‘Yes.’ Jo approached the bed, her eyes round, lips pressed together as if afraid of what would come tumbling out.

Allison levered herself up on her elbow. ‘Bet you wondered where I’d gone?’

‘I did a bit of speculating. I didn’t come close.’

It made Allison laugh, which made her wince, then groan.

‘Shit, what have they done to you?’

Allison was allowing relief to soak in. She’d been rescued. By Jo of all people. ‘They drugged me, starved me, covered me in bruises and broke some ribs. But they never got what they wanted, and if you help me out of here, they won’t.’

‘Can you walk?’ Jo ran a hand over her face. ‘Fuck, can you even stand?’

Allison wasn’t sure she could do either but if she had to slither across the floor like a snake, she was getting out of there.

Jo was shifting her weight from foot to foot. ‘I should ring for an ambulance. Shit, I should ring the police. Those two, they should be arrested.’

Allison struggled to sit, letting the dizziness settle before shuffling around to put her feet to the floor. ‘No ambulance, no police.’ She pushed the sheet to one side. ‘Could you find me something to wear?’

‘Yes, I can do that.’ Jo turned for the door, then looked back, a worried expression on her face. ‘Don’t move; I’ll be back in a sec.’

‘Right.’ Allison waited till her rescuer had gone before getting shakily to her feet, steadying herself with a hand on the wall. She straightened, stretching upright, wincing at the pain. When she took her hand from the wall, she swayed and collapsed to the bed behind. She was safe now. Wasn’t she? The doubt in her head pushed her to her feet again. This time, when she took her hand from the wall, she swayed only a little.

‘You okay?’ Jo was back, hovering in the doorway. ‘I mean obviously you’re not okay, I just mean…’ Her voice faded away.

Allison wiped a hand over her mouth. ‘I need a shower.’

Jo turned to look nervously down the stairway. ‘We don’t know how long they’re going to be gone. Best not to tempt fate. When you’re home, you can have a long shower, change into your own clothes. Okay?’ She stepped into the room and dropped an array of clothes on the bed. ‘I wasn’t sure what would fit so I just grabbed a selection.’

Allison picked up a fine navy jumper. She pulled it on. It was soft and wide, caressing her bruised body. Rummaging through the rest, she found a wrap skirt. She tried to drape it around her waist, handing it over to Jo without a word when she’d failed for the second time.