Page 36 of All the Right Words
‘At home. I had a feeling I should cancel my last meeting, thank God. Well, anyway…’ Harper said, trying to wrap the conversation up. Gina had to be released from this hellish social interaction before there was no coming back from it.
But Gina wasn’t letting the call end. ‘Who’s with you? Anyone?’
‘I live alone.’
‘Did you make a stop at the chemist for hydration stuff?’
Harper was embarrassed. ‘That didn’t occur to me.’
‘Right, I’m going to text you my mobile number. I want you to text me your home address, and I’m gonna be there with supplies as soon as I can.’
Harper was horrified. ‘What?! Gina, no! There’s really no need.’
‘Harper, we got poisoned together. It’s a foxhole type situation. We’re both in it now. Just text me that address and sit tight. So to speak.’
Harper didn’t know how to handle this. She wasn’t used to being taken care of. She did everything herself. She always had. But something about Gina’s tone she couldn’t refuse. ‘OK,’ she said shakily.
‘Be there soon,’ Gina said and hung up with a sharp crack of the phone.
The mobile number came within a minute, and Harper texted the address. There was no response. Harper assumed Gina was busy heading for the chemist and didn’t have time for niceties.
That’s when she realised there was a slight problem. She was trapped on the porcelain, locked in battle with volcanic diarrhoea. How was she going to let Gina in?
She was still trying to figure that out twenty minutes later when she got a call from Gina’s phone.
‘Hi,’ Harper said.
‘You still in the bathroom?’
‘Yes. Look, I can’t actually come to the door, so I don’t think you should-’
‘I’m already here,’ Gina told her. ‘That’s why I’m calling. I’m just going to sit in the hall and wait. Do what you have to do, and I’ll be waiting. I’ve got hydration sachets, a lot of water and chicken soup. You need the plainest stuff right now.’
‘Gina, it’s so kind of you to bring all that, but you can’t… You’re just gonna sit in the hall?!’
‘Yep. I might watch some Netflix.’
‘You could leave the stuff at the door?’ Harper suggested.
‘Someone might take it.’
‘I don’t think anyone is gonna steal hydrations packets.’
‘I don’t have that kind of faith in humanity, I’m afraid,’ Gina said with a smile in her voice. Right then, Harper started to feel glad she’d come. It was a very kind gesture, and Harper was not too used to those. Coming from icy Gina, it held extra meaning.
Harper wiped some sweat from her forehead. ‘OK, I’ll try to speed up the process.’
‘Don’t rush it. Seriously. I’m good out here. I’ve got coffee and everything. I didn’t get you one because of the caffeine. It would only parch you further.’
Harper was amazed to hear herself laugh. ‘I’m not complaining. OK, hang tight. I’ll get there soon.’
They said goodbye, and Harper felt movement again. She braced herself for the next wave. But after it was over, ten minutes went by in peace, and Harper started to think she might be safe to get up.
She got up, bleached the ever-loving Christ out of the toilet, washed her hands and headed for the door. And then veered off to the bedroom. She looked in the mirror. Sweet Jesus, what sweat could do to you. She ran a quick brush through her perspiration-tangled locks, cleaned her face and applied basic makeup. She wasn’t sure why. She was supposed to look like dog shit; she’d just bequeathed half her body weight to a Saniflo. But she couldn’t let Gina see her like that. Gina was always perfectly put together.
Harper opened the door at last, and Gina fell backwards into the flat, her coffee somehow still held aloft as she lay flat on her back. ‘Why thehelldid I lean against the door?’ she muttered to herself. Harper took the coffee from her and helped her to her feet. Gina took back the coffee and had a sip, her poise quick to spring back in place.
‘Thanks.’ Gina grabbed a bag from the hall and walked back in. She gave Harper an examining look. ‘Where’s your kitchen? I think you need to hit the sachets first.’ Harper knew pretty quickly that whatever she’d been able to achieve with five minutes of coiffing had been found wanting.
