“Not at the cafe,” Keya replied hastily. “It might be from some homemade piccalilli I tasted last night.”
“Yes, you have to be careful with that,” Peggy conceded. “But how are you feeling now?”
“Tired, numb, and tingly. I can’t move my left arm, but my right arm is feeling better.” She lifted it again to make sure. “And so are my legs.” She wriggled her toes.
“The rest will do you good,” Peggy reasoned. “You’re always rushing around.”
In the silence which followed, Keya realised how ill some of the patients she could see were, hooked up to beeping machines and monitors.
She felt better, but also concerned that the doctors classified her illness as critical as the others in the ward. But at least she had Peggy’s cheerful demeanour to keep up her spirits.
“And who’s this?” asked Peggy as Sujin reached Keya’s bed. “Haven’t I seen you before?”
“Hi, I’m Sujin. A colleague of Keya’s,” Sujin introduced himself.
“You don’t look like a policeman.”
“I’m not. My title is crime scene technician.”
“Which means what?”
“I examine crime scenes, collect evidence, and work on the forensic side of an investigation.” Sujin removed his glasses and ran his hand through his dark hair.
“Hey, you’re that fiddle player. I knew I’d seen you before.”
“I’m with the Celtic Twisters.”
“You played at our local pub, The Dog and Duck,” Peggy remembered.
“That’s right. And Keya and Ryan were there.”
“Yes. They were.”
Nurse Roberts approached. “Now that’s quite enough of that. Other patients are resting and so should you two. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she said to Sujin.
“Maitri!” Keya cried.
“I’ll just be a minute,” Sujin promised.
“You have five. And then you need to leave Keya to sleep.” The nurse turned and strode away.
Sujin leaned over Keya and said, “I got hold of the cafe - they’re all worried, by the way, and hope you feel better soon. Gilly wanted to come over, but I told her I wasn’t sure about visiting hours in the critical care unit. That only made her worse. But, eventually, I spoke to your sister, and she’s fine. She can’t understand why you are ill as you both tasted the same things, and she has no side effects.”
“It takes time,” Keya warned.
“I know. Which is why I told Maitri to go to Cirencester Hospital to get checked out. She protested. So I asked Gilly to take her, and she seemed delighted to have something to do.”
“Thank you,” said Keya, suddenly feeling weary again. She closed her eyes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Keya woke the next morning feeling groggy and stiff. She wriggled her toes and gently raised both legs to check they still worked. They did, and she didn’t feel any tingling, which she thought was a good sign.
Next, she tried her right arm. She was able to move it out of the white sheets which covered her. It took a lot of effort, and it was slow going, but finally she placed it on top of the sheets and lay back with relief.
Turning her head and her thoughts to her left arm, she concentrated really hard. Nothing. Her arm wouldn’t move. Feeling her heart start to beat faster and the panic set in, she took a deep breath, held it, and breathed out. Everyone had told her panicking would only make things worse, and she knew they were right.
She lay back listening to the rhythmic sigh of machines and the beeping of others.
“You awake, Keya?” called Peggy.
“Yes,” Keya replied.
Putting her right arm to use, she managed to shuffle her body into a half lying, half sitting position. It wasn’t great, but at least she could see Peggy and the rest of the ward.
Peggy smiled and acknowledged, “You slept a lot. Do you feel better?”
“I do,” Keya admitted. “And you?”
“I like my own bed. And there’s too much noise in here. Hopefully, they’ll let me out after the doctor has checked me over this morning. Just a false alarm, I’m sure.”
Keya hoped her neighbour was right, although she had her reservations. Why would they have kept Peggy in overnight in the critical care unit if they weren’t concerned about her? Or me for that matter, Keya thought.
A light-blue clad orderly appeared at the entrance to the ward, pushing a trolley holding several tall stainless-steel flasks.
“Oh good. Time for a cup of tea,” Peggy said, and she reached down to a cable dangling below her bed and pressed a button.
