Nightshade

39

Sandra Harper held her husband’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I can’t believe it, I can’t believe we got her back.’

Will Harper looked over at their daughter, lying in the ICU bed connected to a machine that beeped softly, proof if they needed it that Bella was alive and well. The doctor looking after her, a bald Indian with a kindly face and an unpronounceable surname, had said Bella was in ICU purely as a precaution. Once the twenty-four-hour observation period was over she would be moved into a general ward, with every possibility of her going home before the end of the week. ‘If I get my hands on the bastard that …’ He gritted his teeth and left the sentence unfinished.

His wife squeezed his hand. ‘We got her back, Will. That’s all that matters. I don’t know what I would have done if …’ Tears pricked her eyes and she blinked them away.

‘I just want one minute alone with him in a room, that’s all,’ he said. ‘And that bitch with him. How can a woman help a man rape a child, Sandra? Can you answer me that?’

Sandra shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I hope they throw away the key,’ Will muttered. ‘And I hope while they’re in prison they get the shit kicked out of them. They hate nonces in prison.’

Bella opened her eyes and Sandra jumped. ‘She’s awake.’ She jumped up and hurried over to the bed. Bella smiled up at her. ‘Hi, Mummy.’

Tears ran down Sandra’s face. ‘Oh my God, my God, my God. Thank you.’

‘Where’s Daddy?’

‘I’m here, honey,’ said Will. He reached out and held her hand, careful not to disturb the drip.

‘You look tired,’ said Bella.

‘We haven’t been sleeping much,’ said Will. ‘We were worried about you.’

‘I’m okay, Daddy. I want to go home.’

‘Soon, honey. The doctors want to check you’re okay.’

Sandra smoothed her daughter’s forehead. She was cool to the touch, much cooler than usual. ‘How do you feel, Bella?’

‘I feel fine, Mummy. I don’t need to stay here.’

‘You’ll be home soon, honey. ‘

‘Tell the doctor I’m okay.’

‘We will, honey, as soon as he gets back.’

A male nurse popped his head around the door. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked.

‘She’s awake,’ said Will.

‘I’ll get the doctor,’ said the nurse, and he hurried off.

‘Can I have a drink of water, Daddy?’ asked Bella.

‘Of course you can.’

‘Or a Coke? Can I have a Coke?’

‘You can have whatever you want, honey,’ said Will.

‘There’s a machine in the corridor,’ said Sandra. She carried on smoothing Bella’s forehead as Will went off in search of her Coke.

‘I love you, Mummy,’ whispered Bella.

Sandra felt tears run down her face but she didn’t want to take her hand away from Bella’s forehead, so she didn’t wipe them away.

‘Don’t be sad, Mummy.’

‘I’m not sad, honey. I’m happy.’

‘Everything’s going to be all right.’

Sandra smiled down at her. ‘I know.’

‘I saw an angel, Mummy.’

‘When, darling?’

‘When I was with those people. The bad people that hurt me.’

‘You saw an angel?’

Bella nodded. ‘When I went to sleep in the bath. I went to sleep and then I woke up and I saw an angel.’

Sandra shook her head. ‘That wasn’t an angel, honey. That was a paramedic. He came with an ambulance. He brought you back to us.’

Bella smiled. ‘No, Mummy. It was a real angel. With wings and everything. He was nice to me and he said everything was going to be all right.’

‘Well, your angel was right, darling. Because now everything is all right.’

‘The angel said I didn’t have to go to Heaven.’

‘He said that?’

Bella nodded earnestly. ‘He said it wasn’t my time. But he said before I went back there were some people I had to see.’

‘Did he?’

‘Yes, Mummy. He took me to see Grandpa Arthur. And Auntie Eadie.’

Sandra frowned. ‘Who are they, honey?’

‘You don’t know? Grandpa Arthur is the father of Daddy’s father. And Auntie Eadie was your sister.’ Bella giggled. ‘Did you forget?’

‘I must have,’ said Sandra. She was genuinely confused at what her daughter was telling her, because while Sandra had three siblings, they were all boys. She didn’t have a sister called Eadie, dead or alive.

‘They talked to me and then they took me to see Jesus.’

‘Jesus?’

‘Yes, Mummy. I went to see Jesus with the angel and Grandpa Arthur and Auntie Eadie. I spent ages talking to him. He is such a kind man. Like Father Christmas, but his beard was brown.’

‘That’s nice, honey.’

‘Then Jesus said it was time to go back and the angel took me and I woke up and that’s when I saw the paramedic. I know the paramedic wasn’t the angel. The angel was Michael.’

‘Michael?’

‘He’s an archangel, Mummy. That’s a really important angel. He said I was very special because Jesus only speaks to special people.’