys still visiting? Has he been helping?’

‘Ah, that’s where it gets slightly more complicated,’ I say. ‘We found a newspaper cutting in the book, something about an abandoned baby. We don’t know what her connection is to it but it touched a raw nerve with Rhys. He took the implication of her home and the paper cutting quite badly. He’s got his own issues at the moment. I fear we might not see him again.’

‘Oh, that is a shame. Is he okay?’

‘I’m not sure…’

‘Okay, that’s one to keep an eye on too then. Call him, try to re-engage him if you can. Make sure he knows what services are available to him if getting involved with this whole Susan thing has triggered anything. We have a duty of care to Rhys now too.’ Mark heads for the door. ‘And don’t worry!’

‘Thanks.’ I stand up, checking my watch. ‘Did you want something?’ I ask, remembering that he came to see me.

‘Me? No, no… I can’t remember. I’ll come back if I do.’ He smiles, tips me a gentlemanly salute, then disappears.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

SUSAN

How long do I wait? How long should I stay in case he does come back? In case the twitch in Kat’s eye, the tightly folded arms and the quiver in her voice weren’t giveaways to a lie at all, but prove nothing more than quirks of body language. That Rhys does plan to return, because he hasn’t pieced together a truth I cannot explain away.How long do I wait?And if I do wait, as I have for a lifetime, and he does return, where do we go from here? Where do I begin? How can I ever begin to tell him why and how he came into my life? Would he even believe me? How much does he already know? How can I fix the mistakes that I’ve made?I asked for the book to begin the process of putting wrongs right. But it feels as if its weight has pulled me down, dragging me beneath the murky waters of my lies. If there’s a bitter taste in his mouth, perhaps I should do as I planned, put an end to my pain and guilt, and cause no more in others. Perhaps it would be easiest for us all if I simply walked away. I’ve barely been here in the first place. But they have a right to know, don’t they?