Contents ( 71)
- THE
- DAUGHTER
- MICHELLE FRANCES
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It was a long drive, only a few miles but they had to confront the Friday-night traffic. They arrived at the hospital and Tim got out first, then ran around to open her door. She climbed out just as the wind whipped up and she was almost blown against the car. Tim took her arm and tried to shield her from the rain as they followed the policewoman towards the entrance, bright lights spilling out onto the wet pavement. It was no calmer inside; a melee of people seemed to fill the place, jostling, crowding. Looking back to check she was still following, the policewoman set off.
Kate walked down the brightly lit corridor. The lights hurt, offered no cover. She noticed how the glare didn’t seem to bother anyone else, and she passed people, both medical staff and ordinary people like her, and couldn’t understand why they weren’t squinting. Some of them even smiled, caught her eye, as they stood aside to let her pass and she found herself getting angry at them. She didn’t need her path cleared as she walked down this corridor, she didn’t want to get there any faster, and she looked away. Told herself again that it was all a gruesome mistake. And it could be, it was. She hadn’t seen Becky yet and so of course it was possible, entirely possible. Her train was probably delayed, God knows it happened often enough and there was never any phone signal just outside Victoria station so it wasn’t as if Becky could call her. Or she’d forgotten, she’d got so wrapped up in that story, she’d forgotten to come home early. For a fleeting moment, she felt sorry for some other poor mother who hadn’t even been told the awful news, and now she, Kate, would see that woman’s daughter first, some poor unknown girl, knocked off her bike and killed.
They suddenly stopped, which seemed odd to Kate as this corridor was the same as any other.
‘Would you mind just waiting here a moment?’ said the policewoman, indicating some chairs lined up against the wall, and then she went through a door in front of them. Kate and Tim sat, their hands joined over the wooden armrests of the low-slung, wipe-clean chairs.
‘This way, please,’ said the policewoman, reappearing at the door. She held it open, so they could enter what was a consulting room. A doctor was sat behind a desk, but got up quickly as they came in. He offered them more seats and sat down again on the other side of the desk to them.
The door closed and the quiet was instantaneous.
‘I’m very sorry,’ the doctor said, and then seemed at a loss for what to say next. With no further condolences to add, his next words felt cruelly blunt. ‘Are you ready?’
Kate saw them waiting for her. It took her a moment to stand. She didn’t want to go into the room that was being indicated, just off this consulting room. Then the policewoman opened the door and her legs seemed to propel her forward of their own accord, obeying the rules and requests of this hideous nightmare she was in. It’s a mistake, the voice inside her tried to say, but it had dimmed so she could hardly hear it. Something in her throat was stopping her from breathing properly.