Chapter Forty-one
Lara woke with a dry mouth and fuzzy head despite her restraint the previous day. She got up and dressed, wrapping up warm for the Boxing Day outing with Jazz and her crew. For the umpteenth time since he’d ridden off from the staff lunch, she wondered how Flynn had got on at Molly’s.
That peck on the cheek under the mistletoe had been so bittersweet, leaving her longing for so much more.
She hoped he’d had a great time and had pictured them all laughing and opening their gifts round the tree.
Family time was so important and she always looked forward to catching up with hers.
Online only made her long to be with her loved ones in person all the more, but, she reminded herself, today would be fun.
Jazz’s crew were always up for a laugh and she was always warmly welcomed there.
Her mobile rang and she scooped it up, expecting to hear Jazz’s voice making arrangements, but it was an unknown caller. She was in two minds whether to answer but, in the end, she risked it.
‘Er. Hello. Is that Lara?’ It was a man’s voice.
‘Er. Yes …’ she said warily.
‘It’s Harvey Sinclair here. You don’t know me but I’m a mate of Flynn’s. You borrowed my wife’s leathers not long back?’
‘Yes, I did.’ Lara was confused and then the tiny hairs on her arms stood on end. Flynn’s best friend calling her: his voice weary and unsure.
‘I’m afraid I’m calling you with some not very good news. It’s Flynn. He’s been in an accident.’
Lara collapsed back onto the bed, her heart pounding.
Bad news. Accident. The words sliced through her.
‘Oh my God. Is he OK? Oh, please don’t say he’s—’
‘He’s alive,’ Harvey said. ‘I’m sorry to have upset you and I don’t have many details, but he was in a pretty bad way from what I could gather.’
Tears of shock rolled down her face but she forced herself to ask. ‘How bad?’
‘I’m not sure, but I think it was nasty.
Flynn’s dad phoned me about an hour ago.
Understandably, he was upset and not that coherent.
The police found Flynn’s parents’ details as the emergency contact on his phone.
Apparently he came off the road on a bend, ended up in a ditch, and was airlifted to hospital in the early hours.
He’s in Whitehaven General. That’s all I can tell you, but I thought you’d want to know. ’