Getting herself under control, Colette stepped back. Black rings circled her eyes and she had a massive bruise on the left side of her head. She gave Kelly a watery smile, swiped her eyes, and wiped snot bubbles from her nose.

“Paula’s a fighter. She’ll make it. She has too.”

When the reality of what Colette said hit home, Kelly’s knees buckled with relief.

The siren whirred, and Colette jumped like she’d been shot. Her frantic gaze flicked to the medic standing nearby.

“Please, can I see her, before they take her away, just for a minute?”

“Sorry, ma’am. The elder gent, his wife, and your friend, all need urgent medical attention. We’ll only get in the way.”

A police officer crossed the road moving at a good clip. He nodded at Lucy and Kelly. “Ladies.”

He turned to Colette. “Let’s go, I’ll give you a lift to the hospital. You too, Jan.”

Ah, so that was the medic’s name. With her hefty bust, and mass of dark curly hair, Kelly expected her to have a name like Shirley or Curly.

The haunted look in Colette’s eyes tugged at Kelly’s heartstrings, and, apparently, Lucy’s too.

“She can come with us,” Lucy said, looking to Kelly for confirmation.

Kelly nodded.

Colette stared at the ground. “I’d like that, thank you.”

Gone was the condescending rude P.A. Kelly had come to know. Funny how grief humbled a person.

The medic put a hand on Colette’s shoulders and studied her face. “You still need to be checked for any internal injuries. I’ll only let you go with these ladies if they are going straight to the hospital.”

“We are,” Lucy and Kelly replied in unison.

*

For the first ten minutes after leaving the crash site, a depressing silence hung in the air. Lucy occasionally hummed along to the radio, but the tension was so thick it was palpable.

Shocking the hell out of Kelly, Colette ended the standoff.

“Was that your sister? At Te Papa.”

Unsettled by the question, Kelly glanced at Lucy. Lucy gave her a don’t ask me look.

“Yes,” Kelly said, not willing to give more information than necessary.

“She’s very pretty.”

“I love her to bits.”

“I could tell, even though I was being an arse.”

Squashing the urge to spit out the words, you said it, Kelly kept her eyes on the road. Sun glimmered off the tar seal, sending up a hazy wave.

“What about you, Colette?” Lucy said. “Any brothers or sisters? I’ve never heard you talk about your family.”

After an agonizing pause, Colette finally replied, “I don’t have any, family I mean.”

Colette couldn’t have been any older than Paula, possibly younger. How was it possible for someone in their early thirties to have no family?