Emma walks over…

Emma walks over to the bed in silence. She pulls up a chair, and positions it precisely half a meter away. The whole time, she carefully avoids looking at you.

Then she speaks, directing her words to the floor, and the control in her voice is just a shade short of perfection.

‘You need to tell me the truth, okay?’

Your heart sinks deep in your chest. But you nod, and Emma glances up quickly before returning her gaze to the floor.

‘They’re calling it a freak accident, but I know better. Justin’s plane crashes the same night you end up back here with a gunshot wound? You followed him, didn’t you.’

It’s not a question, and you nod again. Your throat is so dry that it’s agony to swallow.

‘By the way, I’m not stupid.’ Emma suddenly looks up at you, eyes fierce. ‘I know when people are lying to me. I’ve known Alan for seven years, and if you think I don’t know a ridiculous cover story when I hear one, you’re very much mistaken.’

You say nothing.

‘I don’t want to know the details,’ she says abruptly. ‘Just tell me one thing. Did you mean to kill him? Were you trying to bring his plane down?’

This, at least, you can answer.

‘No,’ you croak. ‘Well… yes. But no.’ Emma fixes you with a threatening look, and you stumble over your next words. ‘I meant to bring it down, but I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to kill him. Honestly, I didn’t. I was **** half out of my mind, and I thought… I didn’t want him to get away. But it was a seaplane. I thought it’d have to land back on the water. I didn’t think… I didn’t know it would go down the way it did.’

‘He shot you.’ Emma’s tone gives nothing away.

‘Yeah. Probably shouldn’t have got that close, but… I was trying to save him.’ When Emma’s eyebrows disappear into her hair, you add, ‘he was on fire. I couldn’t not try and stop it.’

Emma blinks, shaken. When she looks up again, tears are shining in her eyes.

‘That’s awful,’ she says, quietly. ‘God. I don’t know what to say.’

There’s silence again, except for the machines, and all you can think is, please, God, don’t let this be it. Don’t let this be the end of us.

When Emma finally takes a long, shaky breath, you’re braced for the worst.