The other paramedic smiled at her while he continued to assist his colleague. ‘There’s only one near here. And if he doesn’t know, he’ll call back.’
‘Is it okay if I go too? I’m Tom’s neighbour. But I only came down here yesterday. What’s the hospital called, please?’
‘Poppleton District General. It’s ten miles away.’
‘Thanks. I’ll go and get my car once you’ve gone and I’ve locked up.’
‘We won’t be long now.’
Lara didn’t want to watch, so she sat on a chair near the window and looked outside. It was raining again, but not as heavy as earlier and she watched as raindrops trickled down the pane.
Why did her cheeks feel wet?
Lara realised she was crying.
She quickly wiped her eyes. Tom would be fine. The paramedics didn’t seem overly concerned. Or was that just the way they always behaved in emergencies? But they had said Tom had a strong heartbeat and he’d just had a bump to his head. Didn’t they? She wasn’t really sure now what they had told her. But Tom would be fine. He had to be.
She owed him a pie and a pint.
Why hadn’t she called round sooner?
Why hadn’t she raised the alarm the minute she had that niggling feeling?
Why hadn’t she been there for Tom when he needed her?
She had asked herself similar questions fourteen years ago.
Why hadn’t she gone with her parents that morning to help supervise the addition of some last-minute decorations in the ballroom of the hotel where her birthday party was being held?
Better yet, why hadn’t she told them that the room didn’t need any more decorations?
Why had she wanted to meet up with her friend next door for coffee instead?
Why hadn’t she asked her parents to stay home when they heard adverse weather was coming in?
Why had she ignored that niggling feeling she experienced when she awoke that morning?
Lara had lost everything that day.
The day she received the devastating news that her parents had both died instantly in a multi-car pile-up on the motorway.
The day of her sixteenth birthday.
And she hadn’t celebrated a birthday since.
If anything happened to Tom…
