In the car, Imogen was grateful to be away from Adrian. Constantly second-guessing everything he said or did wasn’t doing either of them any good. She was annoyed with herself for looking at his phone. He wouldn’t cheat on her, she knew he wouldn’t. So why did that nagging voice in her head refuse to give her a moment’s peace?
Instead of driving down towards the station, she doubled back and drove to Wonford Hospital instead. What on earth did she think she was going to find there?
She parked in the car park nearest the ambulance bay, knowing that Dr Hadley was usually in accident and emergency. This was stupid. If Adrian found out about this, he would be really pissed off with her, especially as she already knew he wasn’t cheating on her.
She knew it. Didn’t she? But then, why so many phone calls between them over the last few weeks? Had he turned to Dr Hadley after their argument at the Corrigan house? Is that where he went? Is that when it started? That seemed to be the moment when everything changed between them. Why couldn’t she just keep her stupid mouth shut? She shouldn’t be so paranoid about his history with the doctor; it was one date that Adrian had claimed was a real non-starter. Furious with herself, Imogen had to know for sure; she had to speak to Zoe Hadley for herself.
‘Is Dr Hadley in?’ Imogen asked the receptionist, showing her warrant card.
‘I’ll get her for you. Take a seat; she might be a few minutes.’
The row of plastic seating was empty, a quiet night in A & E. She sat on the last seat nearest the exit, in case she changed her mind and decided to flee before Dr Hadley emerged from the belly of the hospital.
Too late.
‘DS Grey. What are you doing here?’
She hadn’t even considered what she was going to say when asked that question. What the hell was she doing here? She stood up and walked over to where Dr Hadley was standing.
‘I … There’s no easy way to ask this.’
‘OK.’
‘Are you seeing DS Miles again?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, I heard some rumours around the office that you two were seeing each other. You know, like, dating,’ Imogen said, unsure why she could claim that was any of her business even if it was true.
‘No,’ Dr Hadley answered. ‘I don’t know how much he told you about when we went out that one time, but it was not something either of us wanted to repeat. But what if we were seeing each other? Would that be a problem?’ Dr Hadley folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
‘No, no, of course not. I just wanted to let you know he was ill.’
‘Yes, I know, thank you. He came into A & E when he fractured that rib. I saw to him then.’
‘Of course, sorry.’
She could see a look of suspicion on Dr Hadley’s face. It suddenly occurred to her that the doctor could easily tell Adrian that she had been in here, checking up on him. She really wished she had thought this one through. Adrian made her a bit crazy, she had decided.
‘I was just passing, so I thought I would come and ask you. He’s really been quite poorly. I wondered if you could give me any advice on how to help him recover faster.’ Good one, Imogen.
‘The usual, really. Plenty of fluids, plenty of rest, no alcohol. No great secret to healing a fractured rib.’ Dr Hadley placed her hand on Imogen’s shoulder and looked at her earnestly. ‘Some things just take time.’
‘Well, thanks, Doctor.’
Imogen shifted backwards, unsure as to why she was so uncomfortable, but something about the way the doctor had just looked at her made her uneasy.
‘Don’t worry; I won’t mention this to Adrian if I speak to him,’ Dr Hadley said.
That was also a strange thing to say, just to offer like that. What did the doctor know that she didn’t?
‘Thank you, Doctor,’ Imogen said as Dr Hadley stepped back through the triage doors and into the hospital.
Imogen was sure now that there was no secret romantic relationship going on there, but why else would they be talking? It was true that Adrian didn’t have an abundance of friends outside the police service – hell, he didn’t even have that many inside the police service. He had a tendency to rub the men up the wrong way and the women kept their distance because of his reputation, unless they had already slept with him, in which case they avoided him like the plague.
Maybe it was purely about his injury, but this impromptu meeting with the doctor had done little to quash the voice in Imogen’s head that was telling her something was wrong. Adrian certainly had no intention of telling her if he hadn’t done so already, she knew that much about him. She also knew she couldn’t take much more of this.
She left the hospital and got in the car alone. She felt alone a lot these days, even when she wasn’t.