Page 70 of Mistletoe and Mulled Wine at the Christmas Campervan

Chapter Thirty-Three

‘Lucy? Lucy Brown?’ Someone was calling her name.

Lucy stood up nervously. Her right leg wasn’t quite working properly, numbed out.

‘Hello, would you like to come through and see Jack now?’ A nurse approached her. ‘He’s up on the ward. His parents are taking a short coffee break. They mentioned you were here, waiting to visit.’

‘Yes, of course.’ She felt a hopeful lift within. ‘How’s he doing?’

‘Pretty good, he’s had a stable night. He’s been asking for you.’

Oh. Relief and love, and a myriad of tender feelings flooded her. She’d been told the spleen prognosis was positive, and that his ribs would heal in time, but she knew he wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. They set off through those heavy grey swing doors, and then took a lift up, the nurse saying how he’d been chatting away about Ruby.

Poor Ruby. Jack probably didn’t realise how bad she was. That image of the crash site would be seared into Lucy’s mind forever.

On the ward now, and the nurse indicated which room to enter. ‘Far corner, right side,’ the nurse smiled kindly. ‘I’ll leave you to it. But just call if there’s anything. There’s a button by the bed.’

‘Thank you.’

The room was hushed, a four-bedded bay, each section with blue-and-yellow curtains part-pulled around it. Lucy moved forward with expectant caution; hope filling her heart, tinged with a little of the fear that had burrowed there all night.

And … there he was. Oh my God, his face was bashed up, bless him. Cuts, a couple of stitches above his left eye, bruising.

‘Jack,’ her voice was a whisper. She tried to hide her shock, but evidently hadn’t done a good job of it.

‘Bit of a mess, hey?’ He tried to smile, which was the sweetest thing, but he seemed sore, tired.

‘Yeah, a bit. You look like you’ve done a few rounds with Tyson Fury.’

‘Hmm, feel like it. Might have been better off if I had been.’

‘Oh Jack …’ She pulled a plastic seat up near to the bed, taking his hand, where it lay above the covers, in hers.

‘Poor bloody Ruby,’ his voice sounded a bit raspy. ‘God knows what a mess she’s in.’

‘Hey, don’t fret about Ruby … Look, I know you love that campervan for sure, but let’s get you right first.’ A tear slid down her cheek and onto his hand. His beautiful warm hand. Feeling his touch once more let loose a landslide of emotions.

‘Hey, I’ll be okay, Luce. I’ll be fine.’ The words were positive, yet his voice was strained, like it hurt to talk too much.

‘Yeah, you’d better be. Claire and Craig and all the family are still waiting for their bloody party …’ Lucy decided humour was the way to go at this point, or she’d be risking a full breakdown.

‘Oh shit, yeah. How was that?’

‘A bit awkward, I abandoned ship. Left them all to it. But of course, when they realised what had happened …’

‘Was it Olly who came to look for me?’

‘Yeah, I couldn’t exactly rush off myself just then, but I was so worried. I sent him on a search mission. Someone else must have got there first, mind you, and thankfully called the emergency services.’

‘Jeez, don’t remember much … just the ice … that awful slide. I knew Ruby had lost it …’ He went quiet. Squeezed her hand a little tighter. ‘All I could think was, Fuck, not me too. Mum and Dad … and you …’ Jack’s hand was trembling. Shock, and everything his body had been through, kicking in.

‘Hey … it’s alright, it’s alright,’ she breathed. ‘We’ll get you through this. It’ll be okay.’ Her heart went out to him. She just wanted to be able to take his pain away. ‘You just need a bit of time to rest, to mend. It’s been a huge shock.’

‘But … I’ve been such an idiot. I was going to tell you … put things right …’

‘It’s okay, don’t get yourself upset, Jack. Whatever it is, we can sort it out later. We both need to talk things over … but not now.’

‘No … I have to tell you now. It can’t wait …’