Page 108 of Love Bomb

There was no ambulance in Invertary, but the town’s doctor and his nurse wife, Janice, were waiting by their car, which was parked as close to the perimeter as possible. Officer Donaldson stood beside them. He wasn’t happy.

The gawking crowd went quiet as they watched Rona support Sandra to the vehicle. Sandra was still sobbing quietly, and seemed oblivious to everything going on around her. Bain thought that was probably for the best.

Very carefully, as though delivering precious cargo, Rona handed Sandra over to Janice.

“She’s very confused,” Rona said, hovering beside Sandra. “She needs a lot of help.”

“Don’t worry,” Janice said, her face filled with compassion. “We’ll make sure she gets it.”

Rona helped settle Sandra into the car, assuring her that everything would be okay, and that her baby was in good hands. Bain wasn’t sure anything she said was getting through, but it probably made Rona feel better to say it. Janice climbed into the back of the car beside Sandra and gently closed the door behind herself.

“We’ll take good care of her,” the doctor said as Rona reluctantly turned away from the car. “I promise she’ll get the help she needs to go on with her life.”

“Thanks,” Rona said softly.

“Doc,” Bain said. “What about Conall?”

The doc smiled. “He’ll be fine. Somebody needed to keep an eye on him overnight, so I called your parents, and they took him home. They know to ring me if anything changes, but I expect he’ll feel better in the morning.”

Bain nodded his thanks, and they watched as the doctor climbed into the front of the car and started the engine. The crowd was silent as the car made slow, quiet progress over the clearing and onto the road.

“I don’t think Sandra should be arrested,” Rona said to Matt once they were out of sight. “She’s very ill and didn’t know what she was doing.”

Bain was in complete agreement. “She still thinks I’m the father of her baby.” He remembered the knife and handed it to Matt. “She was brandishing this about.”

Matt took it carefully and placed it into a paper bag.

Bain frowned at the bag. “There’s no need to treat it like evidence. The woman needs medical help.”

Matt cocked an eyebrow at him. “So, what? I should just walk around with it under my arm?” He huffed. “Civilians.”

“I don’t think she intended to stab me,” Rona said.

“Then what was her intention,” Matt asked, although it seemed like he already knew the answer.

Rona shifted uncomfortably and it was clear she really didn’t want to say anything that would make things more difficult for Sandra.

“She wanted the blast to kill her and Rona,” Bain said. “She thought that, with both of them out of the picture, I’d be free to look after the baby.”

He understood Sandra was ill, but he still shuddered at the thought of what might have happened, and suspected it would take a very long time to get over the memory of Rona in the folly.

As if reading his mind, Rona came up beside him, wrapped an arm around his waist, and patted his chest—like he was a cat. “I’m fine. She’s fine. We’re all fine,” she said gently.

Bain was not fine. Bain needed to lie down.

“What will happen to Sandra?” Rona asked Matt.

“She’ll stay at the surgery until an ambulance can fetch her and take her to the hospital for psychiatric assessment. From there, she might be sent to Glasgow for specialized care. We’ll see what happens.”

“Can we check on her?” Bain asked.

Even though he’d had nothing to do with Sandra, he somehow still felt responsible.

Matt shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Seems to me it would only feed into her delusion that you’re the father of her child, but you can ask the doc what he thinks.”

“I feel so sorry for her,” Rona said. “I wish there was something we could do to help her.”

“You’ve already done everything you could,” Matt said. “Now it’s up to the rest of us.” He turned back to Bain. “About the folly.”