Chapter Twenty-Two
We arrive at Edward’s parents’ house at last and I hover anxiously in the hallway, feeling like an interloper. An interloper with very stiff legs after that journey.
The first responder is still here, and she speaks in low tones with Edward, who nods, an air of authority about him.
‘I’m still confident it’s not serious,’ she’s saying.
‘But of course, we’re going to thoroughly check your mum over.
The ambulance should be here any minute now, and we’ll get her to the hospital.
They’ll give her a CT to double check, but I really think she’s okay.
’ She pats him on the arm kindly as she moves away. I feel Edward sag beside me.
‘I’ll get out of the way,’ I whisper to him, and he turns to me.
‘No, please don’t go,’ he says with urgency, then looks horrified by his vulnerability lapse.
‘I mean, god, of course you can go, Olivia. Sorry, yes. This must be very weird for you. Thank you enormously for bringing me here. Go and live your life.’ He smiles.
‘Go scream swear words at a lake.’ He pauses. ‘Pillow optional.’
I shake my head. ‘No, no, I’ll stay, it’s fine! I want to stay. I can be here as long as you need me. I have no plans at all.’ I pause, then add seriously, ‘Apart from the lake screaming, of course.’
He gives me a side smile as his brother approaches. ‘Oh Ed, thanks so much for coming,’ he says, throwing himself into Edward’s arms. ‘Did you hear what she said? They’re going to give Mum a CT.’
‘I also heard her say it’s probably just a bad migraine,’ Edward reminds him, and the brother nods.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry, I freaked out. Mum had this awful headache, and her vision went funny. Then she was really sick. She seemed so out of it… I don’t know, I just panicked.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Edward says, and his professional mask is back on. ‘You did the right thing. We’ll get her checked; it’s going to be fine.’ He turns to me. ‘Jake, this is my friend and colleague, Liv, she drove me over. I’ve asked her to stay for a bit.’
Friend? Liv? I thought I’d get client, or Olivia for sure.
‘Hi, Jake,’ I say shyly.
He grins at me, then frowns. ‘You two are both doctors, right? Do either of you know what a TMI is?’
‘Too much information,’ I supply, and Edward shifts beside me.
‘The first responder said TIA,’ he corrects. ‘It’s a mini stroke.’ Seeing Jake’s expression, he adds hastily, ‘But it’s usually not serious and resolves very quickly.’
‘And we’re not doctors,’ I add nicely.
‘You’re not?’ Jake looks surprised.
‘Technically, I have a PhD,’ Edward says awkwardly, and I regard him with shock.
‘You do?’ I’ve known him all this time and didn’t know that. I guess that’s what he was doing after uni, when we all went our separate ways. I started working as a therapist right away while he went off and became a doctor. Surely that’s just showing off.
I glance away.
What else don’t I know about him?
Edward reddens slightly. ‘I’m just going to check on Dad,’ he whispers, and I acknowledge this with a nod as he crosses the room.
‘Sorry for intruding,’ I tell the brother, who shakes his head.
‘No, god, not at all!’ He says this so kindly.
‘Don’t tell Ed, but I’ve sent out a bat-call to literally, like, everyone I know.
Half a dozen people are about to turn up here with cupcakes so I can weep on their various shoulders.
They’re going to be so mad when I tell them it’s just a migraine.
’ He grimaces. ‘Two of them are abandoning their workday for me. They’re probably going to get fired.
’ He shrugs then grins. ‘It’s possible I may have overreacted. Did Ed tell you I overreact to stuff?’
‘No,’ I reply innocently, because he said it in the car at least three times.
He pauses, then looks at me a little closer. ‘I’m really glad Ed has someone he can lean on. He’s usually sooo determined to carry everything alone. Older brother baggage.’
‘That tracks,’ I smile, enjoying this character insight.
‘How did he describe you?’ Jake squints at me playfully. ‘Friend and colleague, eh? Is there anything more to it?’
‘Oh god, no!’ I bluster, feeling my cheeks get hot.
‘We’re just… yeah, we’re what Edward said.
’ I stare down at my feet, feeling Jake’s eyes on me.
But what else can I say? I can’t exactly tell Edward’s brother that we’re not even really friends, he’s just my colleague-cum-therapist and I’ve only in recent weeks started seeing him as a real human being at all.
That – until this car journey and a surprisingly bonding bit of KFC – I thought his brother pretty much hated me.
‘Weird energy in your response,’ Jake says leaning closer to sniff the air around me.
‘So, either you actually really loathe my brother, or this is… hmm, I’m going to take a shot here.
’ He squints at me. ‘Your… fourth date?’ He waves his hands as I feel sweat break out on my neck and between my shoulder blades.
‘Like, you’re giving that early doors intimacy vibe where you don’t exactly know where you stand, but you’re totally feeling it.
Y’know? Am I close?’ He smirks mischievously.
‘You’ve got it all wrong.’ I swallow hard.
It’s not the fourth date, it’s the fourth therapy session.
I continue quickly, ‘We work together, we…’ What?
Because the weird truth is that the intensity of going through therapy can sometimes be like the intensity of those early days of dating someone.
Getting to know one another, sharing yourself in bigger increments, revealing your most private parts.
But not like that. I smile brightly. ‘We’re just mates, like he said. Really.’
‘Okay, gurl,’ he trills, twirling away and back over to his family. Edward re-joins me a moment later.
‘Right, sorry about that.’ He frowns as he takes in my expression. ‘What? Was Jake talking your ear off? He can be a lot.’
‘No, he’s great,’ I say, meaning it, despite his brother’s interrogation. ‘I actually really like him a lot. Most of the time anyway.’
He narrows his eyes at me, then lets it go.
‘So.’ He takes a deep breath. ‘They’ve just declassified my mum’s level of urgency – so no ambulance.
Which is good because I’m betting it would’ve been a hell of a wait, despite what the first responder said.
Dad’s going to take her in, but he doesn’t want me and Jake to go with them.
Apparently we get in the way and make too much noise.
’ He smiles indulgently. ‘I don’t think my parents have ever seen me and Jake as any older than about fifteen. ’
‘Even when you’re in your thirties and have a secret doctorate.’ I raise my eyebrows at him, and he looks amused.
‘It wasn’t a secret. We didn’t speak much after uni and you just never asked.’
‘I hate it when people say that,’ I protest. ‘Why would I go round asking people in my life if they happen to have a PhD? What else should I specifically have enquired about? Do you keep a pet zebra in your back garden? Can you speak Welsh? Did you once break the Guinness World Record for doughnut eating?’
‘Actually, I can speak a bit of Welsh.’ He shrugs as I gape at him. ‘I used to anyway. We lived there for a while when I was little. Un dau tri pedwar pump chwech saith wyth naw deg.’
‘What did you just call me?’ I narrow my eyes.
‘I just counted to ten.’ He grins, and I shake my head in wonder. He leans in, his face suddenly quite close to mine. ‘Did you know the word for red is coch? I found that very funny as a small child.’
‘Cock?’ I say too loudly, and catch Jake looking over from across the room. He’s wearing an excited, knowing look on his face.
‘Yes.’ Edward smiles. ‘But cock, spelled with an aitch.’
There is something about the way he says cock and I can suddenly feel the blood pumping around my body. My coat feels tight and I’m noticing how warm it is in here. There is a tense silence as we look at each other. The room spins a little. After a second, Edward looks away.
‘Anyway…’ He clears his throat. ‘We’re going to wait here until Mum and Dad get back, to make sure everything’s okay.
’ He takes a tiny step back, pausing, and then speaking in a lower voice.
‘Are you all right, Liv, being here around my family?’ His eyes search mine anxiously.
‘You know, just when we’ve started getting into conversations about your parents?
I don’t want this to be painful for you. ’
I blink up at him as he furrows his brow, looking at me penetratingly.
This is such an intensely thoughtful thing to say – to ask – and I am momentarily rendered speechless.
I swallow. ‘That’s so… nice,’ I answer at last, trying to recall a single other man in my life – my whole life – who would’ve thought to check in with me like this.
I don’t think Justin even knew my parents weren’t around.
He was probably just relieved I wasn’t making him meet them.
I nod, looking away. ‘I’m totally fine, don’t worry about me. I just want your mum to be okay.’
Edward steps closer again. ‘Look, Liv, of course I won’t ask you to stay – I’m sure you have a life to be getting back to – but if you fancied it, Jake and I are going to get the board games out and play drinking games like it’s Christmas.
If our parents think we’re still teenagers, we might as well embrace it. You want in?’
I consider the other options waiting for me at home: an empty flat that needs a deep clean.
Sam’s wet washing probably still hanging up everywhere because it takes her a week to fold it up.
A laptop awaiting words for a book that more than likely isn’t wanted anymore. An internet full of horrible comments.
Though at least the viral sensation of Tiramisu Girl seems to finally be dimming. I might even be able to access the real world again one day.
Oh, and Justin and Orla all over Instagram, showing off their great love to the world. My fingers itch at my side thinking about it. I’m desperate to look. I need a distraction.
‘I could be persuaded to stay for a quick game of Uno,’ I grin.