Lucy felt as if her life had stood still for the last seven hours. She’d forgotten how hard it was to stand up in the same position for so long. She walked out of the ladies’ changing rooms to see Mattie leaning against the wall waiting for her.

‘That was tough.’

He nodded. ‘It was very tough indeed.’

‘Should we go and see how the boss is?’

‘Great minds and all that.’

They walked down the long corridor and followed the sign for the intensive care unit. Lucy never even noticed Stephen who was talking to a nurse in the corridor, but he saw her and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the pair of them. He watched her walk along the long corridor towards the Intensive Care Unit, until she turned the corner and was gone from his sight. The double doors that led into it were shut and Lucy pressed the buzzer. A nurse came to the door and Lucy showed her badge.

‘Tom Crowe is a close friend and colleague. Can you give us an update?’

The nurse scrutinised the badge. ‘Hold on.’ Then she shut the door.

Lucy stared at Mattie. ‘She did not?’

‘Yeah, she did. You know, a please or a thank you might have helped just the tiniest bit. Let me do the talking.’

‘I only asked a question.’

‘Yes, in your best Attila the Hun voice. Honestly, Lucy, your people skills are sadly lacking at times.’

‘I forgot, okay? All I can see in my head is Arran’s cold, white, frozen body. I’m not thinking straight.’

The door opened again and Alison came out, her face was pale and blotchy. Her eyes were puffy and she looked tired. She held it ajar so it didn’t shut and lock.

‘How is he?’

‘He’s okay, I think. They managed to keep him stable overnight. He opened his eyes before, so things are looking up.’

‘Can we nip in and see him?’

‘I don’t want you upsetting him or talking about work.’

Mattie grabbed Lucy’s arm, reminding her to let him talk. Lucy had to bite her tongue at the cheek of it – the woman standing in front of her was the one who’d been screaming at him when he’d collapsed.

‘We wouldn’t dream of it. We just wanted to say hello.’

Alison held the door open for them. ‘I’ll go grab a coffee while you’re here, although I doubt they’ll let you stay long; they keep kicking me out. He’s in the second bed on the left-hand side.’

She headed off in the direction of the relatives’ room and they walked into the ICU. It didn’t look like a normal hospital ward; it was more like an aeroplane hangar. It was much cooler in here than the rest of the hospital. There were beds surrounded by so much equipment that Lucy had no idea how the staff could even remember what to do with it all. Every bed had a patient; the noise from the machines filled the room. There were so many beeps and alarms going off – it was Lucy’s idea of hell.

Walking towards the bed to which Alison had directed them, her heart skipped a beat. Tom was a slightly better colour than he’d been the previous night when he’d collapsed, but he looked tiny in the big bed, attached to every piece of equipment there was. Standing close to the head of the bed, Lucy bent down and whispered ‘Hi.’

Mattie’s much louder voice echoed in her ear. ‘Boss, how you doing?’

Lucy looked at him, amazed he’d just asked like that. No pussyfooting around, straight to the point. Tom opened his eyes and smiled to see them both standing there.

‘I’m alive.’

‘Good – you almost gave us a heart attack, the state you were in.’

Lucy kicked Mattie’s shin, shutting him up.

‘You’re in the best place; they’re doing an excellent job.’

Tom stuck his thumb up at them, then closed his eyes. Lucy bent down again and kissed his forehead, whispering ‘I’ll find him.’ Then she stood up and nodded at Mattie.

‘Come on, we don’t want to tire him out.’

Mattie looked from Tom to her. ‘Bye, boss.’ He followed her as she pressed the button to let herself out through the doors.

‘Well, that was short and sweet.’

‘I just wanted him to know we were thinking of him. There’s nothing we can do, is there? And I don’t want him getting stressed out over work.’

Mattie nodded. ‘I suppose not.’

They left the hospital and walked out to the car park into the heavy downpour that had just started; they had to run to reach the car.

Lucy had to call it a day by five; she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She was grouchy and snapping at everyone, which in her opinion wasn’t exactly professional. She went to see Patrick, whom Browning informed her had been out all day and was now sitting at Tom’s desk. She had to ask him if it was okay for her to finish early, and the thought made her even more irritated. She also wanted to know what the hell he was doing towards getting a positive ID on the body from the woods. Had he even been to speak with Jenny Burns’ parents? She knocked on his door, then walked in before he had a chance to answer.

‘Is it okay if I finish now? It’s been a long day at the hospital. I’ve got a migraine and I’m no good to anyone.’

‘Of course it is – would you like me to drive you home, Lucy?’

She shook her head; she didn’t want him anywhere near her home. ‘It’s okay, thanks. I just need some painkillers and a couple of hours’ sleep.’

‘It’s been a pretty rough week.’

She nodded; there was no disputing that. Her back was aching from the time she’d spent standing in the mortuary watching the post-mortems, one after the other. She’d forgotten all about the back-breaking pain that struck when you couldn’t move or sit down for hours at a time.

She turned to walk out of the door, telling herself not to do it – but then, completely ignoring her own advice, she asked, ‘Have you got a positive ID of the body from the woods?’

He shook his head. ‘You know as well as I do how long these things can take. The forensic odontologist is currently looking at the dental x-rays to see if they’re a match for the missing girl.’

‘Good. Fingers crossed it won’t take forever and a day.’

She walked out smiling to herself; she’d be checking up on that tomorrow. A quick call to Chris Corkill would tell her everything that she needed to know. If Patrick was bullshitting her, temporary boss or not, she’d have his balls.