Page 34 of Will You Stay Another Day?
He’s not interested. But he called in.
He’s just a friend. He’s one hot Roman gladiator.
Hardly focusing, she grabbed the nearest cardigan from her wardrobe. As she went back down the stairs, and almost reached the bottom, her right foot stepped onto the hood of Dylan’s anorak that had been left there. The coat slipped against the carpet.
Lili lost her balance.
Went to grab the banister.
But she wasn’t quick enough and gave a shriek as she fell forwards, down the remaining few steps. Arms outstretched, she broke her fall, but her head still smacked down onto the hallway floor. Everything was black. Until slowly it wasn’t. She felt… warm… comfortable, as if in a deep sleep she didn’t want to wake up from. In and out she breathed, her mind empty of doubts and worry and sadness. What a luxury. But gradually, tug, tug, tug, she got pulled away from that melting oasis of contentment. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. The handsome, tanned face of a man leant over her and Lili’s blurry vision focused.
‘Hail Caesar…’ she muttered.
‘Lili? What happened? Lili? Are you okay? You’ve been out of it for a few seconds.’ A touch of panic tinged his voice. What was the problem? She felt quite comfortable.
‘We who are about to die salute you…’
‘Lili, what are you going on about? Does it hurt anywhere?’
Drip by drip, reality found its way in. She blinked rapidly. Who was he? Was she in a public place? She focused on the wallpaper. Why was this man in her house? She glanced sideways. How come she was lying on the carpet?
‘You fell down the stairs,’ he said. ‘Was it far? Does your neck hurt? Your back?’
She tried to sit up.
‘No, just lie flat for a moment,’ he said and got up. He paced the room, then dropped back down again.
Gladiators should mind their own business.
She blinked. Reality flooded her brain. Deep lines were etched into the man’s face and he took out his phone. Dylan. The pie.
‘I’m okay,’ she said and pushed herself up. Sitting, Lili leant against the wall. ‘Seriously. My left hip’s a bit sore but…’ She looked up the stairs, pushing down a gag reflex. ‘Christ, I was lucky. Stupid too. Should have seen your coat. At least it was near the bottom and not at the top.’
‘No, this is on me, chucking it down there, turning up unannounced… Look, let me ring for an ambulance, you need checking over.’
‘No way. Those services… are stretched as it is, with… real emergencies,’ she said, feeling faint for a second. ‘All I need is a glass of water.’
She staggered to her feet and rubbed one of her wrists. Dylan jumped up and led her through to the lounge. How embarrassing. Lili hated a fuss. She’d be fine in half an hour. Dylan gazed at the flowers, the camera and incense before fetching her a drink. Whilst she sipped, he sat down next to her and tapped into his phone furiously.
‘Then let me take you,’ he said and looked up. ‘You blacked out. You were confused when you came around. A rib might be cracked. A&E isn’t far. I just googled and the Royal Cornwall Hospital is just down the road.’
‘But—’
‘No arguments.’ He got up and blew out the incense sticks. ‘Alea iacta est.’
22
The two of them sat in the waiting room. A crooked Christmas tree was up in the corner, with threadbare tinsel, chipped baubles and fairy lights. She hadn’t put hers up last year. This December she would. She couldn’t become like Dad, who’d given up on everything when the divorce had gone through. It’d felt understandable that first year, but after that he only made an effort, with clothes, with going out, with birthdays, with Christmas decorations, if a woman was on the scene and he’d wanted to impress. It made Lili sad that he didn’t think he deserved to make an effort just for himself.
She told Dylan to go back to Tavistock, but he insisted on staying. She’d been through triage and had various tests done to check for concussion, to examine her eyesight, her limbs and torso. And bloods had been taken to determine if a CT scan was necessary. The nurse was satisfied enough not to admit Lili, seeing as she’d walked into the hospital unaided, her confusion had cleared and her hip and wrist only twinged a little. The fall hadn’t covered much distance.
Feeling more like her old self by the minute, she’d started chatting.
‘Tell me about the family business,’ she said to Dylan. ‘Did you and Harry ever want to do something else?’
‘No! We’d been grateful for well-paid jobs whilst friends were struggling to find employment, struggling with bills. And we’d never move away from Devon. Love it here. Love working together – well, speaking for myself, anyway.’ He gave a wry smile.
Lili nodded. ‘I still miss Manchester but would miss Cornwall too if I moved back up north.’
