This seemed to reassure Lottie somewhat; he put an arm around her shoulder and drew her towards him for a hug.
“I’m scared, Dave,” she mumbled against his chest.
“So am I. We’ll have to trust them.”
“Dad?” Evie piped up.
He let go of Lottie and crouched in front of Evie. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“I want to see Paul.”
“Can we do that?” he asked, turning to Frankie. He’d wanted to see his son so badly, but somehow things had prevented him from doing so.
“Of course. But he’s asleep at the moment.”
“I’d just like to be with him if that’s all right,” Dave said.
Frankie took them to Paul’s room. It looked out over the river as well, and apart from his bed there was also a sofa which made the room look surprisingly homey. Of course there was the usual medical equipment as well, but somehow it looked less… like a hospital than he’d expected. Then again, they weren’t in a normal hospital.
Paul was asleep, and he was very pale, but he looked relaxed. Dave’s gaze travelled immediately to his hand, where the bandage should be, but when he took it to see for himself how well it had healed, he was surprised that Dominic hadn’t exaggerated – there was no trace of a wound.
“Dad.”
“Hey, Paul,” Dave said, sitting on the edge of his son’s bed. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I know, don’t worry.”
“Where are we?” Paul asked.
“They’ve referred us to a special clinic that will find out why your cut healed so quickly,” Dave explained. He didn’t want to tell him that they were at Torchwood.
“Is that why I don’t feel so great?”
“We don’t know.”
“Are you in any pain, love? Is there anything you need?” Frankie asked, bringing a tray laden with biscuits and drinks.
“No, I’m okay, thanks.”
“I’ve got some of your things in the car.”
“We’re going to stay here with you,” Evie said, propping her chin on her folded hands on the edge of the bed; it was just about the right height for her to do so.
“Great,” Paul said, attempting a smile. When Dave reached out to ruffle his hair Paul’s eyes rolled up and he arched off the bed, his shoulders and head pressing deep into the pillow. Evie jumped, startled, and looked on in horror as her brother’s body turned and twisted on the bed like a rag doll in the hands of an irate child. Helpless, Dave stood by, not knowing what to do until finally someone cried out for help. The room then exploded into a whirlwind of action as he was pushed aside by Frankie.
He realised much later that it had been he who had alerted Frankie – his voice was nothing but a croak when he managed to speak again. Evie looked at him with wide eyes, and to his horror he noticed that they weren’t only worried but terrified too.
Chapter 31
Ewan was very quiet after Mickey had ensured that he was securely buckled into the back seat of the huge SUV. Unlike earlier, when they’d first driven to the Priory, the excitement seemed to have deserted the boy. He sat in his seat, his fist closed around the grip in the door, looking out through the tinted window as they made their way through the city to the park near his home. Rose should have guessed that all he was doing was gathering his thoughts. It was his very first question that threw her.
“How come you know Dad?” he asked. It must have been obvious to him that his father and she knew each other from the way they interacted. He was a very smart and perceptive kid. It would be hard to keep anything from him, but it also meant that he’d understand exactly what was going on, what was at stake.
“I met him at a charity event, where he took some photos of me,” Rose said, deciding that honesty was the best approach. Well, the short, official version. “And we talked for a while.”
“I saw the pictures. My big sister had them in one of her magazines.”
“He did a great job, didn’t he?” Rose said, smiling. She turned around in her seat to be able to look at Ewan. He took after his father, but he had his mother’s eyes — they must be. Dave’s eyes were large and soulful; Ewan’s were grey, or green, if the sun caught in them, and they didn’t quite have the right shape.
Ewan beamed in pride, but after a couple of heartbeats he became serious again. “So you go around chasing aliens? And you are the Rose Tyler?”
“Yes. But chasing aliens is a lot more boring than you’d think. And it doesn’t happen very often,” she explained.
Ewan nodded thoughtfully. “So… this is extra special?”
Rose nodded. “Yes, although I wish it weren’t.”
“What if we don’t find anything?” Ewan asked.
“We’ll find somewhere else to look. But why don’t we just wait and see, hmm?” Rose said.
“I think we’ll find something,” Mickey chimed in.
“Yeah?” Ewan perked up a little.
“Yeah. A space ship crash-landed in the park a few weeks ago. Maybe it’s got to do with that,” he said.
Rose looked at her friend. She’d completely forgotten about the Sheeryan trader ship. And, for that matter, Lucy’s involvement. She’d have to tell Dave about it, and soon, although that prospect terrified her. There was no telling how much damage she had already done by not telling him about Torchwood. Apparently, he was one of those people who didn’t put too much faith in the Institute. Had he been affected by one of the more disastrous events?
“Do you really think so?” Rose asked. If it was true, things were going to be very bad. And complicated. Part of the Sheeryan cargo had been medical supplies and samples. What if they had overlooked some of them — only one tiny container was enough — and that was what caused Paul’s illness? If that was the case… God help them.
“Yeah,” Mickey said in exactly that tone of voice that made it clear that it was the obvious answer.
“Is that… good?” Ewan asked.
“It is a starting point,” Rose said. “The Sheeryan are friends.” They also lived several days’ worth of travel away. If something turned up at the site they’d have to contact the Sheeryans immediately just in case Paul’s condition deteriorated further.
“Do they… look like us? Or are they little green men?”
“Blue, more like,” Mickey replied, looking at Ewan in the back mirror. “With two pairs of arms.”
“Really?” Ewan asked, perking up even more.
“In their real form, yes. But most of the time they wear a Shimmer. It tricks us into thinking they look human,” Mickey explained, delighting in giving this detail away to the boy. But Rose also knew that it was his way of keeping up the mystery in which Torchwood liked to shroud itself. It was going to be difficult to get Ewan and Evie to sign the Official Secrets Act — and stick to the secrecy. Rose slumped back into her seat with a sigh.
“And they speak English?”
“They use little computers that translate what they say. It’s like a Shimmer for language,” Mickey explained patiently. If this weren’t so serious Rose would have said Mickey was having fun.
“And they’d be able to help Paul?” Ewan asked sombrely.
“Yes.”
Rose hated Mickey for that lie. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but so far they knew nothing about Paul’s condition, so how could he promise this little boy that his big brother was going to be all right? Where did Mickey take that kind of faith from? She suddenly understood Dave’s situation a lot better; how hard it must be for him to stay confident for his children when the experts were helpless. The idea of handing over the case to Mickey presented itself again, and this time it seemed the right decision, no matter what Dave said.
Dave clearly needed her support — he was by himself in this, with three children each demanding his comfort and strength. Four, if you counted Lucy. If, indeed, her Lucy was his Lucy — but she had little doubt now that Lucy was
Dave’s stepdaughter.
“I shouldn’t have put him in the sticks,” Ewan said just as they pulled up at the kerb outside the park.
“What?” Rose asked.
“We were playing football, and Paul is bad, so I used him as the goalie, and… he tried so hard and he fell. I shouldn’t have…”
“Hey, Ewan,” she said, turning back to him. “It’s not your fault, right? We don’t even know if it happened here, or if it was something else. You were playing, and it was an accident.”
Ewan was studying his hands when he mumbled his assent. He probably only did it so she would leave him alone. She wondered what he was like in normal circumstances. Now he seemed torn between his excitement and his worry and guilt. It was a bit much to ask of anyone, let alone a nine-year old.
They quickly made their way to the place in the park where Ewan and Paul had played football, and when Rose recognised it as the spot where the Sheeryan had crash-landed her heart sank. Ewan showed them the exact spot he had chosen for the goal, marked by a pair of trees that stood about as far apart as the goalposts did.
“And where did he fall?” Mickey asked.
“He fell several times,” Ewan said, “but never outside the sticks.”
“Right,” Rose said, drawing a deep breath. They started to search the seven metres between the trees; it was a huge distance to cover, Rose found, particularly for a boy guarding the goal. She wondered if there weren’t rules for younger players that made the pitch smaller.
“Rose? I think I’ve got something,” Mickey said after a while. They had started their search on the opposite ends of the goal, working towards the centre; Mickey had covered about half of his stretch.
She hurried to him, pushing back the shrubbery so she could see what Mickey had found. Ewan joined them, telling them excitedly that that was the spot where Paul had hurt himself. Mickey pointed at the shattered shell of a Sheeryan test tube — it looked like a golf ball-sized bird’s egg, the shell mottled in brown and off-white, but marked by a code printed on it in black ink. Unfortunately, it also seemed about as fragile as an egg. Why the Sheeryan would use something like this for dangerous substances was beyond her.
“He fell on it,” Ewan said, his memory coming back thanks to the shards on the ground. “We thought it’s an egg, but the edges of the shards are very sharp. Some clear stuff came out.”
“What kind of stuff?” Rose asked, watching Mickey as he took a photo of the test globe before he collected all the pieces and put them into the container he had brought.
“Like… shower gel, only clear. He wiped his hand on a tissue,” Ewan said. If it’d been Tony, Rose mused, he’d have wiped his hand on his jeans. Of course, Paul was a lot older than Tony, still she got the feeling that Paul was unusually conscientious for his age. Had he always been like this, or had his mother’s death changed him?
“Is this something dangerous?” Ewan asked, his eyes on the airtight container.
“We don’t know,” Mickey said with a sigh. Clearly, this was Torchwood’s fault — they had overlooked this. “We’ll have to send someone and sweep the area,” he said, rising from his crouching position.
Rose touched her ear piece to call the recovery team who had been in charge of the Sheeryan ship all those weeks ago.
“And now?” Ewan asked.
“Now we’ll go back and see how we can help your brother,” Mickey said. “You did a great job, Ewan.”
Ewan looked sceptical, and more than eager to go back to the Priory. Rose, however, decided to pick up coffee and pastries at the Camelot for everyone first. She felt in need of both sugar and caffeine, and she bought three cups of hot chocolate for the kids — Francesca’s was the best in the world.
By the time they reached Muirbank, however, and descended into the vaults of the Priory, all thoughts of pastries and hot drinks were forgotten. Paul had suffered a seizure, and as a result he had gotten dizzy and thrown up all over Dominic.
-:-
Dave had pressed his lips into a thin line when he saw Rose and Ewan appear outside the sliding glass door. Ewan was holding a paper tray with several cups, but his smile faded when he saw his father’s expression. Evie lay curled around her doll on the sofa. She wouldn’t let Dave touch her, but neither did she want to leave the room. His yelling had scared her, and now Ewan seemed reluctant to enter the room.
Rose slid open the door. “Dominic told me what happened,” she said softly. “How are you holding up?” She guided Ewan into the room with her hand on his shoulder.
Dave shrugged. The smell of coffee and hot chocolate spread in the room, and he suddenly felt very tired and in need of the hot drink. At the same time, he felt loathe to leave Paul’s side. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Rose here.
“I’d better join the others,” Rose said. “Things to discuss.”
“Aye, thanks.”
“Is that hot chocolate?” Evie asked. She had pushed herself up into a sitting position and adjusted her glasses.
“Yes, I thought you’d like some,” Rose said. “My Mum… well, it’s what I had when I felt bad as a kid.”
“It’s my favourite too!” Evie said enthusiastically.
Dave frowned. He wasn’t sure he liked the fact that his children had taken an instant liking to Rose. It would have made him very happy only yesterday, but now… things had changed. Or had they?
“Thank you.” He needed to be careful for the bairns’ sake. He’d find a quiet moment to talk to Rose later. Evie took the bag of pastries that Rose was holding, and then Rose was gone, pulling the door to behind her.
“Is that hot chocolate?” Paul piped up.
“Would you like some?” Dave asked, helping his son to sit up. His glance fell on the heart monitor mounted on the wall; the curve flashed silently, and there were no wires attached to Paul. Instead, Dominic had stuck a transmitting device to his shoulder that took all the necessary readings without encumbering the patient. It was one of the things why Dave was grateful for being in a facility with advanced technology.
“Can I?” Paul asked, mindful of his being sick earlier.
“If you feel like it,” Dave said.
Right then the door slid open again and Dominic peeked in; he had changed into blue surgical scrubs. “All right?” he asked.
“Can I have some hot chocolate?” Paul asked.
“Sure. I’ll be back in a while. We need to discuss what Rose and Mickey found in the park,” Dominic said.
“Should I…?” Dave asked, torn between wanting to know what was going on and staying with his children.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything when we’re done,” the doctor told him. Then he was gone.
“What happened at the park?” Dave asked, carefully plucking the cups from the tray and giving them to the kids. When he sipped his coffee it was just the right temperature. It was gone by the time Ewan had finished telling them about his outing with Rose and Mickey.
“So this is about aliens?” Dave asked.
Ewan shrugged. “They’re called Sheeryan.”
“Dad?” Paul asked, thoughtfully rolling his paper cup between his hands.
“Aye?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for?”
“For… this. For causing you such sorrow.”
“It’s not your fault. And neither is it yours,” Dave pointed out to Ewan. “If it’s anyone’s it’s Torchwood’s. And they’re going to fix it.” From where he derived his confidence, he had no idea. He supposed it was part and parcel of being a father. He needed to turn his growing anger into something positive; just why he turned it into trusting the Shadowy Organisation with Blood and Tears on Their Hands was beyond him. And then there was Rose.
He should have guessed she was with Torchwood. It explained the explosion, her swift recovery, her past — he supposed that travelling in space and time wasn’t something that grounded you firmly on Earth, that it was somehow addictive. Also, her telepathic abilities
would come in handy, as would her languages. The fact that she had been in love with an alien.
He took off the lid and crumpled his cup. Where did that leave him, a widowed photographer with a handful of children?
“Dad?”
“Yes, Evie?”
Bigger on the inside: Space, Time Travel, Alien Criminals (A Space Time Travel Mystery Book 1) Page 34
