Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
When she woke up again, the pain wasn’t as intense.
Still there, but significantly better, and the bright lights didn’t make her feel as though she had knives stabbing into her skull anymore.
She turned towards where Lydia had been sitting, only to see that the chair was empty.
Listening, she picked out voices on the other side of the blue curtain pulled around her bed.
It sounded as though someone was having an argument; voices were raised, words being spoken far too loudly for a hospital ward.
‘This is Mr Higgs, the school’s headteacher. Gemma’s boss.’ Lydia’s calm voice wafted through the curtain.
Momentarily forgetting the pain she was in, Gemma sat upright, wincing slightly as the pain intensified. Jonathan? He was here? Lydia was saying as much. She must be talking to a nurse or a doctor.
‘I’m sorry, as I’ve said, we don’t allow visitors in Accident and Emergency.
We’re crammed as it is. Lydia, isn’t it?
’ The voice paused, presumably waiting for Lydia to nod in agreement.
‘She came in the ambulance with your staff member. We simply can’t let anyone walk in and see the patients.
Family, only I’m afraid. Or whoever has accompanied them in the ambulance in this case. ’
‘She’s not just my staff member; she’s my partner. We’re seeing each other.’ Jonathan’s voice was low, authoritative, but Gemma could hear.
Taking a sharp intake of breath, Gemma froze. He’d said they were together. She gripped the thin blue blanket covering her and listened as the conversation played out.
‘Oh, I apologise. I wasn’t aware. Go on through.’
With her heart hammering in her chest, Gemma watched as the curtain was drawn and Jonathan hurried towards her before sitting in the chair and taking her hand in his whilst he gently tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.
‘Gemma, are you okay? Of course, you’re not okay.
You wouldn’t be here if you were. I should never have agreed for everyone to come into school today, and I should never have asked you all to take an audit. If I hadn’t...’
She looked down at their hands, now clasped together, before meeting his gaze. ‘You didn’t ask anything of us; we offered, and it was my own stupid fault for not using a ladder.’
‘Are you okay? Does it hurt much?’ He searched her face, his eyes resting on what she assumed was an almighty bruise forming on her temple.
‘I’m okay.’ She whispered as Lydia perched on the end of her bed. Jonathan didn’t seem fazed by the fact that he’d just told the nurse they were together. And the way he was holding her hands, he didn’t even seem worried that Lydia was watching.
‘So, you two are an item?’ Lydia frowned as she looked from Gemma to Jonathan and back again.
‘I...’ Words failed her. She had no idea what was happening. She wanted nothing more than to have Jonathan by her side, to tell the world that they were in fact an item, but after their conversation earlier, they’d both agreed it was safest not to act upon their feelings.
‘Gemma, I know we said we shouldn’t be together because of work, but I don’t care anymore. I can’t walk past you every day, talk to you as a neighbour or a colleague; I can’t pretend I don’t feel the way I do. I’ll quit my job before I go back to how things were again. I just can’t do it.’
‘Really?’ Gemma gripped his hands tighter, the warmth from his skin soothing the nerves in her stomach.
‘If you’ll have me.’ Jonathan gave a small, sheepish smile, seemingly suddenly unsure of himself.
‘Of course. You know I feel the same way.’ She leaned forward as he dropped her hands to the bed and tucked his finger beneath her chin, tilting her head back as their lips met.
Closing her eyes, she felt the world disappear around them.
For those few seconds, it was just her and him, and in that moment, she realised that it was futile to pretend they didn’t feel the connection between them.
He was right; they needed to be together, and they’d face the consequences together.
Slowly leaning back, Jonathan kept his eyes on her and smiled.
Lydia cleared her throat, reminding them both that she was still there and had witnessed everything. ‘Well, it’s about time you both gave in and acted on your feelings. We had bets on how long it would take you both, you know.’
‘Bets?’ Gemma frowned and gingerly reached up, holding the palm of her hand against her forehead, willing the pain to disappear so she could make sense of it all.
‘Yes, bets.’ Lydia chuckled. ‘Adam had given you a month, Annie two. I said a week, and it seems I win.’
‘You were all in on this?’ Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks pinking.
‘Of course. The attraction between you both was evident on that first day you walked into the staff room.’ Sighing, Lydia stood up and smoothed the blanket where she’d been sitting.
‘And don’t either of you even think about quitting.
There’s nothing to say a headteacher and a teacher can’t get together. ’
‘But the redundancies...’ Gemma mumbled.
‘Redundancies? There won’t be any. Not now we’re all on the case. Woodland Primary will survive the way it is. Just you wait and see.’ She shrugged. ‘And if there are any, then we know you better than you realise, Gemma, no one will utter a conspiracy theory at all.’
As Lydia turned and pulled the curtain aside slightly, Jonathan spoke up. ‘Lydia. Thank you.’
‘No worries.’ Grinning, Lydia pointed at Gemma and then at Jonathan. ‘Just don’t go quitting and travelling around the world together or anything daft.’
Smiling, Gemma waited until the curtain had dropped back into place before looking at Jonathan again. ‘Is this really happening, or did I just hit my head too hard? Is this a symptom of a concussion?’
‘Haha,’ Jonathan chuckled as he lifted Gemma’s hand to his lips. ‘I can promise you this is very real. You are not hallucinating.’
‘Good.’ Turning to face him, she sank her head back against the pillow. It may have taken a tumble, an ambulance ride and the worst pain she could remember to bring them together, but together they were, and she had a feeling together they would stay.