The Scent of Death

Chapter 31

The pain was worse than anything I’d known. The world seemed to white out in a bright flash as every nerve in my body screamed. I fell on to the bed, my muscles locked in spasm. There was a coppery taste of blood in my mouth. I could feel my heart stuttering, feel my lungs bursting with the need for oxygen. Then my chest heaved and I could breathe again.

Jesus Christ, I thought, trying to gasp in air, Jesus Christ, what just happened?

Someone was moving nearby. Heavy, shuffling footsteps. There was the scrape of a chair being drawn up, then Lola sat down with a grunt and picked up a mug from the table. When did she make that? Had I blacked out? I’d no idea. Lola took a noisy drink before lowering it with a sigh.

She looked down at me and smiled.

‘Not so clever now, are you?’

My thoughts were muzzy, like thinking through a fog. I still couldn’t move. There was still pain but it was somehow distant, as though I were anaesthetized at the same time.

The old woman took another drink of tea and smacked her lips appreciatively. She reached for something on the table. I wanted to shrink away when I saw it was the black tube, but I was unable to move. There were thick wires at the end she was holding, while protruding from the other were two stubby metal prongs.

She held it up to show me.

‘About the only useful thing my husband left me, this. Brought it back with him from South America. Like a cattle prod, only stronger. The police there would charge them up and then…’

She made a jabbing motion towards me, stopping short with a grin. I would have yelled, but I couldn’t even do that. I could only lie there, paralysed.

‘Hurts, don’t it? He tried it on me once when he was drunk. Just that once.’

Her grin had gone. She laid the thing across her lap, the end with the two stubby prongs pointed at me.

‘I stuck him with it after he knocked Gary’s teeth out. How do you like that? I said. Pissed and shat himself like a baby, he did.’ She looked down at me as though to check. Her mouth turned down with disappointment. ‘Didn’t expect it to kill him, but served him right.’

Sensations were beginning to return. I could feel the lumpy bed under me, smell its sour, unclean odour. I hurt all over but the sharpest pain was on my ribs, where the thing had touched me. A bright, hot burning. You’ve been shocked, I thought, dazedly. She gave you an electric shock. A bad one.

‘My Gary was upset at first, but he was a good boy,’ Lola was saying. ‘Always did as he was told. It’ll be better now, I said, you’ll see. Just the two of us, it’ll be better. And it was. He helped me clean up, get everything tidied away in case anyone came and asked about Patrick. Nobody did, though.’

She paused to take another drink of tea. My muscles were twitching uncontrollably, agonizing shivers running through them. I still couldn’t move but my hands and feet had started tingling, a savage pins-and-needles. I told myself it was a good sign.

Above me, Lola’s voice droned on.

‘We were fine until that bastard Booth turned up.’ Her mouth curled as she glanced down at me. ‘It was him that got my Gary sacked from St Jude’s. Did you know that, Mr Smartarse? Him and them other two, Crossly and that foreign slut. Made his life a misery, they did. Always picking on him, laughing at him for being big-boned. Crossly’s girlfriend was shagging the head pharmacist, the nasty little bitch. Getting him to turn a blind eye so they could nick meds and sell them. Except they weren’t as clever as they thought, so when Security started sniffing round they hid stuff in my Gary’s locker. Made him look like a thief. The hospital must have known, but they didn’t want a scandal, did they? So my Gary got sacked while Booth and them other two bastards stood back and laughed! “Who’s been a naughty boy, then? Got caught, did you?” I’ll never forget his face when he came home that night. Like a whipped dog.’

There was a thrumming in my chest. I thought it was a muscle spasm before I realized it was my phone. I’d switched it to silent before putting it back in the breast pocket of my jacket, and its rubber case must have insulated it against the shock. I could feel it vibrate and pause, vibrate and pause, against my ribs. Whelan again? I could have wept with frustration. But even if Lola hadn’t been sitting a few feet away, I could no more move my hand to reach my phone than fly.

She hadn’t noticed. Her voice took on a crowing tone. ‘Christ, didn’t I laugh when they shut St Jude’s down a few months later! Made the whole lot of them redundant! Boot was on the other foot then, wasn’t it? My Gary had a job at the local supermarket while they were in the dole queue. See how they liked it!’

The vibrations from my phone cut off. No, don’t hang up! Distracted, it was a few seconds before I noticed that Lola’s flow of words had stopped. She was staring down at me, and I realized I’d been shifting my arm fractionally as the stunned muscles and nerves began to recover.

‘Wearing off, is it?’

Her smile was cruel. She lifted the black tube from her lap. I tried to push myself away as she leaned towards me, but my muscles wouldn’t cooperate. No! No, no –

There was a crackling SNAP as the two metal prongs jabbed into my stomach. The world whited out again as my nervous system screamed. This time I didn’t lose consciousness. I was aware all the time as my back arched, lifting me juddering off the bed on just my heels and the crown of my head.

Then it had gone. I crashed back down again. Each ragged breath was a blessed relief and an agony, my shocked body quivering in protest. There was a smell of burning flesh and fabric.

Laying the tube on the table, Lola sat back and took another drink from the mug.

‘Must have been about a year after that when Booth showed up at the supermarket where Gary worked. Crooked bastard had managed to get himself a job as a security guard at St Jude’s. Him!’ She shook her head. ‘Thought it was a big joke finding Gary stacking shelves. Like being a night-watchman was anything special. A few days later he came back, and this time he’d got Crossly and his bitch with him. Started helping themselves to beer and wine, right in front of my Gary. Laughing in his face, telling him he’d already got the sack for thieving once, wouldn’t want it to happen again, would he?’

Her mouth compressed in a bitter line.

‘He was too upset to tell me. Oh, I knew something was wrong but he said he was just tired. He’d been under the weather for a bit, had to go for tests and things.’ She glowered into the mug she was holding. ‘Bloody doctors, what do they know?’

Without warning, she dashed the tea in my face. I choked, my paralysed diaphragm fighting for air. Lola put the mug down on the table and made herself more comfortable in the chair.

‘Anyway, that went on for weeks. Then one night Gary didn’t come home from work. I sat up half the night, worried to death. Three o’clock in the morning it was when he finally came back, clothes all torn and filthy, reeking of drink and… and… her!’

Lola’s face twisted, her mouth working as though trying to rid itself of a bad taste.

‘They’d waited for him after work. Made him get in the car with them, said they were having a party. Like they were his friends. Took him out to St Jude’s, where they’d got this ward decked out with chairs and what-have-you. Booth wasn’t working there any more, but Crossly and his bitch had got jobs at another hospital, so they were up to their old tricks. Nicking drugs and selling them, thinking they were clever, doing it from in there. Scum!’

She scowled, carried away by her memories.

‘Thing was, business was slow. The pharmacy they’d been nicking from had tightened up, so they’d run out of stuff to sell. So now they were bored and wanted entertaining. My Gary wasn’t a drinker, not like his old man, but they forced it down him. Egged him on to do things with that… that whore! He didn’t want to — I know my own son better than that — but Crossly turned nasty. Started knocking him about, yelling at him. My Gary could have snapped him in half, but he never lifted a finger. And when he was on the floor, in tears, that fucker Booth…’ She paused, her voice quavering with emotion. ‘… That fucker pissed on him. Like he was a dog! Who’d do that?’

She broke off, her mouth working as she drew in ragged breaths. Abruptly, she looked down at me, and I knew what was coming. My skin crawled as she picked up the black tube. I tried to push myself away as she extended it towards my face, still wet from the tea she’d flung in it. But none of my limbs would obey.

‘You think it’s hurt so far?’ she hissed. ‘If I stick this in your gob you’ll know better. You’ll scream loud enough when your teeth burst.’

The twin electrodes hovered inches away from my mouth. They were tarnished and stained, except for the very ends, which were burnished a dull brass. I could see in Lola’s face how much she wanted to do it, but then her gaze went to the shuttered window. The thin slats of wood and single pane of glass were the only barrier between us and whoever might be outside. An expression of petulance crossed her face.

She stuck the tube against my chest.

When the spasm had passed, I could hear her moving about by the sink. Making more tea. I lay quivering, tears of pain wet on my cheeks. But as bad as it had been, I didn’t think this shock had been as strong as the others. I could already feel my muscles twitching as the first inklings of use began to creep back. I didn’t know how much charge the black tube held, but it wasn’t connected to the mains electricity. Sooner or later, it had to run out.

I just didn’t know if I’d survive that long.

Lola grunted as she lowered herself back on to the chair. Taking a dainty sip from the mug, she put it down on the table next to the tube. Sniffing, she wiped her nose with the back of her hand before resuming. As though telling a child a story.

‘Crossly was easy,’ she said, calmer again. ‘We had to wait a couple of weeks till he showed up again at the supermarket, but I knew the rotten bastard wouldn’t stay away for long. I’d told Gary to say he’d found a bagful of prescription painkillers I’d got stashed away. Codeine, opiates — all stuff they could sell. They knew I’d been a nurse. They used to torment him with stories they’d heard about me, and they’d never think Gary was lying. He didn’t want to, but I knew he would. He was a good boy, my Gary.’

There was pride in her voice. I wriggled my toes, slowly tensing muscles to work some use back into them without being seen.

‘Crossly wanted him to take them to St Jude’s,’ Lola went on, oblivious. ‘Made him go in through the morgue, so he wouldn’t get picked up by them cameras they’d put up at the front. Thought he was getting one over on Gary, making him go through that tunnel by himself. Except he wasn’t. He’d got me with him. With this.’

She raised the black tube, her eyes shining. I tensed, thinking she was going to shock me again. But she lowered the tube without using it.

‘I thought all three of them would be there, but it was just Crossly and his tart. Thought it was hysterical when they saw me. “Brought your mummy, have you? Need someone to hold your hand in the dark?”’

A slow smile split Lola’s face. She patted the black tube.

‘He was laughing on the other side of his face when I stuck this in his fat gut. Her too. She tried to run away, but she didn’t get far, I saw to that. I’d only planned to ginger them up a bit, but when I saw the old beds standing there I had a better idea.’

Nodding to herself, she took another drink of tea.

‘Gary wasn’t happy,’ she said, setting the mug back down. ‘Shook like a leaf, bless him. It was only the second time I’d ever had to raise my voice, but I couldn’t manage on my own. I needed help getting those fat lumps on the beds, and I couldn’t build the wall myself, could I? I made sure they watched him doing it, though, I can tell you that. Still think he’s useless, do you? I said. Who’s laughing now?’

She’d picked up the black tube, grinning as she stabbed it in the air for emphasis. I flinched each time it came near me. Then her grin faded.

‘The only pity was that Booth wasn’t there with them, but I thought we’d get round to him later. Give him a room on his own. I didn’t expect…’

Her voice faltered. She blinked away tears.

‘He was strong as an ox, my Gary. Never an ill day in his life, never mind what those doctors said. And he never complained, not even when he had to bring all them blocks and stuff upstairs. Who wouldn’t be out of breath, carrying all that lot? He’d made a lovely job of the wall, right down to the painting. It looked a treat. Another hour or so and no one would have known we’d ever been there. And then that… that stupid little cow walked in!’

My limbs felt wooden and heavy, as though my body had been shot full of novocaine. But some movement was slowly returning. While Lola was distracted, I tried flexing my leg, watching her to make sure she didn’t notice.

She was too lost in her own story, though. ‘I told him, I’d said to make sure he’d padlocked the ward door! Every time, I said about it! I didn’t want no junkies coming in while we were busy, he knew that. But he’d been in a funny mood all day. Quiet, off his food. I thought he’d be all right once we’d finished in that place. If I’d known, I’d never have… I thought he’d just fallen, clumsy like he was. But he just lay there, his face all blue! I couldn’t just leave him there, could I, my lovely lad? Not in that place, not with them!’

I wasn’t even trying to follow what she was saying, intent on making my body work. Lola bowed forward, covering her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook, but then her head snapped up again.

‘It was that pregnant little bitch’s fault!’ she spat. ‘If she hadn’t…’

Without warning she snatched up the tube and rammed it against my side. And then again. Fresh agony poured through me. I blacked out this time, greying back to consciousness as I felt myself being dragged from the bed. I landed on the floor with a jarring impact, winded on top of everything else. My limbs were dead as lumps of wood, and my heart seemed to be fluttering in my chest as I saw Lola stoop down, stiffly, and take hold of the rug I was lying on.

‘Let’s get you out of the way, shall we?’

The ceiling above me began to move as I slid across the floor in a series of slow, stop-start jerks. After a few seconds Lola stopped and straightened, panting and with her face flushed.

‘Jesus bloody Christ…’

Grimacing, she massaged her lower back while she caught her breath. Then she bent to grip the rug again. Grunting with exertion, she took one staggering step backwards, then another.

The rug, with me on it, slithered a few more inches.

I could see an open doorway behind her. Inside it was a small, unlit hallway with a low ceiling that sloped downwards into the blackness of a cellar. The sight terrified me as I realized what Lola was intending. Even if I didn’t break my neck when she tipped me down the cellar steps, once I was down there she could do as she liked. No one knew where I was, and my car was still parked at St Jude’s. Lola could take her time, torturing me with the black tube without anyone to see or hear.

Just like Darren Crossly and Maria de Souza.

I tried desperately to will use back into my muscles. Come on, MOVE! As Lola wheezed and huffed, dragging me inch by inch across the floor, I was rewarded by the slightest twitch of my fingers. It was a start, but the cellar door was only a few feet away. Fresh panic surged in me as Lola heaved the rug nearer before stopping again. She mopped her forehead, gasping for air.

‘Christ, my bloody back.’ Her face was red and greasy with sweat as the small eyes rested on me. ‘Woken up, have we?’

I saw her look over at the chair where she’d left the black tube, and could almost see what she was thinking. I lay completely still, knowing if she gave me another shock it was all over. No! Don’t do it!

But no one was listening. My feet thumped down as Lola let go of the rug. She stepped over my legs to get to the chair, and as she did I felt a thrum against my chest as my phone began to vibrate. It was almost silent, but she was closer to it this time. Or perhaps something in my face gave it away: either way, she stopped. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

‘What’s that, then? Someone trying to get hold of you?’

She reached down and wrenched my jacket open. With an annoyed click of her tongue, she pulled out the phone. She scowled as it vibrated again, more audibly now.

‘Bloody things.’

Shuffling round me, she went to the sink and dropped the phone among the dirty dishes. It disappeared with a splash, giving one last bzz like a drowning insect before falling quiet. Lola turned back to me with a mean smile.

‘Not be needing that any more.’

I closed my eyes as despair welled up. But the distraction had made her forget about fetching the black tube. Not that she needed it: my feet were already in the cellar doorway. Hands on hips, Lola regarded me as though contemplating her final effort.

‘Right. Nearly there.’

Taking a deep breath, she began to step over my legs so she could drag me the last few inches. As she did, with an effort born of desperation, I raised my hand to grab her ankle. It was a futile attempt. My hand flopped, numbly, succeeding only in slapping at her foot.

‘Oh, yes?’ she snarled. ‘Want some more, do you?’

Incensed, she turned to wrench free, and her other foot caught my outstretched legs. Her eyes widened as she stumbled, teetering in the open doorway. She clutched at the door, causing it to swing towards her. It struck my body and stopped, and Lola’s hand slipped from it. Her cry was cut off as she tumbled backwards down the cellar steps, crashing down them in a series of slithering thuds.

Then silence.

I lay in the doorway, my heart racing. I half expected to hear movement from the cellar as she began to make her way back up the steps. But there was nothing. OK, you can’t stay here. Time to move. Trying to force myself to sit upright, I succeeded in rolling on to my side. I lay there, gasping. My entire body felt wrong, numb and burning at the same time. There was a buzzing in my ears and my heart was still hammering too fast. Stay calm. Breathe deep and stay calm. Looking up, I could see Lola’s landline on the sideboard. If I could reach that, pull it down to the floor by its cable, I could call for help. Throwing out an arm that was as unresponsive as a log, I attempted to drag myself across the floor. The buzzing in my ears grew louder, and my heart raced more than ever. I could feel it bucking in my chest, its rhythm ragged and stuttering as a grey mist seemed to fill the room. Oh, Jesus, don’t pass out. Not now, not yet. I kept my eyes on the phone as I tried again to crawl towards it.

But it could have been a mile away. The buzzing was growing deafening. It filled my head as I lay back down. I couldn’t feel my body any more. That worried me at first, but it was also a relief. An odd sense of peace came over me. So this is it, I thought, as my vision began to fade. I felt sadness for Rachel, then I pictured Kara and Alice. I heard my daughter’s laugh, and before the greyness turned to black I smiled to think of them waiting for me at home.