she saw her short pink hair. It used to be a lovely dark brown colour but then she’d suddenly dyed it earlier in the year. It was probably no coincidence it was around the same time Maddy and Lewis split up. Some kind of statement of independence, Melissa supposed.
Maddy froze when she saw the police, her brown eyes widening. The detectives nodded at her as they passed and she gave them a shaky smile.
‘Hello, Maddy,’ Melissa said when Maddy reached her.
‘Dad called, said you were okay with me coming over?’ she asked Melissa, wrapping her arms around herself, looking pale-faced as she peered behind her at the police again.
It must be so shocking to see all this happening in her village, Melissa thought. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘It’s just that we’re all going to the hospital soon.’
‘Oh.’
‘Do come in, though. The kids would love to see you, even if it’s for a few minutes. How do the twins seem? Your dad mentioned you’ve all been messaging.’
Maddy looked slightly alarmed at Melissa’s earnest expression. ‘Upset, I guess? It’s been pretty shocking for everyone.’
‘Right,’ Melissa said, exploring Maddy’s heavily kohled eyes. Did she know something? It was hard to tell.
Before Melissa had a chance to ask her more questions, Grace ran outside and instantly pulled Maddy in. Maddy smiled, stroking Grace’s silky blonde hair as she let Grace lead her into the kitchen.
‘Hello, Maddy,’ Bill said as Maddy walked into the kitchen. ‘What are you doing here?’
Nice welcome, Melissa thought. Bill and Rosemary had never really warmed to Maddy, with her quirky dress sense and outspoken political views, which ran in direct contrast to the Byatts’ more conservative political leanings. And then, when their beloved grandson started dating Maddy, they were really put out. It reminded Melissa of the way Bill and Rosemary had reacted when they learnt Patrick was dating her and she felt quite protective of Maddy as a result, being even more exuberant in her praise for the girl. Not that Maddy couldn’t handle herself.
Patrick seemed to sit on the fence about Maddy, though. Deep down, she sometimes wondered if he felt the same way about Maddy as his parents, but for Lewis’s sake he kept his doubts to himself, apart from when Maddy contradicted his political talk at the dinner table. Melissa would notice a slight twitch of his jaw that showed his irritation.
Melissa took a deep breath as she thought of Patrick lying in that hospital bed. She peered at the clock. She really was desperate to see him.
‘Shall we go to the snug?’ Lilly said to Maddy, gesturing to the large summer house at the back of her grandparents’ garden. During Rosemary and Bill’s big barbecues, the kids would often disappear into the summer house to play games and listen to music.
‘No time for that,’ Melissa said. ‘We’re going to the hospital to see your dad.’
‘I don’t want to go,’ Lilly said.
Bill looked at his granddaughter in surprise. ‘This is your father. You must go, he needs to hear your voices.’
‘Your grandad’s right,’ Melissa said.
‘I just – I hate hospitals!’ Lilly declared.
‘Yeah, me too,’ Lewis said, folding his arms.
‘You think your father is enjoying his stint in hospital?’ Melissa said, voice catching. ‘You’re coming, okay? All of you.’
Rosemary appeared on the stairs then in her dressing gown, face drawn. ‘We mustn’t force them,’ she said, having overheard the conversation. ‘Hospitals can be a difficult place for children. We need to be patient.’
Patience, Melissa, patience.
It was a phrase Melissa heard often from Rosemary in those days after she and her mother had left their cottage in the middle of the night. ‘People like your mother are fragile, Melissa. Their hearts and minds can’t heal in a day,’ Rosemary would often say when Melissa asked when her mother was going to snap out of her malaise. ‘It can take weeks, months – years, even. You need to be patient with her, Melissa, give her time.’
‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ Grace said softly as she took her mother’s hand. ‘I’ll come to the hospital with you.’
Melissa smiled down at her daughter. ‘Good girl.’
‘You should get changed first, Mum,’ Lilly said, peering at a smear of blood on Melissa’s sleeve. Melissa followed her gaze and the sight of Patrick’s blood made it all come rushing back to her, the horror of it all.
She put her hand to her mouth, feeling a sob begin to build.
‘I’ll do that now,’ she said quickly. Then she ran upstairs, waiting until she closed the door behind