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.