Page 42 of One Perfect Day in Lovely Bay
The traffic cleared again, and they drove on in silence for ages. The motorway felt way too busy and endless as far as Cally was concerned. She kept checking the map on the screen to her left, feeling as if they were never going to get there. After about another hour had passed in excruciatingly slow traffic, Cally's phone buzzed with an incoming call. 'Can you check that? It might be someone from work. I left in a rush. I was halfway through an order out the back.'
Logan picked up Cally’s phone and flicked open the cover. 'It's Nina.’
‘Can you answer? I was going to text her about that evening job tomorrow when we got there.’
Logan answered the call, putting it on speaker. 'Hello?'
'Logan?' Nina's voice came through, sounding worried.
'I'm here, Nina,' Cally called out. 'I'm driving. We're on our way to London.'
Nina sighed. 'I heard what happened. Birdie told me. Are you both okay?'
'We're fine. Just worried.’
'Of course, of course,' Nina said. 'Is there anything I can do?’
‘No. I’m not sure when I’ll be back. I might not make it to that job.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve already thought about that.’
‘Great. Thanks. Sorry if I let you down.’
‘Don’t be silly! If you need anything at all, just shout.'
'Thanks, Nina,' Logan said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘Appreciate it.'
After they ended the call, Logan leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes as Cally slowed down as another gnarly rush hour traffic spot had them almost stationary. Cally gripped the wheel tightly and wished they could be transported to the hospital in any way other than via the horrors of the M25. The whole atmosphere in the car reminded her of the many times she’d made her way to the hospital for her grandma. It had been a very similar scenario when she’d been in the hospice, too. The feeling as if you were about to enter something you had no clue about, at the same time as being racked with emotion.
Logan’s phone trilled. He snatched it up. 'Hello, Mum? Any news?'
Cally watched Logan's face anxiously, trying to gauge the news from his expression. She sat silently with her hands still gripping the steering wheel.
'Okay. Yes, we're about halfway there. The traffic is a joke. Thanks for letting us know.' Logan tapped his phone and put it into the centre console, ran a hand over his face and swore. 'He’s out of surgery but he's not out of the woods yet. He’s going to intensive care now.'
Cally sighed. 'That's good news, isn't it?'
‘Yeah. Yeah, it is. She said they’ve just been told the next twenty-four hours are critical...’ Logan’s voice trailed off.
'Right.’
Logan swore again. ‘I can’t believe this. One minute he’s going off to see the world and now this.’
Cally patted Logan’s hand. ‘It’ll be okay.’ Inside she wasn’t sure if she believed that it would. The horrid inner nagging voice brayed at her.
As they crawled along, silence and tension filled the car. 'Do you want me to drive for a bit?' Logan offered. ‘We can pull in at the next petrol station.’
Cally shook her head. 'I'm okay. It’s fine.’
As they neared London, the traffic began to pick up again, and it finally felt as if they were getting nearer to the hospital. Cally wasn’t big on driving, and considering she’d never ventured very far from home, she wasn’t doing too badly. She kept her eyes glued to the road and waited for the instructions from the speaker as she navigated carefully through the busy streets, following the GPS directions to St. Lucy's Hospital. After taking a wrong turn and going around in circles past an NCP car park for what felt like hours, they finally pulled into the hospital, waited at a barrier and followed a tight road to an underground car park. After locking the car, they hurried into the building, following signs to the intensive care unit, navigated their way through the huge hospital and arrived at a bright and oddly cheerful ICU reception area.
Cally blinked as she took in an overly lit bright pink wall behind the main focal point of a shiny white curved reception desk. The cheerful-looking area felt totally out of sync with how Cally felt. As they waited in a short queue, the smell, the staff, and the lighting made her feel as if she’d zoomed back a few years. As she stepped to the side while Logan spoke, her eyes roamed around the reception area; a sign encouraged donations via text to support the hospital, a bright red bin denoted something serious inside, and various signage above the desk barked instructions and hospital-related information. A couple of friendly-looking staff in bright uniforms bustled aroundbehind the desk, and a few minutes later, Cally and Logan were on their way to an outer waiting room.
As Logan held the door open for Cally, the smell in the waiting room hit her full-on, making her want to gag; a mixture of too-hot yet air-conditioned stale air, cheap coffee, and very stressed people. Cally knew the smell only too well. She’d been part of it many times before. The smell sat alongside a memory she would rather have forgotten. Cecilia, Reg, and Logan’s mum were sitting awkwardly upright on horrid green and purple plastic chairs. Logan’s mum rose as soon as she saw them and gave Logan a tight hug.
'Oh, darling. I'm so glad you're here.'
Logan hugged her back fiercely. 'How is he? Any change?'
