Page 150 of Waiting for Ru
Ru nodded. He was crying now and he wiped the tears from his cheeks. “It’s been a secret. Now his brother knows. I’m scared for Jasim.”
“Do you want to see him?”
Ru sucked in a shaky breath. “Please.”
When the doctor led him to Jasim’s bed, Ru smothered his cry of distress. Jasim looked smaller, not big and powerful anymore. His skin was pale and he was so still. There was a tube up his nose, another in his arm and he was connected to machines with wires and stickers. Ru wrapped his arms around himself to try and stop shaking.
“It’s okay,” the doctor said quietly. “All this is just to monitor how he’s doing. We get constant information about his heart rate, blood pressure and breathing.”
Ru nodded.
“Sit down and talk to him. He might be able to hear even though he seems unconscious. Your voice will reassure him.”
Ru dropped down onto the chair next to the bed and put his hand on Jasim’s. “It’s me. We won the game.Youwon the game. That was a brilliant last goal. Except you managed to get kicked. That wasn’t so good and you’re in Bournemouth hospital. You got to fly in a helicopter. I’ve never… Well, you’ve probably flown in them loads of times. They had to operate on you because bits of you broke, but you’re going to be fine. All you have to do is lie there getting better because… Because youhaveto get better. I need you to get better. I’ll help you. I can wait on you hand and foot.” Ru glanced around. “And other bits. But you have to get well first.”
He pressed his cheek to Jasim’s hand. “The game was brilliant. I can remember every detail.”
Ru talked and talked until he was hoarse. No one came to tell him to move, so he stayed where he was when the lights went down.
Ru jerked upright when someone shook his shoulder.
“I have to ask you to leave now,” a nurse said. “You can visit again tomorrow after nine.”
Ru kissed Jasim’s cheek. “I’ll come back first thing.”
He made his way out of the ward and returned to the chapel. The prayer room was empty and he sat on the floor. After he’d texted Leigh and Paolo that Jasim hadn’t yet woken, he curled up, thinking furiously. Was there a way of stopping Waqas taking Jasim out of the country? Someone he could appeal to? Not the police. Someone more important?
Ru began to google.
At nine the following morning, Ru headed towards Jasim only to face an empty bed. His knees went from under him and he collapsed. Two nurses came to his side and helped him to a chair. They were talking to him, but all Ru could do repeat “Jasim” over and over.
“He’s been moved. He’s fine,” one of the nurses said, and Ru swallowed his sob.
Jasim was in a private room and still sleeping when Ru crept in. The tube was out of his nose, but liquid was still being drip-fed into his arm.
Ru settled in the chair. “I’m back,” he whispered and took hold of Jasim’s hand. He squeezed his fingers but there was no response. “I’ll chat to you again. If you want me to shut up, then wake up and tell me to zip it.”
He talked to Jasim about Joni and Cookie, how splitting them up had gone better than he’d thought, except Cookie seemed to have made another good friend so maybe she was the sort of horse that needed companionship.
“Maybe you ought to sell her,” Ru said.
“You!” a man snapped and Ru turned to see Waqas in the room. “I said you were not to see him.”
“I’m worried about him. I’m allowed to worry about him.”
“I’m going to get you removed.”
Ru rose to his feet. “Why are you being so unkind? You can’t dictate who your brother can be friends with.”
“You’re not his friend. You’re my brother’s lover. You’re an abomination.”
Something hardened inside Ru then. “An abomination who saved your daughter’s life. You said I had your undying gratitude. That didn’t last long, did it?”
Waqas’s mouth tightened.
“We’re all people. We all live, work and play on the same planet. Last night, you and I both prayed in the same room. We both wanted the same thing. For Jasim to get better. We still want that. I won’t let you take him back to Saudi Arabia.”
Waqas laughed. “If I wanted to, do you really think you could stop me?”
