Page 46 of The Wish
‘It’s complicated, OK!’
‘And you don’t want to talk about it.’
‘It’s not office gossip, Rose.’
Rose is distracted by someone walking towards her. ‘I think that’s about to change. Oh, by the way, he’s here.’
Kelly jumps to her feet. ‘What? Why didn’t you say so?’
‘I just did,’ Rose says, walking away from Kelly’s office towards Alex. Kelly frantically pushes wayward hair from her face and smooths her skirt before sitting back down.
Kelly tries to act casual, looking up as Alex appears in her doorway. He stands staring at her, and she stares back.
‘You can come in, take a seat,’ Kelly says.
‘No thanks, good where I am.’
‘What, standing in the doorway as if you’re just passing by?’
‘Well, I am, just passing by.’
‘On your way to where?’
‘To see Jesse.’
‘This is not on your way.’
‘My mistake, I must have got lost. Have a nice day.’
He turns and walks back the way he came, grinning widely at a colleague who returns the smile. Looking ahead she sees Kelly appear in her doorway to watch the retreating Alex.
‘Was there something you wanted?’ Kelly calls out after him.
Without turning around Alex calls out, ‘Nope.’
The colleague stops beside Kelly and together they watch Alex leave the department.
‘Was that who I think it was?’ she asks.
‘I’ve no idea who that was,’ Kelly snaps back, returning to her chair.
Upstairs in ward 6 East, Mandy sits beside Jesse’s bed, gently playing with her daughter’s fingers, trying to mask the agony that tightens her chest every time she looks at Jesse’s pale, tired face. Today, her hands are colder. Her breathing is more strained. The decline is undeniable, and Mandy feels the weight of it pressing in.
Across the bed, Sam enthusiastically lays out his latest drawings for Jesse. They spread them out on the bed between them along with two poems Mandy has written.
Jesse reads one slowly, her eyes lingering on each word. She sinks back into her pillow, moved, though she says nothing. Mandy watches, pretending not to notice.
My darling girl, my heart, my soul,
Through every tear, you make me whole.
Your strength, your smile, your gentle face,
You’ve shown me love and light and grace.
Should time be short, and skies grow dim,
You’ll be my life, my constant hymn.
