Page 76 of The Wish
‘I don’t know, I’ve only just found out myself.’
‘I need to see her; she doesn’t know that we’ve finished the first part of her wish.’
‘I know, and I want you to be the one to tell her, but you have to be patient. She needs to be with her family right now.’
‘But how can she come to the studio and finish what we’ve done if she’s here and can’t leave? And how can we convince Dean to take part when he’s just told me to stay away? Did I take too long to get this far?’
‘Nobody could have done what you did in the time you had Alex. Nobody. Jesse knows that, we all do.’
‘But how can we finish the project, make the wish, if there’s . . .’ Alex can’t finish the sentence. He can’t bear to say that there is no time. It’s too much.
Kelly shrugs. ‘I don’t know. I’m really sorry, but I don’t know the answers right now. We just have to wait.’
They are disturbed by a gentle knock. Sandy pokes her head around the door, takes in the scene, then enters, placing a glass of water on her desk.
‘She’s OK. Mandy panicked when she couldn’t get the pain medication right for Jesse.’
The relief at hearing this has both Kelly and Alex take a step closer to each other before both looking back at Sandy: the chemistry between them obvious to the older woman.
‘Mandy and Dean are settled, Jesse’s feeling good now, and I overheard Mandy telling Sam on the phone they’d both be home soon. Jesse is going to stay the night but should be able to go home tomorrow.’
‘Can I see her?’ Alex blurts out.
‘Well, we’ll see. I’ll have to clear it with Mandy.’
Alex nods. He’s suddenly overcome by a wave of exhaustion. Kelly touches him on the arm, and he stares down into her vivid blue eyes.
‘I have a few things I need to do. But why don’t you wait in the café, and I’ll text you when – and if – it’s OK to see Jesse?’ she says.
Alex nods. He’s so tired, so upset, that he doesn’t trust himself to speak. He mutters thanks to Sandy and leaves her office, making his way down to the café.
Sitting with a coffee and a muffin he has no intention of eating, Alex stares out the window into the garden where he and Jesse first sat together. Around him, doctors and nurses, some in differently coloured scrubs indicating their work in the hospital, others in civilian clothes. There are children and babies here, teenagers, some with attached IV poles and tubes leading into their arms. He focuses on a young boy playing a board game with a couple Alex assumes are his parents, and an older sibling. He looks like any normal boy of nine or ten, dressed in a Spider-Man T-shirt and board shorts. A baseball cap sits on the table beside him: the boy has not one hair on his head. He laughs and slaps his hands on the table. ‘I win!’ he shouts with glee.
A text from Kelly brings Alex back to time and place. He can go to see Jesse. He races out of the café.
Entering the ward, Alex sees Kelly talking to a nurse. He reads her face carefully and notes that she looks calm, is smiling and talking normally. His shoulders relax just a little. He waits to catch her eye, his gaze darting from her to Jesse’s room. When Kelly sees him, she hurries over and pulls him to the side of the corridor. She appears normal. ‘It’s OK to go in. Dean’s not here and Mandy has said it’s OK. Just . . . she might be a little quieter than usual, OK?’
Alex nods. He gets it.
Jesse is the only one in the room, the bed beside hers neat and unslept in. ‘Knock knock,’ he says at the doorway.
Jesse looks up. ‘Alex!’ she says happily. She has a beanie on her head and is connected to an IV. Her eyes seem very bright, and she looks both paler and more fragile than at any other time he’s seen her. Her appearance worries him, but he tries to keep his face neutral as he sits on the end of her bed.
‘Hey, kiddo,’ he says.
‘Kiddo?’ she says, teasingly. ‘You’ve never said that word in your life, have you?’
Alex shrugs and laughs gently.
‘So, what’ve you been doing the last few days?’ Jesse asks playfully.
Alex fiddles with the blanket he’s sitting on. ‘Not much, how about you?’
‘Just hanging out.’
They look at each other for a long moment. Alex doesn’t know what to say next.
‘Kelly told me you tried to visit me earlier,’ Jesse says, rescuing him. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t see you then.’
