Chapter 6: The private hospital
Chapter 6: The private hospital
Gail stopped the car and looked at the map. Yes, this was the road, but where was the hospital? It was somewhere near here. There were tall trees on both sides of the road, and there were no houses. She looked at the map again. There was no hospital sign on the road. She started the car and drove slowly along the road. Then she saw a small road on the left. There was a sign on the corner. It was very small: ‘Chamford Private Hospital’. Gail turned left and drove along the small road for nearly a mile. Then she could see the hospital. It was a beautiful old house with gardens in front of it.
She drove into the car park and got out of her car. There were several other cars there. They were all expensive - a Rolls Royce, two Mercedes, a Ferrari and a Jaguar. She looked back at her old Mini and smiled. It looked very funny in the middle of all those big cars.
Diane was waiting for her near the door. ‘You’re late,’ she said.
‘Yes, sorry,’ said Gail, ‘I couldn’t find it. I like your uniform.’
‘Mmm,’ said Diane, ‘the uniforms are beautiful. They’re very expensive, you know. Maybe it was my map. I can’t draw maps very well.’
‘I needed the map!’ said Gail. ‘It’s a long way from the village.’
‘Yes. It’s very quiet here. Very quiet. This is the best time of the day for a visit. We always have visitors on Sunday afternoons.’
‘But there are never any visitors for your young man with the cut face,’ said Gail. ‘What’s his name?’
‘Richard Tucker,’ said Diane. ‘No, he never has visitors. I told you that yesterday. Come on, I’ll show you the hospital.’
They walked round the hospital. Everything was new and very expensive. There were flowers everywhere.
‘Er… Where’s Richard Tucker?’ Gail asked suddenly.
‘Why?’ said Diane.
‘Oh, I was thinking about him. Can I talk to him for a minute? He doesn’t have any visitors. I think that’s very sad. He must be very unhappy.’
Diane smiled. ‘All right. Dr Green isn’t here… Come on, he’s upstairs… But just for a minute.’