‘I’m here for you. Obviously,’ I said, hurrying towards the bed. There were trailing tubes attached to drips and wires hooked up to monitors to negotiate, but it would have taken more than that to stop me from enfolding her in my arms. She felt the same, she hugged the same, but beneath the antiseptic smell of the hospital I thought I could detect the briny smell of seawater on her skin.
‘Darling, it’s so good to see you awake. How are you?’ cried Mum, her voice wobbling. ‘We’ve been so worried.’
I stepped back and could feel a lump forming in my throat as I watched Mum almost sag with relief as she gathered her daughter into her arms. When released, Amelia flopped back on the mountain of pillows piled up behind her as though her energy was suddenly depleted. Her eyes darted from Mum to me and then – curiously – to the doorway.
‘Is it just the two of you?’
I followed her gaze to the empty door frame, which she was looking towards with a sense of urgency.
‘Yes. It’s just us.’
Something was off here. Mum was settling herself on the visitor’s chair beside Amelia’s bed and didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. But to me it felt as though every ion in the air was suddenly charged the wrong way. And Amelia’s next question did little to dispel my concern.
‘What am I doing here? I can’t get anyone to tell me why I’m in hospital.’
‘You don’t know? You don’t remember?’ I asked, feeling as though I was tiptoeing through a minefield. There had to be a reason why the doctors hadn’t said anything to her yet about what had happened.
‘You collapsed,’ I said carefully, pulling out a chair on the opposite side of the bed to Mum and sitting down.
‘I did?’ Amelia’s question sounded incredulous, as though I might possibly be making it up. ‘When? Where?’
‘Yesterday. At home,’ Mum said quickly, shaking her head slightly when my eyes flew to hers at the lie.
Amelia’s face crumpled, and I could see tears begin to fill her eyes.
‘I don’t remember anything. Why can’t I remember it?’
‘It’ll come back,’ I said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. I had no idea if I was right, but she was getting stressed and you didn’t need a medical degree to know that couldn’t be good for her.
Amelia looked down at our hands and something I didn’t understand flared in her eyes. ‘And where are my rings? What have they done with my rings?’
Her voice was climbing, getting louder again. I released my hand from hers and bent down to open the small bedside cabinet. On the lower shelf was a clear plastic bag, inside which I could see Amelia’s sodden nightdress. I thought about withdrawing it, and then changed my mind. The garment was ripped and covered in mud and sand and if she really didn’t remember being on the beach in the middle of the night, this wasn’t the way she should find out.
‘There’s nothing in here,’ I said, slamming the door shut on the lie. ‘Your rings, are they valuable?’
I don’t think I’ve ever been on the receiving end of a look so withering in my entire life.
‘Of coursethey are.’
‘Then let me go and ask someone about them,’ I said, getting to my feet. ‘Perhaps they lock precious items like that away in a safe.’
I squeezed Mum’s shoulder as I walked past and felt the thrum of tension running through her slight frame. She might be smiling down at her elder daughter, but she was just as aware as I was that something was very amiss here.
I headed towards the nurses’ station, looking around for the young woman who’d fled Amelia’s room when we arrived. It now seemed likely that it was my sister’s rings rather than her family that she’d been dispatched to find. When there were so many other things to worry about right now, I simply couldn’t understand why Amelia was so concerned about a couple of pieces of jewellery.
I couldn’t find the nurse, but someone who I suspected was far more senior emerged from a small office behind the desk.
‘You must be Miss Edwards’ sister,’ she said with a kindly smile. ‘I’m very sorry I wasn’t here when you first arrived. I wanted to have a quick word with you before you went in.’
My stomach took an unpleasant flip. ‘About Amelia?’ I shook my head at the ridiculous question.Of courseabout Amelia.
The senior charge nurse gave a nod and there was a degree of concern in her eyes that troubled me. ‘The consultant overseeing your sister’s care was hoping to have a word with you and your mother today, but unfortunately he’s been called away on another emergency.’
I tried to hide my disappointment. I was desperate for answers, but it looked as though we were going to have to wait a little longer to get them. ‘We’re really anxious to discuss what happened to my sister… and what it means.’
‘I’m sure he’ll be able to answer all of your questions,’ the nurse said, picking up a folder with my sister’s name on it.
‘She seems extremely distressed and anxious.’ I knew I was going to feel foolish for asking my next question, but I’d made Amelia a promise. ‘And she’s rather worried about some missing jewellery. Do you happen to know if it’s been put away for her somewhere?’