Page 25 of Fit for Love
A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Please. Otherwise we won’t be there before dark.”
I did as she asked and gathered her up, striding across the car park in no time at all. Carefully, I negotiated the doorway, taking care not to bash Cora’s ankle against the frame.
As we entered, all eyes fell on us. There was an audible gasp from one of the ladies waiting to be seen, and she reached into her bag for her phone.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate, do you?” I scolded her, as I placed Cora down. “The last thing we need is some random posting something on social media.”
The woman flushed and dropped the item back into her bag, mumbling an apology under her breath.
Cora sat in one of the free chairs and I went to the reception desk on her behalf.
“Cora Appleby,” I said to the receptionist who was busy trying not to recognise her. “She’s staying with Mal Colten, so isn’t registered here, but she slipped while out running and might have sprained her ankle.” The use of Mal’s name was deliberate. I didn’t always like to play the fame card, but if it got Cora seen rather than sent away to the nearest A&E department then I’d do it every time.
“Right.” The receptionist scanned the screen in front of her, tapping in some information. “I’ll see if I can fit her in with one of the triage nurses or a nurse practitioner. There might be a long wait though. If you want to take a seat?”
“That’s fine, thank you.” I returned to Cora’s side. “They can see you, but it may be a while…”
“I’m not deaf, I heard every word,” she snapped. “You can go now.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Whatever this”—I gestured to her leg—“turns out to be, you’re going to need help getting home later.”
“I can call a cab.”
“With what? I don’t see your phone anywhere.”
Her face fell. “I’m sure they’d let me use the phone here.”
“Forget it, Cora. I’m staying.” I sat down in the seat next to her.
Forty-five minutes later, a nurse appeared and called Cora’s name. She resisted my offer of assistance and instead limped her way down the corridor to the examination room.
In that whole time, we hadn’t exchanged one word, although the people around us whispered to each other in hushed tones. Both of us engrossed ourselves in ancient copies ofVogue, Tatler, What CarandPractical Caravaninstead. Yes, it really was that dull and long a wait.
Less than ten minutes later, Cora came back, still hobbling and clutching a prescription.
I put down the riveting copy ofPractical Caravanand stood up, ready to take her home. “Where do we need to go next?” I asked.
“I need to pick up some anti-inflammatory pills, and some crutches from the other medical centre in town. But I can get someone else to do that. There’s no need for you to do it. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on paying fares because of me.”
Her words stung. Even though I wasn’t directly responsible for her injury, I couldn’t help but think that my actions were a massive contribution. If I hadn’t gone out with Betsey last night, if I hadn’t thrown that in Cora’s face, we wouldn’t be here now.
“I want to help.”
She looked tired, no doubt the shock of everything taking hold. Defeated, she sighed. “Okay, let’s go.”
The visits to the pharmacy and the physiotherapy department took just as long as the wait in the doctors. Cora was adamant that she would do it herself, but it took her twice as long as it would usually. I waited patiently in the car, answering the WW Cabs calls and pretending I was out on a long job, so couldn’t do any pickups in the next hour or so. In fact, once I got Cora home, I was calling it quits on my shift. She needed looking after.
She finally staggered back towards the car, crutches tucked under each arm. “Right, let’s go home.”
I drove back to Bayview House in super-quick time, pulling right up to the door so she didn’t have too far to go.
Cora got out, unlocked the door and started the long journey upstairs. I would bet any money that she hated every one of those stairs on the way up.
Taking the phone from its holder, I punched in the number of WW Cabs control centre. “Rita? Yeah, it’s Ethan. I’m not feeling so great, so I’m heading home for the rest of the day.” The lie came out easily. “I didn’t have any bookings so it was just general pickups. Can you divert the phone back to one of the others? Thanks, love.” I spoke quickly, not giving her the opportunity to argue.
“Okay, Ethan, you look after yourself. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Relieved of my duties for the rest of the day, I focused on making things up with Cora. After everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, it needed to be done. I locked the car and followed her into the house, seeing she had managed to make it to the top of the stairs.
