Nobody says anything. They don’t know what to say. Eric picks up his baby sister and rushes her to his car as I race inside and grab clean towels and a bottle of water. I lock up and climb into the front as his mum sits in the back with the young girl.
“Here.” I hand the towel and water to her.
Eric, his lips a thin line and his eyes tight, turns on the ignition and drives. I place my hand on his and give it a squeeze when he winces at the sound of Kara’s screams of pain.
“It’s okay, sweetie.” Suddenly a bag is dropped onto my lap. “Can you dig in there and pull out my phone? I have blood on my hands. Her dad needs to know.” Yet another family member I’m going to meet. I don’t care about that right now though. “Just text him; he’s under V for Vinnie.”
I do as I’m told, keeping the phone on my lap just in case he responds. Oh crap. I left my phone at Eric’s.
“How are you doing sis?” Eric asks, reaching behind him with one hand. He gives her knee a gentle squeeze as she sniffles and cries on her mum’s shoulder.
“She’s okay, aren’t you? You’re being very brave,” I say to her, my heart clenching when I see tears fall from her eyes and spill over her cheeks. One of them is swelling at an alarming rate. The tears must sting the grazes on her beautiful porcelain skin.
She tries to give me a weak smile but fails when her lips tremble.
Eric, looking a little less worried, takes my hand in his and brings it to his lips. I’m completely screwed.
None of that matters though. Right now all that matters is Kara.
“Do you mind if I use your phone?” I ask Eric when we pull up outside of the hospital. “I need to call my mum and tell her to pick up Dillan.”
He blanches and curses under his breath, “Shit, I’m sorry. I should have…”
“Hey,” I cut him off and place my hand on his arm. “Kara is at the top of the list right now. I’m not leaving until I know she’s okay. Okay?”
He nods and hands me his phone before lifting his little sister from the back seat of the car. His mum climbs out shortly after as I send a quick text to my mum. I try my hardest to pull Nathan’s number from memory, but fail. I knew his old one, still do, but haven’t bothered to memorise his new one. Darn. He’s not going to be happy.
Although it’s not like he can blame me for this. He would do the same… I think.
We’re led straight through to accident and emergency. Nurses and doctors flock to us, so I remain in the waiting area whilst Eric and his mum deal with the private stuff, questions, allergies etc. I’ll go in when that part’s done.
The waiting room is near full, all but two of the seats taken. I don’t take one; I can’t relax right now.
Besides, the two seats available are in between four very sick looking people. I think I’ll pass.
I’m pacing for about thirty minutes before Eric comes back out and folds his arms around me. “You should go.”
“What?”
He looks down at my face. “You have Dillan.”
“He’s fine; Mum’s sorting him. I’m not leaving until I know she’s okay and until I know you’re okay.”
I notice his eyes flash with relief as he smiles gratefully. “Thank you. She’s… her nose is broken. There’s not much they can do other than push it back and set it with some tape. She’s had painkillers and they’ve cleaned her face and stopped the bleeding.”
“See? She’ll be fine,” I say, placing my cheek to his chest.
He rocks us slightly as we stand by the doors in the waiting area. It takes him a while, but he finally releases me and takes my hand. “Let’s go and see her.”
“Should we go to the gift shop first? She deserves a pink helium balloon.”
“Good point. We’ll go later. My mum is barely holding it together.”
I nod and follow him through a set of double doors and into a long corridor, full of curtain covered sections. We make for the eighth on the right and slide ourselves between the edge of the curtain and the wall.
“They’re realigning the nasal bones or something,” their mum says, looking haggard and nervous. A mother’s love always shows on her face. “She has to have an injection of anaesthetic to numb it first.”
Kara, looking bruised, rough and tired, as is expected, gives me a weak smile before closing her eyes.
“Poor baby,” I mutter. “I’m so sorry this happened to her.”
Eric sits on the chair by the bed and reaches out to hold his sister’s hand. Kara, whose eye is swelling shut by the minute, starts dozing off.
“You two go,” Eric’s mum says tiredly.
“Mum…”
“Go, she’ll be fine and her dad will be here soon.” The entire time she speaks, her eyes never leave her daughter.
Is this what I’ll be like when Dillan has accidents? It looks awful. I can only imagine how it feels.
“I’ll take Gwen home and then I’ll be back,” Eric states, standing once more.
His mum glances our way and gives me a small smile. “Thanks for being here, Guinevere.”
I only nod and give her shoulder a squeeze. “I won’t leave until Eric says so.”
Eric laces his fingers with mine. “I say so now. Come on.”
I don’t want to leave them; I think I’ve been slightly traumatised by the accident and I was only a spectator. “I feel bad, leaving you.”
He cups my face with one hand. “It’s fine; I swear. I’ll call you in the morning.”
We leave quietly and drive home in silence. It’s not until we pull up into my driveway that he finally speaks. “Thank you for coming today. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to eat or talk.”
“Me too.” I unbuckle my belt and reach for the door.
“Wait.” His tired, solemn eyes come to mine. Using his hand in the front of my shirt, he pulls me towards him and presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back for a moment. I don’t have the willpower to say no to him right now. Unfortunately, my reciprocation only spurs him to kiss me deeper.
When he finally releases me, I lick my swollen lips and open the door.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I give him a wave and make my way to my front door. My eyes remain on the ground so when I look up, seeing Nathan stood in the doorway, a blank look on his face and his arms folded across his chest, it shocks the hell out of me. “Hey.” I say this cautiously as he moves back and allows me entry into my home.
Did he see? Of course he saw. This is just great.
“Hi,” he says back, no anger, no disappointment, just a normal Nathan kind of hi. This worries me.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Dillan and my mum?”
“Dillan is happily playing on the mat in the room; your mum left about forty minutes ago after calling me.” He places his hand on the small of my back and leads me into the room.
“I should make dinner,” I tell him, still watching him warily. “Are you hungry?”
He nods. “Very.”
“Let me just say hello to Dillan and I’ll make us something.”