Twenty-Five

When Harry got to the hospital at lunchtime, he went immediately to Mark Werth’s office. Lin had called him at half past nine that morning; Werth himself called ten minutes later.

As he opened the door, he saw Lin sitting stony-faced next to Werth’s desk. Harry introduced himself to Werth, then bent to kiss Lin’s cheek. Her gaze flickered over him.

‘Mind telling me what all this is about?’ he asked. ‘What the hell are you doing out of bed?’

‘Just take me home,’ she said.

Harry looked at Werth. ‘How is she?’

‘Don’t act as if I weren’t in the room,’ Lin said.

‘OK, OK … have you rung Kieran?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I rang Kieran, but Ruth answered.’

Harry winced. ‘I see,’ he murmured. He lowered himself to a seat, looking at Werth, who still offered no comment at all, but nevertheless never took his eyes from Lin.

Lin’s expression was equally unreadable, but she reached up and touched his arm. ‘Harry, I’ve got to see Theo,’ she said. ‘He won’t bring him here. You have to take me home. You’re the only person I can turn to.’

Harry put up two hands in a warding-off gesture. ‘Hold on, hold on,’ he said. He looked up at Werth. ‘This is all right?’

‘No,’ Werth replied. ‘But I can’t stop Mrs Gallagher discharging herself if she insists on it.’

‘You mean she’s still ill.’

‘I need to do more tests.’ Werth looked back at Lin.

‘Don’t start again,’ she muttered. ‘I never rang anyone: only Harry and Kieran. She rang them. I didn’t want her to. She never consulted me.’

Harry looked from one to the other. Werth leaned forward on the desk.

‘Several local newspapers have been calling Mrs Gallagher’s ward. There are two reporters there now. An hour ago a national paper contacted me. It’s not a situation I like. It’s not good for the hospital.’

‘It’s not good for me either,’ Lin protested. ‘I never rang anyone!’

Harry pulled up a chair next to Lin. ‘Who never consulted you?’ he asked. He didn’t like her colour: she was deathly pale.

‘A woman whose son was brought in this morning rang the local newspaper,’ Werth explained.

‘She recognized me,’ Lin said wearily. ‘She came back out and she ran after me. She told the security guard from Reception who I was. She said she’d seen me in photographs with Kieran.’

‘What was wrong with the son?’ Harry asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Lin said.

‘You don’t …’ Harry looked hard at her. She rested her elbows on her knees, settling her head in her hands in a gesture of despair. Harry turned back to Werth.

‘The boy was brought in with multiple injuries following a traffic accident,’ Werth said. ‘He stopped breathing in the ambulance. He’d been crushed by a delivery van. His mother was with him.’

‘And she made the phone calls,’ said Harry. ‘OK, finally the mist clears.’ He gave a short sigh, and got up to sit down opposite Werth. ‘So Lin is there when the ambulance comes in …’ He glanced over at her. ‘What were you doing outside, Lin? Never mind—don’t answer that,’ he added quickly. ‘So Lin was there, and the ambulance comes in, and …’

‘I don’t know what happened. I know no more than you,’ Werth said.

‘I just touched him,’ Lin murmured, through her hands.

‘You touched him, and then what?’ Harry asked.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘The paramedic pulled me away, the nurse was complaining, the woman was screaming. They took the boy inside … I only touched him.’

‘But why? Why touch him?’ Harry asked.

‘Because …’ She looked up. ‘Oh God, no one believes me. I can’t make anyone understand.’

Harry took her hand in his. ‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘I believe you.’

She smiled vaguely at him. ‘I heard him. It was just a matter of connection.’

‘Heard him say what?’

‘Not say anything. I heard what was wrong with him. I heard him as the ambulance was coming up the drive, and when I touched him I knew what was wrong with him.’ She looked over at Werth, who was frowning hard. ‘I didn’t set out to save his life or anything,’ she said. ‘I just touched him—just for a second.’

Harry enclosed her hand between both of his. ‘And this connection? What connection is that?’

She looked at him. There was a protracted silence. ‘Please take me home,’ she said. ‘If you don’t take me home, I’ll ring for a taxi. I have to get home. Something is wrong with Theo.’

‘Wrong?’ Harry repeated. ‘What’s wrong?’

She shook her head slowly from side to side. ‘I don’t know. I just feel it … I feel it.’

He tried to read her face, but failed. He could see only exhaustion there. ‘You ought to speak to Kieran,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you try ringing him again? He ought to come and fetch you.’

She gave him a crooked smile. ‘He was here before,’ she murmured, tears forming in her eyes. ‘I’ve lost him.’

‘Lost?’ Harry echoed, his heart sinking. What have you done now, Kieran? he thought. You stupid son-of-a-bitch.

Werth stood up. ‘Could I have a word with you outside?’ he asked Harry. He opened the door and they went out into the corridor.

Werth began talking at once in a rapid, even monotone.

‘I want you to disregard any hysteria on the injured boy’s mother’s part,’ he said, ‘because I’m quite convinced that’s all it is. She sees a famous face, her son isn’t as badly injured as she thought, she claims some irrational miracle …’

‘The boy was all right? Not injured?’

‘Yes, yes. He was injured, but evidently not as seriously as anyone thought.’

‘And that happens often, does it? An ambulance crew gets it completely wrong?’

‘No, I—’

‘I thought you said that he had multiple injuries and had stopped breathing.’

‘That was one report. There’ll be an investigation. Since the papers got hold of this, you can imagine how hard it’s been to get a decent version. There’s a meeting this afternoon. But …’ Werth put a hand to his head, his fist loosely clenched, a reflex of frustration. ‘Look, that’s actually irrelevant to Lin’s health, what state the boy was in. It’s completely clouding the main point.’

‘Which is?’

‘The hallucinations she’s suffering.’

‘Hallucinations?’ Harry echoed, horrified.

‘The conviction of extrasensory power, the sensation of knowing things that are impossible to know, are all symptoms of a physical disorder.’

‘What …?’ Harry tried to get a grip of the situation. ‘Look, the last I heard was she had meningitis or something.’

‘There’s no meningitis.’

‘What is it, then?’

Werth took a long, deep breath. ‘I feel quite sure that Mrs Gallagher does have a problem—perhaps even a problem that predated her illness, and which the recent inflammation has exacerbated.’

Harry felt his temper begin to fray. ‘But what kind of bloody illness? You’ve lost me, doctor. I don’t know what the hell’s going on here.’

‘An illness with a neurological origin. Perhaps temporal-lobe epilepsy. Perhaps something far rarer,’ Werth told him. ‘Perhaps an old injury to a specific lobe. It might only involve an extremely small area. I would like to do an MRI scan—we could even have a bleed in there. It’s important to find out what it is we’re dealing with.’

Harry looked back towards the door. ‘She doesn’t want to stay here.’

‘No.’

‘So what do you want me to do—hold her down while you tie her up?’

Werth gave a grimace. ‘No. I was hoping you could persuade her to at least take the test.’

‘Does it have to be done today?

‘Well …’

‘Because,’ Harry said. ‘I’ve known Lin for five years, and she’s a good girl, she’s a very intelligent person, she’s creative, she’s original, she’s warm-hearted, she’s all those things, but she can be as stubborn as hell. Especially where Theo is concerned.’

‘I see.’

Each man exchanged a ghost of a smile.

‘Can I bring her back?’ Harry asked. ‘Can I take her home to see her son—set her mind at rest? Bring her back tonight, or tomorrow?’

‘If that’s the best we can do. But I’d much rather keep her here under observation.’

‘But you can’t actually keep her here.’

‘No, I can’t. A patient can’t be forced to accept treatment, but she’ll have to sign a disclaimer.’

Harry put his hand on the door. ‘You’d better find one for her to sign, then,’ he said. ‘Because wild horses, et cetera.’

They went back into the room, where Lin was already standing up.

‘Well …’ Harry began.

She walked over to him. ‘Look, Harry,’ she said. ‘I’m going home now. You can take me there or not, but I’m going home.’