‘I mean, it won’t be for a while. We’re off to the Falklands.’ He kept his eyes trained on her. ‘But when I get back, I’ll look you up. Is your number in the phone book?’ He spoke with confidence, as if the policeman wasn’t present.
‘Yes.’ She gave a small nod and winced as the movement hurt her cheek, her eye, her lip, her jaw. ‘Brett. We’re on Church Lane, Broadhaven.’
‘Got it.’ He stared at her face, as if taking her in for the last time, this stranger who had saved her, saved Tony. ‘I hope your friend’s okay.’
‘Me too,’ she managed.Please let him be okay!Mentally she offered up the prayer.
He smiled broadly, knowingly, and her heart, despite being encased in sorrow, gave a little squeeze.
‘See you in a bit,’ he said softly, and then he was gone.
‘See you in a bit,’ she whispered.
‘Now, what have we got here?’ A medic appeared and dropped down on to the pavement, shining a light towards her face. ‘What’s your name, lovey?’
‘Remy.’
‘And how old are you?’
‘Twenty. We’re twenty.’
‘Right, Remy, have you been drinking?’
‘No.’
‘Have you taken any substances that it would be useful for me to know about?’
She thought of her mother and their drugs conversation earlier,before ...her gut bunched at the thought of the conversation they were going to have. And who would tell Tony’s mum?
‘No.’
‘Where are you hurt?’
‘Everywhere.’ This the truth, as her body and mind caught up and she replayed the horror of what had happened. ‘Can I go and see my friend? I need to be with him.’
‘We’re taking you to the hospital now.’ As he spoke a second ambulance appeared and with the help of the medic and the policeman she stood on shaky legs, and they guided her towards it.
The ambulance made its way through town as she lay on the gurney, strapped in, staring at the ceiling. A strange and uniquemode of transport that she had often thought about, wondering what it might be like to be ensconced in the back of one. They had given her something for the pain, which curiously didn’t stop it, but rather muted it, made it less acute, and she certainly cared less about it.
Her shivering was so intense her teeth chattered. The kindly paramedic tucked the blanket around her, but Remy knew it was not only an issue with temperature that caused her tremors. It was something harder to explain, something that had happened deep inside of her. Her core, shaken. Her belief in human nature, shaken. Her faith, shaken. Her optimism, shaken. It had taken mere minutes for her to understand that she now lived in a different world, a dangerous world, undermining all she had thought she could rely on. This in turn induced such fear that she shook some more.
She had lost track of time; they might have left home minutes ago or hours. How long were they on the ground? How long did they kick him for?
Tony . . .
And then more tears at the memory of the one word that had changed everything,Oi!The noise like a burst of gunfire in her brain,Oi!And still so loud.
‘Can I see him?’ she asked, as they ferried her into a small anteroom in the bustling casualty department.
‘Not right now.’
One of the paramedics patted her good shoulder as he pushed the trolley beneath the row of strip lights, so bright they were an affront to her eyes. Having been wheeled into position, she was transferred to a narrow, raised bed, wary of getting blood or dirt on to the pristine white sheet that covered it. She felt embarrassed to be so grubby. The medics clearly didn’t have the same concern, and positioned her, shoes and all, on to the bed, before laying a clean,soft, wool blanket over her. ‘We’ll leave you now, but you’re in good hands. Someone will be here in a little bit to get you fixed up.’
‘Thank you,’ she murmured, feeling like she might fall off the bed and aware of a wooziness that made her feel nauseated. It would only be in hindsight that she would regret not thanking them more profusely for the job they did, the help they had given and all they had done to care for Tony.
Tony . . .
A nurse came in, older, busy, distracted.
