Chapter Sixty
Walker
The night shift always went one of two ways.
It was either crazy busy with callouts, or quiet as a graveyard and boring as hell.
Tonight was the latter and it was giving Walker too much time to think.
He wanted to speed through deserted country lanes with the sirens blaring, or walk into a house fire with an oxygen tank to rescue someone.
He wanted anything apart from to be left alone with his thoughts.
Walker lay on his narrow bed and tried to rest but his mind was racing.
Every time he closed his eyes he saw Gabi.
Her face looking up at him, wearing her mischievous smile.
Her twinkling laugh. His chest swelled with a strength of feeling he’d never had before.
Tired of tossing and turning, he quietly took himself outside.
Walking over to one of the fire trucks in the forecourt, he climbed up the ladder and onto the roof, where he lay back with his hands behind his head, and breathed deeply. The cloudless night sky was spangled with stars, and he felt himself wishing on them that Gabi didn’t have to leave.
This was the longest he’d been away from her for a whole week, and he was already desperate to get back to her.
He imagined her at Amber’s, asleep in her bed, and wished she had stayed at his.
Not that he would be there right now, but at least then he could have snuggled in with her in the morning when he got off shift.
They only had a couple of mornings left and he wanted to make the most of every minute.
He’d heard about her goodbye party on Saturday, but even the words written on his phone made his stomach drop. How was he actually going to say them in real life to her on Sunday when she left for the airport?
He watched a satellite on its long curving mission around the world.
He imagined Gabi’s plane taking off on Sunday night, flying her to California to a future without him.
The flight itself was just the start of it, flying her back to a life on her own.
Leaving him here to do the same. His arms ached to hold her again.
He palmed his phone from his pocket and messaged the only person he knew would be up at this time of night, reading in bed while his dad snored beside her.
Walker: You awake, Mum?
He only had to wait a second for the response.
Mum: I am, love. Everything okay?
He knew he wouldn’t have to elaborate. His mum would understand. So he kept it short.
Walker: Gabi leaves on Sunday. She’s got the job in America.
Mum: Ah. I see. That’s a shame. We all liked her.
Walker: I’m really going to miss her.
His chest felt tight as he wrote the words.
Mum: Is there no way to work around things?
Walker: I feel like we’re from two different worlds.
It was the understatement of the year and he sighed, exhausted by everything he was feeling.
Mum: Hold on in there, son. Sometimes, worlds collide.
He felt the flicker of hope, like a tiny flame, somewhere deep inside him.
Walker: Love you, Mum.
Mum: Love you more.