Page 14 of Christmas Magic at Inishbeg Cove

‘You all go, I’ll go get you some coffees,’ Faye said as they began walking in the direction of the ward.

‘Are you sure?’ Conor asked, as if only just noticing she was there.

‘Absolutely. I’m sure you could all do with a hot drink.’

‘Thanks Faye,’ he said gratefully.

As she walked down the corridor following the signs to the coffee shop, she thought about the events of that morning. She was so relieved that Kitty was going to be okay. Although a hip fracture and hypothermia were dangerous complications for an elderly person, Faye had no doubt that the Flynn family would rally around Kitty and help her back on her feet again. She had only known this family for a matter of days and they had already been so kind to her, opening their house and hearts to her on Christmas day but she knew this was an emotional time for them all and she didn’t want to intrude. She needed to let them be together right now.

Her trainers squeaked along the rubber floor as she passed old people on walkers and sick people with wan faces in dressing gowns, some wheeling drips along beside them. Trolleys pushed by hospital porters hurried past her. The last time she had been in a hospital was when her grandmother was sick. She thought about the sense of togetherness that the Flynn family displayed, but she had had no support network back then. She had been the only person to sit at her grandmother’s bedside, to hear the prognosis that she wasn’t going to get better. Faye’s father, her grandmother’s only child, hadn’t come anywhere near the hospital. Faye had been the only one there to hold her hand as she gasped her last breath and then she had been left to make the funeral arrangements on her own. She couldn’t believe the route her life had taken since she had left Dublin before Christmas. The whole thing felt surreal. Just a few days ago, she could never have imagined her life taking this turn and yet here she was keeping the Flynn family company at the bedside of their family’s matriarch and it was the only place she wanted to be.

She queued up in the coffee shop and ordered a mixture of soups, sandwiches, teas and coffees. She paid for it and then borrowed a tray to carry it all back to the ward. She knew the Flynns must be starving after their various journeys to the hospital and they would need nourishment.

She located St Joseph’s and made her way down past the cubicles until she reached the curtain at the end where she knew Kitty was.

She heard Margo’s voice from inside the curtain. ‘I see Faye kept you company on the way here,’ she was teasing. ‘Is there something going on between you two?’

Faye couldn’t help but smile. Margo missed nothing. She knew she was going to have to explain things to her boss but what was she supposed to tell her? As Conor had kissed her tenderly the night before it had felt thrilling, every synapse and nerve ending had tingled. As she had lain against his bare chest, it was like she was exactly where she belonged. As he had held her close all night, she had felt safe and secure and never wanted him to let her go but they hadn’t had time to talk about what had happened between them since they had spent the night together.

‘It was just a bit of fun. I don’t think she’s the settling down type,’ she heard Conor reply.

Faye felt everything stop. The noises, the people talking around her, the nurses hurrying past faded into the background until she was left with just his stinging words. Just a bit of fun. That was it. That was how he felt about her. How could she have been so stupid to open her heart to him? She had learnt a long time ago that when you opened yourself up to people, they inevitably let you down. How could she have been so naïve to trust Conor Flynn? She turned, still clutching the tray and left the ward. She kept walking and saw a catering trolley in the corridor. She placed the tray down onto it and then started to run. She needed to get out of there. She tried to remember the way but it felt like she was in a maze of corridors and her head wasn’t thinking straight. She finally found a stairs and she took the steps two at a time until she eventually found herself on the ground floor. Her legs felt as though they might not support her for much longer and her breath was coming quick and shallow. She exited through the revolving door in the entrance foyer and stood outside the hospital building, resting her back against the brickwork and forced herself to pull great heaving gulps of air into her lungs. Damn him anyway. Damn her for being so stupid.

9

Faye fished her phone out of her pocket and began keying the word ‘taxi’ into the search engine but couldn’t find a service provider. She needed to get away from here; she wanted to be as far away from Conor and the Flynn family as she could possibly get.

‘Faye? Are you all right?’ a voice called her from behind.

She swung around and saw him standing there.

‘Is everything okay?’ he continued.

Faye shook her head, too upset to speak. Seeing him standing before her now was an unbearable sting.

‘I thought you were going to get coffees? I came looking for you to give you a hand carrying them back and then I saw you running down the corridor. What’s going on?’

‘I’m going home,’ she said unable to look him in the eye after everything she had heard.

‘Now?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I know you’ve probably stuff to do but if you can hang on a little longer, I’ll be heading back to the village soon and I can give you a lift. I just want to make sure Gran is okay first…’

She shook her head. ‘I’m going back to Dublin, Conor.’

She watched his face crease in confusion and then pain filled his eyes. ‘But why? Has something happened?’

‘I heard what you said to Margo about what happened between us just being a “bit of fun” and me not being “the settling down type”.’

His whole face fell and Faye could tell that he knew what she was talking about. ‘And did you hear what else I said?’

‘I didn’t have to. I heard all I needed to hear.’

She looked down at her phone screen and continued looking for a taxi. ‘Don’t you have FREENOW down here?’ she asked growing impatient.

‘Believe it or not, technology has actually reached other cities beyond Dublin,’ he said sarcastically.

‘Ah there, I found it,’ she said after a beat.

‘Well, if that’s how you feel then maybe I was right!’ He spat angrily. ‘It would never work between us.’