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Finn
The panic that had begun to flood my system receded as my body had to respond to the demands of physical exertion. It wasn’t by any means the same calm that I could summon from spending an hour in the water, but there was still something soothingly hypnotic about listening to my feet hit the pavement whilst the rain continued to bounce off the slabs.
By the time the river widened by the stark cables of the Samuel Beckett Bridge, a blankness that was almost pleasant had washed over me.
Lilith
I lay on the bathroom floor and with a curious sense of detachment I wondered if I might actually be dying.
My eyeballs seemed to be attempting to force their way out of my skull and my stomach refused to accept that there was anything to throw up as I continued to retch and heave. Every time I tried to stand or simply pull myself into a sitting position I slumped back onto the floor, and even the chill marble couldn’t cool my febrile skin.
I had no idea what time it was, or how long Finn had been gone. I’d left my phone next to the bed when I dived for the bathroom and it may as well have been on Jupiter for all the chance I had of reaching the bloody thing, but it felt like he’d been away for far more than an hour.
However it also seemed that I’d been vomiting for about three days and I was no longer entirely sure what my own name was. I hauled myself into a foetal position, called Finn’s name, threw up again over the bathroom floor, and waited.
Finn
“Shit!” For the first time since I’d set out on my walk I glanced down at my phone to check the time and to my horror it was now half four in the morning. I’d been out for two and a half hours – far more than the single hour I’d promised Lili – and now I was standing by the lake in St Stephen’s Green Park with no real clue as to how I’d got there. I certainly hadn’t planned any kind of route, especially one that would take me to a dark and deserted park, so I’d clearly zoned out far more than I’d anticipated.
Whether it was my meds, the stress of the day or just me being a complete fuckin’ eejit, I needed to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible. I checked my phone again and to my relief I hadn’t missed any calls. I guessed that Lilith must have gone back to sleep, so with any luck I’d just be able to slide into bed next to her without worrying her any further and then apologise later in the morning, hopefully whilst safely in the back of a taxi heading straight to Dublin Airport.
I wiped the rain from my eyes and set off at a sprint towards The Rossmont.
*****
I didn’t even wait for the lift to arrive. I just pelted up the hotel stairs three at a time like Satan himself was grabbing at my heels, shedding water like a wet dog as I ran.
I pressed my keycard against the door and it clicked open. To my relief the room was silent and dark, and I contemplated just throwing all my sodden clothes in a heap in the doorway and getting straight into bed next to Lili stark naked; I knew I’d soon warm up that way, and the thought of pressing against her warm body was definitely appealing.
Just as I was about to pull my soaked t-shirt over my head a soft moan from the bathroom stopped me in my tracks, and I noticed that the light was still on in there. “Lili? Is that you, love?” I asked, and tentatively pushed the door open with my foot.
My first panicked thought was that she was dead. Lilith lay sprawled across the bathroom floor, pale and entirely still and surrounded by a lake of vomit. “Oh fuck no sweetheart, what the hell happened to you?” I asked and dropped to her side. To my relief her eyes opened slightly, but they were bloodshot and unfocused.
“Finn?” Her voice was no more than a hoarse croak. “I really don’ feel so good…”
“Yeah, that might just be a bit of an understatement, my darling,” I said as I pushed lank, sweat-soaked strands of hair from her forehead. “Jesus Lili, you’re burning up.”
“Not,” she replied. “Freezing.”
“I’m not wasting time arguing with you. I’m going to get reception to call a doctor.”
Lilith shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Need to get home. Flying thing… Aeroplane. Soon. Just sleep now…”
“Y’know, this is not the time to be a stubborn wee bint -” I began, and in response Lilith threw up down my t-shirt. I hauled the garment off over my head then leaned over and pulled two towels down from the rail. I used one to wipe myself down as best I could and rolled the second one gently under her head. “Right, lady. I’m definitely making that call,” I said, and scrambled back to my feet.
*****
To my eternal relief and gratitude Khadija was duty manager that night, and without any fuss she summoned a private doctor to our suite in what felt like two minutes. I wondered if The Rossmont kept a spare medic in storage in the attic for discreet emergencies affecting their posher guests.
She also helped me to clean up the still-insensible Lilith and get her settled into bed, calmly carrying out the task as though this were just an everyday part of her job. It was easy to see why the hotel had always been Lilith’s base when she visited Ireland.
*****
Just an hour after the doctor had knocked on the door to our suite Lilith had been diagnosed with acute food poisoning and set up with an IV drip to supply a steady stream of saline and electrolytes to her exhausted and depleted body. Then I was given strict instructions to call immediately if things took a turn for the worse and handed a bill that made me glad Lilith’s paintings were as highly sought-after as they were.
Once we were alone I finally changed out of the rest of my filthy clothes and grabbed a quick wash with the bathroom door propped open, then made myself a coffee and pulled a chair up to the bedside so I could keep watch over Lilith as she slept. There was no way I was getting any sleep myself now, and besides, I had work to do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
