Just after ten a.m. she climbed into her car, stopped to fill up the petrol tank in town and then headed into Tamworth. It took just under an hour, not driving fast, just enjoying the countryside until she pulled into the parking lot of the Hospital. The receptionist directed her to Meg’s room, and she wandered down the hall, buying a bunch of flowers at a kiosk near a stairwell.
After climbing a flight of narrow stairs, Rebecca found the room and found Paul sitting beside an empty bed, half asleep. She placed her hand gently on his shoulder, not wanting to startle him and disturb one of the other people in the room. There were curtains drawn around the three other beds and Rebecca assumed there were other women in them. Paul woke without jumping, which Rebecca knew would be from years of being alert for anything as part of his job. She smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which brought out an even bigger smile from him.
“Where’s Aunty Meg?”
“They had to take her for some scans.” He looked at his watch. “That was a while ago, so I reckon they should be back any moment.”
“How is she?”
‘Yeah. She’s in Hospital, so good as can be expected.”
“What about you? You really should be taking a break from work.”
“I’m okay, and they understand. If I need to be here, I’m here. How about yourself?”
“I made a decision.”
“You’re going back to Newcastle aren’t you.”
Rebecca crossed her arms defiantly. “No way. My decision is that this is my home. Feels like it always has been and there’s no way I’m leaving.”
“Good. I like having you around.”
A noise in the hallway made them both turn in time to see Meg, seated in a wheelchair, being pushed by a nurse back into the room. Her face, aged since Rebecca had last seen her, lit up when she saw her visitor.
“Aunty Meg.”
“Hey sweetie. You are a sight for sore eyes. Best thing I’ve seen in days. Give me a hug. Just watch out you don’t get tangled in all these tubes.”
The two gave each other a careful hug for a moment, stopping when another nurse came into the room.
“Mrs Caplan. Let’s get you back into bed, then you can catch up with your visitors.”
Rebecca stepped out of the room with Paul while the two nurses helped Meg into the bed, attached tubes and wires to monitors and finally made some notes on the charts.
“Ok. That should do it. Your visitor can come join you now, but not for too long. You still need to get some rest.” The two nurses then headed back into the hall.
“Don’t you listen to them. You stay as long as you like, you’ll be better company than Paul.”
Paul shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“I know. He can be a bit dry, can’t he.”
Paul pretended to be offended. “Well if that’s how it is, I’ll go get myself a decent cup of coffee.” and ventured off into the hallway as well.
“He’s a tough old bugger, but I know all this stuff I’m going through is hard on him too.” Meg whispered.
“He keeps busy. Been helping me with things, but yeah, he worries. He loves you, so of course he worries.”
“So, my dear, what’s been happening with you?”
For the next twenty minutes Meg and Rebecca chatted. Rebecca left out details of her intruder and the details of Matt’s identity, but Meg seemed to love hearing about every little thing that Rebecca had been doing. She lit up again when she heard Jake would be visiting Shattered Falls on the weekend, smiled widely when she heard about Rebecca’s plans to do some pottery and gave a deep sigh when she heard about Sarge, which reminded her of her own dog at home.
Paul returned, sat on the edge of the bed, and took hold of Meg’s hand. “You need to get some rest now. I know how much you’re enjoying having Rebecca visit, but the nurse spoke to me in the hall. We need to give you a break.”
Rebecca stood from the chair, taking the hint that she should go.
“Yeah. I got a heap of things I have to get done anyway.” Paul looked at her and could tell that she did not have a heap of things to do but gave her a thankful smile.
“And I’ve got to check in at the station.”
“You two aren’t much of the rebel, are you? Doing exactly what the nurses tell you to do.”
Rebecca and Paul both shrugged and said their goodbyes. Rebecca leaving first giving Paul a chance to say goodbye properly. As she stepped into the hall, she almost walked into a tradesman moving quickly with a toolbox. The toolbox fell to the floor and the noise was enough to bring heads from every door in the hall. Rebecca looked the man in the eye and began to laugh. It was Craig.
“Oh my god. I’m sorry.” Rebecca giggled as she helped him put a few scattered tools back into the toolbox.
“My fault. What you doing in here? You’re not sick, are you? Did the wasps come back?”
“No. No wasps. Just visiting a friend. What about you?”
“Leaking toilets. Loads of fun. Listen I been meaning to call you about the dance. I got tickets, so wanted to make sure you were okay to come along with me. Not a date or anything. Just friends.”
Rebecca noticed most of the hallway heads had retreated to whatever they had been doing before the toolbox had crashed to the floor, except one. Paul, Uncle Paul still stood there watching them both, like a father watching his daughter with a new boyfriend. The protective look on his face made even more ominous by the uniform. Rebecca gave him a death stare and turned back to Craig.
“Well, a lot’s being going on…but yeah. It’d be great, and you know what…” She spoke just a little bit louder so Paul would hear. “Let’s call it a date.”
“Umm...ok. You going now? I can walk you to your car if you like.”
“I think I would like.”
She did not look back as she walked away, but she could feel Paul’s stare every step of the hall.
Craig stopped in front of the elevator bay, which Rebecca had missed the first time.
“I took the stairs before.”
“We can do the stairs if you prefer.”
“No. Elevator is fine.”
The doors opened, and they both stepped in and Craig reached to press the button.
Rebecca said something that she had always said in elevators since she was young. Something her mum had taught her. “Elelator go down.”
“Ha. Unbelievable, you’re quoting Tiny Toons.”
“You know it?”
“I push the button. You no push the button.”
Rebecca laughed, feeling comfortable in the moment. “That is so cool.”
The elevator took only a moment to reach the ground floor and as the doors opened, Rebecca smiled at Craig.
“You know what. I am really looking forward to this dance. I think it’s going to be fun.”
Craig nodded “Well I hope so. Wouldn’t want to let you down now.”
Rebecca headed toward where she had parked her car, with Craig walking along beside her. They stopped when they reached the Suzuki and chatted again. Rebecca had the feeling they were being watched and looked up at the window where she assumed Uncle Paul would be standing, doing his best to supervise. She even waved up at the window.
From another window, eyes that were watching her however did not look on with fatherly care. The eyes burned with rage, jealousy, and deadly intent. The eyes, unblinking were a grey shadow compared to the dark thoughts that ran through the mind behind them. A mind that still carried hate toward anyone that came between him and her. ‘Someone’, he thought, ‘needed to be taught a lesson, and this lesson…this one needed to be final. They would learn from this. Murder was absolute understanding.’