‘Kate, hi,’ she starts. ‘Sorry to spring this on you...’
‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, alarmed.
‘I wasn’t sure if you’d want to know but he told me to call you. Vince has had an accident—’
‘Oh, God!’ I cry out.
‘It’s okay. It’s a head injury—’
‘What? Is he going to be all right?’ Immediately I start to tremble. I turn away from Fergus, suddenly not wanting to be here at all. What does she mean, she’s not sure if I’d want to know?
‘Yes, he is,’ she says calmly.
‘What happened?’ I’m striding along now, and it’s started to rain, suddenly and heavily, but I’m barely aware of anything else.
‘Knocked himself out,’ she explains. ‘Doing some kind of DIY...’
DIY?Vince?
‘He’s conscious now,’ she continues. ‘They say he’s going to be fine but he’s broken his arm and dislocated his shoulder.’
‘This sounds far from fine, Deborah!’
‘It’s okay! We’ve all been taking care of things...’If you hadn’t left him,is the implication,then this would never have happened.And now, as I stride on ahead, leaving Fergus way behind me, she explains that Colin had found him, after hearing frantic barking from inside the house. Not a burst of postman-at-the-door barking, but on and on, alerting help.
At first, Colin hadn’t known what to do. But he knew Jarvis well enough to know something was wrong. And although he’d never have done this normally, he let himself into the house and found Vince unconscious on the floor.
‘Colin thought I’d have your number,’ Deborah added. ‘Vince didn’t take his phone to hospital with him.’
We finish the call. I turn back to Fergus who hurries towards me. All in a rush, I tell him what’s happened, adding, ‘I’m sorry. I just need to be on my own tonight. And I’m going back home tomorrow.’
He nods, understanding. ‘Of course. Look, if there’s anything I can do—’
‘No, there’s nothing,’ I say quickly, wanting more than anything to be on my own now, and for the night to speed by until I can catch the first train back home, to Vince, where I belong.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
‘You needn’t have come,’ Vince says, looking pale, bruised and more than a little shellshocked in the hospital bed. He’s wearing a hospital gown, the kind that look like they’re made out of paper. Although I was as gentle as I could be, he still winced when I hugged him.
‘As if I wouldn’t,’ I exclaim, perched on the plastic chair beside his bed.
‘They’re probably going to release me later. They just want to make sure there are no effects from concussion or anything like that. Brain stuff,’ he says in a jokey voice.
‘Oh, Vince.’ I look at him and place my hand over his. ‘I’ve been messaging Colin. He said adoorfell on you? What were you doing?’
A smile flickers, barely there. ‘Just a little health and safety mishap. Don’t try it at home, kids.’
‘I’m just relieved you’re all right.’ My eyes fill with unexpected tears, and he spots this instantly.
‘Hey, no need to be upset! The drugs have been fantastic and it’s all turned out pretty well.’
‘Has it? Why’s that?’ I ask, startled by his stoicism.
‘After Colin came with me in the ambulance, he went back to the house and hung the door for meandscrubbed the blood off the wall.’
Then we joke about crime scenes and Colin being a hero because humour is the way Vince deals with difficult things. And later, as predicted, Vince is allowed home.
It’s not the home that I’d left. The floral wallpaper has gone –andthe purple bathroom. It’s all been freshly painted and vigorously decluttered, and is virtually unrecognisable as his parents’ house.
