Page 39 of One Left Alive

‘They only let him stop two hours and then they kick him out. Don’t think the nurses like him either. Anyway, look at you, why are you in your scruffs?’

‘On attachment with CID.’

‘No, you’re not.’

She nodded.

‘But, you’re only just out of company. I thought we had to have two years’ experience?’

She shrugged. ‘No idea, I think they’re short-staffed and I was probably in the right place at the right time to be honest.’

‘Well I never, what do you think, do you like it?’

Morgan stared at him. It was a simple enough question yet she couldn’t answer because she had no idea if she did. It was all a bit of a blur; she didn’t know where she fit in yet or if she ever would.

‘It’s early days and long hours. Has Bronte woken up at all?’

‘Nope, not even twitched.’

‘Thanks, I’ll go speak to the nurse.’

She turned around to walk the short distance to the desk.

‘Sorry to bother you, I’m PC Morgan Brookes. Could you give me an update on Bronte?’

The nurse looked up from her paperwork. She studied her for a couple of seconds. Morgan noticed the name on her ID card read ‘Kimberley’.

‘What’s the password?’

For a moment her mind went blank; she knew it, of course she did. ‘Caravan.’

The nurse laughed. ‘Close enough, but it’s “campervan”. The surgeon is happy with the surgery to remove the clot; the swelling has gone down significantly. He’s going to start reducing the anaesthetic later on and see how she reacts; hopefully she’ll wake up. But there’s no knowing how serious the brain damage is at the moment.’

‘So, you think she could wake up? That’s great news.’

The nurse smiled. ‘We’re hoping she’ll wake up, but we won’t know until we try and she might have complete amnesia.’

‘She won’t remember what happened?’

‘I’d say there’s a good chance she won’t, but you never know. She’s young and obviously very strong-willed or she wouldn’t have survived this long.’

‘Thank you. I’ll pass it on to my boss.’

She went back to the room where Harrison was still staring at Bronte.

Tony shrugged.

‘Harrison, I need to have a chat with you about some stuff. How about we go grab a coffee and you can have a breather?’

He shook his head, still not making eye contact with her.

‘Please, it’s important. It’s me, Morgan, I was first on scene when you called 999. You can either speak to me or I’ll have to take you back to the station and I think you’ve spent long enough in there already.’

He stared at her and a flicker of recognition sparked in his eyes. Grunting, he pushed his chair back and stood up. She took this as a good sign.

‘You lead the way, I have no idea where the café is.’

He walked out, head bent and hands tucked into his pockets. She followed him.