Page 39 of Swiping Right (and other disasters)

Once things had settled down and the department was empty, Kiera did a circuit of the public-facing areas to see if there were any other patients who needed help. There, in reception, sitting alone, was Brian. He looked even more worried than he had earlier that morning.

“Brian? Are you ok?” asked Kiera, taking the seat beside him once more. She could see tears in his eyes.

“I’m struggling, love,” he said, apologetically. “Someone said something about a power cut. My Dawn’s been down in theatre for more than two hours now. No one seems to know what’s happening. I’m so scared.”

“Oh, I am so sorry,” said Kiera. “It has been rather a bad morning here. We’ve had a power cut, yes. But we have generators keeping everything going, so Dawn’s surgery will have gone as usual. We’ve had to move staff around because of the changes we’ve had to make today, which may be why you’re struggling to find anything out. Let me look into it for you. Sit tight,” she said, heading towards the operating theatres.

The hospital’s size made it tricky to navigate at times, but Kiera had worked there long enough to track down the giant screen outside the theatres which kept track of the status of all the day’s patients. It was a depressing sight – many of the procedures had ‘cancelled’ written next to them. She quickly found Dawn’s name, and tracked down the right recovery area. Once she’d checked with the senior nurse on duty she returned to Brian to let him know where he needed to go.

“Come on,” said Kiera, “I’ll take you to her. The nurse on duty says she’s a bit groggy but she’s fine. The procedure went well.”

“Oh, thank God for that,” said Brian, his eyes filling again. “I don’t know what I’d do without my Dawn.”

Kiera wondered what would happen if she had to go into surgery, and who might wait for her. Probably Lou. There was a lot to be said for good friends.

“Oh, Dawn,” said Brian. “I’ve been so worried. But it’s so good to see you. You look a bit pale, but pretty good under the circumstances. Sounds like you were lucky to get your op today.”

Dawn gave a weak smile and lifted her hand slightly. Brian sat beside her and held it tight, beaming.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It wasn’t until later that week that Kiera returned to the Jam Pot. She didn’t feel the shame she had before. Seymour looked up and gave her a dazzling smile.

“You look tired but happy,” she said to Kiera. “Did that date go well?”

“Nope. It didn’t happen,” replied Kiera.

Seymour’s face fell slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you ok?”

“I’m good. She did me a favour. Why am I running around after all these women? I don’t need them to make me happy. Like Miley Cyrus says, I can buy myself flowers.” Kiera plonked herself down at the coffee bar and watched Seymour make her favourite coffee. She had long since stopped having to ask for it. “And it’s been quite the week at work. We had to close most of the operating theatres.”

“Oh my, I heard about that in the paper. I guess you’ve been a busy bee.”

“Yeah,” said Kiera. “And it made me see that I’ve been using up so much energy on seeking something new, when there’s plenty already going on in my life, and many more important things to worry about. Honestly, some of the patients we had to turn away were devastated. It was awful.”

“I can only imagine,” said Seymour, frowning. “So, you’re going to plough your own furrow? Well, good for you – does that make me Thelma, or Louise?” Seymour laughed kindly.

“Neither. I’m not going off a cliff for anyone,” said Kiera. “I’m just going to do my own thing.”

“Sounds ideal,” replied Seymour, making herself a black coffee and walking round to sit beside Kiera at the bar. There weren’t any other customers around.

“How was your evening the other night?”

Seymour sighed. “Yeah, fine. Always a bit fraught with that one. But such is life. I guess we all have complicated pasts.”

“That I can attest to,” said Kiera. “I’m still trying to work out how I can sort out my house. My ex-wife isn’t responding to any messages about it, so I can’t sell it or do anything with it. I’m renting it out privately at present, but really I just want to get shot of it so I can get my money and buy myself something of my own.”

“That’s so selfish of her. She really should respond to you, after you shared your lives for so long,” said Seymour, her frown returning.

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no. Nothing. I don’t even know where she is any more. She responded to the divorce stuff by email, but only did the absolute minimum. I’m beginning to think I should have consulted a solicitor. I thought it would be simple because really it was only a couple of savings accounts and the house. Just cut everything in half and away we go.” Kiera kicked at the chair leg. “I was naïve. I can see that now.”

“How could you know? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You trusted her and however misguided that might have been, you didn’t know it at the time.”

“I guess. I’m not sure that trusting people is a good tactic, though. Look at the other night.” Kiera sighed. Seymour opened her mouth to say something, but Kiera spoke first. “In the meantime, I intend to stop getting in my own way. Maybe I’ll meet someone and have a relationship one day, but right now, I cannot be bothered with all the swiping and game-playing. It isn’t worth it.”

“Here’s to that,” said Seymour, clinking her mug with Kiera’s. “No more swiping.” They both laughed.

“What about you?” asked Kiera, desperately wanting the gossip on this complicated woman she was with.

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