Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
E va and I sit up expectantly. My heart is in my throat, my chest heavy with anticipation.
The nurse sits down beside us. ‘Charlotte is awake. She has a moderate concussion, two fractured ribs and a badly bruised hip. We’re going to keep a close eye on her for the next couple of days, but I expect she’s going to be fine. She’s been very lucky.’
‘ Oh, thank god! ’ I blurt out. ‘Can we see her?’
‘Yes, you can. She’s asking for you both. Come with me.’
‘Why don’t you go in first, Emma?’ Eva suggests to me. ‘I think you have something you need to talk to her about.’
‘Erm… OK, if you’re sure. Thanks, Eva.’ I give her a grateful nod and follow the nurse to a receiving unit beyond the Accident and Emergency reception.
On entering the room, I can see Lottie lying propped up on a trolley in a cubicle with the curtain part drawn around her. I rush across to her and kiss her gently on the cheek.
‘I’m so glad you’re OK. Are you in pain?’
‘It’s not too bad.’ She gives a weak smile. ‘They’ve given me some paracetamol to take the edge off.’
‘Lottie, I’m so sorry.’ I take her hands in mine and bow my head. ‘I should have listened to you when you said you didn’t want to be involved in my plans for the week. I only wanted you to have some fun and happy memories of your own, but it was wrong pushing you like that. And now this has happened. I’m so, so sorry.’
‘Dear girl, what are you talking about?’ Lottie appears utterly baffled by my outpouring. ‘I thought I was the one with the head injury.’
‘Your fall. It must have happened because you overdid things during the week. I saw you looking tired and pale. If I’d respected your wishes in the first place, you wouldn’t be here.’
‘Well, that’s nonsense.’ She chuckles and then winces in pain. ‘You didn’t cause this. I slipped on a piece of paper I must have dropped on the stairs. I remember it clearly.’
‘You did?’ I cock my head in surprise.
‘Yes, I did.’
‘You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?’
Lottie gingerly shakes her head. ‘I’m not. This past week was the most alive I’ve felt in years. And I have you to thank for that. I might have been a bit more tired, but that didn’t do me any harm. It actually meant I slept better. I’m thinking I’ll need to work on my stamina if I’m now going to have one of these things you youngsters call a social life.’
I’m flooded with relief, giggling momentarily until I realise that, although Lottie is going to be OK, my friendship with Cat is still in bits.
‘What’s wrong, my love?’ She has clearly picked up on my change of mood.
‘Oh, um… nothing. Nothing at all.’
Much as I want to talk to her about things, it doesn’t feel appropriate to bring them up right now .
‘Emma, I know you well enough to know there’s something else going on. Something that’s upset you. And as I’m stuck here with little else to do, you may as well tell me.’
‘OK.’ It doesn’t take much to persuade me.
I sit in the plastic seat next to her trolley and fill her in what’s happened since I last saw her (all between fresh tears and nose blows), finishing with my fight with Cat and the fallout from that. She listens intently until I’m finished, then regards me thoughtfully for a moment.
‘You’ve got yourself in a bit of a pickle, haven’t you?’
‘That’s an understatement.’ I suck in a tremulous breath.
‘I understand that, right now, it probably feels like the end of the world, but I think Cat will come around from this. She needs some time to work through her feelings, and if I can offer some guidance – which you can accept or ignore – it would probably be wise to give her that.’
‘I don’t think I have a choice anyway.’
Lottie tries to readjust her pillow and I jump up to help her.
‘This will work itself out, my love,’ she says once she’s comfortable again. ‘Have some faith. You’ve done all you can for now, so go and enjoy your holiday with Amber, and you can try to mend things with Cat when you get home.’
‘ What? ’ I blink at her in amazement. ‘I’m not going on holiday now. Cat not coming was bad enough, but you being like this? No way. The holiday is off. I can come and stay with you while you recover. I don’t have anywhere to live anyway, and—’
‘No, Emma.’ She interrupts me, something she almost never does. ‘You must not cancel that trip. I’m a bit battered and bruised, that’s all, and I’ll be stuck here for the next few days at least, so there’s nothing for you to do. ’
‘Then I’ll come and visit every day. You’ll need help once you’re out. We can set up the downstairs bedroom for you.’
‘Is Eva still here?’ Lottie suddenly asks.
‘Oh, yes, she is.’ I’d forgotten about Eva. ‘I should give her a shout.’
‘If you want to be helpful, why don’t you tell her she can come in, and then maybe you could pop along to the shop and get me a magazine?’
‘Of course, sure, anything.’
I trot off to fetch Eva and then head to the hospital shop. When I return, armed with three magazines and some chocolate biscuits, Eva and Lottie are chatting pleasantly. I’m so pleased to see them getting along, especially as Eva seems to be as kind and caring as Lottie.
‘Here you are.’ I dump the stuff on Lottie’s bedside cabinet and pull up a second chair. ‘So… what’s the chat?’
‘Eva and I have been talking,’ says Lottie. ‘And we’ve solved your little dilemma.’
‘What dilemma?’ I look from one to the other.
‘About the holiday.’ Lottie glances at Eva with a look I can’t decipher. ‘It turns out that Eva and Archie would like to support me with my recovery. They’re going to collect me from the hospital when I’m discharged and help me out until I’m back on my feet. Isn’t that kind?’
‘What? But, there’s no need for that. I can do it. It’s no trouble. I’m not even working at the moment.’
‘Archie and I are both retired, Emma,’ says Eva. ‘It’s not a problem for us either. And I used to be a nurse, so Charlotte will be in good hands.’
They both smile at me with innocent faces and it dawns on me that I’ve been had.
‘You did this on purpose.’ I eyeball Lottie accusingly. ‘To stop me from cancelling my holiday. I can’t go, Lottie, not when you’re like this.’
‘Of course, you can.’ She chuckles lightly. ‘You haven’t fully followed through on my request yet. I asked you to have some fun and create fond memories and the holiday is part of that. Now, I must insist – yes, this time I am telling you what to do – that you go and enjoy your time with Amber. No arguments.’
I look helplessly from Lottie to Eva. It’s obviously futile to argue with them. ‘OK… if you’re going to gang up on me, then I guess I have no choice.’
They both laugh and share conspiratorial winks.
‘My love, please do this for me,’ says Lottie.
‘You know I can’t say no to you.’ I lift my hands in surrender. ‘So, I suppose I’m going. And I’m going to have fun.’
‘Good.’ She seems satisfied with my response.
I stay for a little longer, then leave Lottie with Eva so I can go and get organised for my trip tomorrow. I also need to call Amber before she thinks I’ve gone AWOL – again.
While hurrying to my car, I glance across the car park and do a double take. James is walking towards the main entrance of the hospital, but he doesn’t see me. My stomach flutters and I feel a pang of longing as I take in his gorgeous features and confident stride. I even briefly consider going after him to apologise and thank him for looking out for me on Friday night, but then think better of it. There’s no way he’s going to want me anywhere near him after I told him to leave me alone – and who knows what delicate situation he’s here to deal with.
Unlocking my car, I slip into the driver’s seat, pluck my phone out of my handbag and gulp on seeing that I have eight missed calls: three from my mum, no doubt calling for our usual Sunday chat, and the rest from Amber. Feeling immensely guilty, I call her back.
‘ Where the fuck are you? ’ Amber bellows before I can even say hello. ‘You were meant to call me back.’
‘Sorry, it’s been a hell of a day.’
‘Did you speak to Cat?’
‘Yes. It didn’t go well.’ I close my eyes and try to breathe through the moment. Without the distraction of Lottie and Eva, reality has come back to bite me. ‘She’s not coming on the holiday and I honestly don’t know if she’s ever going to forgive me. I’ve really messed up, Amber. I wish I’d never won that money. It’s changed me. Before it, I would never have dreamed of accusing Cat of something like that.’
I hear what sounds like a rabid gurgle from the other end of the phone.
‘Amber? Are you still there?’
‘I’m still here. But seriously, Emma, are you freaking kidding me? The money is useful, but not in the way you thought it would be. You had unrealistic expectations, thinking your pot of gold would reinvent your life and make everything perfect. It hasn’t. And it can’t.’
‘I know that. I’d already reached that conclusion myself.’
‘Well, good. Because quitting your job, and sticking two fingers up to your boss in the process is easy to do with a bulging bank balance. But money doesn’t fix the difficult stuff.’
My chin wobbles and I swallow down the bubble of emotion that’s threatening to take over. ‘I know… I know all this. I guess I was just so relieved to get away from Karla and have some financial security after Dave kicked me out. Believe me, I’ve had one hell of a reality check.’
‘OK, then.’ Amber’s tone surprisingly softens. ‘Lucky for you, you still have me. I’ll knock you into shape. ’
‘Thanks, Amber.’ I manage a feeble laugh. ‘You have no idea how much that means to me right now.’ I tell her about my conversation with Cat and about Lottie’s fall.
‘You’ve had a shitter of a day,’ she says once she’s up to date. ‘Go get your stuff and get out of that hell hole you’ve checked into. You’re staying at mine tonight.’ She hangs up before I have a chance to protest or even respond.
Once again, with my boot being too small for all my stuff, and not knowing what else to do with my car while I’m away (I don’t have a permit to park it on the street outside Amber’s place), I drop it off in one of the visitors’ spaces outside Cat’s apartment block. Then I make my way to the hotel on foot, feeling grateful that – for me, absolute rock bottom appears to have been a very temporary state.