In Too Deep (Knight & Culverhouse Book 5) Read Online Free Page B

fourth floor and introduced herself to the nurse on the ward desk. The nurse, who could only have been about twenty-four, took Wendy to one side to explain the situation.
    ‘The doctor is with her at the moment, but it’s looking pretty serious,’ she said, trying to sound reassuring and professional. ‘Any brain injury is serious, of course, but in this patient’s case, the injury seems to have caused a bleed on the brain. That’s all we know at this stage. Although it looks like the bleed is relatively minor, the senior consultant decided it would be best to put her into an induced coma. That’s far less scary than it sounds, I assure you. Essentially it means we’ve sedated her heavily, which allows us to control her breathing and also allows us to protect her brain while it heals.’
    ‘Is that normal at such an early stage?’ Wendy asked.
    ‘To be honest, no,’ the nurse replied. ‘Although the way she was attacked, with the trauma directed at her skull, means there are a lot of unknown variables. We don’t know yet which areas of the brain have been damaged, or how badly. And that kind of trauma can be extremely distressing for a patient. Giving her brain the chance to heal with protection should help her.’
    Wendy sighed. ‘So we won’t be able to talk to her then.’
    ‘Well, no. She’s in an induced coma. Or will be shortly,’ the nurse said, looking up at the clock beside her. ‘When she came in she was understandably quite distressed. She seemed very confused and was making some quite disturbing noises, so she wouldn’t have been in any fit state to talk anyway. To be honest, for all we know she could already be permanently brain damaged. It’s just too early to say at this stage.’
    ‘You say she’ll be in an induced coma shortly,’ Wendy replied. ‘So she isn’t yet?’
    ‘I’m not sure,’ the nurse said. ‘It depends if the drugs have been administered and how quickly they have their full effect. It’s possible.’
    ‘Can I see her?’ Wendy asked.
    ‘I’d have to speak to the senior consultant,’ came the reply. ‘I really don’t see the need, though. She’s certainly not able to talk, and she’s not responding to auditory or visual stimuli. I really don’t know what else to say at this stage.’
    ‘I understand,’ Wendy replied. ‘But if I could just see her anyway? We do need to make sure that we’ve got all angles covered.’
    ‘Sure. I’ll just check with the consultant,’ the nurse said, smiling.
    As the nurse headed back onto the ward, Wendy was left for a few moments in the company of an assortment of posters, leaflets and notices plastered to the walls. Many of them looked like they’d been there for years — yet another sign of corners having to be cut in the National Health Service. Other than that, this part of the hospital seemed to be very technologically advanced. It had long been lauded as one of the leading neurosurgical units in the country, and Wendy could see why.
    In all the time she’d been a police officer, she’d never been to this part of the hospital, but she could understand how people easily became fascinated with the inner workings of the human brain.
    Just as she was beginning to contemplate exchanging one career in investigating diseased minds for another, the nurse returned.
    ‘I’ve spoken to the consultant. He said it’s fine to see her, but not for long. She’s in a pretty fragile state at the moment.’
    Wendy knew exactly how she felt.

8
    I t’s both pitch black and blindingly bright at the same time. The bright lights are the first thing I remember. I remember seeing it before I felt the pain. But now I think about it, I’m not sure if I did feel pain. Just confusion. Not a lucid confusion, not trying to work out what was going on, but an almost peaceful acceptance that I could do nothing but submit to whatever was happening.
    It’s not that I don’t remember anything of what happened; I remember actively knowing