Free Rough Cut: Rosie Gilmour 6 by Anna Smith Page B

behind her eyes as she heard the name. ‘Julie.’ She tried to move her lips but they were stuck together, and her tongue was dry like paper on the roof of her mouth. Then she tried again to repeat the name. ‘Julie.’ Her lips were moving, but she couldn’t hear the sound. Someone’s soft fingers were on her forehead. It feltgood and cool in the heat. ‘Nikki. Nikki,’ the voice said. She prised her eyes open, trying to focus. She could see a ceiling with tiles. She closed her eyes again. No beach. No sky. Where was she? She rolled her head to the side and saw what looked like a machine, with lights green and luminous. And wires. ‘Nikki.’ The voice again. ‘It’s me, Julie.’ She opened her eyes and now someone was standing over her. She struggled to focus on the blur in front of her. Julie. She felt a smile on her lips. But where were they? Where was she? Julie was smiling. They must be on holiday.
    ‘Nikki, it’s me, Julie. Can you hear me?’
    ‘Julie.’ Nikki’s lips moved but the sound didn’t come out.
    ‘It’s okay, Nikki. Everything’s going to be fine.’
    Nikki’s mind drifted. Fine. Why fine? Then she turned her head and saw the wires more sharply. She was in a hospital, but why? As she opened her eyes a fear ran through her and she focused on Julie.
    ‘What’s happ . . . Am I in a hospital or something? Am I sick? What’s happened?’
    She felt Julie stroke her forehead.
    ‘You’re fine, Nikki. It’s going to be fine.’
    Nikki was afraid, and her body began to feel cold. She closed her eyes to blink away a sudden picture. Dark night. Blackness. Snow and slush on the ground. Then the sound of hacking, and suddenly she saw herself lying on the ground. What kind of nightmare was this? Her eyes openedwide and she looked at Julie, who must have been able to see the fear in her eyes, because now
she
was crying. Nikki glanced down and could see a bandage. A heavy, thick, white bandage. Where was her hand? Her wrist? She couldn’t feel it. Where were her fingers? She glanced at her other hand, hooked up to the machine, needles and drips and a bag of stuff on a tall steel trolley. Where were her fingers?
    ‘My hand, Julie. Where’s my hand?’
    Julie was crying now, tears running down her face and streaming off her chin.
    ‘Oh, Nikki, I’m sorry. Listen, It’s going to be okay. You’re alive. You pulled through. They didn’t think you would make it. I . . . I thought I’d lost you, pal.’
    ‘Make it? Where’s my hand, Julie? My arm.’
    ‘Ssshh, Nikki. They cut it. You lost it. I’m so sorry. But you’re going to be alright, Nikki. I’m going to look after you. I’m here for you. Right here.’
    She was sobbing now, and Nikki looked at her, confused. Her arm wasn’t there. She couldn’t feel her fingers. They cut it. Who cut it? Then she remembered again. The snow, the blood. The blind fear. She could feel her heart beating fast and the machine at her side was making buzzing noises. She saw the man’s crazed face and the glint of the blade. She saw Julie through blurred eyes, then she drifted away again.
    *
    Julie sat in her car, with no idea what she was going to do, but she knew that time was running out. She had listened to the messages on her mobile, and they were more threatening each time. Big Gordy was onto them, he warned. And worse still, the Asian guys down south were onto them. They were coming to get her the way they had got Nikki. In their culture, you steal something, they chop your fucking hand off as a lesson. She was next. She’d better turn up somewhere, or get on the phone and arrange to give that fucking case back. Julie knew it was only a matter of time till they found her. She’d been into Nikki’s house early in the morning to make sure the case was still there and took it. Then she’d hired a car for the week and took off with everything she had, staying in a small hotel out in the Stirling area, sure they’d never look for her out there. She