Marina opened her eyes. She tried to focus, but there was too much light in the room, too much brightness. She closed her eyes to block it out, then opened them again, slowly this time.
She saw curtains. Thin, patterned in a style she couldn’t identify. She looked round. She was in a small room. No, not a room, a cubicle. There was a beige wall with a small sink against it. She looked down and realised she was on a hospital stretcher. For a few seconds her consciousness floated adrift from her memory, then the two came crashing together. She jerked upright.
The cottage … the fire …
‘Whoa, hey, it’s OK … ’
She felt hands on her shoulders. Firm, not harsh. Not forcing her down, just holding her in place.
‘Where am I?’
‘Ipswich General. A and E.’
The voice sounded familiar. Warm and friendly. Another thought hit her. ‘Phil, where’s Phil … ?’
‘It’s OK,’ said the voice again.
Marina focused, managed to look at the face of the speaker. She made out dark skin and lightened hair, a denim jacket and a T-shirt. Her friend and work colleague, Detective Constable Anni Hepburn.
‘Anni … what—’
‘Just lie back, Marina. Lie back.’
Marina didn’t want to do so, but she trusted her friend. She looked at Anni’s face once more. Her features were taut, drawn. No trace of the usual good humour there.
‘What’s happened? Where’s Phil? Josephina?’
‘Just … just take a minute. Just … relax, yeah?’ Anni didn’t seem to know what to say.
Marina picked up on the unease and tried to sit up once more. Her bones ached and pain cranked through her body. She lay back down again.
‘What’s happened? Tell me … ’
Anni sighed and looked round as if for support. Finding none, she turned back to Marina. ‘You were picked up outside a cottage in Aldeburgh in Suffolk. Last night.’
Marina nodded, her head swimming. ‘We went there for the weekend.’
Anni looked at her. ‘It was in flames … ’
The brightness of the room couldn’t touch the darkness of Anni’s words.
‘Flames … ’ Parts of Marina’s memory returned to her, like garishly coloured jigsaw pieces against a dark matt background. ‘Flames.’
‘You tried to run towards it,’ Anni said. ‘A guy passing by pulled you away. If he hadn’t … ’
Marina closed her eyes, the jigsaw pieces slotting slowly together. ‘The … the rest of them?’ Her breath caught. She tried to resist forming the words in her mouth, but knew they had to emerge sometime. Knew she would have to hear the answers to her questions. ‘Are they … ?’
Anni sighed. Marina watched her.
‘I know that look,’ she said, apprehension and fear overriding tiredness, giving her a voice. ‘Phil does it. The one you put on when you’re delivering bad news. Telling someone their son or daughter’s been killed. Doing the death knock. I know … ’ Her voice trailed away. ‘Oh God.’
‘It’s … Are you ready for this, Marina? I mean, you’ve just—’
‘I don’t know, Anni. Am I? Am I ever going to be ready for this?’ Her voice snapping, harsh. She sighed. ‘Sorry. Just … just tell me.’
‘Phil’s … alive.’
Her initial reaction was a huge wave of relief, spreading over her. Phil’s alive. But she stopped herself from being too relieved. The hesitation in Anni’s voice …
‘Alive?’ she said.
Anni swallowed. ‘Yes.’ Another sigh.
‘Can I see him?’
‘Not at the moment. He’s … ’
‘What?’
‘Unconscious.’
‘Oh God.’
‘We’re … still waiting for him to come round.’
Anni’s words hit her like a wrecking ball. She tried to process what she’d heard, but her head was a cyclone, the words spinning round and round.
‘And … and … ’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the name. Josephina. Her daughter.
‘Eileen’s fine,’ said Anni quickly. ‘Not too badly damaged. She was lucky.’ Her voice dropped. Knowing she had to say the words. Not wanting to even hear them herself. ‘Don wasn’t so lucky.’
The cyclone spun all the harder. ‘What? Don … ’
Anni looked straight into Marina’s eyes. Held them. ‘He’s … he’s dead, Marina.’
The cyclone peaked. Picked up Marina’s thoughts, her emotions, spun them. She felt like her head would explode. It was too much to cope with. Too much to process all at once. But there was one question she needed the answer to. The one question she had avoided asking.
‘Josephina … ’ Her voice small, fragile.
Another sigh from Anni. ‘We … we couldn’t find her.’
Marina stared at her friend.
‘Honestly, she wasn’t … There was no trace.’