Page 87 of Cuts Like An Angel: Part 3

Chapter Thirty-Five

Rosie

Every car got in front of them and slowed them down. Every light, infused with the need to make them halt, turned to red the moment they approached. Mark skimmed a few of them, creating near misses, but Rosie paid no mind to the cars around them. The darkness was thick, pressing in, taking the air from her lungs as she tried to sit still in the passenger seat.

“He’ll be okay,” Mark said, hand on her hand. A reassuring touch. This was karma wasn’t it? She’d lied to William. No. Not lied, but not told him things. She’d hidden things from him. Hidden things that would make him upset, make him think she didn’t care, and now God, or Karma, or whichever bitch had done this, had done it to teach her a lesson.

Want to know what it feels like to lose William? This was it, her slap from the world for tempting fate with shit.

Why?

“They said he was going straight to surgery. He can’t be okay if he’s going to surgery. He can’t.”

Another squeeze from Mark’s hand, his other firmly gripping the wheel. “He will be.”

No. He had to be. There was nothing else without him. She closed her eyes. “God, hold on. Please hold on.”

“He’s strong,” Mark said, not exactly sounding convincing, or maybe that was Rosie wanting to hear the doubt in his words.

“I know. I just …”

The world was going to take him away from her, wasn’t it? Maybe not because she’d not told him things, but because of all the dreadful things she’d wished would happen to his mother. She’d wished the very person who brought him into the world …. Oh god.

“Maria.” If it was even possible, her heart pounded harder in her chest. “She needs to know. She’s his …”

“We’ll assess,” Mark said, sounding too damn calm, “We’ll get an update on him and then I’ll go to see her if I have to. Okay? I’ll make sure she’s okay.”

“She won’t have it. She won’t have me there; she won’t have you.”

Mark shrugged. “It’s me or no one. Almost there.”

The lights from the hospital couldn’t come into view fast enough. Cars came and went, got in the way. Rosie wanted to scream at them to move, but she knew once she let that lid off her emotions, there was no way of getting it back down again.

Mark pulled into the Accident and Emergency carpark of the hospital.

“I’ve got to pay for a ticket. You go in.”

Rosie nodded. It was all she could do. Her legs were jelly when she got out of the car, her mind a whir of noise.

“I’ll catch you up.”

Her legs wouldn’t move fast enough. As she pounded the stairs, it was like in a dream when you try and run away, and just can’t get the power. Every step was like wading through thick, viscous mud. She heaved, tripped a little and let out a small cry when she caught herself, grazing her hand on the top step.

The A&E department was guarded by security. An ambulance was parked outside, and for a second, she thought that might be the one with William in it, but no. The hospital had called her. He was in surgery already.

One man stood to the side with a policeman beside him. Their hands joined with handcuffs. Someone else sat in a wheelchair, a round bowl in front of them, and then there were two people in queue.

“Excuse me,” Rosie said after stepping around the people and getting to the counter, “I’m here for Will--”

A woman tapped her on the shoulder. “There’s a queue you know. Wait your turn.”

“I know, I just need …” She looked towards the receptionist, hoping for help and seeing nothing but annoyance in the woman’s eyes.

“You have to wait,” she looked past Rosie. “Next.”

Rosie breathed hard, but her chest was a ball of anxiety, pushing against her ribs. Her bones felt like they were shaking. Like every part of her had suddenly gone soft and she had no way to hold herself back together. She got to the back of the queue. Of course, another person had joined the line. A man who stank like he hadn’t showered in years. His clothes were dirty, his hair greasy, and his face was covered in blood. Rosie stayed back from him, but not too far. She didn’t want anyone to think there was enough space for them to stand and take her spot.

“Still here?” Mark said.

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