'My leg hurts.'
'Can you move your toes?' She touched my ankle as I wiggled them inside my shoe. 'Your leg's not broken, you've probably sprained a muscle.' Taking my arm at first gently, then pulling more firmly she helped me to my feet. She was quite strong, but my lack of coordination made it difficult for me to keep upright. 'You can walk on that leg but keep your weight off it,' she said, evidently not aware that walking involves shifting your weight from one leg to the other. I wiped my face with my free hand and saw fresh blood on my fingers. 'Don't do that,' she ordered. 'You'll make yourself filthy.'
Somehow she hauled me up the twelve steps, pausing for a second or two on each of them. 'That's it. Keep your weight off that leg.' We were both exhausted when we reached the top, where she propped me up against the railings. 'Wait here, I'll fetch the car over.'
She tried to hand me the umbrella, but somehow it slipped out of my fingers and she took it with her; the cold rain helped to clear my head and I breathed deeply several times. Parked vehicles prevented her from driving right up to the kerb, but she steered me between them to reach the passenger door. She had spread a sheet of polythene over the seat to protect the upholstery. 'I'm a carer,' she said as she released the handbrake. 'Must have been a terrible fall you had, or were you mugged? Use some of those tissues to dab your face.'
'Mugged. Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much for helping me. Need to get the police.' Blood and dirt from my face soaked into two of her fancy lilac tissues.
'Getting you fixed up is the most important thing. Best to get the hospital to ring the police. Afraid I didn't see anything. Happened to hear you groaning as I walked by. I'll leave you my telephone number all the same. Did they take much?'
'Some cash. Quite a bit of cash.'
At the hospital a doctor, having satisfied himself that my pulse was strong and that nothing was burst or broken, a nurse cleaned and dressed my wounds, lent me a crutch and sent me to sit down to wait for the police. Keeping my pact with the garden centre manager, when they arrived I said nothing about Jamie and his gambling debts, and told them only that I had seen the two men hanging around in the neighbourhood and that they might have noticed me coming and going from the hotel. The two officers were obviously pressed for time, and after contacting Darren to arrange for him to collect me they left, promising someone would be in touch.