The Terrors of Loneliness

The Terrors of Loneliness - Chapter 2

Lucas North stood in the doorway to Hannah Curtis’s hospital room watching her sleep.  She looked calm and peaceful now if still a little pale.  She was curled on her side in an almost foetal position with both hands tucked under her chin and a mass of dark curls framing her face.  She looked incredibly vulnerable and he felt surprisingly protective towards her.  It wasn’t like he knew her…not really.  They’d run the usual checks on her.  She was 30, currently unemployed, lived alone in a big house in North London and had no family that they could trace.  She’d lost both parents in a car crash about 5 years ago and the house had been the family home.   It seemed she was quite alone in the world and he wondered how she’d cope with that after what had happened.

Lucas shook himself.  He couldn’t stand here all day staring at Hannah; he needed to talk to her.  The Selby incident was something MI5 wanted kept quiet.  They needed to make sure she wouldn’t go to the press and shout about how she’d been held at gunpoint.  The press would have a field day if they found out that Selby had the opportunity to take a hostage.  He sat down on the chair next to the bed and touched her arm gently, “Hannah…” he said softly.

She stirred and looked up at him drowsily with a pair of pale green eyes that added to her look of vulnerability.  Lucas felt something stir in his heart.  “Christ she’s beautiful,” he thought.  Quickly putting the thought to the back of his mind he smiled at her, “Hi Hannah, my name’s Daniel.”

 --

Hannah looked at this man sat next to her.  He looked familiar but her head was so muzzy she couldn’t think straight.  He said his name was Daniel and he was smiling at her.  She turned her head to look around the room. “Where am I?” she asked.

“You’re in hospital Hannah. Do you remember what happened to you?” Daniel had a deep velvety voice, it sounded soothing somehow and she thought she’d heard it before.

She frowned and looked back at his face.  Suddenly the memory came flooding back and she gasped out loud at the shock.  “He was going to kill me wasn’t he?” she whispered fearfully.  Not waiting for an answer, she stared into his eyes and said “Is he dead?  Did you kill him?”

Daniel nodded slowly and Hannah recoiled from him slightly, “Who are you?” she asked.  “Who do you work for?” 

He leant forward, “I work for the government.  I’m very sorry that you got caught up in this but I need to ask you something.”

She shook her head and felt her heart quicken “I don’t know anything.  I don’t know who he was…I never even saw his face!”

--

Lucas saw she was getting agitated and was wringing her hands together.  He took both her hands in his and spoke quietly and slowly, “Hannah, look at me.”  She lifted her pale green eyes up to meet his, “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time…we know that.  But I need to ask you a huge favour.” 

She seemed a little calmer as she looked at him questioningly.  He took a deep breath, “I need to ask you not to tell anyone what happened.  Do you think you can do that?”

She frowned at him, “I don’t understand.”

Lucas sighed, “Selby killed someone…someone important.  It’s all over the news.  We’d like to avoid the press finding out that he took a hostage.  We need you to sign the Official Secrets Act.”

Hannah looked at him incredulously.  “You make it sound like something out of a James Bond movie.”

He smiled at her.  “I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but it’s important.  And it means you can’t ever tell anyone about this, not your family or your friends.  Do you understand?”  He pulled some papers out of his jacket.

She nodded wearily, “I’ll sign it.”  He placed the papers in front of her on the bed, showing her where to sign and gave her a pen.  She signed them.

“Thank you.” He put the papers back in his jacket, relieved that she had agreed.  “The doctor tells me you’ll be discharged this afternoon.  Is there anyone you’d like me to call for you?”

Hannah shook her head sadly, “No…no-one…thank you.”

Lucas heard himself say it before he’d even thought it, “Would you like me to give you a lift home?”  He silently berated himself.  He wasn’t at all sure why he’d just offered to do that.  He could have arranged for a taxi but there was something about this girl that made him want to protect her and he couldn’t understand what it was.

--

Hannah looked at Daniel and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  “Are you sure? I’d really appreciate it.”  The thought of going home alone truly terrified her.  She wasn’t sure why she trusted this man so much but he seemed safe somehow.  She understood the irony of that after he’d just admitted to killing someone but she found his presence reassuring.

She looked at him.  Feeling calmer she was able to take more notice of his appearance.  He was tall and broad across the shoulders. She realised he was also incredibly good looking.  He had thick, almost black hair and the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever seen.

He smiled at her, and got up, “I’ll be back at four to collect you, OK?”

Hannah nodded.  “Thank you Daniel.”

“It’s no problem.  I’ll see you later.” He smiled again and was gone.

The room suddenly felt cold and Hannah pulled the bed covers around her.  She lay back down and closed her eyes suddenly tired again.  She drifted off into a fitful sleep plagued by dreams of guns and blood…so much blood.