It was all unravelling now; her carefully wrapped secrets splitting and falling apart. ‘Look me up,’ she wept, her face in the pillow, knowing she was already found out and it was too late. ‘Rachel Roberts from Danforth Cross. Google me and then you’ll know. Or rather . . .’ The sobs threatened to overwhelm her. ‘Or rather, then you won’t want to know any more.’

‘Bunny! I mean – Rachel. Of course I’ll want to know. What do you mean?’

She dared to open her eyes again, but Dave’s bewildered face staring back at her was enough to break her heart. ‘Just Google me when you get home,’ she said unhappily. ‘I’ll understand if . . . if you’re not interested when you know the truth.’

‘I’ll always be interested!’ he cried. ‘I love you!’ He squeezed her hand again. ‘Look, you’ve had a shock, you’ve banged your head, you’re not yourself. Come on, stop worrying about . . . whatever it is, and just rest now, okay? Don’t distress yourself. Whatever it is, we’ll sort it out, all right? We’ll sort it out together.’

Bunny no longer had the energy to speak. Tears rolled silently down her face into the damp pillowcase. She wished his words could possibly be true, but at the same time she knew this might well be the last time she ever saw him.

Then came the sound of footsteps, a swish as the curtain was pulled back and she smelled a light floral perfume. ‘How are we doing in here? I thought I heard voices,’ said a woman. A nurse, Bunny guessed, her mind still groggy. ‘Are you waking up there, love? Rachel? That is her name, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah,’ said Dave after a moment. ‘That’s her name. Um.’ She could hear him getting to his feet. ‘I’ll leave you to it. She’s a bit upset,’ he said in a low voice to the nurse. Then he patted Bunny’s arm gently and leaned over to kiss her forehead. ‘Don’t you worry,’ he told her. ‘It’s all going to be okay. I promise.’

Bunny sighed as he left and the nurse began fastening a blood-pressure cuff to her arm. Oh, Dave, she thought wretchedly. Good, kind, loving David Mortimer. Hadn’t anyone ever told him: you shouldn’t make a promise you couldn’t keep?

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Dad About the House: The Mummy Returns