Alex looks confused. Matthew is remembering his training. To keep the focus on the future. On normal needs.
‘I don’t want anyone coming near me. I don’t want tricks.’ Alex’s voice is clearly affected by the chilly wind. He’s wearing just a shirt and jeans and is shivering. Matthew is worried that even if Mel is right and Alex isn’t planning to jump, the cold could trigger an accident.
‘I’ll tell the police not to come anywhere near you. How about I send for that blanket and coffee and I put it where you can reach it? I won’t come too close, I promise. You’ll be able to think more clearly if you’re warmer, Alex. Then we can talk properly. Work out exactly how I can help you. Yes?’
Alex thinks for a while and then nods.
‘OK. I’m going to take out my mobile and get those things for you. It’s not a trick. OK, Alex? Just my mobile.’
He nods again.
Matthew takes out his mobile and rings Mel. ‘A large blanket and coffee with sugar, please. Fast as you can but leave it by the pillar behind me. Don’t send anyone close. No uniforms.’
‘Understood.’
Matthew puts his phone back in his pocket. ‘Right. The police have said yes but I’ve told them to stay back. OK?’
Alex nods again. Good. Whether he’s acting or whether he’s serious, Alex is starting to see Matthew as an intermediary.
‘So what do you want here, Alex? What can I do to help you?’
‘A father has rights.’
‘Of course. So is that what this is all about? A child? Is this about a child, Alex?’
‘You know it is. The Hartleys won’t talk to me. They won’t let me see Gemma. And they won’t do a paternity test.’
Matthew has to think fast what to say here. No way could anyone sign off a paternity test while Gemma is in a coma. Alex is being totally irrational.
‘It must be very frustrating for you. Not knowing where you stand.’
There’s a long pause. Alex puts the loudhailer down alongside him on the wall and shuffles forward a little.
‘You don’t want to go nearer the edge, Alex. We need to talk some more. Work out what I can do to help here. You can’t get what you want unless we talk, now can you?’
A few moments pass. Matthew’s heart is beating very fast. Is Mel’s gut instinct right? Or is Alex serious here? Matthew hears a noise behind him and turns to see a uniformed officer place a blanket two pillars back.
‘Right. The blanket’s arrived. I’ll fetch it. I expect the coffee will come soon too.’
Matthew retreats to pick up the blanket and moves back to his position near the front wall but several feet from Alex. ‘I’m going to throw this on to the wall to your left, Alex. Don’t try to catch it. Sit very, very still where you are. I’m a good shot. Don’t move. Do you understand?’
Alex nods again. Matthew throws the blanket so it ends up over the wall, an arm’s length from Alex.
‘I don’t want you to reach out, Alex. I want you to shuffle back, away from the edge. And then you can move more safely towards the blanket to your left. Is that OK with you?’
‘Yes.’ Alex does as he’s asked. He shuffles back a little and then moves, bit by bit, to the left to reach the blanket which he quickly wraps around his shoulders.
‘Good. That’s good, Alex. Stay like that and warm yourself up a bit.’
Alex is now in a much better position, nearer the back of the ledge, but Matthew’s heart is still pounding. He glances at the office block opposite.
If he says the wrong thing or gets the tone wrong . . .
CHAPTER 33
THE FATHER – NOW
Ed expects DI Sanders to be waiting for him with Rachel at the hospital. Instead he finds the ward in a strange state of heightened activity. There are several huddles – nurses and visitors – each grouped around the various TVs set at intervals along the opposite wall. Several heads turn as he walks in.
All he can make out on the televisions are different shots of a car park. He can’t read the scrolling headlines from where he’s standing, yet all the faces look sheepish.
‘What’s going on?’
More heads turn to him.
‘You should go through and join your wife,’ a nurse says finally.
‘I need to know what’s happening.’ Ed directs this at the policeman on duty outside Gemma’s cubicle, but the guard just stands to open the door into Gemma’s space.
Inside Rachel has her hand up to her mouth, watching the TV above Gemma’s bed on mute, tears rolling down her cheeks.