could be the same guys we saw last night in the speedboat, couldn’t they?’
‘Shit.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Couldn’t you organise a Wicker Man reception for them?’ said Adam, smiling.
Molly laughed. ‘I wish.’
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
‘I can’t believe no one missed me,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘Twenty-four hours in hell and no one even texted to see if I was OK. No one even knew I was gone.’
Adam dug his phone out. Four bars on the signal now, battery fine, no calls or texts.
‘Snap,’ he said, laughing grimly. ‘We really are a couple of sadsacks, aren’t we?’
‘Speak for yourself,’ said Molly, nudging him in the ribs.
‘Ow.’
The door opened and a stocky young woman wearing a white coat came in.
‘Molly, you OK?’ she said in a concerned voice.
‘Hi, Carol,’ said Molly. ‘We’re both doing fine, I think.’
Molly turned to Adam. ‘This is Carol, Dr Mackay. Carol, this is Adam.’
‘Quite something you’ve been through,’ said Carol in a fussy voice. ‘Can’t believe you were out there all night. And after a crash like that. How do you feel?’
‘Fine,’ said Molly. ‘Pretty tired, but OK.’
The doctor examined them, taking blood pressure and temperature, checking eyes, ears and throats, asking about aches and pains, checking fingers and toes. Adam stared at his hands as Carol held them, thinking about the microscopic fragments of Luke’s brain probably stuck under his nails. He felt a shiver run through him, making Carol stop.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’
Adam nodded. ‘Just need some sleep.’
Carol nodded too. ‘Terrible business about your friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were in shock. Horrible, just horrible. Here’s hoping they find the one that’s still out there.’
Adam looked at Molly, who spoke. ‘Eric didn’t think there would be much chance of survival.’
Carol shrugged. ‘You never know with these things.’ She looked out the window. ‘Did Eric tell you about Joe and Grant?’
Molly sighed. ‘He mentioned it.’
‘Shocking, really shocking,’ said Carol. ‘Had the bodies in here earlier, what a state. Almost nothing left of them. They haven’t formally identified them, but their badges were on the scene, so they’re pretty sure.’
‘I see.’
Carol looked at Molly. ‘I know you and Joe weren’t… well anyway, it’s still horrific.’
‘Yeah.’
Carol shook her head. ‘Nothing happens around here for years at a time, and now suddenly two tragic incidents within a few miles of each other on the same night. An amazing coincidence, don’t you think?’
Adam felt his jaw clench.
Molly looked Carol in the eye. ‘Amazing.’
Adam butted in. ‘Any news on Roddy? The guy with the shoulder injury?’
‘Dr Stuart said he must’ve had some balls,’ said Carol. ‘Sitting with that in his shoulder for almost twenty-four hours.’
‘Yeah,’ said Adam. ‘He’s quite something.’
‘I know Dr Stuart is taking him into surgery at the moment, I can go and find out the latest, if you like.’
‘That would be great,’ said Adam, giving her a feeble smile.
As she bustled out of the room, he turned to Molly.
‘Reckon we can keep this up?’ he said.
‘What choice do we have?’
‘I keep forgetting I’m supposed to be hoping they find Luke,’ said Adam. ‘This is a nightmare.’
They sat in silence for a while, too exhausted to speak. Adam felt his eyes begin to close, a thick wooziness sweeping over him. Confused pictures began swirling round and merging in his mind, images of the crash, Ethan face down in the rockpool, Joe grinning at them, Luke slumped on the floor, Molly bent over the cask, the chase through the geese, drowning under ice, Joe rolling around on the floor engulfed in flames, Luke’s terrible missing face, the still burning in the night, the grimly comical sight of them struggling with the barrel along the coast, it all merged into a sickening whole, a dizzying mess of vivid, lurid nightmares, endlessly repeating over and over till he felt like screaming.
He snapped awake as the door opened, Carol coming back in. He looked round and saw Molly curled up asleep on the floor. He looked at the time on his phone. He’d been out for almost an hour.
‘Sorry I took so long,’ said Carol quietly, looking at Molly sleeping. ‘You can go and see your friend now.’
‘Is he OK?’
She tiptoed over to a cabinet and took out a rough woollen blanket, placing it gently over Molly.
‘He’s out of surgery,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t know if he’ll be conscious or not. Dr Stuart says he’s an extremely fit guy, otherwise it could’ve been a lot worse. There’s still a slim chance he could lose the arm, though. There’s a big risk of septicaemia. You can’t walk around with metal sticking out of your shoulder and not expect to get a serious infection.’
‘But he’s going to be OK, yeah?’
Carol nodded and held the door open for him. They both looked at Molly asleep on the floor, something like a smile touching the corners of her mouth. How the hell can she be happy? thought Adam. How can any of us be happy? How can any of us sleep soundly ever again?
He dragged his eyes away from her and tiptoed out of the room.
38
Even with extensive blood loss, possible poisoning and a totally fucked arm, Roddy still somehow managed to look good. He was topless, the entire right side of his chest and shoulder heavily bandaged, all the way down to his elbow. His flat stomach and rippling muscles were sickening to Adam, and while his face was pale, the skin tone on his body suggested he’d just come off the beach. Which he had, of course.
Roddy was sleeping with a peaceful look on his face. Adam stood over him, examining the faint lines bunched around his eyes. They’d been friends for twenty years. Over that time they’d both changed beyond recognition, but they’d somehow stayed in each other’s orbit. How had that happened? Adam thought about how he felt when he briefly thought Roddy was dead back at the crash site. They seemed to need each other, a symbiotic relationship which didn’t necessarily do either of them any good. Or did it? Adam got to feel morally superior, while Roddy got to flaunt his successful lifestyle in Adam’s face. Or maybe it was the other way around — Adam got to reinforce his loser status by witnessing Roddy’s success, while Roddy caught the occasional glimpse of what life could’ve been if he’d had a moral compass. Whatever, they certainly had something to keep them together now, this whole horrific escapade. This struggle for survival would tether them to each other until the grave.
Roddy’s eyes flickered then opened. He rolled his head to the side and looked at his bandaged arm, then turned to Adam.
‘I’m gonna miss that piece of shit metal spike,’ he said, grimacing through a smile.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like I’ve just spent twenty-four hours running around the wilderness with a bit of car in my shoulder, trying not to get killed by a maniac.’
Adam looked round at the open door, then went to close it.
‘That never happened, of course,’ he said.
‘Of course,’ said Roddy. ‘What the fuck do you take me for?’
