Emma

26: Laura

I set off quite early the next morning to visit the hospital where Emma's mother was currently residing. As Simon informed me last-minute that he had organised to take Bella to the vets for the duration of the morning, I called his mother to do some babysitting. As usual, she was more than willing to come over.

"Ganny's coming round to look after you today," I told the kids as I zipped up my coat jacket, ready to step out into the chilly January air. "I'm going to... meet an old friend for lunch."

"When will Granny be here?" Emma enquired.

"In a minute or so." She'd be heading down the street right now. I'd wait in my car until I saw her appear, just in case she was later than expected.

"Okay. I'll see you soon, mummy!" Emma skipped away into the living room. On her skinny arm, a bandage was wrapped multiple times to cover her wound. I'd dressed it last night before delivering a stern warning to never do such a thing again.

Of course, I'd had to inform Anna of the latest event, commanding her to keep an eye on Emma at all times, not letting her out of sight at any moment. I'd also closed the kitchen door and instructed the children to keep out of it at all times. And, as a final precaution, the knives had been placed in a storage box and hidden away at the back of a cupboard, out of sight of anyone and, most of all, Emma.

There was a knock at the door, so I knelt down to kiss Luke goodbye. His eyes were fearful and mistrusting. Scared, even.

"I love you, sweetie," I told him. There was no reply, so I kissed his cheek and stood up to let Anna inside.

"Mummy!" His arm reached out to grab mine as I tried to walk away. I swivelled back round to face him.

"Don't leave me. Please," he said. His voice cracked on the final word.

I didn't understand. I didn't try to understand.

I just left him.

I carefully removed his little, childish fingers from my arm and I left him.

The car journey to the hospital passed by fairly quickly. I knew the way well, as I'd looked up the route on Google Maps the previous night, so it wasn't difficult. I just drove, and tried hard not to think about Luke.

I also knew exactly which ward to go to, as Ellen had remembered where her sister was kept, although, as she put it, she had "no idea why, as I'm never gonna visit the loony meself."

The hospital was a large, modern building, probably recently constructed. It didn't exactly scream "hospital" at me. More like arts or community centre. Still, the task looming ahead of me was certainly making me nervous. I'd not actually thought about what I was going to say up to this point. I was really unsure.

"I'm here to see Andrea Gillard," I announced at the reception desk. The young woman behind it nodded once before typing something into her computer.

"Andrea Gillard, you say?"

"Yep."

She looked confused, maybe a tad worried, but then replied with "I'll call a member of staff down to take you up." She began entering numbers into the phone by her side. "You're a next of kin, right?"

"Uh huh," I tried to look sincere. "I'm her sister."

I was made to wait in reception for at least five minutes before a Doctor arrived. During this time, I puzzled over what to say. I prayed that Andrea wouldn't lash out at me, or send me away when she noticed I was clearly not her sister. Or even anyone she knew, for that matter. And that was even before I touched on the subject of Emma. From what I'd heard, Andrea wasn't exactly the biggest fan of her daughter. To put it lightly. So you wouldn't be surprised to know that I wasn't looking forward to our encounter.