“Nah. I can cope without. I like giving the nurses some excitement.” He winks at the nurse I now know is called Claudia thanks to her name tag.
“Please ignore him,” I urge in my croaky voice.
“Girl, he’s the best thing I’ve seen all year.” Her smile is so full of love and compassion, I can’t help wishing that she was my grandmother. I’ve got a feeling life would never be dull with her as part of the family.
Claudia fiddles about with my drip and gets me ready to move.
“How long does she need to have that for?” Mum asks, gesturing to the bag of whatever has been slowly working its way into my body.
“There only seems to be about thirty minutes or so left.”
“Good,” I say. I might feel like crap, and every single inch of my body might still be aching and heavy, but there’s no way I want to be connected to that thing for any longer than necessary.
Claudia writes a few things on the chart hanging on the end of my bed before she pulls the curtain all the way around, revealing the two porters she promised me who quickly descend on my bed.
“Are you okay to walk, young man? I understand you’ve been stitched up like a tapestry.”
Concern for Toby sits heavy in my stomach. I’ve seen the bandage on the back of his arm, but what else am I missing?
“I’m fine, Demon. Just worry about getting out of here so I can look after you properly.”
“Oh, he’s a nurse as well. If I were forty years younger,” Claudia teases.
“Looks like you’ve got some competition, Jojo,” Mum adds as Claudia puts my mask back in place just as my bed is wheeled out of its space.
The second we turn the corner, we find a small, familiar crowd blocking the corridor.
“Jodie,” Stella cries, rushing forward, quickly followed by the others. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m okay.”
“Where are you going?” she asks in a panic as if I might be lying.
“Just going up to the ward overnight as a precaution,” Claudia answers for me. “Visiting hours are—”
“Are always,” Toby interrupts. “We don’t pay for that ward for nothing.”
“Sara?” I breathe, desperate for some news.
Stella swallows thickly, and my heart drops into my feet.
“They’ve taken her straight to intensive care.”
“Oh God,” I gasp, and Stella dives for my hand as Toby takes the other. “Is she…”
“We don’t know anything yet, but it doesn’t look good. I’m so sorry, Jodie.”
Ripping my eyes from hers, I focus on the pale wall ahead as I try to process what she just said. But it’s like my body has entirely shut down, refusing to accept it.
“We’ll keep you up to date, we promise.”
“Is Jesse here?” My voice might be rough from the smoke inhalation, but it sounds even worse now.
“Yes. He’s upstairs.”
“Go be with him. I know you don’t know him but—”
“We will.” Her glassy eyes lift from mine and focus on Toby. “Look after our girl, Bro.”