Read Online One Last Lesson by Iain Cameron - Free Book Online Page A

self-consciously made his way through the car park.
    Rushing through the entrance of The Royal Sussex County Hospital, he almost tripped over an old bloke in a wheelchair , hovering near the door, hoping someone would push him outside for a smoke. It would come as no surprise to find he was being treated for lung cancer or emphysema, as he knew only too well from many of his own ‘clients,’ that many people possessed a limitless capacity for self-harm.
    Without breaking stride, he headed straight for Intensive Care. He knew the way as he had been through these doors many times before, the last time to see an old con who fell through a roof while trying to break into a cash and carry through the skylight.
    H e called out to the nurse manning the reception at IC, ‘here to see to Rachel Jones,’ and she buzzed him through, although he gave her little choice unless she wanted another casualty on her hands when he smashed head first into the door. Walking down the corridor, he was trying hard not to look inside the rooms at the battered bodies and damaged heads but slowed before he reached Rachel’s room as he could hear voices inside. It wasn’t the Argus’s editor, Terry Davis or her direct boss, Gary Henson as he expected but sitting close to her bed were her parents, Phil and Karen.
    He had been going out with Rachel for five months and during that time had met her parents once or twice and even though he didn’t know them that well, he liked them. He kissed Karen and shook Phil’s hand before leaning over the bed and embracing the patient, taking care to avoid becoming entangled in the myriad of tubes and wires that were connected to the back of her hand and then snaked down below the covers to her chest.
    Her eyes were open, but the spark was dull, like a log fire at the end of a long night. ‘Welcome back girl, I understand you’ve been out of circulation for a few hours.’
    She tried to smile. ‘That’s a bad joke even for you Mr H. Anyway, the nurses told me everything that’s been going on.’
    There was a scraping noise behind him and he turned to see Phil pushing a spare chair towards him.
    ‘Thanks,’ he said and sat down.
    ‘Do you remember anything about the crash?’
    ‘Is this a formal police interview or are you just trying to sound like a reporter?’
    ‘You’ve forgotten none of your acerbic wit, I’m sorry to say.’
    She moved, setting off a jangling of wires and tubes as she tried to lie more comfortably. ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much after leaving the Show Ground.’
    ‘The doctor I spoke to, said you might lose your memory for a while but it’ll come back in time.’
    ‘That’s a relief. I’m not much bloody use as a journalist without one.’
    ‘ Rachel,’ he said solemnly, ‘as you probably know, it was a fairly bad smash and I’m sorry to tell you, as I know how much you loved that car, but your pride and joy is now a complete write-off.’
    ‘Bloody hell! I finally find a car I really like and then…this. I’m gutted.’
    ‘I called the Accident Investigation Unit and they said the sub-frame was badly twisted, the engine had shifted on its mountings and most of the body panels were bent and twisted.’
    ‘How are the other people?’
    ‘The woman you hit, Mary Davidson was treated for shock and whiplash but the child in the back was fine. The tractor driver suffered a bad gash to the head when he struck the steering wheel but he was allowed home after treatment.’
    ‘ I’m pleased to hear it and thank the Lord that I was insured.’
    ‘If you weren’t, I’d probably be out of a job for going out with a criminal but you should get back more or less what you paid for it as you haven’t owned it for more than a couple of weeks. The guy I spoke to in Traffic says no fault is attached to you. The blame is on Davidson.’
    ‘That’s good.’
    ‘Maybe for the next one you should to go for something bigger. These little two-seat sports cars