6
Cody
The noise of the bowling balls smashing into pins was bad enough in the basement of the amusement arcade, the lively chatter of the theatre group only made the acoustics a hundred times worse for Cody.
Humphrey had scorned him for missing a planned game night, and it wasn’t an easy decision to step away from the computer, but needs must, and his need was to make sure Willow was safe with Kip.
‘You know I have been on dates before without you tagging along,’ Willow told Cody.
He handed over his trainers to a teenage girl wearing a Minecraft tee-shirt, which made him wish he was about to play that instead. ‘Stranger danger,’ he said to Willow through clenched teeth.
‘We know him now.’
‘Anyway, I thought you said it wasn’t a date.’
Willow shrugged. ‘You know what I mean. The point is, I don’t want you leaning over my shoulder every two seconds.’ She gave him a stern look. ‘You were like that with Bradley.’
Cody scoffed, then held up his bowling shoe the teenager had given him to show her the snapped shoelace. ‘Oh, pickle shmickle. He used to get on my nerves.’
‘You could never tell.’
He watched Willow wave over to some more actors, then trot off in her red-and-black bowling shoes. ‘Why me?’ he mumbled.
‘It happens. Some of the shoes are old,’ said the teen, handing over another pair.
He flashed his false smile, then reluctantly joined the huddle to find his name had been programmed into the scoreboard by Kip as Coyote.
Funny!
Willow’s eyes told him to play nice, so he sucked it up and sat on the curved seat to wait his turn.
King Kip, according to the scoreboard, was already in the lead after the first round, which got him a few cheers and pats on the back, none of which came from Cody.
Lavender squeezed herself into any gap near Cody, which further irritated him, so he took a breath and tried to make the best of a bad situation. Bad because he wasn’t with his choice of friends, doing what he loved to do.
Time passed, and Cody relaxed into the atmosphere, no longer struggling to find common ground with the group. One young woman was happy to talk old films with him, and another young man was a fan of computer games. It was only Lavender who kept changing the subject to current pop stars and fashion.
Cody stole glances every so often at Willow, making sure she looked comfortable in the company of Kip. They seemed okay, and he knew he had to leave her to it, as she wasn’t stupid and would no doubt tell him off later for constantly checking on her.
‘I’m going to the bar,’ he told those around him, snatching up the glass on the side that held the whip-round and drinks order.
A couple of others offered to help carry trays, and Willow came over to get some crisps.
‘How’s it going with Mr Kipling?’
Her nose crinkled as she smiled. ‘All good. I think.’
‘You’re not sure? We can cut out anytime you like, you know.’
Willow shook her head. ‘I don’t want to leave. I’m enjoying myself.’ She opened her packet of crisps, went to pop one in her mouth, then stopped. ‘Are you enjoying yourself?’
‘Yep. They’re not a bad bunch.’
‘I’m glad we joined the theatre company now, even if it is just for one show.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. You can always go on the road with them.’ He snorted at his humour, then lost his sparkle when it looked as though she were mulling over the idea. ‘You wouldn’t?’
Willow shrugged, grinned, then went back to the group.
She wouldn’t .
Even so, it rattled him. The thought of not being able to hang out with his best friend every day was more depressing than having to go back and bowl.
As soon as Cody placed down the tray of drinks, Kip tossed a bowling ball his way.
‘Catch, Sully.’ He chuckled.
The heavy ball slipped through Cody’s fingers to land straight on his foot, but the pain that ripped through him wasn’t half as bad as the aggravation building from Kip calling him Sully. Nobody called him that but Willow. Cody bent over in agony.
Argh, you stupid…
Lavender and Willow were immediately by his side as someone yelled at Kip for tossing the ball.
‘I didn’t know he had butterfingers,’ said Kip, approaching Cody. ‘Sorry about that, mate. You all right?’
Cody’s toes were throbbing, and those were the ones he could feel. Ignoring the idiot, he attempted to walk away, but his foot was having none of it. ‘Ow!’
Lavender quickly ushered him onto the dark-red seat. ‘Do you need an ambulance?’
‘Of course he doesn’t need an ambulance,’ said Kip, laughing it off as nothing.
But it didn’t feel like nothing to Cody. He was sure his foot had grown two sizes. He bent to untie his shoe and pulled off his colourful stripy sock.
‘Oh, that doesn’t look good,’ said a male voice.
Cody didn’t bother to look up to find out who. He was far more interested in keeping his toes. ‘I’m okay.’ He stood, hopped over to retrieve his trainers at the desk, then whipped out his phone to call a cab.
Willow and Kip came over. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ she asked.
He glanced once at Kip before taking his trainers from the teenager. If he wasn’t in so much pain, Kip would have received the death glare.
‘I saw what you did,’ said the teen girl. ‘It’s not allowed.’
Kip raised his palms. ‘Sorry, okay. I didn’t mean to break his foot.’
Willow gasped, slapping a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh no. Do you think it’s broken?’
Cody went to speak, but Kip got in first.
‘No. Just a bit swollen, that’s all. He just needs some ice. It’s not a big deal.’
I’ll give him not a big deal in a minute. Ow! It really hurts .
Cody took control of his breathing, and trainers, then hobbled to the stairs. One way or another, he was climbing. He had to get out of there. The air was suffocating, his toes were throbbing, and his fist had the urge to smack poster-boy in the mouth.
Willow followed him up the first few steps. ‘Should we go to the hospital, Sully?’
‘He’s fine,’ said Kip, remaining at the bottom.
Cody gritted his teeth. ‘What he said.’ Ignoring anything else anyone had to say, he made it to the top of the stairway and headed out into the arcade area.
The slots were whirling, someone was banging on the plastic wall of the claw machine, and a pile of pennies were sprawled all over the tweed carpet.
All the pings and bings gave Cody an instant headache as he passed by the table hockey, dance machine, and Space Invaders , his only friend. If it wasn’t for his foot, he would have definitely had a game.
The cab pulled up and a middle-aged man got out to assess the lad with one shoe off, standing like a flamingo.
‘You all right, son?’
Cody wanted to cry. Not only did he feel utterly sorry for himself because Willow had stayed behind with Kip, he was in so much pain, he felt he might pass out. ‘Bowling ball, Ronnie,’ he mumbled, holding back a sniffle.
Ronnie homed in for a closer look. ‘Ooh, what size?’
‘The big size.’
‘That’ll do it.’
‘It did.’
‘Right, let’s get you to A&E.’
‘Thanks, Ron.’
‘No worries.’ Ronnie opened the cab door and helped Cody inside. ‘Do you need me to call anyone?’
Cody pulled out his phone as soon as he sat down. ‘No,’ he replied, turning it off. The world could sod off.
Ronnie asked how life was going on Silver Wish Farm, and even though Cody wasn’t in the mood for a chat, the small talk helped keep his mind off his painful foot for a while.
There wasn’t much going on in the emergency room, which was a blessing. The last thing Cody wanted was to wait hours to be seen. He did debate calling Zach, but there wasn’t anything his brother could do, so what was the point? Humphrey would make the time pass quicker, but Cody really didn’t want to turn his phone on. All he wanted was painkillers and his mum.
The comfy chair he’d managed to nab made him sleepy, so he closed his weary eyes, then jumped when a nurse called him into a side room.
She asked what happened, gave him a look that said he shouldn’t have been messing around with such weights, then told him he’d need an X-ray and that the doctor would see him soon. She gave him painkillers and crutches and pointed him in the right direction, telling him to come back to her afterwards.
Only hard, plastic chairs were available when he went off to the X-ray waiting area, which his backside wasn’t best pleased about, especially as he had to sit there for ages.
As soon as Cody was lying on a bed, painkillers absorbed, waiting on a verdict from the doctor, he closed his eyes once more.
This crap doesn’t happen playing Pokémon .
Feeling rather sorry for himself, he drifted off into a light sleep, only waking when something touched his hand.
‘Hey,’ said Willow softly.
Cody swallowed the dryness in his throat. He really could do with a cup of tea and maybe some of those choccy bickies Fran made. He shuffled up on the bed, grimacing at the state of his foot. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Where else would I be?’
‘With Kippers.’ He chastised himself for his immaturity, even though Willow’s face still held compassion.
‘I thought you went home, so I went there. I couldn’t find you, and your phone has died, just so you know, unless you switched it off. Anyway, when you weren’t at the Boat Hut, I—’
‘You didn’t go inside my house, did you? It’s a building site.’
‘No. I did take a peep in case you were inside, and I called out, but when I got no reply, I figured it was worth a shot calling the hospital. They said you were here, so I called a cab and came straight over.’
‘I don’t need my hand holding, Wills.’
‘I just thought you might like the company. We all know how boring the wait can be in these places.’
He couldn’t argue with that, and he was pleased she had showed up for him, but he was tired and miserable and couldn’t shake off why he felt so low. ‘There’s not much you can do here. You might as well go home.’
Willow scraped her chair closer to the bed and took his hand in hers. ‘We’ll go home together once you’ve been discharged. Now, what are we waiting for?’
Cody gestured to the blue curtain cornering them off from the open A&E ward. ‘Doctor.’
‘I’ll go get an update.’ Willow went to stand, but Cody lightly squeezed her hand.
‘No, wait here. He’ll be here soon enough. The nurse said when she put me here. Although, I’m not sure how long ago that was now.’
She smiled warmly, relaxing him more than the pain relief. ‘Close your eyes then. I’ll wake you when he arrives.’
‘I don’t need to sleep.’
‘Yes, you do. It’s late,’ she whispered, pulling a blue blanket from the end of the bed to place over his chest. ‘Shh!’ she added, when he went to speak.
Cody closed his eyes and allowed his heavy body to sink into the mattress.
‘I’ll be right here when you wake,’ he heard Willow softly say.
Within the next hour, Cody had his fractured toe strapped to another toe, a medical walking boot placed on his foot, and was back on the crutches. After being told he would heal after a few weeks, he was allowed to go home.
Ronnie was in the taxi rank, reading a newspaper. ‘You’ve been a while, son. Not like the old days when you’d get seen within half hour.’ He stretched his back as he clambered out the car. ‘Come on, I’ll take you home.’
Cody frowned at him. ‘Have you been out here all this time?’
‘Well, I knew you needed a lift home, and I hadn’t had any other calls. Come on, hop in.’ He breathed out a laugh as he rubbed over his salt-and-pepper hair with one hand.
‘Thanks, Ron. Very decent of you.’ Cody flashed a sleepy smile, then slipped his head down to Willow’s shoulder as soon as she got in beside him.
Willow wrestled with the crutches, then took his hand once more. ‘I think someone will sleep tonight.’
Cody closed his eyes and grinned. ‘I think they drugged me.’
‘I think you just need your bed, Sully.’
‘Thanks, Wills,’ he mumbled. He felt her mouth press on his head and then he drifted off once more.