Page 80 of Revive
“Hey, tough guy.” She clasped his head and turned him to face her. “She’s going to be okay. Do you hear me?”
“You don’t know that, Ginny? Why aren’t they telling us anything? If she’s okay, why can’t I see her?”
Her arm wrapped around his shoulder and tugged him against her. The pose was awkward. He was tall, and she was short. Also, her shoulder was bony. It dug into his cheek. “I expect someone will come and tell us something soon. Better the doctors are in there with her, right, than out here gassing with us?”
Maybe.
Another hour passed before anyone came to speak to them.
“Relatives of Allegra Hutton?”
“Friends,” Ginny replied to the woman Spook assumed to be the doctor on duty. “He’s her boyfriend.”
“I see,” said doctor replied, having given him a thoroughly snooty once over and clearly decided he was a maggot.
“Can I see her, please?”
“Oh! No, I’m afraid not. It’s relatives only. We’re operating on a policy of limited access to the wards. And it’s also very late.”
“Yes, but—” Ginny began, only to be cut off by the doctor drawing their attention to a poster displaying the hospital’s visiting policy, of two named visitors maximum, one at a time. Relatives only, and seriously limited visiting hours. “Will you at least tell us how she is, then?”
“Has she come round?” Spook asked. “Is her collarbone okay?”
“Her collarbone is fine. The left shoulder was dislocated but has been reset. There’s a lot of localised bruising.” The doctor paused, gave him a particularly cold look, before turning her attention back to Ginny.
Ah, okay, he got it. This wasn’t his first rodeo. He’d experienced similar snap assessments before, and therefore recognised all too well what the signs meant.Lots of localised bruising, not all of which could be explained by the fall.That was the full sentence.
He’d be lucky not to end the night with cuffs around his wrists. God knows, they’d obviously thoroughly examined her, and this woman at least had drawn very definite conclusions.
And yet, that wasn’t being mentioned. Highly suspicious.
“Is she conscious? You still haven’t said,” Ginny repeated his question.
“Ms Hutton has shown flashes of wakefulness. However, we’ve given her pain medication and a sedative. It’s best she rests. And while the CT scans haven’t shown any indication of a skull fracture, she does have concussion. We’ll be monitoring her until we’re certain she’s in no danger. In the meantime, I’m going to have to ask you both to leave. By all means, give your contact information to reception. They can let you know of any developments, though really our first point of contact will be her next of kin. I assume that’s not either of you.”
It wasn’t, but it hardly seemed worth mentioning that fact. Were Alle’s records even up to date? She probably still had her father listed.
“We can see her tomorrow, right?” Ginny asked as the woman herded them towards the doors.
“Sorry, relatives only. I really do need to ask you to leave.”
Spook’s fist clenched.
Ginny clamped her hand fast around his wrist and dragged him down the corridor. “Drama won’t help anything, Spook. Also, the appearance of an arsehole still doesn’t make this a sign from the universe. The thing about arseholes, is they’re everywhere.”
“I want to see her.”
“And we will. Just not right now.” Several members of staff were casting him stink-eyes.
He didn’t precisely remember what came next.
-27-
Spook
Sometime later, Spook came to under a hedge, sodden with dew and his own exhaustion, weepy, yet bereft of tears. Shivers wracked his body, and his palms stung. There was all sorts of muck under his fingernails. Someone was petting him like you would an animal or a small child, their hand gliding over the hair on the back of his head in endless soothing repetitions.
“Are you back with me?” Ginny asked when he opened his eyes.
