Kay was right about Janna. She’s a self-centred back-stabber. But before I can start to imagine what Janna is playing at, the wind catches the blind again and rips it away from the window. This time one of the guards has turned around. He sees me. As the blind falls back he strides towards me. I choose this moment to look down. It’s a long way to the ground. I stifle a retch. The guard tears down the blind, his face contorted with rage. King hell, don’t let him push me off!
‘What the devil are you playing at?’ the guard barks.
The other guard brings a chair and the first guard climbs on to it and grabs hold of my wrist. It’s almost a relief. Being hauled through the small window by two angry guards is extremely unpleasant, but at least I’m not falling on to the concrete. Even though I try to cooperate, my feet slip and slide and I’m mostly dragged in, scraping the skin off my stomach on the edge of the window.
The younger of the two guards lets go of me to return to Janna’s side. The older one keeps a firm grip on me.
‘What has she said to you?’ I ask. Has she told them who I am? I try to twist away from the older guard.
‘Settle down,’ he says and handcuffs my right wrist to his left.
What are they going to do to me now that they’ve got me? What’s going to happen to Kay if I don’t get back to the hospital? Efwurd.
‘Where’s the other one?’ the older guard says to me.
‘I don’t know.’
The younger guard and Janna are leaving. Her hand is on his arm. Surely she can’t have charmed him into helping her escape?
‘Hey!’ I say, unable to form the questions I have for her.
Janna turns back and laughs, she actually laughs. My mouth twists in disgust. She looks at me full in the face. She is totally unabashed at colluding with guards. I channel my anger through my eyes and give her the filthiest look I can muster. She stares back at me.
‘Say hello to your girlfriend for me,’ she says in a sing-song voice.
I stiffen. She’s got no right to speak about Kay.
‘Say hello and tell her . . .’ She flips back her black hair. ‘Tell her she’s beautiful.’ I can tell she’s sneering at Kay.
‘She’s more beautiful than you!’ I shout. ‘She knew you for the back-stabber that you are!’
But she and the guard have turned away. She swings her hips as she walks through the door.
I lunge towards them, but the guard yanks me back.
‘Traitor!’ I shout at the top of my voice.
She doesn’t even turn around.
That’s when a grenade lands at my feet.