Page 56 of No Safe Place
She shouldn’t be thinking about Scott, and his suffocating, stressful brand of affection.
Callum needed her.
Chapter 33
Thursday | Afternoon
Lily
Lily waited on a hard plastic chair, for a nurse to take her to Callum.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been on a psychiatric ward, but she was struck again by how unlike the TV stereotype it was. There were no patients shuffling along like zombies with wide eyes and caved-in faces. No bars on the windows.
The only thing that felt true to her once-imagined version of the ward was the smell. Sterile, dentist-like.
Two children were playing on a rug in front of their dad, who looked completely at ease, the plastic bracelet on his left wrist the only thing that marked him as a patient.
How was Cal going to cope with the news about Sam? He fell apart when Paige died.
They had all agreed to go to the funeral – Lily, Cal, Sam and Andy.
Lily was living in West London, near her uni, and the tubeswere fucked so she was late, stumbling towards the crematorium in her black pencil skirt and low heels. But she never made it to the service, because she found Callum curled in a ball on a bench outside, sobbing his heart out.
It took years after that for them to finally admit they had feelings for each other. They told themselves Paige would be thrilled, that she wanted them to find each other at the funeral, to become friends again, to fall in love.
Paige and Callum had always been close. At the Maudsley, Lily had sometimes been jealous of their bond. She’d never told Cal that.
No one could have predicted Paige’s accident, but David and Sam had been targeted. Maybe even hunted. And the police didn’t seem to know why.
Lily didn’t know how much time had passed when a voice behind her was saying: ‘Do you want to follow me?’
Lily got to her feet.
The nurse was Lily’s age, dark shadows under her eyes.
‘Callum hasn’t eaten, but he has had some water,’ the nurse said, smiling kindly. ‘Hoping to get him to have a lie-down and a sleep. I’ll have to stay with you, I’m afraid. I’m Erin.’
Erin buzzed them through a security door with the badge on her lanyard.
‘He was beyond lucky we had a bed, with all the shortages. He’d have been looked after in police custody, usually.’
Lily watched Erin’s ponytail swing as she walked.
‘But we heard there was a bit of a cock-up at the scene. Better that he’s with us. Okay, we’re just here.’ Erin paused with a hand on the door, her voice dropping to a whisper. ‘We don’t usually let visitors into the rooms, but Dr Maxwell has made an exception. I’ll just be in the corner – okay?’
Erin held the door open.
Lily breathed in from her diaphragm, fixed a smile on her face.
Cal was sitting on the edge of the bed, deep in thought, wearing a grey T-shirt and jogging bottoms that didn’t belong to him.
Lily sat next to him and reached for his hand. ‘All right, dickhead?’
He turned to her, his smile on delay. ‘Hey, Lil. Hey.’
His speech was slurred, but Lily was prepared for that. They’d given him strong meds.
A pair of shoes were lined up next to the bed, the kind with no laces.
