Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(105)
“Hanna Ahlander,” he gasps to the nurse sitting behind a glass screen. “She was brought in by ambulance after a car accident on the E14.”
“Let me see . . .”
Daniel is finding it hard to stand still. “Where is she?
How is she?”
The nurse raises her eyebrows. “Calm down, please,”
she says sharply. “You’re not the only one who needs my help.”
She stares at the screen for what seems like an eternity.
“The doctor is with her,” she informs Daniel at long last.
“What does that mean?” He has seen enough mangled bodies after serious accidents to fear the worst. “Is she going to need surgery?”
“Sit down over there and wait. Someone will be with you shortly.”
He can’t help raising his voice. “Can’t you tell me how she is?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Daniel is so frustrated. He wants to yell at the top of his lungs, but manages to control himself. “At least tell me if she’s seriously hurt!”
“As I said, you need to sit down and wait.” The nurse switches her attention to the person standing behind Daniel.
“Next.”
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118
Harald is slumped in the driver’s seat with his head resting on the steering wheel, his cheeks wet with tears.
He couldn’t even manage to do that one simple thing— to punish his daughter’s killer. When it came to the crunch, he couldn’t bring himself to set fire to the house, although he’d soaked its walls with gasoline.
He is so lost in his own despair that it is a while before he realizes that his phone is vibrating in his pocket. He answers in a voice that is almost breaking.
“Is that Harald Halvorssen?” a woman asks. “I’m calling from the hospital in ?stersund—I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
“Bad news?”
“I’m very sorry, but your wife passed away a few minutes ago. Things were looking promising, but then she suffered a cardiac arrest. We did everything we could, but we were unable to save her. My condolences.”
Harald stares at the phone for several seconds before ending the call.
As he slips it back in his pocket, his fingertips brush against the lighter. With shaking hands he takes it out and holds it up in front of his face. He flicks the wheel, allows the flame to burn for a few seconds; then he gets out of the car and slowly makes his way back up the hill to Fredrik’s house.
The snow has settled, in spite of the strong wind. After many weeks the cloud cover is finally breaking up. Harald looks up at the dark vault of the sky, then drops to his knees in the snow, gathering his strength. The house still stinks of gasoline.
Then he cups one hand around the lighter and flicks the wheel again. The flame is strong, surrounded by an orange-red halo. Its glow provides a strange kind of solace; it is beautiful against the white snow in the dark night.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
A primitive phrase that Harald has never believed in.
Well, not until this moment.
Now it is completely self-evident.
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119
Daniel feels as if he has been waiting forever when a male nurse appears.
“Are you with Hanna Ahlander?”
“Yes.”
“She’s been transferred from emergency to the medical unit.”
Is that good or bad? Daniel doesn’t bother asking. He hurries along empty corridors with bare walls and bright lighting. He had never realized how big the hospital was. He gets lost, looks around in vain for someone to ask.
Eventually he heads back the way he came, discovers that he should have turned left earlier instead of going straight.
At long last he reaches the medical unit and flings open the door. A gray-haired nurse in her early fifties is at the desk.
“I’m looking for Hanna Ahlander.”
“Are you a close relative?”
Daniel lies and says yes. To be on the safe side, he holds up his police ID.
“She’s in room seven.”
“How is she?”
The nurse slips one hand into her pocket. “She’s suffered a serious concussion and has a number of injuries resulting from frostbite, but the doctors don’t think she will have any long-term problems. She also has a bad gash on her forehead that needed stitches. Unfortunately it might leave a scar.”
Relief floods Daniel’s body. “Is she awake?”
“She’s been given analgesics, so she’s probably asleep, but you’re welcome to go in if you like.”
Daniel thanks her for the information. He gently pushes open the door of Hanna’s room, which is in semidarkness.
There is a single lamp at the head of the bed, with a drip stand beside it.
Hanna is lying on her back with her eyes closed. She has a large white dressing on her head. She is very pale, and her cheeks bear the marks of frostbite.
Daniel sits down on the chair next to the bed. He wants to take her hand, but decides against it.
Suddenly Hanna opens her eyes and looks at him. He sees surprise, then pleasure.
“Hi,” she whispers. “What are you doing here?”
It’s wonderful that she feels well enough to talk.