Page 84 of Revive
“That you’ve been shagging her men?” Ginny tilted her chin up, so she could look at him out of the corners of her eyes. “Yeah. I’ve told her.”
“Figures.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s not a surprise you shared that information given you’re her bestie.”
“I am, yes.”
“And am I the reason she’s not made contact with them?”
Ginny chewed over her words for several moments, while Spook watched her. “Will my answer make a difference?” she eventually said.
There was the answer he knew he ought to give, and the God’s honest truth of the matter. “No,” he replied. “It won’t. It won’t change anything.”
Ginny spun him another irritating silence. “Look, I’m not sure it’s the reason, but it’s probably not helping, and despite the fact you hurt her, she cares enough not to come along with a hatchet when you’re obviously not in a good mental state. She’s a nice person, Spook. And sometimes it’s easier to stay away than have to deal with shit.”
Oh, he knew all about that. Probably had a first-class degree in it by now.
“I want to smack you, you know?” she said.
Dani had smacked him the last time he’d seen her.
“But I’m giving you a pass, because honestly, you’re a right train wreck and ultimately, it’s none of my goddamned business. Dani needs to figure shit out with Xane and Luthor, and that’s the truth of the matter.” She gave a huff. “God, and to think when we all first met, I totally had you pegged as the one with their shit together.”
“That was a good mask,” he responded, and it had been. Too bad it had cracked, and no amount of superglue would ever hold it together again. More importantly, he wasn’t interested in fixing it. He was so done with hiding. “Where is she? Where is Dani?”
Ginny mumbled a whole bunch of stuff, most of it irrelevant, but which ultimately ended with, “Why?”
“Bet you a hundred quid that’s where Xane is.”
Ginny looked dubious.
“I’m not wrong.” He knew Xane, and when Xane ran it was always towards the same place. Safety.
“That doesn’t make any fucking sense. They haven’t spoken in like eight months.”
Actually, it made perfect sense. “She’s his safe space, Gin. Xane’s with Dani. And I’m done sitting in this fucking bush. I’m tired, my arse is cold. I really want to wash my hands, and I’m going to see my girlfriend. If that involves the acquisition of a flamethrower to accomplish, then so be it. Do you think I’ll find one in Homebase? They were up the road, right?”
Fuck the universe, and the monkeys on his back. Fuck doubts and shirty hospital staff. He just wanted to be with the woman he loved.
-28-
Spook
Costa Coffee opened early. That was still several hours later than Spook would have liked, but as he and Ginny slurped hot Americanos and munched their way through two toasties apiece and a couple of berry muffins, he counted himself grateful for small mercies. At eight o’ clock, Ginny called the ward. The nurse on duty was super nice, and super helpful, and gave them a reassuring update. “She could well be discharged later today. The consultant will make that decision when he does his rounds.”
“Ask if she’s awake,” he’d prompted.
Ginny had dutifully done so. “The nurse says not yet, but they’ll have given her a sedative as well as a local anaesthetic when they put the shoulder back in its socket, so that’s likely why, and obviously she had a bit of concussion. We don’t need to worry though, she’s not in any danger. Also, she said it was fine if we wanted to visit, but it’s only one person at a bedside at a time, and they only let a limited number of people on the ward at a time.”
“They’re going to let us in?”
“Yes, Spook. You can see your girl, so we can bypass that Homebase trip, and you can stop googling homemade incendiary devices.”
***
“She’s stirred a few times but has been pretty groggy.” The cheerful nurse that had promised they could visit, escorted Spook to Alle’s bedside. Ginny had insisted she’d be fine loafing around in the hospital café and he could find her there once visiting time was over.
