Page 44 of Watching You
Ten and a Half Months Earlier
By the time Beth was not only conscious but sufficiently drug-free to really understand what was going on, the first thing she asked for was a newspaper.
‘As soon as we’ve checked you out properly,’ the doctor overseeing her treatment promised.
‘You’ve had antibiotics and saline, and your tetanus was nearly out of date so we did that too.
Can I ask how the arm is feeling today? It was dislocated.
You’ll need to keep it in that sling for about a month, and you’ll need physiotherapy before you can safely hold a scalpel again.
You had a rib fracture too but it wasn’t displaced and it should heal nicely, and a dentist is coming in this morning to take a look at your chipped tooth. ’
‘None of it matters. Given the damage to my career, I’ll never hold a scalpel again anyway,’ she said. ‘Did anyone find my phone? There are some people I need to call.’
‘I gather the only thing in your hand when you passed out in A&E was your car keys, but one of your colleagues checked your car, found your handbag in there, and anything of value has been placed in your office and locked up. Can you tell me how you dislocated your shoulder? You have a number of cuts and grazes too. We were concerned that we should call the police.’
‘No,’ Beth said quietly. ‘It was my own fault. I was upset about being suspended from my job, so I went for a run and ended up falling down a slope. I tried to grab a bush to stop myself and dislocated the shoulder.’ She tried to sit up and failed.
Her shoulder was only mildly uncomfortable.
What really hurt was her head. ‘Could I get some more pain relief? My head’s thumping. ’
‘I bet. That was a nasty blow to the temple. We’ve done a CT scan though, and you were watched closely for concussion, but you’re out of danger now. The neurologist said there was nothing of concern in the scan.’
Beth rubbed her forehead with her free hand and groaned. ‘Yes, sorry. I remember the scan now. Everything was fuzzy for a while.’
‘You were given strong painkillers when we found you. I’m not surprised your memory is blurry, but it’ll all come back.’
The door opened.
‘Knock-knock,’ the visitor said. ‘Is this a bad time?’
‘Not at all, I was finished anyway. I’ll give you the room.’
Beth’s stomach shrivelled at the sound of the chief executive’s voice. She sank as far back into the pillow as she could manage and braced for more bad news.
‘I’m not really feeling up to this,’ she croaked, shaking her head. ‘And if you want to discuss my suspension, I should probably have someone—’
‘We know it was a fake,’ the chief executive cut in.
‘We had the video checked by an expert – no expense spared – who was able to detect some … anomalies or something in the code … honestly, how these people do this stuff is beyond me. And why, well that’s something I’ll never understand either.
I do hope, Beth, that you ending up in here is nothing to do with our investigation.
You appreciate that the steps we took were to protect both the hospital and you. ’
‘No expense spared,’ Beth repeated. That hadn’t been for her benefit, of course.
If they were going to sack her, they had to make sure they were on solid ground or risk getting sued.
‘It’s not going to be as easy to fix my reputation as my arm.
’ Not that any of it mattered, not if Karl Smith’s body had been found.
‘Don’t worry about that. We’ve already issued a statement and we have a top PR firm on it.
I’m doing an interview on BBC Radio Scotland tomorrow about the perils of artificial intelligence, and The Scotsman is running an article about medical heroes and how they can become targets because of their work on the frontline.
The video has been taken down from all the major social media outlets too.
More importantly, what can we get you? Obviously we put you in a private room because we need to protect our staff better than …
well, before. But what about clothes and toiletries?
I can have someone go to your house and pack you a bag. ’
‘I’d like to go home,’ Beth said. ‘Apparently the CT scan was clear and the medication won’t be a problem.’
‘Oh, please, don’t even think about that yet. I’m sure we’d all like a chance to look after you for a couple of days. Bit of rest and recuperation. I can always arrange for a couple of meals to be brought in, if hospital catering isn’t quite what you’re used to.’
‘I just want to go home,’ she repeated. ‘There are plenty of other people who need this bed. It’s not right.’
‘But we do need to make sure that our most valued surgeon gets all the care she needs to come back on board with us!’ the chief executive cooed.
Beth fought the urge to say bad words, choosing instead not to blow up what remained of her career.
‘I’m going home, but I’ll keep in touch. A taxi would be appreciated, with a driver who doesn’t mind carrying my bags in for me. I’ll have to leave my car here until I can drive again. I’m grateful for your support.’
‘Of course. Take as much time as you need, and if you’d like to come back on reduced hours initially while your arm gets back to full strength, then we’ll make that work.
’ She took a step away from the bed towards the door.
‘You’re all right, though?’ She hesitated.
‘It was rather a coincidence of timing, I thought, your accident.’
Beth sighed. ‘I was trying to get fit. It felt like good self-care during my suspension, but it seems I’m destined to end up at this hospital whether I’m suspended or not.’
The chief executive was nodding her head as if her life depended on it. ‘Ah, yes, very funny. But you’re definitely not suspended now. Quite the opposite. And you don’t think you need any sort of, er, psychiatric evaluation, before you return to work?’
So that was it. Beth failed to stifle a small smile. They thought she’d attempted and bungled suicide. Or perhaps that the whole accident was some sort of attention-seeking behaviour. Thank God they didn’t know the truth. Clearly the police hadn’t been in there asking questions. Not yet anyway.
‘No psychiatric evaluation needed. Perhaps a raise though?’
‘Ah ha ha ha,’ the chief executive managed. ‘Good one. Very funny. I’ll get that taxi for you right away.’
Asking for more money had been the surefire way to get the woman out of her room. At last, Beth was alone.
So much of what had happened was shrouded in mist. Not what she’d done, but getting back in the car and driving to Edinburgh – unforgivably reckless – and before that, hitting Karl Smith with a log.
She knew in her conscious mind that she’d done it but, looking back, the memory wasn’t first person at all.
It was as if she had watched some stranger, some mad woman, kill in cold blood.
Part of her wanted to go back there, straight away, to find the body and see if it was real or if she’d lost her mind. But it was too risky. Why leave even more of a trail? In her mind, she was already answering questions in some dingy police interview room.
‘I had nothing to do with it, officer. He must have followed me up there and had an accident. I had no idea. I cancelled my accommodation when I hurt myself and they obviously got the wrong end of the stick when I cancelled. I didn’t mean I hadn’t turned up at all.’
On and on the imaginary interview ran in her mind until a porter came in with her bag and the message that a taxi would be there to collect her within the hour.
She was given clean scrubs to go home in, and a supply of painkillers from the pharmacy.
All very calm, all very normal. As if she hadn’t ended a man’s life.
Now she had to inhabit her normal body and let her friends and remaining family know that she was fine, nothing to worry about. Beth Waterfall version 2.0. That was who she had to be.
Karl Smith had been too much of a threat to let him go, but all that was behind her now.
It was time to start living again.