She flushed pink, but shook her head as if it was nothing. ‘And she’ll be all right now?’
‘She’s not out of the woods yet. But she’ll be closely monitored at the hospital, and they can keep her stable until the drug’s worked its way out of her system.’
Sam nodded. ‘What would have happened if we hadn’t turned up?’
‘It’s difficult to say. Her body might have coped with the effects of the cocaine, and she’d have woken up tomorrow morning feeling pretty grim but otherwise none the worse for it. Or she could have died.’
She was looking at him intently, as if everything that he was saying was being fitted into a giant jigsaw puzzle in her head. ‘How much do you think she took?’
‘Impossible to say. Illegal drugs aren’t regulated, and they vary enormously in purity and composition, so it’s impossible to predict their effects. And with cocaine, even small amounts can produce the kind of effects we saw tonight.’
Her brow was creased, as if with some gargantuan effort. ‘Is that what you wanted to know?’ Euan asked the question as gently as he knew how.
She nodded, clearly not quite trusting herself to speak.
Euan had a question of his own. ‘I’m glad Carrie’s friend went with her to the hospital.’
She didn’t take the bait, and he tried again.
‘I saw you talking to her...’
‘Yes. She was feeling pretty guilty that she’d been there in the house and hadn’t realised that Carrie needed help.’
‘It happens.’ His observation prompted a downward twitch of her mouth. ‘What did you say to her?’
‘That she had another chance to be there for her friend and that she should grab it with both hands.’ She lifted her face towards him and Euan almost choked. So much pain there.
‘You did really well tonight, Sam. I was glad that you were there.’ The words seemed pretty inadequate in the face of whatever it was that was going on behind those beautiful, agonised eyes, but she smiled anyway.
‘Thanks.’ She waved her hand in front of her face, as if to bat away the bad thoughts. ‘Are we going to have some coffee, then?’
It was a clear invitation to drop the subject before they got too close to the mysterious personal reasons. He could do that. Euan could wait.
CHAPTER FIVE
THEY’D TALKED FOR a long time last night. As if something important had happened and neither wanted to let go of it, even though it remained unspoken.
Unspoken maybe, but it was important. Sally had died alone, from what had been described as a cocaine overdose, but at the time no one had bothered to explain to Sam what that actually meant. And now Carrie had lived. That had to mean something, although Sam had been too tired by the time Euan had left to work out what.
She’d slept deeply, and woken up late on Sunday morning. When she moved her head, pain splintered through her right temple.
Sam groaned, rolling onto her back, holding her head between her hands as if somehow that would lessen the pain. Fat chance. She wondered whether she was going to be sick or not, and whether it would be prudent to get herself to the bathroom first, before hunting down the migraine tablets in her handbag.
She managed to get to her feet and the world lurched sickeningly. Bathroom first.
* * *
Euan hadn’t meant to go to the office on Sunday morning, but he was vaguely aware of unfinished business from last night. Perhaps if he bumped into Sam, he’d be able to work out the nature of the business, and quite why it was unfinished.
The place was quiet when he arrived, and he settled down in David’s office to do some paperwork. She was probably asleep.
It was ten o’ clock before he heard the sound of running water from upstairs. Euan forced his attention back to the report in front of him. She’d make an appearance in her own good time.
A moment later a crash and the sound of breaking glass brought him to his feet. He hurried to the closed door of the flat and knocked on it. ‘Sam...? Are you okay?’
No answer.
‘Sam!’