Page 35 of Good Sisters

I picked Robert up gently and held him to me. ‘You poor boy, what a shock. We’re going to find a doctor to look at your arm and make you all better.’

He buried his face into my shoulder and sobbed. ‘It hurts really bad, Sophie.’

‘I know, pet, we’ll get you some medicine now to stop the pain.’

Jess followed behind us, tugging at my coat. ‘I never thought he’d fall … It all happened so quickly … I feel so bad.’

I settled Robert in the back seat of the car and turned to Jess. I put my hands on her shoulders. ‘It’s not your fault, Jess. Kids have accidents all the time.’

‘But I feel so responsible,’ she said, starting to cry again.

‘Jess, I need you to be strong now. If Robert sees you crying, he’ll get upset too. I need you to sit beside him in the back and try to distract him. Okay?’

She nodded. I hugged her, jumped into the front seat and got us to the hospital in record time.

I stayed with Robert while he was being triaged, X-rayed and having his arm put in a plaster cast. Jess, meanwhile, got in touch with Jack and filled him in.

A little later, from behind our curtain in A and E, I could hear my husband shouting my name. I stuck my head out and waved him over.

‘Is he okay?’ Jack’s face was pale.

‘He’s fine. He broke his arm and they’ve just finished putting it in plaster. They said it’s a straight break and will heal just fine. Don’t worry.’

Jack stifled a sob and fell on his young son. ‘Hey, buddy. How’s my superman? You poor soldier, that’s bad luck. Is it very sore?’

‘It was suuuuper-sore, Daddy, but it’s okay now.’

Jack kissed his wet cheek. ‘You’re such a brave boy. You’ll have to get all the kids in school to sign your plaster. You’ll be the king of the class with that. Now, you can have anything you want for dinner – you can have pizza or McDonald’s or just a big plate of sweets if you want.’

‘Can I? For real?’ Robert’s eyes widened.

‘Absolutely.’

I nudged Jack and pointed to Jess, who was sitting quietly in the corner.

‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ she said, as Jack went over to her. ‘I’m so sorry.’

Jack wrapped her in his arms. ‘Oh, Jess, love, it’s not your fault. You’re the best big sister for collecting him from schooland taking him to the park. Falling is part of growing up. You broke your arm once, remember? On my watch too, and I felt awful. And your triplet cousins were forever breaking bones.’

Jess nodded. ‘That’s true, but I feel it was kind of my fault for pushing him so high on the swing.’

‘I wanted to go higher,’ Robert said.

‘I know, but I should have said no.’ Jess sniffed. ‘I’m your big sister. I should have known it was too high.’

‘Don’t be sad, Jess. I’m okay now,’ Robert told her.

‘I’m so sorry, Robert.’ She was sobbing again.

‘Don’t cry, Jess, I love you.’ Robert hated seeing Jess so upset.

‘It’s no one’s fault, it was just an unfortunate accident. They happen every day,’ Jack tried to reassure Jess.

Before Jess could answer, the curtain was ripped back.

‘What the hell is going on here?’ Pippa shrieked. ‘I’m in work and I get a call from a school mum to say she saw Robert falling to his almost death in the playground and I needed to come quickly. She said some child was looking after Robert. I leave my son with you for one day and he ends up in hospital. What kind of a father are you?’

I was standing closest to Pippa and I could smell alcohol on her breath. Work, my arse. Also, if she’d been so worried about Robert’s fall, how had it taken her three hours to get to the hospital to see her ‘almost dead’ son?

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