When Helen had raced round to Crown’s just after the attack and told Jack what had happened, he’d been seized by the worst panic imaginable. He had asked Helen repeatedly if any serious harm had come to Gloria, but his daughter had reassured him that the St John Ambulance crew seemed to think she was going to be just fine. No serious or permanent damage.
Jack had seen the state his daughter was in and held back his surprise when she pulled out a packet of Pall Malls and lit up a cigarette. He’d had no idea his daughter had started smoking, but didn’t say anything; instead he simply gave her a big hug and told her that he was incredibly proud of her and that she had been so brave. By the time she’d left his office, she’d looked happier and some colour had returned to her cheeks.
As soon as Jack was on his own, though, he opened his top drawer and did something he rarely ever did – he poured himself a stiff drink.
He felt the burn and with it came a cascade of thoughts and scattered memories. Disjointed memories, but as he finished his drink, pulled on his overcoat and made his way to the hospital, those memories started to become more cohesive.
Fragments of conversations between him and Gloria started to swim to the forefront of his mind: her telling him about Vinnie and their marriage – and that violence had been a constant in her life for many years.
When he arrived at the hospital and hurried up to the Observation Ward, he felt a surge of relief to see that Gloria was sitting up in bed and looked relatively unscathed.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked as soon as he reached the side of her bed.
‘Yes, Jack, I’m fine, honestly.’ Gloria spoke through the tears that had come out of nowhere on seeing the man she loved. ‘I don’t really need to be here,’ she added. ‘I really am perfectly fine.’
Jack brushed a piece of Gloria’s curly brown hair away from her eye and inspected her face. It looked unmarked, which surprised him after what Helen had described of the attack.
‘It looked so much worse than it was. There was a load of blood on my face from a nosebleed.’
She didn’t tell Jack that the nosebleed had been caused by Vinnie headbutting her, and the damage was minimal as she’d instinctively jerked back.
Jack leant in to kiss Gloria, who kissed him back, their exchange of love gentle and slow.
Jack stood back up and looked down at Gloria.
‘You really shouldn’t be here.’ Gloria’s face was angled up at Jack as she reprimanded him in a whisper, although she doubted the old woman to her left and the even older woman on her right would be able to hear; the nurse had to bellow at them every time she wanted to ask them anything, or give them their medication.
The only reason Gloria wasn’t shooing Jack back out straight away was because it was highly unlikely anyone else would visit her. Not only was it out of normal visiting hours, but the only people she knew who were aware of what had happened to her were the women welders, and Rosie had told her they would see her that evening.
‘Wild horses weren’t going to stop me,’ Jack said, and he took her arm and squeezed it. As he did, Gloria flinched.
Jack glanced down to see both her arms looked red and sore. He felt his face flush with anger. At that moment, if Vinnie had been standing in front of him Jack thought he would have killed him with his bare hands.
‘I swear—’ he started to say and stopped himself.
‘Jack,’ Gloria said, seeing the murderous look on his face, ‘don’t even think about it. Promise me?’
Jack was silent.
Gloria saw the nurse walking towards her bed. She’d been sitting at the little desk by the entrance when Jack had come in and had stood up to reprimand him for coming outside of visiting times – it was just after five o’clock and visiting wasn’t until seven – but when she saw the two embrace and the tears that had spilled down Gloria’s face she’d decided to turn a blind eye for a few minutes.
‘You’re just about to get kicked out,’ Gloria told Jack with a smile. ‘Now go. You’ve taken enough chances already coming here like this.’ But Gloria was glad he had; it had made her feel so much better than any of the painkillers she had been given.
‘Yes, I’m gone!’ Jack said to the young nurse now just a few yards away, who was tapping her wrist and frowning.
He turned back to Gloria and gave her a quick kiss. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Before Gloria had time to argue, he’d turned and disappeared through the heavy swing doors of the ward.
‘No more secrets,’ Jack said out loud as he hurried out of the hospital. Tomorrow, he resolved, they were going to have a serious talk. Gloria had not been entirely honest with him. He knew it was because she’d wanted to protect him, but he didn’t want protecting.
It was time he knew everything – the good and the bad.