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blood-soaked hands out in front of him. ‘It’s Richard. I think he’s dead.’

3

    ‘Do you think Dan did that to Richard?’ Emma asked, as the three of them sat in the hospital waiting area.
    Ever since they had found Dan’s brother Richard unconscious on the bathroom floor, with what was undoubtedly a life-threatening head injury, Emma had been desperate to ask that question. But she was afraid of what her brother and best friend might say. Lizzy hadn’t said anything, either in the apartment waiting for the paramedics to arrive, or in the taxi on the way to the hospital. But although Will hadn’t commented either, Emma knew him well enough to sense that something deeper was troubling him about the situation.
    ‘No, no, of course not,’ Lizzy said, snapping out of her daydream. ‘Dan couldn’t have done something like that.’
    Will sat with his head resting in his hands, staring blankly into space.
    ‘Will,’ Emma said, noticing his silence. ‘You don’t think he did it?’
    ‘I don’t know what to think,’ admitted Will, rubbing his eyes.
    ‘Dan would never hurt Richard!’ Emma said, turning on him. ‘Dan said they’ve never fought in their lives. They couldn’t be closer.’
    ‘Could you try and keep the noise down, please,’ said a passing nurse. ‘We’ve got patients who are trying to sleep.’
    Emma apologised, feeling suitably chastised.
    ‘I’m sorry, Em,’ Will said. ‘But it doesn’t look good, that’s all.’
    As much as Emma hated to admit it, Will was right – it didn’t look good. The paramedics made it pretty clear to the arriving police that they believed Richard had been attacked, rather than just falling and hitting his head. The injuries indicated that someone had used a blunt instrument, and had smashed it into his head more than once. It was no accident. And Dan had now disappeared. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. It was little wonder that most of the police questioning at the scene had centred on Dan’s likely whereabouts and the relationship between him and his brother.
    ‘He couldn’t have done it.’ Emma refused to believe that the man she had fallen in love with would be capable of carrying out such a violent attack. ‘I can’t believe you’d ever think he could.’
    ‘I hope you’re right,’ Will said. ‘I really do.’
    ‘I am right. I believe in him.’
    A tense silence descended for a few seconds.
    ‘Do you think the police will want to talk to us again?’ Lizzy asked.
    ‘They’ll definitely want to talk to us in more detail,’ Will said. ‘Those were just preliminary questions before. But we’re talking about possible attempted murder here, or even murder, so they’ll want to know more.’
    ‘I really thought he was dead back there,’ Lizzy reflected. ‘When you couldn’t find a pulse, and there was all that blood, I thought that was it.’
    ‘So did I,’ Will admitted. ‘I can’t get those images out of my head – of Richard lying there against the bath. His head was twisted. I thought he’d broken his neck. You never expect to experience something like that. Thank God the paramedics got there quickly.’
    ‘You saved his life,’ Emma said, ‘doing the first aid work on him.’
    ‘I’m not sure I did anything really.’ Will deflected the compliment. ‘But at least he’s got a chance now.’
    ‘Sorry I shouted at you just now. None of us are thinking straight.’
    ‘Don’t worry about it, Em. I probably deserved it. Look –’ He got to his feet and exhaled. ‘I’m going to nip outside, call the others and let them know that the celebrations are on hold. They’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.’
    ‘What are you going to say?’ Emma asked.
    ‘I don’t know,’ Will admitted. ‘That there’s been an accident?’
    ‘Just don’t tell them where we are. I don’t think the hospital would appreciate twenty drunkards descending on the ward. And anyway, I can’t take all the