Page 85 of A Summer Scandal

She really wished that people would stop shouting. Frowning, she tried to lick her lips to ask them to be quiet but her mouth was too dry to force any sound out. Oh. That wasn’t right. It was no good, she needed to open her eyes and see what was going on.

Cranking one eyelid open, she swallowed painfully, blinking and then opening both eyes to bring whoever was holding her hand and saying her name into focus.

‘Violet,’ a nurse said, adjusting the clip on her finger and consulting a chart. ‘Can you hear me, love?’

Vi nodded, and wanted to say something likeToo bloody well, thank you very much, but then her eyes slid to the other side of the bed, to Cal. He looked awful. Dirty. Why was he so dirty?

She closed her eyes, and then it all came back in one big horrific rush. The pier. The fire. The gates. Oh God, all those people. She tried to sit up but everything ached when she jolted, especially her ankle.

‘Shh, lie down for me Violet, you need to try to rest,’ the nurse said, easing her back against the pillows. She looked at Cal.

‘I’ll leave you two to talk,’ she said. ‘I’ll be at the desk just outside, buzz if you need me and I’ll be right in.’

Cal nodded, kissing Violet’s fingers once they were alone.

‘All those people on the pier, Cal,’ Vi said, voicing her worst fear.

Cal squeezed her fingers. ‘Everyone made it,’ he said. ‘I promise you, everyone is okay.’

‘Even those who jumped?’

He nodded. ‘All accounted for.’

‘Charlie?’

Cal nodded. ‘He’s okay. Smoke inhalation, he’s in a room down the corridor. He’s being kept overnight, but he’s going to be fine, Violet. Everyone is – it’s you everyone’s been worrying about.’

Something hovered on the edge of her consciousness, then it hit her like a hammer blow and her hands flew to her stomach.

Tears filled Cal’s beautiful eyes.

‘My baby,’ she said, her heart cracking down the middle.

‘Is fine. Still there. Tiny, but still there,’ he said.

For a minute, they didn’t speak at all, overwhelmed by the enormity of it. Cal brushed her hair back from her forehead, held her hand. She lifted her other hand and cupped his jaw, wiping a streak of soot from his mouth.

‘I thought I’d lost you. I’ve only just found you, and I thought I was going to lose you,’ he said.

A tear slipped from the side of her eye and he wiped it away with the back of his fingers.

‘Are you tired?’ he said softly, and she nodded, overwhelmed.

‘Close your eyes,’ he whispered. ‘Close your eyes, I’ll stay here with you.’

She squeezed his fingers. ‘Don’t leave me,’ she said, her eyes already drifting down.

‘I won’t. I promise.’

Cal watched Violet sleep. She’d been like a doll in his arms earlier, barefoot in her ballgown, too fragile, too pale. He’d gone to pieces when she’d passed out and his mum had taken charge, getting an ambulance crew to prioritise Violet, staying by his side, asking questions, taking over because he needed her to rather than because she wanted to. He had no doubt that she’d be out there in the waiting room right now, and that she’d still be there come morning if it took that long for him to emerge.

It had been a long time since he’d needed his mum, but he needed her now. He turned as the door opened and the nurse led an older couple in; Vi’s parents, no doubt. They’d been called from the hospital not long after Violet was admitted a few hours back. They must have thrown themselves straight in the car and broken every speed limit to get there so soon. Their expressions reflected his own feelings; pure, naked fear.

They barely noticed him as he stood aside to let them get close to their daughter, and he backed out of the room unseen, leaving them alone.

‘Mum.’

Cal spotted his mum sitting in the corner of the waiting room, alone amongst the soot-streaked walking wounded from the pier. She looked up at the sound of his voice, then stood and picked her way over to him near the doors.

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