Chapter 24
24
T he car was silent as Cally navigated through the traffic on the motorway. Her mind turned over and over as she silently went through a mental checklist about her work commitments and she realised as she’d thrown a few things in a bag that she’d forgotten to put in any clean tights. As they hit traffic and slowed to a crawl, Logan tapped his hand repeatedly on the centre console as if somehow him doing that might speed the traffic up. It was as if tension and stress streamed out of him. Cally had never seen him like it and never wanted to again. His phone buzzed with a text. He read it and frowned. 'It's from Mum. They've arrived at the hospital. No news yet. Alastair's still in surgery.'
Cally nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. She didn’t have much clue about surgery, but the little she did know told her that Alastair had been in for a while. 'I’m not sure what to think. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That's good, isn't it?'
'I suppose. I just keep thinking, what if he doesn't make it, Cal? What if the last real time I saw him was at that stupid pub in Scotland, and I was annoyed because he was going on and on about his travel plans? Remember afterwards when I was moaning about how spoilt he was? I went on about it for ages, didn’t I? I was slagging off how entitled he was.' Logan swore and sighed.
Cally had had similar thoughts as they’d driven along. 'Don't think like that. He’ll be fine. Honestly, we don’t even know the full story yet.'
'I'm trying. I just can’t believe it. It was the sound of Mum’s voice. It’s serious.’
Cally had thought exactly the same. ‘Hmm. Let’s just wait and see.’
‘He's not just my cousin. I’ve like grown up with him.'
Cally felt her heart ache at Logan's voice. 'I know. I know.'
The traffic cleared again, and they drove on in silence for ages. The motorway felt way too busy and endless as far as Cally was concerned. She kept checking the map on the screen to her left, feeling as if they were never going to get there. After about another hour had passed in excruciatingly slow traffic, Cally's phone buzzed with an incoming call. 'Can you check that? It might be someone from work. I left in a rush. I was halfway through an order out the back.'
Logan picked up Cally’s phone and flicked open the cover. 'It's Nina.’
‘Can you answer? I was going to text her about that evening job tomorrow when we got there.’
Logan answered the call, putting it on speaker. 'Hello?'
'Logan?' Nina's voice came through, sounding worried.
'I'm here, Nina,' Cally called out. 'I'm driving. We're on our way to London.'
Nina sighed. 'I heard what happened. Birdie told me. Are you both okay?'
'We're fine. Just worried.’
'Of course, of course,' Nina said. 'Is there anything I can do?’
‘No. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I might not make it to that job.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve already thought about that.’
‘Great. Thanks. Sorry if I let you down.’
‘Don’t be silly! If you need anything at all, just shout.'
'Thanks, Nina,' Logan said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Appreciate it.'
After they ended the call, Logan leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes as Cally slowed down as another gnarly rush hour traffic spot had them almost stationary. Cally gripped the wheel tightly and wished they could be transported to the hospital in any way other than via the horrors of the M25. The whole atmosphere in the car reminded her of the many times she’d made her way to the hospital for her grandma. It had been a very similar scenario when she’d been in the hospice, too. The feeling as if you were about to enter something you had no clue about, at the same time as being racked with emotion.
Logan’s phone trilled. He snatched it up. 'Hello, Mum? Any news?'
Cally watched Logan's face anxiously, trying to gauge the news from his expression. She sat silently with her hands still gripping the steering wheel.
'Okay. Yes, we're about halfway there. The traffic is a joke. Thanks for letting us know.' Logan tapped his phone and put it into the centre console, ran a hand over his face and swore. 'He’s out of surgery but he's not out of the woods yet. He’s going to intensive care now.'
Cally sighed. 'That's good news, isn't it?'
‘Yeah. Yeah, it is. She said they’ve just been told the next twenty-four hours are critical...’ Logan’s voice trailed off.
'Right.’
Logan swore again. ‘I can’t believe this. One minute he’s going off to see the world and now this.’
Cally patted Logan’s hand. ‘It’ll be okay.’ Inside she wasn’t sure if she believed that it would. The horrid inner nagging voice brayed at her.
As they crawled along, silence and tension filled the car. 'Do you want me to drive for a bit?' Logan offered. ‘We can pull in at the next petrol station.’
Cally shook her head. 'I'm okay. It’s fine.’
As they neared London, the traffic began to pick up again, and it finally felt as if they were getting nearer to the hospital. Cally wasn’t big on driving, and considering she’d never ventured very far from home, she wasn’t doing too badly. She kept her eyes glued to the road and waited for the instructions from the speaker as she navigated carefully through the busy streets, following the GPS directions to St. Lucy's Hospital. After taking a wrong turn and going around in circles past an NCP car park for what felt like hours, they finally pulled into the hospital, waited at a barrier and followed a tight road to an underground car park. After locking the car, they hurried into the building, following signs to the intensive care unit, navigated their way through the huge hospital and arrived at a bright and oddly cheerful ICU reception area.
Cally blinked as she took in an overly lit bright pink wall behind the main focal point of a shiny white curved reception desk. The cheerful-looking area felt totally out of sync with how Cally felt. As they waited in a short queue, the smell, the staff, and the lighting made her feel as if she’d zoomed back a few years. As she stepped to the side while Logan spoke, her eyes roamed around the reception area; a sign encouraged donations via text to support the hospital, a bright red bin denoted something serious inside, and various signage above the desk barked instructions and hospital-related information. A couple of friendly-looking staff in bright uniforms bustled around behind the desk, and a few minutes later, Cally and Logan were on their way to an outer waiting room.
As Logan held the door open for Cally, the smell in the waiting room hit her full-on, making her want to gag; a mixture of too-hot yet air-conditioned stale air, cheap coffee, and very stressed people. Cally knew the smell only too well. She’d been part of it many times before. The smell sat alongside a memory she would rather have forgotten. Cecilia, Reg, and Logan’s mum were sitting awkwardly upright on horrid green and purple plastic chairs. Logan’s mum rose as soon as she saw them and gave Logan a tight hug.
'Oh, darling. I'm so glad you're here.'
Logan hugged her back fiercely. 'How is he? Any change?'
Cecilia stepped forward and hugged Logan then pulled back, her face etched with worry. 'He's stable for now.'
Reg kissed Cally and then clasped Logan's shoulder. 'He's fighting, hopefully.’
Logan nodded, his jaw clenched tight. 'And Octavia? How is she?'
'She's okay,' Cecilia said. 'They're keeping her in for observation because of the concussion, but she should be able to go home soon.'
'Can we see him?' Logan asked.
Cecilia shook her head. 'Only immediate family are allowed in ICU and not even us at the moment.'
Logan's shoulders slumped. Cally wrapped an arm around his waist. They sat down, Logan asked a tonne of questions, Cecilia cried, Cally forced herself to be strong, Anne shredded a tissue in her lap, and Reg looked as if he didn’t know what to do or say for the best. Logan leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Cally stared at a set of two drinks machines wedged precariously in the corner. 'Does anyone want a cup of tea?'
Cecilia nodded to the machines and screwed up her lips. ‘We had some coffee earlier. It was rank. Absolutely disgusting.’
Cally shifted to the front of her seat. ‘How about I go off and find us all a nice cup of tea? There must be a little shop somewhere.’
Reg exhaled and nodded. ‘I’d love one.’
Cally stood up. ‘Right, I’ll be back with tea.’
Cally was more than pleased to get out of the waiting room. As she went through the hospital in search of a decent cup of tea, she felt as if she’d rather be anywhere else than in the horrible room with the sickly smell, humming drinks machines, and overly bright lights. After following a coloured line on the floor in and out of corridors for ages, eventually, it led her to a line of lifts. She studied the floor directory for a second, pressed the button to go down with her elbow, stepped in and a few minutes later found herself in the hospital café. Realising that she was starving and that everyone else probably was too she bought a few rounds of sandwiches, five cups of tea, grabbed a cardboard cup holder, shoved the sandwiches in her bag and made her way back up to the waiting room.
The tea and sandwiches, despite the severity of the situation and the tense atmosphere, went down well. Eventually after they were long gone and what felt like hours, a doctor in scrubs appeared at the waiting room door. 'Family of Alastair Henry-Hicks?' he called out.
Everyone in the room sat up straighter. Cecilia and Reg stepped forward. Cecilia flicked her hand between herself and her husband. 'We're his parents,' Cecilia said, her voice tight with anxiety. 'How is he?'
The doctor's face was serious. He beckoned Cecilia and Reg out into the corridor. Cally watched through the slim pane of glass in the door and saw all sorts of emotions cross Cecilia’s face. In a flash she remembered being the one standing in front of a doctor listening to stuff she had no clue about. Standing there holding up the sky.
About ten minutes later Cecilia and Reg came back in as Logan paced around.
‘He’s still critical, but he's showing some positive signs.’
'What happens now?' Anne asked.
'We wait.’
Tears streamed down Cecilia’s face and she let out a strange animal-like sob. Logan jumped up and hugged her. Cally bit her lip. She still had the bad feeling. She couldn’t shake that there was more to come. She wasn’t wrong.