Page 73 of Light Up
Much as Corey hated hospitals, he wasn’t in a hurry to be released.
The doctor and his team moved on to another patient and Corey struggled to get his head around what was happening. He’d never felt so bewildered in his life.
When a nurse came to help him into the chair at the side of his bed, he asked, “When was I admitted?”
“The night before last.”
But he’d been in the hotel then. Unless he’d been unconscious all that time.I can’t have made it all up.He had a picture of Tal on his phone. That would prove the hotel existed.
He was shocked how hard it had been to just make it into a chair. The room had tilted and he had to fight to keep the piece of toast he’d swallowed in his stomach. He’d wanted to ask the nurse to look for his charger but he’d not been able to speak for a few moments. But at least he was sitting up and that was progress.
When he finally caught the attention of another nurse, he asked him to look for his charger. Corey somehow hadn’t expected it to be there and it wasn’t. “Is there a charger I could use for my phone?”
“I’ll have a look. Is there someone you want us to call? You can get them to bring personal items in for you.”
Corey shook his head and winced.
“I can get you basic toiletries but don’t try to get to the bathroom without help.”
“Thank you.”
He slept again, his dreams all over the place, but none were of him and Tal in the hotel.
The same nurse came back to help him get to the bathroom, if he could. He put a walker in front of him and Corey was alarmed how much his knees shook and how lightheaded he felt.
“Take it steady. Don’t push yourself.”
He felt crap but no way was he not doing this. He inched forward in shuffling steps. His head swam at first but after a few moments the feeling passed and he was able to walk more confidently across the polished grey floor towards the bathroom. Once he was inside, he sighed with relief.
“Okay?” the nurse asked. “Your toiletries are there. No shower, obviously. Not yet.”
“Thanks.”
The door closed and Corey was alone. He stepped towards the sink and looked in the mirror.Fuck.He had dark semicircles under his eyes. They looked worse because he was so pale. He lifted his hand to the back of his head and gingerly felt around. Not difficult to locate the damage. The lump felt huge and it was hot and tender under his fingers. He had a cut at the top of his forehead too. Things were adding up in a way he didn’t like.
He cleaned his teeth and felt a little better. It was enough to make him smile, not that a smile improved his appearance. He gave himself a perfunctory wash with a cloth and tried not to stare at the dressing where he’d been cut open, nor at the bruises, of which he had a lot.
Something really bad had happened. A ceiling had collapsed? A whole floor? His eyes filled as he thought of Tal.Please let him be all right.
It was a slow walk back to bed, but at least the room didn’t shift under his feet. He looked at the chair but he wanted to lie down. He slid quickly into sleep hoping he woke back in the hotel with Tal next him, with neither of them injured.
He didn’t.
A policeman came that afternoon.
“Corey Jenkins?”
“Yes.”
“I’m PC Andrew Morris. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” He had never been less okay in his life.
“Can you tell me what you remember of the accident?”
Corey knew he didn’t mean the hotel, that there was no point telling him anything about that, though for a moment, he was tempted. Instead, he started at the beginning, explainedhow the truck had come up close behind him, then overtaken into the path of Tal’s car.
“It clipped me and then him as it pulled back in.” Not that he’d seen it hit Tal but… “He didn’t stop.”
