Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

Beatrice arrived at Ashby-on-Sea General Hospital forty minutes later. She had run home, Lucas struggling to keep up with her, lungs aching with exertion. Through gasps and wheezes, she’d explained to her concerned father what a distraught Patience had told her on the phone. Without hesitation, George had told Beatrice and Lucas to follow him to the car, and they set off, collecting Elmo and Emily on the way out of town.

In the car, Beatrice, Emily, and Lucas sat in the back. Elmo kept company with George, who drove with a grim countenance. No one spoke for the entire journey, but heads and hearts raced, the fear and anguish The Newshounds felt for their friend binding them all together.

George parked as The Newshounds bustled into the reception area. The footsteps landed heavily, and the squeak of training shoes on the linoleum echoed loudly through the corridors. A security guard told them to slow down, muttering something about the place being a hospital, not a playg