Slime Read Online Free PDF Page B

to drown once they set to work.
    Tim must have dozed off. The next thing he knew, a dark bright-eyed nurse bustled into the room with his evening meal on a tray. She announced he had a visitor, ayoung lady, who would be along once she’d had a word with the doctor. And would he like the curtains closed now it was almost dark outside?
    ‘Please,’ he said, pushing himself up in bed.
    He felt lazy, and glad he didn’t have to get up. His arm still throbbed and that ache in his buttock issued a sharp reminder whenever he put too much weight on it.
    ‘Jellyfish, was it?’ she went on as she tugged the curtain across. ‘That other poor man – he’s in a terrible condition. People will be afraid to go swimming.’ She tutted, shaking her head. ‘Seen you on TV, you know. Always watch Gulliver when I’m not on duty, an’ sometimes when I am! That wife o’ yours, she’s awful, isn’t she? It’s a wonder you put up with it!’
    ‘Oh…!’ He laughed, suddenly understanding what she meant: not Sue, as he’d thought at first. ‘In the show, you mean? Gloria?’
    ‘That’s the one. Vicious, she is. All I can say is, she’d better not come in this hospital, or there’ll be a few of us ready to give her a piece of our mind.’
    ‘She’s quite nice really. The actress, that is.’
    ‘Is she now?’ The nurse sounded unconvinced. ‘Now you eat up, an’ I’ll bring your visitor along the moment she’s free.’
    That would be Jane, he assumed, pleased. She had come with them in the ambulance; then, once they reached the hospital, he’d said she needn’t hang around if she had other things to do. He could sense she was itching to get to a phone. An ambitious girl – and ruthless too in her own way, he suspected. Before going, she’d said something about his car being still down by the harbour and he’d given her the keys, telling her she was free to use it if she wished. Which she obviously did.
    He had already finished his omelette and was toying with the strawberry blancmange when the nurse returned with his visitor: not Jane after all, but Jacqui. She stood inthe doorway and smiled at him awkwardly.
    ‘Well, that just about wraps it up, doesn’t it?’ she commented, nodding at his bandaged hand.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said wryly.
    ‘Are you all right, Tim?’
    ‘I shall be. Out tomorrow.’
    ‘Perhaps.’
    The nurse closed the door quietly, leaving them alone together. Jacqui brought the chair over to sit by the bed. She had dressed up for the visit, he noted, in a brown trouser suit which she wore with a striped shirt and a greenish tie. High heels too, to give her that extra couple of inches; though she still looked small and emaciated, in need of a good meal. Her face was thin and peaked, while her alert, brown eyes contrasted strangely with her wispy blonde hair.
    ‘I spoke to the doctor, but he wasn’t too certain when you’d be out,’ she added. Her tone was matter-of-fact, but not unfriendly. ‘In any case, even if you could carry on, we need to replace Arthur, and that means re-shooting the lot. I’ve been on the phone to the office. They’re fixing it up for us to come back for the retakes. Well, you anyway.’
    ‘Not you?’
    ‘That’s not yet certain.’
    She gave that information brusquely, as if to indicate that further questions would not be welcome. He gazed at her, wondering what the problem was. Maybe they hadn’t liked the rushes; maybe they welcomed the chance to re-shoot.
    ‘How is Arthur?’ he asked.
    ‘As well as can be expected, according to the doctor. You know he had a stroke?’
    ‘Yes, they told me. Probably while he was still in the water. It’s not surprising really when you think what happened. I suppose I got off lightly.’ He glanced at thebandages. ‘What about his face?’
    ‘They didn’t say.’ She hesitated. ‘Tim, would you – I mean, can you talk about it? All I know, it was a jellyfish. Not the details.’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Can’t