She tried to reach her bag with her free hand and he jerked her away from it. ‘Bastard!’ she hissed. ‘I’ll get you for this.’
‘Better and better. I’d hate to think I’d been wrong about you.’ He applied more pressure to her palm. ‘Why did you come?’
She relaxed suddenly. ‘Dr Willis suggested it.’
He could smell the shampoo on her hair. ‘Don’t lie.’
‘It’s the truth, Charlie. He thought it would help you if we could talk through what happened. He says you still have unresolved issues about the relationship.’
She made another grab for her bag. ‘I need my stuff, Charlie.’
‘I know you do.’
He jerked her away from it a second time and heard her hiss of anger as she made a furious writhing movement to pull herself free, punching at his arm with her other fist. Acland managed to keep his hold because he’d been ready for her, but he’d forgotten how strong she was. He caught her flailing fist at the first attempt and, without thinking, jerked her towards him in order to exert the same crushing force on both palms. In doing so, he exposed the injured side of his face.
Of course she screamed. It was a dramatic moment. If either of her hands had been free she would have clapped it across her mouth in the cliche?d, angst-ridden gesture of Hollywood actresses. There was no banality that Jen wouldn’t use in search of attention. She gave a thready wail in mimicry of a panic attack – ‘Oh-oh-oh’
– which slowly swelled in volume as she took in the full extent of his injuries.
Impassively, he forced her wrists together so that he could clasp both in one hand, then raised the other to circle her neck with his fingers. As the tips dug into her skin, the scream petered out and she stared at him in alarm. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Shutting you up.’
She started to struggle again. ‘I can’t breathe, Charlie! I can’t fucking
There was a flurry of movement in the doorway and a man’s voice demanded, ‘What the hell’s going on? Jesus Christ!’ Acland felt himself being grabbed from behind in a bear hug. ‘Let her go, Charles.
Acland released his grip and pushed Jen away. ‘It would take more than that to kill her,’ he said, allowing himself to be manhandled to the other side of his bed. He watched cynically as she sank to the floor in a sobbing heap. ‘You’d need to drive a stake through her heart to do it properly.’
The man, one of the male nurses, pushed him roughly into the corner and told him to stay put. ‘You’ve got real problems, mate,’ he said disgustedly, reaching for the emergency bell.
*
Robert Willis arrived fifteen minutes later. He nodded to the security officer who was guarding the door and, without speaking to Acland, retrieved Jen’s bag from the chair and handed it to a nurse. He told the officer he wanted to speak with his patient privately, then shut the door and sat down. He was content to let a silence develop and, for the first time, Acland appreciated the calmness of Willis’s nature and the economy of his movements. The tic of his own furiously pumping fists began to relax under their influence. He was standing in the corner where the male nurse had pushed him. ‘What’s she told you?’ he asked at last. ‘That you tried to strangle her,’ Willis said unemotionally. ‘There’s a lot I didn’t understand. She’s fairly distraught. Are you going to sit down?’ ‘No. I like it better when I know what’s behind me.’ Acland stepped back and propped his left shoulder against the wall. ‘She said you told her to come.’ ‘I didn’t. I advised her to stay away.’ ‘That’s not what she said.’ Willis gave a small shrug. ‘Then you’ll have to choose which of us you want to believe.’ The lieutenant stared at him for a moment. ‘Does she know I’m going to London tomorrow?’ ‘Not unless she’s heard it from you. I’ve only communicated with her twice . . . once to make contact and the second time to acknowledge her email and say you weren’t interested in seeing her. The visit to London wasn’t on the cards at that stage.’
‘What about this woman I’m staying with?’
‘Dr Campbell? As far as I’m aware, she doesn’t even know Jen Morley exists. She certainly wouldn’t have her contact details.’ Willis leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. ‘Is that why you think Jen came? Because I wanted you to re-establish your friendship before the trip?’
‘It crossed my mind.’
‘I’m not that devious or that stupid, Charles. Why would I want to compromise your first attempt at normality? More particularly, why would I want to compromise Susan Campbell’s safety by sending her a volatile patient who doesn’t trust me?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, I suggest you start thinking about it because I shall have to inform Susan of today’s episode . . . and she may refuse to take you. Was Jen telling the truth when she said you tried to strangle her . . . or was that another invention?’
‘Not exactly. I did put my hand on her throat.’ He looked away. ‘Have you called the police?’
Willis shook his head. ‘Not yet. Jen said it was partly her fault
– you told her to leave and she refused – but in any case she doesn’t want you prosecuted.’ He tapped his fingertips together. ‘That’s not to say it won’t happen. Our head of security might decide to report you in the best interests of staff safety, although I persuaded him to wait until you’d given me your side of the story. So . . . do you want to tell me what happened?’
‘Not particularly.’
The psychiatrist clasped his fists and levelled his forefingers at Acland’s heart. ‘It wasn’t an invitation, Charles, it was an instruction . . . and don’t test me because I’m not in the mood. You’ve gone out of your way to make enemies here. You’re aggressive and rude and the consensus view is that you have a problem with women. Do you
