Losing You by Nicci French Read Free Book Online Page A

into place, glancing from side to side as if she had wandered by mistake into a staged farce. ‘Well.’
    Karen, however, did not move, not at first. She had fallen from half-way up the staircase, and now lay at its foot, a smashed bottle beside her, and her arm twisted unnaturally at her side. I squatted down to her and smelt the sweet stench of alcohol on her breath. At least she was breathing. She opened an eye and stared glassily at me.
    ‘Fuck,’ said Rick. ‘Fuck fuck fuck. Now what?’
    ‘If she has to get drunk,’ said Eamonn, loudly, slouching over to where his mother lay, ‘she should have more fun.’
    ‘Shut up,’ said Rick.
    All I could think, as I gazed at Karen’s spreadeagled body and blotchy face, was that I had to get hold of Charlie and none of this was going to get in my way.
    ‘Joel!’ I shouted, springing up. ‘Can you find Alix? There’s been an accident. Are you all right, Karen?’
    ‘I don’t think anything’s – ’
    ‘Good. Sorry about all of this. Right, everyone, I think you’d all better go now. The party’s over.’
    Alix hurried into the room. Professional, concerned, she was a different person from the baleful presence she’d been earlier. She bent over Karen, who was now her patient. ‘Let’s see,’ she said. Karen was blearily opening her eyes and trying to shift into an upright position. She gave a shout of pain, and then there was another knock at the open door, which swung in on Ben from down the road, his bearded face beaming from behind a great bunch of flowers.
    ‘Sorry I’m late but I… Have I missed something?’
    Alix looked up at me as if I were nominally in charge. ‘She’s broken her arm,’ she said, ‘and there’s a nasty gash on her shoulder that needs attention before she loses more blood. I think we’d better call an ambulance.’
    ‘Shit,’ said Rick. ‘Are you sure it’s broken? It might just be – ’
    ‘It’s broken. Look.’
    ‘Ow! That’s agony! The dog jumped on me.’
    ‘You jumped on the dog,’ said Jackson, indignantly. ‘You fell like a tree.’
    ‘Call the ambulance, Rick,’ I said. ‘I’ve got to find Charlie. Renata, can you get rid of everyone?’
    ‘But – ’
    ‘I’ve only just arrived,’ said Ben. ‘I thought this was going to go on for ages. Can I at least have a drink?’
    ‘No. Sorry, but no.’
    I ran up the stairs, away from the heat and the noise, the mess and the confusion. I saw the clock radio by my bed. Eleven thirty-six. For just a few seconds I stood by the window, staring out at the sea that was drawing closer all the time, at the grey sky that rocked gently against the grey water, the grey light falling in wide faint shafts. I could see how the wind was riffling the waves into the tightly corrugated patterns of squalls and how the sea-birds, a long way out, gathered in spiralling patterns around a lone fishing-boat, half shrouded in the faint mist.
    I lifted the phone. ‘Christian? It’s me again … Yes … No, no, she hasn’t. Listen, I’m very sorry about this but you’ll have to make your own way to Heathrow. I’ll join you there … Yes, once Charlie’s come home. Sorry, sorry. ’Bye.’
    I took a deep breath and walked downstairs. Alix was talking on the phone in an authoritative tone. She had taken control now. For just a tiny fraction of a second I resented this, then told myself not to be so bloody stupid. Karen was lying on the floor covered with one of our blankets. Her face was white. Her eyes were open but she looked sleepy. The shoulder of her blouse was dark with blood.
    Alix put down the phone and addressed Rick decisively: ‘You have to drive Karen to the hospital,’ she said. ‘I’ll come with you. Joel can follow behind us.’
    ‘The tree,’ said Joel. ‘I’ve got to see to the tree.’
    ‘But the ambulance…’ said Rick. He seemed dazed, as if he was finding it hard to take in the seriousness of what had occurred. In a way that was almost comic, he