‘Shit, Nell.’ Paul was by the side of her bed, his face close to hers, before he was swallowed up by darkness.

Bremer was staring at her when she next came round. He smiled. ‘You scared us there for a minute.’

‘What happened?’

‘Panic attack.’

Jesus, was that all? ‘I thought I was dying.’

‘Serious things, panic attacks,’ he said, studying her. ‘But we can help. I’ll call the force counsellor as a starting point and—’

‘I’m not going,’ she interrupted.

Bremer put his arm on her hand. ‘Yes, you are, Nell. You’re a good cop and I want you back on the team as soon as possible. And if that means you’re going to have to suffer a few sessions with a shrink, so be it.’ He pulled back and glanced at the door. ‘Carla’s almost here with grapes. Be nice to her. She’s just seen Gerry and is a bit tearful.’

‘I’m always nice and why the hell did she bother doing that?’

‘Closure, Nell. It’s what emotionally intelligent people do.’

Nell rolled her eyes. At least that didn’t hurt. She clicked for a hit of morphine, then looked at her bandages. ‘Will it get better? I mean, will I be able to work again?’ It suddenly occurred to her she didn’t know the extent of the damage. What if she was retired on health reasons – what the hell would she do?

‘You’ll be fine. I’ve grilled the nurses within an inch of their lives and they have repeatedly confirmed you’ll be fine. You’ll just be a DS with a dodgy shoulder.’

She leaned back in relief as Carla appeared holding a bag of grapes, followed by Paul carrying a tray of three coffees.

‘None for me?’ Nell asked.

‘Caffeine and morphine will make you high as a kite.’

He wouldn’t catch her eye. She remembered pulling rank on him. Clearly he wasn’t going to let that one go anytime soon. Shit. She was going to have to apologise. Not her forte.

‘Sorry.’

Paul glanced at her. ‘Forgotten.’

Bremer looked between them. ‘Very touching,’ he said. ‘Now, let’s have a quick debrief before we let Nell rest?’

Carla sat on the end of Nell’s bed. Paul took a seat by the window.

‘The biggest thing we’re going to have to manage is the press. They will crucify us for this and we probably deserve it. So brace yourselves and don’t give any comments.’ He looked pointedly at Nell. ‘Don’t bite.’

‘I’d never bite a journalist, leaves a nasty taste.’

‘And then we’ll have the court case. Eve will obviously remain in prison until then.’

‘Will she and Gerry be tried together?’ Carla asked.

‘Doubt it. There’ll be multiple charges brought, so I imagine they’ll keep it simple to avoid overloading a jury.’