‘You have to be proud of what you’ve got, right? Come on then, stop distracting me. What was this gourmet meal you so lovingly consumed twice a day for four months?’
She closed her eyes and smiled in anticipation of his reaction. There were many justifications she wanted to reel off, but she knew it wouldn’t make any difference to his opinion. ‘Pasta with baked beans, cheese and ketchup, and if you haven’t tried it for yourself then I accept absolutely no judgement or bullying from you about it.’
‘Interesting addition of the ketchup. For me it was always barbecue sauce,’ he said casually.
‘AS IF you used to eat that too!’ Alice couldn’t help but get excited, slamming her hand down on the bed in disbelief.
‘Hell yes, I did. What’s not to love about the warm cheesy mix of that bowl of carbohydrate goodness? A childhood staple for me, in fact.’
‘I wasn’t expecting that.’
‘Don’t write me off just yet. I’m not sure we’re as different as you might like to believe.’
‘Trust me, Alfie, Iknowthat we’re different. But I still wouldn’t write you off in a million years.’
She smiled as the silence settled over them once again.
40
Alfie
He didn’t care that Alice had got so mad. That her talk of dying had sent both him and Sarah into distressingly dark thoughts. All that mattered now was that Alice was talking again and she seemed OK. Her words lingered in his head, filling him with a warm buzzing that seemed to radiate from somewhere deep inside his stomach.
It was odd to think he still hadn’t seen her face. Some days this bothered him more than others. In reality, did it matter? He’d never judged his friends on their appearances; in fact, most of the time he barely even registered what they looked like. Other days, though, he felt desperate to see her. To look into her eyes when she spoke and see her face shape itself into a hundred different expressions. He longed to know who she was, and thought that somehow her face would hold all the secrets. In those moments he would scold himself.
Looks aren’t everything. Stop being so shallow.
Of one thing he was certain: with the majority of his focus on Alice, his own recovery had started to take a back seat. Everything else felt less important than making her laugh. Hewas in deep with this latest crusade, and he often wondered whether his efforts were because it was her that he cared about so much, or because he simply had to save someone.
Come on, Alfie, you’re in a hospital ward full of sick people all waiting to be saved; it’s definitely her.
He knew now more than ever that the plans he’d been formulating to keep her entertained were important. If he could find some subtle ways to get her to open up then maybe the life of Alice Gunnersley would be demystified at last. So far in their friendship he’d been privy to small glimpses of her life before the accident, but it wasn’t enough any more. The deeper their connection grew, the more Alfie wanted to know about her. He set to work immediately.
‘Nurse Angles. Hey, Nurse Angles!’ He tried not to shout too loudly but he needed to get her attention. Trying to catch up with the busiest woman on earth while negotiating walking with a prosthesis was no easy task.
‘Come on, baby, walk with me if you’ve got to talk – I’ve a long list of stuff to do.’ She didn’t even look up from her clipboard but he knew he had her attention.
‘OK, OK! Basically, I need to ask a favour. Well, two actually. Firstly, I need an A3 sheet of paper and a thick black pen. Secondly, I need you to stick what I’m going to write on said paper with said pen to the inside of Alice Gunnersley’s curtain.’
Immediately she started to shake her head. ‘Oh, no no no! What the hell are you up to? I can’t be shoving things in patients’ faces without permission! Plus, we’ve only just got her talking and cooperating. I’m not doing anything to jeopardize that. You know better than this, Alfie.’
‘But she’s asked me to do it … kind of.’ Technically that was a lie, but he knew some things were worth taking a riskfor. ‘And you know there’s no way she’ll let me inside her cubicle! Please, Mother A. I know how much this will cheer her up.’
She stood there for a moment, clearly thinking carefully about her answer. Alfie hoped that she could see how important this was to him. How important this would be for Alice. Suddenly a noise erupted from her trouser pocket; she was being beeped.
‘I have to go. Look, if I say yes and this turns out to be one great big mistake, I will make your life hell on this ward, Alfie Mack. You do know that, right?’
Oh, he knew. He knew that Nurse Angles meant every single word.
‘I know that, and I also know this won’t be a mistake. I promise you that.’
‘Fine! I’ll get you the paper and pen, and then leave whatever you want me to put up on the desk.’ She patted him on the cheek and sped off to deal with the ever-growing list of demands being thrown at her.
‘Remember, it needs to be put there overnight so she sees it in the morning!’ He didn’t want to push his luck but it was an important part of the plan.
‘Jesus, Alfie, the things I do for you,’ she called back over her shoulder.
His bubble of excitement was quickly followed by a sharp pang of nervousness.
