Page 53 of Seashells at The Summer Hotel Lovely Bay
Ella narrowed her eyes. ‘How was that? It must have been scary. I can’t imagine it.’
‘It was okay, actually.’
‘Really! What was it like?’
Nina contemplated for a second and her mind flicked back to the hospital in Bangkok. With hindsight, she realised it had been fantastic. The facilities were first-class and the care was unprecedented. ‘The thing is, it was actually, dare I say it, possibly better than what would’ve happened here. I don’t know. I don’t want to say bad things about our healthcare system, and of course, I was paying upfront, or more the travel insurance company was, but yeah, it was great.’
‘Wow, I suppose it makes sense.’
‘Who knows if it had been something worse, though, whether or not I’d be saying the same thing. I had influenza. It wasn’t as if I had a heart transplant…’
‘True.’
‘Just goes to show you that you need to have insurance for everything these days, doesn’t it?’ Ella said with a bit of a laugh. ‘I was just saying to my mum the other day about how expensive good insurance is. The next day she was turning off a main road, and as she turned right, a person pulled out, also turning right, and clipped the back of her car.’
‘Oh no, that doesn’t sound good.’
‘Nope, anyway, it all ended up in a disaster because the other guy wasn’t insured. If she hadn’t been fully insured, it would’ve been a nightmare.’
‘Yes, you always need insurance, unfortunately,’ Nina said.
‘You do.’
‘I don’t want to be in the predicament where I need to use insurance again, that I can say with certainty.’
‘How are you feeling now?’
‘Okay, apart from being tired twenty-four-seven. I’m going to bed super early and getting up late. I suppose that’s just part of it. The doctor said it could take a good three months.’
Ella wrinkled her nose. ‘I guess so.’
‘Anyway,’ Nina said, batting her hand in front of her face, ‘enough about me, what’s been going on with the sale of the hotel?’
‘Not a lot. I’ve been emailing Jill about the price, but she’s not going to budge by the looks of it.’
‘Oh, right.’
‘Part of me thinks it’s hardly worth my time. I shouldn’t say that now I’ve got you here,’ Ella noted.
‘It’s fine,’ Nina replied. ‘I wanted to come along for the ride. I’m glad to be out in the real world again.’
‘I bet.’
‘So, Jill’s still got the same position on the price?’
‘Yeah.’
‘It’ll never sell like that.’
Ella shook her head. ‘I don’t suppose she cares, though, to be quite honest. I mean, it’s not as if this place has got a mortgage on it or anything, and she inherited a large portfolio from her aunt, so she’s probably not that concerned. I guess you wouldn’t be in her position, would you?’
‘No, true. It's a shame it’s sitting here empty, almost like it’s wasting away.’
‘Yeah, yeah, anyway, so what were these people like who came to see it? I’ve spoken to them on the phone.’ Ella asked. ‘They seem nice.’
Nina smiled as she recalled showing the two women around The Summer Hotel. ‘Umm. I’m not really sure how to explain what they were like.’
Ella looked confused. ‘What does that mean?’
