At one point, Sophie went to get a glass of water and catch her breath and took the opportunity to text Tom under the table.
Your sister is shouting an order for sex on the beach
A laughing emoji came back fast enough to suggest that Tom hadn’t let go of his phone since their last stolen communication.
Hope you’re having as much fun as she is.
I’d rather be out with you. How good is your dinner?
So far, my favourite was the heritage tomatoes with burrata espuma and basil oil. Think mega-posh insalata caprese. You’d love it.
I want to be in Italy already. On our honeymoon.
Me too.
I can’t wait for tomorrow.
Me too. Love you.
Sophie was adding heart emojis to her echo of his words when the phone was snatched from her hands.
‘Oh, my God, Soph – you’re texting Tom?No!’ She held the device too high for Sophie to grab it back and finish sending her message. ‘You have to come and dance. This isyourparty.’
Her unsent text was still on her screen when Hannah finally gave her back the phone as the evening was winding down just after midnight. It was high time they went home to rest before the big day tomorrow.
She hit the arrow but blinked a moment later as a red exclamation mark appeared, along with the notification that the message was undeliverable.
Sophie frowned. ‘Why isn’t my text going through?’
‘Tom probably forgot to charge his phone and it’s died. Or maybe he turned it off.’
‘He wouldn’t do that,’ Sophie said quietly.
She wasn’t about to try and identify the unpleasant sensation that shimmied down her spine. She just knew the party was most definitely over. It was past time to go home.
It was Hannah’s phone that rang as they climbed into the black cab. She was staring at Sophie as she listened to the call and, watching the colour drain from Hannah’s face, Sophie had to acknowledge what that strange sensation had been.
A premonition.
Fear.
Hannah leaned forward to tap on the partition screen protecting the driver.
‘Change of plan,’ she called when he slid the little window open. ‘We need to go to St Mary’s Hospital. As fast as you can, please.’
Her voice was only a whisper as she sat back and reached for Sophie’s hand. ‘It’s Tom and Luc,’ she said, her voice cracking. ‘There’s been some kind of accident…’
The chill that started in her neck didn’t simply skitter down the surface of her back this time. It was heading straight for her bones and she knew what this was because she’d felt it before. She knew what was coming and she almost welcomed how overwhelming it was because it was the only possible protection she could find.
The numbing effect was wrapping itself around her. It muted every sense. She barely heard the siren of an ambulance that streaked past them going towards the hospital that everybody knew was one of the major trauma centres in London. The crowded waiting room and the corridors, deeper into the emergency department, were no more than a blur of faceless people and machines being wheeled past. She didn’t register the sharp smell of antiseptic or the metallic notes of spilt blood. Even the words being spoken by the doctors were almost incomprehensible.
‘Catastrophic injuries…’
‘I’m so sorry for your loss…’
‘You can have as much time alone with him as you need…’
The slivers of pain that managed to slice through the numbness were the memories that Sophie would keep forever.
