Dark Heart Forever Read Online Free PDF Page A

could hear was the buzzing of the engine and then the massive jolt as it drove into the fence and the low stone wall behind it. I kept my hands over my eyes, waiting for it to be over.
    We had stopped moving, but the engine was going mad, humming maniacally like the most powerful chainsaw you’ve ever heard.
    My heart still thumping, I took my hands from my eyes and turned to my father. He lay slumped over the wheel, his forehead streaked with blood. Not moving.
    ‘Dad?’ I gasped, moving cautiously in my seat. I didn’t seem to be hurt. Snapping out of my seatbelt, I scooched over to him, leaning forward to see if his eyes were open. They weren’t. I swallowed, feeling frightened tears coming.
    Don’t panic, Jane, I told myself, but I had no idea what to do. I didn’t even own a mobile phone because I had no one to ring – but Dad did. I frantically dug around in the pockets of his coat – but nothing, he must have left it behind today. I closed my eyes, willing another car to come past and see us, but there was only silence. I knew very well that this stretch of road had no drive-throughs. It led up to our house and nothing else. Nobody would come up this far.
    I let out a small moan and sat back, trying to think. I’d left the Girl Guides the week I’d joined, typically antisocial. If I’d stayed, I might have some clue about what to do in this kind of emergency.
    Selfish idiot.
    I wound down the window and let the freezing air calm me. I had a feeling, Girl Guides or not, that you were supposed to keep warm if you were in shock – but it felt like the right thing. Above me the dark clouds dispersed, revealing a full moon.
    I stared at it, perfect and round up there in the sky, as though it would provide some vital inspiration. Then, knowing that I was wasting time, I shut my eyes, willing myself to be strong, to think.
    Think, Jane.
    And then there was just stillness, and I emptied my head of every other thought but what I wanted, really wanted. Help him. Help him. Help him. I chanted it in my mind, over and over.
    In my head I saw my father on a trolley in the A&E in Hassock, rushing through corridors to where a doctor and two nurses were standing. And then the frantic administering of drugs, a heart monitor, the beeping of machines, someone shouting out orders, and a hand on my arm, rubbing it, a soft, female voice, talking to me.

    ‘Is he going to be OK?’
    I opened my eyes, startling myself with the sound of my voice.
    A woman in scrubs, with small, birdlike features, was smiling at me.
    ‘He’s going to be OK.’ She studied me. ‘Are you sure you weren’t hurt? I think we need to check you out.’
    ‘I thought he was …’ I stopped, relief making me shake.
    ‘He’s concussed and lost consciousness for a while and he’s got nasty head and neck injuries,’ said the nurse. ‘But you got him here quickly.’
    ‘How did I … ?’ I began. How had we got here? It didn’t make sense.
    ‘Never seen anything like it,’ she said, shining a thin torch into my eyes. ‘Your friend just walking in, carrying your dad in his arms. Quite the hero.’ She clicked off the light. ‘And you seem in good shape. You’re very lucky.’
    ‘My friend?’ Could this day get any more surreal?
    ‘He’s back in the visitors’ room,’ she said, picking up a clipboard and writing something down. ‘And he’s causing quite a stir.’ She winked at me. ‘Lucky girl.’
    I smiled weakly. ‘I’ll be right back. If you could just tell me where the visitors’ room is?’
    She pointed down the corridor. ‘Keep walking and first left.’
    I walked slowly, unable to catch my breath. Who was I going to find in that room?
    I knew only two boys, and one of them was technically a figment of my imagination.
    As I rounded the corner I looked down at myself. My poncho, my jeans, my T-shirt were perfectly intact, even my green Converse were without a mark. I hadn’t got a scratch.
    A large sign saying VISITORS’ ROOM