Chapter Nineteen

By the time Tim was taken into emergency at the hospital, his mother was there. She had tears in her eyes and her brow was knitted in worry. ‘Hi, Mum,’ he said, lifting the oxygen mask from his face. Then he started to cough.

‘Don’t make him talk, Mandy,’ said his father, putting the mask back in place and checking the oxygen flow. ‘It’s best if he’s quiet for a while.’ He looked down at Tim. ‘I’ll get a nurse to take you to a room and she’ll put some ice on that ankle. Mandy, you can stay with him. Make sure he behaves himself.’

The doors to the emergency room swung open and Dr Wong strode in.

‘What have we got, Ben?’ he asked.

‘I’ll see you later,’ Ben said, giving Mandy and Tim a nod before turning away. ‘Over here, Andrew. We’ve got smoke inhalation and a head injury—’

Tim heard no more as his father pulled the curtain around Mrs Ragdale’s bed.

‘I hope she’s going to be alright,’ he said to his mother, lifting his mask once more.

‘She’s in good hands,’ said Mum, her eyes shadowed with worry. ‘You just get that mask back on.’

The blinds were closed; his room dark. Tim dozed but woke every time a nurse came to check on him. At one stage a policeman poked his head round the corner but went away again. All the time, his mother stayed with him.

When his father came back, he pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed, glancing grimly at Mandy.

Suddenly wide awake, Tim felt panic seize him and he pulled the mask from his face. ‘It’s Granny Rags, isn’t it?’ he cried, trying to sit up. ‘She’s dead, isn’t she?’ Tears pricked his eyes.

Ben pushed Tim gently back down on his pillows. ‘No, Tim. She’s fine. At least she will be after a couple of days in here,’ he said. ‘We’re keeping her in the intensive care ward tonight. That way someone will be with her the whole time. But there is something quite serious I have to talk to you about.’

He glanced again at Mandy.

‘Tim, some detectives want to talk to you. About Mrs Ragdale. They want to know how you found her. Why she was caught in the fire. Are you feeling up to talking to these guys?’

Tim nodded. ‘Yes, but I don’t think I can tell them much. I just saw the fire and ran to see if Gran … ah, Mrs Ragdale was alright.’

‘That’s fine. They’ll probably just ask you a few questions. We’ll be here, too. I’ll just go and get them.’

The detectives, both wearing jeans and t-shirts, followed Ben back into the room.

‘Hello, Tim. I’m Tara, and this is Duncan,’ one of them said, and they held up their warrant cards. ‘We’re just going to ask you some questions about today.’

Tara sat next to the bed and pulled out a notebook and pen before giving Tim a reassuring smile. ‘Let’s start with the fire. Can you tell us when you first noticed it?’

Tim told them the story of how he and Lockie had seen the smoke, and the flames, and how he had sent Lockie for help while he went down to check on Mrs Ragdale.

‘And when you went into the house,’ said Tara as she clicked her pen, ‘you say you found Mrs Ragdale on the floor of the lounge. Is that right?’

Tim nodded.

‘Unconscious?’

‘Yes,’ said Tim. ‘There was blood on her forehead. About here.’ He pointed to his own forehead, just above his left eye. ‘There was a cut.’

‘And when you found her, how was she lying? On her back?’ Tara was frowning.

‘No. She was more, well, on her side. Like this.’ Tim rolled until he was not quite on his back, and threw his arm up over his head.

‘Was she near a coffee table? Something she may have hit her head on?’

Tim tried to remember how the room looked.

‘No, I don’t think there was a coffee table in the room. Just some old lounge chairs and a TV against one wall.’

Tara went over her notes again, tapping her pen against her teeth. ‘Well, Tim, you’ve been great.’ She stood up, flipped her notebook closed and slipped it into her back pocket. ‘If you remember anything else, just let us know.’

As the two detectives walked out, Tim heard Tara say, ‘…don’t see how she could have got that gash from a fall …’ And Duncan said, ‘… and that fire was no …’

And a memory niggled at the back of Tim’s mind. Was he forgetting something?