What was he going to do? It didn’t matter.

All that mattered now was sleep, and Robin was fast asleep before he hit the pillow.

Chapter Forty-Seven

He woke up, felt something hot and pleasing on his forehead. A warm flannel. He opened his eyes to see someone sitting by the bed. He jumped up and made his way to the other side of the bed before he realized who it was. It was Emma. In her smart GP suit. In his room in The Hamlet.

“Sorry,” she said, “your friend Amber let me in. She didn’t believe I was your sister at first, but when I said I was a doctor, she gave in. She said you needed one. You do need one.”

Robin breathed out, still recovering from the shock. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to take you home.”

“I told you I would be home soon.”

“Do you want to come back, Robin?” Emma said. “There’s nothing left for you here. You have to start to think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. You have to move on. You have to...let her go. You have to let Sam go.”

Robin said nothing.

“You think this is what she wants for you?” Emma said. “You’ve half killed yourself. How much have you slept in the last few days?”

“Does being unconscious count?” Robin said, and absentmindedly smiled.

“That’s not funny.”

Robin got up and slid his legs over the bed. He chuckled. “It’s a little funny.”

Emma just looked at him, evidently lost for words. She looked away as though she didn’t really see him anymore. She saw someone new—a stranger. “Are you coming home?”

Robin wheezed—his breath still hitching on something in his chest. He thought of Standedge, he thought of the Five, of Sally and of Matthew, and Claypath and Amber. Could he just leave? Turn his back on all this and just return to how things were? He didn’t know if he could, let alone wanted to. But then he thought of the warnings. Of the beating and of the book. And he knew what he wanted didn’t really matter.

“Okay,” he said slowly and softly. “Let’s go home.”

Emma’s face lit up although she was obviously trying to hide it. She got up. “I’ll get us something to eat, and then we’ll go.”

Robin nodded.

She left and was back in ten minutes with two bags of chips and two bottles of water. As soon as he smelled the food, he realized he was desperately hungry. As soon as Emma handed him a bag, he ripped into it and started eating.