Hindsight (41 page)

‘I’m not crazy!’ Mira snatched back the invisible overalls from her and tried to pull the longest sleeves up her legs. ‘If I was, I wouldn’t be allowed out by myself … Damn it!’ she said, realising she’d have to remove her wet skirt first.

She cast the overalls aside onto the seat with a wail of exasperation.

‘How long were you locked up with them?’

‘What’s that got to do with anything? Crazy isn’t catching!’ Mira tugged at the invisible, rainbow-coloured skirt until the wet material slid down over her hips — stretched and puckered where Greggie had gripped and struggled with her. But attempting to explain how she’d fought him off blindly while using the ghosts of yesterday to escape him was information that she no longer dared to share with anybody. ‘It’s too complicated to explain, Gabby. Just forget “crazy”. If you must label me with something other than blind, think over-sensitive. When I went blind, my body compensated by heightening my other senses. Too much, I’m afraid.’

‘Okay, I’m back with you on that. Over-sensitive is obvious — and I’m off-duty now, so I’ve got the rest of the night to make sure you get home safely. But you shouldn’t be headed for Straddie, honey. By water, there’s a hospital much closer.’

‘No hospitals!’ Blood throbbed through her veins as she panicked. ‘I have to get … to …’ Teetering, she felt queasy and unexpectedly light-headed, but she couldn’t be sure if it was her or the motion of the boat rocking. She hadn’t eaten much since the incident with the iced coffee, but it felt similar — and Lockman had warned her at the shop that many chocolates contained caffeine, which affected her body chemistry more than usual. She just needed to get to … ‘Ben?’

Gabby grabbed her and controlled her fall, spreading her down across the row of seats and then pulling the trouser section of the overalls up over her legs. Feebly, Mira tried to resist, but she’d gone as far as adrenaline could take her. She opened her mouth to plead again for help in getting to Straddie, but the last of her strength seemed to flow away with the rocking tide, and when a warm rug was thrown over her, she could do little but resign herself to sailing away across the waves.

Gabby left her alone, and closing her eyes, Mira felt miserable and defeated — and queasy in the worst possible way. Her body was failing her, failing Ben, and despite being free of Serenity, she sensed the walls and boundaries of the world closing in.

No denying it any more. She was blind, weak and naïve — and about as far from independence as she’d ever been. Worst of all, she’d brought harm to nearly everyone who’d ever tried to help her — everyone except Gabby and Matron Sanchez, and as far as she could tell, they’d only stay out of trouble if she handed herself over to Gregan Greppia right away. She just had to find him.

In a spark of clarity, she realised she had to trade herself for Ben, but first she’d need to convince Gabby she was well enough to sail straight to Straddie.

Outside, she could hear Gabby humming to herself as she prepared to get under way.

Drawing a deep breath to renew her strength as well as her conviction, Mira dragged herself up and out of the cabin — but as her lungs filled with the briny smell of the bay, the deck and her stomach heaved in opposite directions.

The nearest she got to Gabby was the railing, where she fell to her knees and coughed up frustration and misery into the turbulent bay.

L
ockman finally shrugged off the medics without arousing their suspicions, and made off in his black Hilux, taking care to leave along a road that led further inland instead of the direction he intended. No point in using the headset just yet. He could guess where they were going, and if he switched it on too soon, he might be tracked by Garland all the way, just as they would be. Much safer to switch it on at a time that tactically suited him.

He didn’t know how long General Garland would be keeping a live satellite watch on the Greppia fire but it seemed logical that she’d be interested in ensuring he left the area without any further incident. She’d also be interested to see who showed up to check out the smouldering rubble, aside from the locals who’d already gathered.

More immediately, he needed to ditch the elastic bandage provided to him by the medics to support his chest, since it was already bugging him.

He didn’t have to wait long. Two minutes further inland, he pulled into a tavern, where he used the privacy of the men’s room to loosen the constricting bandage, then bought a bag of ice to fill the waterproof pockets of his fishing vest and a bottle of Glenmorangie as painkiller to console himself after achieving his next objective. If he had to suffer another sleepless night unable to get comfortable because of his ribs, he figured he might as well suffer in style; especially now with the extra bruising.

In the meantime, he crushed a pair of aspirin under his tongue to make the country roads less agonising, then turned east and accelerated for the nearest bayside ferry to Straddie.

Approaching 10pm, Mira was still on her knees with her head hanging over the stern of the invisible Edu-cat, when she felt the hull glide up onto wet river sand at Dutton Park — only a block or two from the ghostly hospital that she could see rising from the muddy-violet shades of last night. Her heart sank, but her mind stayed busy. She knew this hospital. Ten days of visits to Ben had acquainted her with many of its floors and corridors.

Amidst the ear-piercing screeches of cicadas and crickets along the bank, she heard an ambulance cut its siren in an adjacent street, and two noisy medics rolling their invisible stretcher down the nearby boat ramp to the water’s edge.

‘Faster by boat upriver than through traffic,’ she heard one of them say. ‘Must have clipped nearly forty minutes off the trip.’ But Mira still felt too weak and ill after such a swift ride across choppy water to raise much of an argument — or even her body.

‘Come along,’ Gabby said, tugging her to her feet, and before Mira could complain, Gabby was over the side, splashing in shallow water and hauling Mira bodily over the side too and onto her back like a school bag. ‘Tuck up your feet, honey.’

Bent over and trudging out of the water like a sturdy little mule, Gabby carried Mira as far as the boat ramp. ‘Leave her sunshades on,’ she warned the medics. ‘She’s a little sensitive.’ Then within minutes, Mira had been transferred efficiently into the emergency ward on the ground floor of the hospital.

Gabby stayed with her all the way, as did the two medics, who fussed over her with their friendly voices and medical equipment, taking her name, age and address on Straddie as well as her pulse, temperature and other vital statistics — until a nurse by the odd name of Willow Springs came by and relieved them of their responsibilities.

Dabbing at the web of scratches on Mira’s neck and chest with a cold swab, Nurse Springs asked a string of questions about what had happened, but knowing how cruel the Greppia clan could be, Mira remained silent, hoping to keep both Gabby and the nurse safe from anyone who came looking for a trail of information about her.

‘If she won’t answer,’ Springs said as if speaking to Gabby, ‘we’ll need to hold her overnight for observation and have a psychiatrist speak to her in the morning.’

‘She was in shock when I found her,’ Gabby said, taking an extra moment to explain where and how long ago. ‘Soaking wet and barefoot. Her hair was a mess and her collar was ripped with three buttons missing from her blouse. Her skirt was stretched too, so I gave her those clothes — aside from getting her warm, I figured she’d appreciate a full cover-up, if you know what I mean. And I put her clothes in a plastic bag, in case you need to test anything.’

‘You think she was raped?’

‘Honestly, I can’t say. She was pretty shaken and reluctant to tell me anything.’

‘Okay, I’ll advise the doctor accordingly. She shouldn’t be long now. Maybe ten minutes.’

Mira climbed off the mobile bed the moment she heard the nurse leave, and braced herself until her land legs returned. ‘Long enough,’ she told Gabby as she headed for the toilet block at the end of the ward, ‘when they say ten minutes they mean twenty.’

‘Mira! You’re supposed to wait here!’

‘I know, but …’ At the door to the women’s toilets, she paused. ‘We have to part ways here. Thanks for helping me this far. You can’t imagine how much I appreciate it.’

‘Mira! Don’t run. Nobody will hurt you here!’

Mira smiled grimly. ‘It’s not the nurses who frighten me — and that’s a first.’ She heard Gabby’s damp shoes shuffle swiftly to catch up to her. ‘No, please, Gabby,’ she said, raising her hand to hold her back. ‘It’s safer for you if you stay away from me.’

‘Safer for me? From who? The Greppias?’

Mira gaped at her, astounded. ‘How did you …?’

‘Scum is scum.’ Gabby hugged an arm around her. ‘You went into their territory and came out reeking of them. Listen, honey, you need more than a check-over by doctors. You need to speak to police. People died, so they’ll need to know everything.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Mira shivered as if she could still feel the rising wind. ‘I only know one cop who isn’t dirty, and he’s got his own problems.’ That would be her fault too, she realised, unless she could get a warning to him fast enough about his cover being blown. How could she do that, anyway, without using Gabby’s phone — unless she could get to a public phone within the hospital and somehow figure out a direct contact number for Detective Innes-Grady. She couldn’t begin to guess which division he really worked for, and even if she did, leaving a message for him anywhere could be dangerous. General Garland had the ability to track anyone close to the case when it suited her, and if the Greppias were as well connected as Garland feared, then perhaps they could track her that way too.

‘One good cop is all you need,’ Gabby argued. ‘Besides, you shouldn’t let Benny’s experience with one bad egg prejudice you against the whole force. The boys in blue aren’t that much different to the beige team at national parks. Just think about why they sign up in the first place. The pay isn’t
that
great.’

Mira sighed, wishing she knew enough about the world and normal people to argue, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Having a clean cop on her side could be an advantage, especially now that she’d lost Lockman and the two federal detectives. She had no idea, really, what she was up against — how many people were holding Ben at his house and if Gregan was there — and by turning herself over alone, she was just as likely to be captured without any leverage to ensure that Ben got away safely. She couldn’t count on Corporal Sei being any help. Having seen Greggie’s ghost pawing her there was less chance that she’d be held for the same reason as Ben — probably not even in the same place.

Mira frowned as she gave in. ‘Maybe you’re right. But contacting the only detective I trust will be tricky and dangerous. I won’t put your life at risk too. I’d never forgive myself.’

‘We’ll walk, we’ll talk,’ Gabby whispered. ‘But there’s no way I’m leaving you alone now. Ben would never forgive me.’

‘I don’t need help. I’ve come to know all the ins and outs of this place in the past fortnight. I know exactly where I am, and where I’m going.’

‘Maybe so, honey, but I’m your seeing-eye dog until Ben tells me otherwise.’ Gabby followed her into the toilet block, where Mira hurried past a row of alpine-smelling toilets to the far end and into the next ward. Around her, she could hear beds with croaky old people discussing their livers, cancers and kidneys, and complaining that their children and grandchildren never visited. Then through a side door, she found a large silent foyer, which offered her a choice: left to a bank of elevators or right to an exit with a bus.

‘I need to ask something,’ Gabby said, keeping up with her. ‘On the ferry, Benny was wearing a sling. And you mentioned you’d been here regularly in the last fortnight. Was he here?’

‘If he wanted you to know, I’m sure he’d explain it, but either way, please don’t be mad at him. If anything, be mad at me.’ Then with a sigh, she relented a little. ‘It’s my fault he was here.’

My fault his mother was hospitalised too
— probably still here, which gave her another idea. Getting a warning to Detective Innes-Grady might be tricky and dangerous, but less so if the message came from Mel — and while visiting hours were certainly over, that didn’t mean the halls upstairs would be empty of wandering patients or sleep-in relatives. If Mira went up, she shouldn’t look too conspicuous.

She turned for the elevators.

‘Hold it,’ Gabby said, catching her arm. ‘If you’re running away, the street is this way.’

‘Another first.’ Mira smiled grimly at the irony of it all — of heading closer to trouble in order to escape it, and needing to head in the wrong direction before achieving her ultimate goal of saving Ben.

With Gabby as her shadow, she read the ghostly wall directory to check which floor catered to the most critical patients, then as the doors of the nearest lift chimed open, she noticed that yesterday’s elevator was also open and waiting.

Mira walked in and pressed the button for the fourth floor, but then as yesterday’s lift went down, she needed to close her eyes for the unsettling rise up the shaft.

‘Did you mean to go up?’ Gabby asked. ‘I mean, I don’t want to make you feel like an invalid by offering my help every ten seconds, especially when you can walk around like this with so much confidence, but if you tell me where you’re going, at least I’ll know how long to keep my big mouth shut.’

Mira grinned, feeling an urge to hug her. ‘The less you know, the safer you’ll stay, I hope, so long as you never tell a soul that you know me.’

A woman with three noisy children joined them at the next floor, ending any chance of an argument.

‘Can you tell me when we get to four?’ Mira whispered, keeping her eyes closed behind her shades. ‘This stupid lift has Braille buttons but no voice to warn when I’m there.’

‘Sure,’ Gabby said, sounding far more patient than Mira would have been had their situations been reversed. She’d have been dying of curiosity by now; climbing the walls or clawing at Gabby’s face to demand answers.

‘I suppose it’s only fair to warn you,’ Mira confessed. ‘You won’t enjoy it much if I find who I’m looking for up here.’

Gabby laughed. ‘The Greppias don’t scare me, Mira.’

‘They should. But that’s not who I mean.’

‘Then who?’

‘You call her Mrs Control Freak.’ Mira smiled grimly, imagining Gabby’s reaction — and then Mel’s reaction at seeing both her two least favourite people together in the same room with her.

‘It’s not too late to let me go by myself,’ Mira said. ‘I have money,’ she added with grateful thoughts again for Lockman. She’d kept it in her blouse with the phone and as she checked she noticed that she’d only lost one of the notes somewhere along the way. ‘I could catch a cab and meet you back at your boat?’

‘Ha!’ Gabby laughed. ‘She doesn’t scare me
that
much.’

Gabby grabbed Mira’s elbow, and as the invisible doors chimed open, led her out into a hall, where Mira opened her eyes to see a large ghostly number four on the wall.

‘Critical patients?’ Gabby said as she noticed the wall-mounted floor directory nearby. ‘Last I heard, Mel worked in geriatrics.’

‘She isn’t working.’ Mira followed the signs to the nearest nurses’ station. ‘I did warn you it was dangerous to stay close to me.’

‘You
hurt
her?’

‘Indirectly. She met with an accident because of me — a surfing accident — and what does that tell you?’

‘That somebody’s lying. Mel was virtually born on a surfboard.’

Mira nodded. She could hear voices at the nurses’ station ahead and was about to approach to ask which room she could find Mel Chiron, when she recognised a deep, familiar voice among them: Detective Innes Grady! He was apologising for arriving outside of visiting hours and enquiring if Mel was still awake. The nurse also responded to him as ‘officer’ which told Mira he was probably still dressed as a traffic cop.

Mira spun her back to him and froze against the wall. She hadn’t expected to find him here in person. She’d expected Mel to be sedated, so she could scribble a warning and leave it for him on her bedside — hoping none of Greppia’s people would suspect the warning to come from his girlfriend, even if she did happen to be Ben’s mother, and her guardian.