‘Can I go and see my Joycie?’ asked a red-eyed Stanley.

‘And can I see Frankie now?’ Joey asked, distraught.

Neither asked about Eddie, as neither really cared how he was.

The nurse nodded. ‘Take no notice if they’re still woozy. It will just be the medication we’ve given them,’ she told them.

Joey sat down next to his sister’s bed. ‘What happened, Frankie? Talk to me,’ he pleaded, as he stared into his sister’s haunted eyes.

Frankie squeezed his hand. She wanted to tell him the truth, tell him that Raymond had kidnapped her, but she was still sedated, in shock, and unable to speak properly.

A few doors away, Stanley clutched Joyce’s hand. She was still sound asleep, but Stanley was sure she could hear him. ‘You should have listened to me all them years ago, Joycie. If Jess hadn’t married Eddie, we wouldn’t be mourning our daughter’s death. We should have put our foot down when she was seventeen and she first met him. I always knew he was a villain, a wrong ’un, and still I let her marry him. How are Frankie and Joey ever gonna get over this, eh, Joycie? Their lives are ruined and so are ours. I hope that bastard doesn’t wake up. He deserves to die, not our Jess. I hate him, Joycie, I really do.’

Joyce’s eyes flickered open. ‘You were right all along about him, Stanley. I’m just sorry I didn’t listen to you,’ she mumbled.

Unable to read properly, Jed kept stopping staff to ask them whether he was going in the right direction.

‘Go straight down the end of this corridor, then turn left,’ a nurse told him.

As Jed and Sammy ran around the corner, they came face to face with Raymond. ‘Where’s Frankie? What’s happened?’ Jed asked him.

Raymond led Jed away from the Old Bill. ‘This is all your fault, you pikey cunt. My sister’s dead because of you. What are you doing up here anyway? Just do one, will ya?’ Ray said viciously.

‘If you don’t tell me what’s happened, I swear I’ll cause a fucking riot,’ Jed yelled.

Seeing the Old Bill had reappeared, Raymond realised that he had no option but to tell him. ‘Frankie’s not injured, but her mum’s dead. Eddie’s been shot as well. I don’t know how he is ’cause no one will tell me.’

Jed looked at Raymond in astonishment. ‘What happened? How did Jess die?’

‘I don’t fucking know,’ Raymond spat.

Seeing a copper walk over to them, Raymond put his arm around Jed’s shoulder. ‘Say nothing about what went on. Go and see Frankie and make sure she keeps schtum as well,’ he whispered.

Jed nodded and went in search of his girlfriend. The copper walked up to Raymond. ‘Your brother-in-law’s OK. I think he’s in recovery.’