Louisa’s unable to move very fast, but the two men half carry, half support her to the car. She still seems pretty immobile and the wound on her head has become sticky and slow moving.
Once at the hospital, we stop at the twenty-minute parking slot and pile out. We are a sorry sight. Matthew strides ahead, his usually immaculate hair dishevelled, he has sick on his shirt, and Charles and Maria half carry Louisa towards the doors of the hospital. I hurry on behind, holding everyone’s belongings, still desperately hoping Izzy’s okay. I feel responsible, she’s only young and I should have been looking after her but then I’d been sure she was with her dad.
As we reach the entrance, I notice a smartly dressed guy in a long coat who looks completely out of place, standing at the reception desk with his back to us. As we enter, he turns and I gasp as I realise it’s Darcy. He does a double take as he notices me.
‘Sophie, Miss Johnson? What are you doing here?’
I have a horrible feeling I’m wearing my old scruffy denim skirt, I think my mascara has smudged and I’m worried I may smell slightly of sick. It seems to me it’s always some kind of sod’s law that if you rush out of the house without make-up, or changing first, it’s pretty much guaranteed you’re going to run into someone you really don’t want to meet. Like an extremely hot and arrogant guy who’s recently asked you out, or your future mother-in-law or something. It’s just the way it is.
‘Darcy,’ I mutter, wishing the ground could swallow me up. ‘I’m just helping my friends into the hospital.’
‘So I see.’ He looks edgy and awkward, almost as though he wants to get away. Not that I can blame him.
‘So, are you visiting someone?’ I ask politely, keeping my eye on the proceedings at the desk. Matthew’s already dashed off down the corridor, presumably to discover what’s happened to Izzy. Maria and Charles have found a nearby wheelchair for Louisa and are checking her in at reception.
‘Yes, well no, yes sort of,’ Darcy stutters, eyeing the wound on Louisa’s head uneasily. ‘I’m visiting my cousin in the maternity unit, but I’m in the wrong place, it’s the Lindo wing.’
‘Oh, isn’t that where Princess Kate had her babies?’ I twitter stupidly.
‘That’s what everyone asks!’ Darcy smiles wryly, and for a second the tension between us breaks.
‘We’re off to A&E,’ Maria calls softly. Charles is already in a rush to push the wheelchair round the corridor, following the red footprints marked on the floor.
‘I’d better go.’ I smile awkwardly at Darcy. ‘Enjoy the Lindo wing.’
I don’t look back to register his reaction, just follow the others down the soullessly blank corridor. What with hospitals, drunk heroines and head wounds, the cosy world of Elizabeth and Darcy seems to be getting further away than ever.
Chapter 24
Three hours later, Louisa’s been seen by the triage nurse and the gash on her head neatly dressed. Her X-ray shows the ankle is sound, probably just a sprain. She’s waiting with Charles and Maria, who are then going to take her home to her parents. Thank goodness Maria’s with them. Charles seems to have gone into some kind of stupor. I guess he’s shocked, but I can’t help thinking, as he is a little more mature, he should have taken better care of Louisa.
It’s a weird fact that when in hospital, time seems to stand still. I feel like we’ve been here forever. Izzy is still unconscious, the hospital staff have attached her to a drip and some kind of machine which is connected to a mask over her mouth, but other than the occasional moan, she’s shown no signs of waking. A bustling nurse moves the oxygen to one side, checks her obs and replaces it again.
After what seems a lifetime, a doctor appears. ‘Do you have any idea how much she drank?’ he asks us after carrying out a brief examination.
‘No, neither of us were with her, or we’d have done something about it,’ I reply. ‘I understand she was drinking shots, but don’t think she had any drugs with it.’
‘Right. She’s had a fair skinful by the look of it but I’ve seen worse. We’ll keep her on the monitor for now to keep an eye on her oxygen levels. Any next of kin present?’
‘No, her relationship with her parents is strained, to put it mildly,’ I reply sadly.
‘They should be informed,’ says the doctor firmly.
‘I’ll contact her father,’ Matthew replies, jumping to his feet. I think he’s glad to actually do something at last. Until now, he’s been either pacing the floor or sitting staring into his hands. He disappears out into the corridor.
‘I’m afraid you can’t stay, love.’ The nurse touches my shoulder gently. ‘Best go home and get some rest. We’ll let you know how she is in the morning.’
I nod dumbly, give Izzy’s hand a gentle squeeze in case she can sense I’m there, and leave.
Back out in the car park, Darcy comes jogging up behind me out of nowhere. ‘Sophie, can I drop you home?’
‘That’s kind, thanks, but I’m waiting for Matthew – he’s going to give me a lift.’
Darcy’s face drops slightly. ‘Oh okay, as long as you’re not planning on going home alone on the tube at this time of night.’
‘No, definitely not.’ I smile to myself. No need to tell him I’d been too scared to go on the tube in the daylight until recently. ‘How was your cousin and her new baby?’
‘What? Oh, lovely,’ he answers absently. ‘Yes, very cute. Hard to tell if it’s a boy or a girl though, I always think when they’re that small.’
‘Yes, I s’pose so. I guess it helps if they’re dressed either in blue or pink,’ I suggest inanely. This is just so awkward. Darcy’s brown eyes meet mine. Oh God, he’s so impossibly good looking and slightly glowering. I don’t care what anyone says, the brooding dark look definitely does it for me. Next thing he’ll take me into his arms, kissing me passionately and…
‘Yes quite, that always helps.’ His matter-of-fact words jolt me out of my slightly bizarre musing. The shock and tiredness must be having a strange effect on me.
Matthew reappears. ‘Hi, Sophie. Good, you’re ready to go. I need to call in on Izzy’s dad, explain to him properly. The line kept breaking up. He was obviously pretty shocked and… Oh, hello.’ He stops abruptly as he notices Darcy.
‘Matthew – this is Darcy, Darcy this is Matthew.’ I make polite introductions, thinking how bizarre and awkward this whole situation is. Darcy eyes Matthew in a slightly hostile manner.
‘Right, I think we should go. I’ll drop you home on the way,’ Matthew says, typing something frantically into his phone.
We walk away briskly, leaving Darcy staring after us. Goodness only knows what he thinks of me now, not that I care. It’s just that my head and my heart seem to have totally different responses to the man.
The next morning I wake up with that horrible slightly sick feeling you get when you know something bad has happened, but you can’t quite remember what. Then within seconds, it all comes flooding back to me. It was surreal really; Louisa and Izzy, both ill – what had they been doing? Mind you, Izzy has been a total mess since breaking with Josh – that boy has a lot to answer for. Also, my confused mind mulls over the events again, like they’re in slow motion, what was Daniel doing there with the others and why did he dash off and leave them?