‘Perfectly. Which was a pleasant coincidence, being as they were both from entirely different shops. I got the dress from...’
As Lydia continued talking, Gemma lifted one leg and leaned over a tad more, her fingers brushing against the boxes of pastels. She almost had them, but just as she gripped the stack with her fingers, she felt the stool give way beneath her, and for a millisecond she stay suspended against the shelf, her fingers now gripping the wooden edge before she felt herself plummet to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Opening her eyes, Gemma blinked against the bright lights above her as a pain so intense it made her feel nauseous pierced her skull. Where was she? What had happened? The last thing she remembered was falling off the stool in Lydia’s classroom. She didn’t even remember hitting the floor.
‘Gemma, it’s okay. You’re in the hospital. Do you remember taking a tumble?’ Lydia’s voice filled the room.
Nodding, Gemma winced as the pain pulsed. Slowly, she turned to face her colleague. ‘I hit my head?’
‘You did. You gave us all quite a scare. You were out unconscious for what felt like forever. Bertie rang the ambulance, and here you are in hospital.’
‘Oh,’ Gemma closed her eyes against the bright lights. ‘I didn’t get those pastels.’
Lydia chuckled beside her. ‘The pastels fell down with you. You must have dislodged them.’
‘That’s something, then.’ She whispered as the world went quiet around her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When she woke up again, the pain wasn’t as intense. Still there, but significantly better, and the bright lights didn’t make her feel as though she had knives stabbing into her skull anymore. She turned towards where Lydia had been sitting, only to see that the chair was empty. Listening, she picked out voices on the other side of the blue curtain pulled around her bed. It sounded as though someone was having an argument; voices were raised, words being spoken far too loudly for a hospital ward.
‘This is Mr Higgs, the school’s headteacher. Gemma’s boss.’ Lydia’s calm voice wafted through the curtain.
Momentarily forgetting the pain she was in, Gemma sat upright, wincing slightly as the pain intensified. Jonathan? He was here? Lydia was saying as much. She must be talking to a nurse or a doctor.
‘I’m sorry, as I’ve said, we don’t allow visitors in Accident and Emergency. We’re crammed as it is. Lydia, isn’t it?’ The voice paused, presumably waiting for Lydia to nod in agreement. ‘She came in the ambulance with your staff member. We simply can’t let anyone walk in and see the patients. Family, only I’m afraid.Or whoever has accompanied them in the ambulance in this case.’
‘She’s not just my staff member; she’s my partner. We’re seeing each other.’ Jonathan’s voice was low, authoritative, but Gemma could hear.
Taking a sharp intake of breath, Gemma froze. He’d said they were together. She gripped the thin blue blanket covering her and listened as the conversation played out.
‘Oh, I apologise. I wasn’t aware. Go on through.’
With her heart hammering in her chest, Gemma watched as the curtain was drawn and Jonathan hurried towards her before sitting in the chair and taking her hand in his whilst he gently tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. ‘Gemma, are you okay? Of course, you’re not okay. You wouldn’t be here if you were. I should never have agreed for everyone to come into school today, and I should never have asked you all to take an audit. If I hadn’t...’
She looked down at their hands, now clasped together, before meeting his gaze. ‘You didn’t ask anything of us; we offered, and it was my own stupid fault for not using a ladder.’
‘Are you okay? Does it hurt much?’ He searched her face, his eyes resting on what she assumed was an almighty bruise forming on her temple.
‘I’m okay.’ She whispered as Lydia perched on the end of her bed. Jonathan didn’t seem fazed by the fact that he’d just told the nurse they were together. And the way he was holding her hands, he didn’t even seem worried that Lydia was watching.
‘So, you two are an item?’ Lydia frowned as she looked from Gemma to Jonathan and back again.
‘I...’ Words failed her. She had no idea what was happening. She wanted nothing more than to have Jonathan by her side, to tell the world that they were in fact an item, but after theirconversation earlier, they’d both agreed it was safest not to act upon their feelings.
‘Gemma, I know we said we shouldn’t be together because of work, but I don’t care anymore. I can’t walk past you every day, talk to you as a neighbour or a colleague; I can’t pretend I don’t feel the way I do. I’ll quit my job before I go back to how things were again. I just can’t do it.’
‘Really?’ Gemma gripped his hands tighter, the warmth from his skin soothing the nerves in her stomach.
‘If you’ll have me.’ Jonathan gave a small, sheepish smile, seemingly suddenly unsure of himself.
‘Of course. You know I feel the same way.’ She leaned forward as he dropped her hands to the bed and tucked his finger beneath her chin, tilting her head back as their lips met. Closing her eyes, she felt the world disappear around them. For those few seconds, it was just her and him, and in that moment, she realised that it was futile to pretend they didn’t feel the connection between them. He was right; they needed to be together, and they’d face the consequences together.
Slowly leaning back, Jonathan kept his eyes on her and smiled.
Lydia cleared her throat, reminding them both that she was still there and had witnessed everything. ‘Well, it’s about time you both gave in and acted on your feelings. We had bets on how long it would take you both, you know.’
