Page 79 of Light Up
His medicine still hadn’t come up from the hospital pharmacy so he had to sit and wait next to the nurses’ station. His bed already had someone else in it.
The worst ache now was in his chest, not his foot or his head or where they’d operated. None of what he remembered had happened beyond him pulling Tal from his car. Then again, maybe Tal had pulled him from his. Corey felt himself shrinking. He wished he could disappear. He’d wanted to be a hero but as Louis had pointed out, he had a broken foot and he was half Tal’s size. Not really, but even so. Tal was bigger and Corey must have been bleeding internally for them to have removed his spleen.
It was hard to accept what his brain had conjured up was not real, but he had to. Disappearing wasn’t an option. He needed to pick himself up and start again. He’d done it before. This area wasn’t one he was familiar with but he could live anywhere, within reason. Staying in a town where he had a place to live would make finding a job easier. He went online and made an appointment at the Jobcentre for the day after Boxing Day. Even if he couldn’t work yet, he needed to get the ball rolling. Once he had a Wi-Fi connection at the YMCA, he’d start looking for employment in different cities and towns. Maybe Penzance or Portsmouth or Plymouth. Somewhere south where the weather would be warmer. Once he had a bit of capital, he’d do an evening college course and try to make something of himself. Be a better person. Make up for what he’d done that night in London.
His prescription arrived and he put it in his bag. With his guitar over one shoulder, a bulging bag over the other, he could just about manage, even with his crutches. He glanced at the ward opposite, saying a silentgoodbyeto Tal and kept walking, his legs heavy, his heart aching, making his way through the hospital, past all the Christmas decorations in search of the exit.
When he stepped outside into falling snow, his shoulders slumped. Was snow spoiled for him too now? Corey clenched his teeth. No, he wouldn’t let that happen. He liked snow. Just not driving in it. He’d looked up how to get to the hostel and there was number seven bus that went there from the hospital. When he checked the timetable, he saw he’d missed the bus and there wasn’t another for thirty minutes. He could have gone back inside to wait, but he didn’t want to bump into Tal’s friends. Instead, he sat under the inadequate open-sided shelter, not really caring if he got cold and wet.
That attitude didn’t last long. The snow might be pretty but he was freezing. When he looked for his hat and gloves, they weren’t in his bag.Damn it.Had they somehow been trawled up with Tal’s belongings? Corey wasn’t going to go back inside to see. He pulled up his hood and tucked his hands into his pockets.
Corey didn’t think his life would ever be easier. It could only be harder now he’d had a taste of a different world.
Corey had no problem finding the YMCA, but the moment he stepped inside, he felt overwhelmed. Everyone was friendly but the communal areas were noisy—and a bit too Christmassy. That was down to his head aching, rather than anyone actually making too much noise. The thought of Christmas was just painful. Members of staff and volunteers smiled at him, asked if he was okay and Corey felt a fraud. Most of those staying there were younger than him and needed help more than he did.
His room was much nicer than any bedsit he’d ever had. There was a desk and chair and free Wi-Fi, and it was warm, so he started to look for work and places to live. If he could just build up a little more in his bank account, finding accommodation would be much easier. Busking might have given him a bit more cash but he couldn’t go out until his foot was better.
But he could do this.
He could start again.
He wasn’t irrevocably broken.
And if he wanted to stop people asking if he was okay, he had to at least try to look cheerful even if he didn’t feel it.
Eighteen
Tal watched as the young man with the injured foot or leg walked away from his hospital bed, his shoulders down. His face was bruised and there were dark shadows under huge green eyes. With his bluey-grey hair, he reminded Tal of a fragile bird. One who’d just had a wing clipped.What?Where hadthatfanciful thoughtcome from? And why was something telling Tal, not to let this stranger leave?
“Who was that?” Tal asked.
“No one,” Louis said.
“It clearly was. What did he want?”
“Nothing.” Louis shrugged.
The ward door closed and Tal felt something wrench in his chest. If he hadn’t been recovering from a near-death experience, he’d have got out of bed and… Done what? Gone after him?
Louis and Benjamin settled at his bedside. Louis was reading Tal’s chart.
“Are you supposed to do that?” Tal asked.
“Yes.”
“Who just left?” Tal tried again.
“His name’s Corey Jenkins.” Benjamin glanced at Louis, then looked expectantly at Tal.
Was that supposed to mean something? He didn’t recognise the name. “He seemed to know me.” That had been disappointment on his face when Tal had asked who he was.
“How are you feeling?” Louis put the chart down, grabbed Tal’s hand and took his pulse.
“How does he know me?” Tal wouldn’t be deterred.
“He doesn’t,” Louis said.
“Louis! What’s going on?” Tal asked.
