Chapter 33 Joanna
Somehow or other two men had sneaked into the hospital out of visiting hours and un-noticed by any of the hospital staff. Their target was Joanna Stefan. There was no guard present outside the ward when they arrived and it was easy to chloroform the night duty nurse, it was a quiet operation and they set about their task. They woke Joanna and at gun point they tried to get her out of bed, but she refused. Before she could press her emergency button she was bludgeoned twice by the man with the gun. At that point, an off duty nurse came in at the other end of the ward with some reading matter for a fellow nurse, when she spotted the two men and pressed the alarm. Although the whole part of that hospital came alive with doctors and nurses rushing to the scene of disruption, no one passed the two men.
Jo sustained very bad injuries from the attack and was immediately transported to the I.C.U. For a while it was a touch and go situation, but this hospital had a reputation for working small miracles, and in this case it was so for Joanna.
The duty nurse was also attended to and relieved of her duty and it was for the nurse’s own safety that she was placed in another ward to sleep there.
Shortly a policeman arrived, saying he had been sent by the station and he was asked to stand guard, because a patient had been attacked.
The duty nurse at reception said that she had not telephoned the police station regarding what had happened and the policeman said ‘Perhaps they did so from where the attack took place.’ The duty nurse did not argue because after all he was a policeman.
The doctor on the ward met the policeman as he stepped out of the lift. ’You got here quickly, I haven’t rung for the police.’
‘They must have done it from reception.’
‘Oh! Yes, they must have – that’s okay then.’
The doctor went back into the I.C.U. just to check that everything was going smoothly and informing those that had to stay in the room that the police station had sent one of their men to stand guard.
Chapter 34 Flashback
Roland arrived at the hospital for treatment, he had been through a lot of hardship, his flat had been blitzed and he had been thrown out of his flat window, spent several hours on a flag pole, imprisoned in a warehouse and freezer unit, taken for a boat and car ride by certain thugs who were out to kill him. While he was there he would visit Jo to see if she was alright, but found out to his horror that she had been attacked and was in the I.C.U. recovering from her ordeal. He had tea and biscuits with a policeman on duty outside the unit, who didn’t look like a policeman in any shape or form. There seemed to be something familiar about him that Roland couldn’t quite put his finger on.
A few moments later Chan appeared and tried to see Joanna, but was spotted by the policeman who knew Chan to be a member of a rival gang, but he was no match for Chan who was a black belt in judo and the policeman found himself wanting first aid. Chan made good his escape.
It gave credence to a certain extent that the policeman was bona fide and he had established a relationship with the day nurse. He saw his chance to end Joanna’s life when the day nurse of the I.C.U. had to get wound dressings, although she was sure that she had collected some at the beginning of her duty on the Ward. She was so sure that she had placed them in the cupboard ready for Joanna’s wound later that day. It wasn’t the normal practice, but she needed a comfort stop at the same time as coming on the ward and was delayed by the lift being temporary out of action.
It could have been down to second sight or probably someone at the police station ringing up to ask whether they should send someone to guard the patient as certain elements had come to light and it was feared that maybe Jo’s life was in danger. So it was in the nick of time that they discovered P.C. George Tulley, as he had introduced himself was about to cut one of the lifelines with a pair of surgical scissors that he had taken earlier. As soon as the nurse came back through the ward doors, and saw what was happening she rushed into the unit and struggled with the man until the real police came upon the scene. The nurse had been cut severely as she had placed herself in front of his intended victim. He was arrested and taken away. It was only later that he was one of the two men who had tried to kill Joanna before and also the supposed bodyguard in the Store she went to and Roland decided to visit the new store the same day. A search for the other man at the hospital was sanctioned, but there was no trace of him.