It all passes by in an odd sort of haze in front of Selina. It feels like she doesn’t really take part in it.
They offer her something to eat when she says she hasn’t really eaten anything since last night. A sandwich and a Coke appear in front of her. She fights down a few bites, mostly to please the officers.
She tells them everything—but she never mentions the word “zombies.” If she does, she knows they’ll never take her seriously. She makes sure though to emphasize several times the fact that Jonas is incurably contaminated with some strange virus which he got from Allan. Even as the words leave her mouth, she can hear how crazy it sounds, and the more she insists, the less believable it becomes.
Then her dad is suddenly there, and the sight of him makes her burst into tears. The situation reminds her of that time in the first grade where she fell down and broke her wrist and her dad came to pick her up at the hospital. He wasn’t angry with her back then, and he isn’t angry now, only worried, and that makes her cry even harder.
“You go home with your dad and get some rest,” one of the officers says. “We’ll call you if we need to ask you anything else. And if you feel like talking to someone, you have the number for the psychologist.”
Selina nods and wipes her eyes, feeling like a little girl. Dad puts an arm around her shoulders and leads her towards the door.
“Hold on,” Selina says and turns around. “What about Jonas?”
The officer smiles reassuringly. “Don’t worry about him.”
“But … what will happen to him?”
“We can’t say for sure until after the preliminary hearing. I suspect he might get a fine for speeding and he might face charges for manslaughter, but—”
“That’s not what I mean,” Selina says. “Will he be … cured?”
The officer comes to Selina and lowers his voice. “We talked about this, Selina. Jonas is fine. There is nothing wrong with him.”
“No, but there will be. He’s infected. If you don’t do anything …”
“Jonas is getting the medical attention he needs. The detention center has a doctor who tends to him.”
“Does … does the doctor take blood samples and stuff like that? So he can detect the virus in his blood?”
The officer smiles again. “I’m sure the doctor knows what he’s doing. Don’t think any more about Jonas. You can probably go and visit him tomorrow if you feel like it.”
“I would like to visit him now. Can I?”
The officer’s eyes flicker.
“Selina,” Dad says.
“He’s my friend,” Selina exclaims. “I just want to see how he’s doing.”
“Maybe tonight,” the officer says, his smile returning. “I’ll look into it and get back to you. All right?”
Selina looks at the officer, and in her head, she suddenly hears Dan’s voice: “They won’t believe you! Not until it’s too late …”
“All right,” Selina mutters.
“Come on, honey,” Dad says, and they walk out of the building together.
TWELVE
Selina is lying on her bed about to drift off when the phone suddenly vibrates next to her.
When she and her dad returned home earlier, Ulla was there to greet them with worried hugs. The dead bodies of Jennie Nygaard, Josefine and the policeman had all been removed, and the terrace had been washed clean, no trace of blood left. Ulla told them how the police had taken pictures and tests of everything before cleaning up.
Selina headed straight up to her room. She had never felt more exhausted. And yet she couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts kept creeping back to Jonas.
Now she sits bolt upright, groping for the phone, and almost drops it. It’s a number she doesn’t know. She answers.
“Hello?”
“Selina Peterson?”
“Yes?”
“This is David Mortensen from the police, we spoke earlier today.”
“Yes.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Fine.”
“That’s good to hear. I promised to contact you concerning Jonas Westholm, and …” A short hesitation. “Unfortunately, it seems like he has taken a turn for the worse. He’s been moved to the hospital.”
Selina feels a cold shiver down her spine and closes her eyes.
“The good news is that he didn’t have any traces of alcohol in his blood, so he’s no longer being detained, and I’m sure you could go visit him if you still—”
“Where is he?”
A short pause. “Room eight, fourth floor. As far as I understood, his mother is with him, so of course you need to check with her if Jonas is all right with having a visitor.”
“Right. Thank you.”
The policeman once again encourages her to talk with the psychologist, but Selina is only halfway listening. She just says “yes” and ends the conversation as quickly as possible.
Then, she runs downstairs. In the living room Louisa is watching a cartoon. Ulla is in the kitchen cooking dinner. She sends Selina a smile. “So, did you get some rest?”
“Kind of,” Selina mutters. “Where’s Dad?”
“In the backyard, I think. Could you tell him dinner’s ready in five?”
Selina steps into her shoes and leaves the house. Even though it’s almost seven o’clock, the air is still hot. The heat wave is meant to last at least two more weeks, if you are to believe the weather experts.
She finds her dad on the terrace, where he is busy scrubbing one of the chairs with a sponge. He’s working hectically, his T-shirt is all damp.
“Dad?”
He looks up in surprise, blinking. “Oh, hi, honey. I just noticed some … well, blood.” He wrings the sponge into a bucket of soapy water. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Selina repeats herself. “That officer just called to tell me Jonas has been hospitalized.”
Dad wipes sweat from his forehead.
