Page 73 of The Wish
‘No, come in,’ Alex tells him.
He hears Sarah say to Charlie, ‘I play my music on a different kind of keyboard: show me where to go.’
They all follow Max into the living room where Kelly is waiting.
‘Everyone, this is Kelly,’ Alex says shyly. He points at the others, naming them.
Steve extends his hand to Kelly.
‘Hi, Kelly, I’ve seen your photo, um, on Alex’s computer, last night,’ he stumbles over the words.
‘That doesn’t sound good, I’m almost too afraid to ask,’ she replies with a smile.
‘We met before, right, you were with Alex at the café,’ Sarah says, smiling, winking at Alex.
‘Yes, I thought I recognised you when you came in. Hello again,’ Kelly says, shaking Sarah’s hand.
‘What’s that in your bag?’ Alex asks Sarah.
‘Data tracking module. Thought we could load it directly at the studio later – skip a step.’
‘You shouldn’t have – if Ian notices . . .’
‘Nah, I signed it out as going to the manufacturer for a software update, won’t be missed for a week and I’ll have it back by then.’
Sarah’s taken a risk for him; Alex doesn’t know what to say.
From the kitchen, Max barks.
‘Oh no,’ Alex says. ‘He’s not used to this many people . . .’
But when he gets there, Phil’s already sitting on the floor, handing Max half a slice of pizza. Max sniffs it, then devours it.
‘We broke bread. We’re cool now,’ Phil says, grinning.
Over the next few hours, Alex and his team of mismatched friends work together to make Jesse’s wish come true. There is laughter, music and off-key singing – sounds never heard in Alex’s home. They trip over each other, over cables plugged from one piece of equipment to another. Max finishes off all the half-eaten pizza left in boxes on the floor. At one point, Charlie finds an old virtual reality helmet and puts it on Max who blindly stumbles among them before Alex rescues him. Kelly’s main role is coffee maker – but she’s also quite helpful in giving them a rough timeline of the images of Jesse. Half-empty cups placed on the floor are sampled by Max, who’s having the best night of his life. Kelly and Sarah chat, clearly getting on, they perform a duet together, rolled-up computer magazines improvised as microphones. As they finally finish work, Steve raps his knuckles on the table, and everyone goes quiet.
‘Last one, boys and girls. As soon as this section finishes compiling, we are done, well, this part anyway. The rest will have to be done at the studio, live.’
They all squash together, looking at the one remaining screen. Alex stands behind Kelly. Placing his arms around her waist, he rests his chin on her shoulder, his exhaustion obvious. Kelly leans back against him, surprised and amazed at how natural it feels. Charlie drops into a chair, his stretching cut short by Sarah plonking herself on his lap. Phil walks over to the window and pulls open a curtain a chink. Early rays of sunshine briefly fill the room, but the pained look from Steve tells him to drop the curtain again quickly. Phil joins the others as theyall stare at the image of Jesse outside on the hospital balcony at night. They follow her gaze into the star-filled sky, and the screen goes black.
Kelly breaks the silence. ‘What happens now?’
Everyone looks to her. She’s the only one who doesn’t yet know the full scope of Jesse’s wish.
Alex steps forward. ‘I’ll explain everything. But first – thank you. Steve, Sarah, Charlie, Phil – I don’t have the words. What this means to me . . . toJesse,’ Alex says, his voice breaking.
‘We’re happy to help, in fact we need to thank Steve and you for letting us be part of this. I’m never going to forget what we did tonight. What do you say, Charlie, Sarah?’ Phil says, pumping Alex’s hand before drawing him into a firm hug.
‘Charlie? Sarah?’
They join the embrace.
‘And screw Ian, right?’ Phil grins.
‘Screw Ian,’ they echo.
Sarah glances at Kelly. ‘She really is that sick?’
