Written In Blood

Chapter Forty

"Daddy!"

The cry announced the arrival of Zack's daughter, who reached him before he had a chance to react in any way. In seconds the ten-year-old had clambered up onto the bed, given him a big kiss and a hug, and settled down to cuddle with him.

"Hello, honey," he said, pulling his daughter closer so she was no longer in danger of falling off the edge of the bed. He was both pleased and surprised to see her, and looking beyond the end of the bed he greeted his ex-wife. "Hello, Cathy, what are you doing here? How did you know I was here?"

"I called her," Sophie said from the seat she had been occupying at the side of the room since her arrival before dawn. "I thought Cathy should know where you are."

"Why are you in hospital, daddy?" Joanne asked, twisting around on the bed so she could look at her father.

"Yes, why are you here?" Cathy wanted to know. "What the hell have you been doing? Sophie said someone tried to kill you."

Zack glared furiously at his ex-wife, he couldn't believe she had mentioned that while his daughter was in a position to hear; fortunately, Joanne was too distracted to register what her mother said. "I got hurt," he said, speaking to Joanne rather than to Cathy. "I'm okay, though, I've got to be here for a couple of days, until I'm feeling better, then I can go home."

"What about Isobel?" Cathy asked, forcing her ex-husband to pay attention to her. "Sophie said she was with you. What the hell was she doing here? What the hell has been going on?"

"Aunt Izzy's here as well?" Joanne asked of her father. "Where is she? Is she alright?"

"We can talk about that later," Zack said to Cathy; he had no intention of discussing his situation while his daughter could hear, he didn't want her knowing or worrying about the trouble he was in. "Izzy's upstairs in another room, honey," he told his daughter. "She's hurt, like me, but she'll be okay."

Cathy looked as sceptical as a person could. "You expect me to believe that after what Sophie told me? I'm not a fool, Zack, you should know that by now." She seemed to come to a decision then for she said, "We'll talk about this later," as though Zack hadn't already said as much. "Right now, I'm going to find out what helping you with your problems has cost my friend. Come on, Joanne. I said, come on." When her daughter made no effort to move from the bed, she strode across the room and took her by the arm.

"Oww! Don't mummy, you're hurting me," Joanne cried when she was pulled by the arm and all but dragged from the bed; it was only her father's arm around her waist that kept her from falling onto the floor. "Oww!" she cried for a second time as her mother continued to pull at her arm.

"Let her go," Zack told his ex-wife as he held onto his daughter; he was concerned about hurting Joanne by holding onto her too tightly, but more worried about how she would be hurt if he let go of her and allowed his ex-wife to yank her away. "I said let go," he snapped in a sharper voice. "She's a kid, you can't treat her like this."

Cathy let go of her daughter's arm as though she had been slapped, though she didn't move. For a long moment, she glared down on her ex-husband. Finally, she turned and strode from the room, her anger clear for all to see.

"Are you alright, honey?" Zack asked of his daughter when he saw her rubbing at her arm where her mother had grabbed her.

Joanne nodded, but cuddled her father more strongly.

Melissa was a little surprised there were no guards at the door when she and Mitchell reached the room they had been directed to. With the circumstances being what they were, she would have expected to find a hospital security officer, if not a police officer, outside the door; it was not her place to say anything about it, however, though she was tempted to, so she kept her mouth shut.