Red Phoenix

grimly. ‘I hope none of them go back for him, he’ll be really stiff when he regains control. And I really hope he had a lot of beer before he decided to pay us a visit.’
    ‘You are very nasty sometimes, you know that?’ Leo said with delight. He pulled the car into the lay-by at the front of the hospital. ‘Here we are. Everybody out, I’ll find a space. Michael, stay close to Lady Emma. I’ll be a while. There aren’t many car parks around this part of Kowloon.’
    ‘Who’ll take Simone?’ I said.
    ‘She’ll be safer in the hospital than on the streets around here, Emma. You and Michael take her.’
    ‘Okay.’ I stepped out of the car and helped Simone out.
    The English voice spoke into my ear. ‘Jade’s already taken her in. She’s in examination room three. In through the main doors, down the corridor, fourth on the right.’
    ‘Who are you?’ I followed his directions, gesturing for Michael to follow me. ‘John?’ But it didn’t sound like John.
    We marched down the hallway and nobody tried to stop us. The room didn’t have a door, just a curtain. Charlie was sitting on the bed; she smiled when she saw us. She was on a drip. Jade stood beside her, talking to a kind-looking young doctor and a middle-aged, dourfaced nurse.
    I went in and stood next to the bed. ‘How is she, Jade?’ The doctor and nurse looked at me. ‘I’m her employer,’ I explained. ‘She’s my domestic helper from England.’
    They nodded; that made me as good as next of kin.
    ‘I’ll take the children out and watch them,’ Jade said. ‘Where’s Leo?’
    ‘Parking the car; he’ll be here soon,’ I said.
    Jade took Simone and Michael out, Michael glaring at her.
    My mobile phone rang. It was Leo. ‘Where are you? I’m at the front door.’
    ‘Straight ahead, you should see Jade and the kids,’ I said. ‘Take them and guard them.’
    I leaned into the corridor and saw him come into view. He waved to me, then took Simone and Michael into the waiting room.
    ‘Can I speak to you privately?’ the doctor said.
    I studied him carefully: ordinary human. Simone would have said something otherwise. I let the doctor lead me out of the room into the empty examination room next door.
    ‘I am Doctor Au Yeung.’
    ‘Emma Donahoe. How bad is she?’
    ‘Not bad at all. Actually it was more like a fainting fit than heatstroke. Did she have a fright of some kind? She’s borderline diabetic and her blood sugar was very low. We’ve put her on an IV, but she should be all right to go home after we’ve performed a couple more tests.’
    I sagged with relief. The voice was wrong; she’d really just fainted.
    ‘I wasn’t wrong,’ the voice said. ‘She also has a mild dose of heatstroke and needed to be put on fluids. This was the easiest way to make you move yourself.’
    From his face the doctor hadn’t heard anything.
    ‘How long will this take?’ I said.
    ‘Not long. Please wait here. We have a small procedure to perform, then you can see her. Take a seat, this won’t take a minute.’
    ‘Okay.’ I sat on the chair next to the wall.
    The doctor flipped the curtain up and went into Charlie’s room. He quickly returned holding a hypodermic and approached me with it. ‘You look like you could use some fluids as well. How about a vitamin injection?’
    I shot to my feet and moved into a defensive stance. He approached me carefully and grabbed my arm with his free hand. Bad move. I performed the Pushwith my other hand and he went down, falling on his own needle.
    I heard a soft sound in the hallway. Simon Wong flipped the curtain up and stood in the opening, watching me. I stared at him, then my breath caught with horror. Simon Wong.
    He glanced down at the doctor on the floor, then grimaced and disappeared behind the curtain.
    ‘He’s making a try for Charlie! Quick !’ the voice shouted, but I’d already charged after him.
    I raced into the next room. Wong stood behind Charlie with his hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fear. He grinned at me over the top of her head and they disappeared.
    I fell to lean on the bed. I couldn’t support my own weight. Simone charged into the room, followed by Leo, Jade and Michael. They stopped dead when they saw.
    The grim-faced nurse came in behind them. She held up a clipboard. ‘Miss Donahoe.’ She glanced up at me. ‘Go home and talk to the Dark Lord. He has been contacted.’ She spun on her heel and went out.
    Simone threw her little arms around