Page 14 of The Art of Loving You

He’ll be fine.

Heisfine.

‘Hello. It’s Libby isn’t it?’ I’d no idea how long had passed before a nurse bustled through the thin blue curtains hanging around the bed. ‘I’m Angela. How’s everything here?’

‘Jack’s … he’s okay?’

‘Yes. But what about you?’ Her kind eyes studied me.

‘I’m … I’m …’ Tears rose in my throat. I tried to swallow them back down.

‘Let it out.’ She rubbed my back. ‘You’ve had an awful shock.’

‘He could have … He could have …’

‘But he didn’t. He’s fine. The stitches will be out in a few days and he’ll be as good as new.’

Physically he might but mentally? Emotionally? Not all scars are visible.

‘Libby?’ Breathless, Alice pushed through the curtains, her cheeks pink,two plastic packs of sandwiches in her hands. ‘Sorry, the canteen was miles away.’

‘It’s okay. I’m okay.’ I wiped my eyes.

‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Angela squeezed my arm before she slipped back onto the ward.

‘Cheese and tomato or tuna mayo?’ Alice asked.

‘Neither.’

‘You need the calories or you won’t have the energy to—’

‘Cheese.’ I held out my hand. Our relationship had suddenly turned on its head, her making sure I ate, repeating the words I used to say to her when she was teenager, heading out for the pub. It was never her energy levels I was worried about though, it was lining her stomach because when the shots she’d downed came back up it would be me holding back her hair, cleaning the toilet bowl.

I bit a small piece of the sandwich. The tomato was slimy on my tongue, the bread stiff, cheddar tasteless. I chewed and chewed before I could swallow it down.

The curtain swished back again.

‘I believe these two belong to you?’ Angela gestured to Faith and her husband, Michael.

‘What are you doing here?’ I stood up and hugged them both.

‘We were having lunch in town when we got your text.’ Faith was peering over my shoulder towards the bed.

‘Well technicallyI’m working from home,’ Michael made inverted commas with his fingers. ‘I can catch up in the evenings though so it isn’t really skiving.’

‘I said they could have a quick peek to reassure themselves that Jack’s okay but they can’t stay.’ Angela kept hold of the curtain, ready to draw it closed.

Faith stepped closer to Jack and in her usual tactile way, rested her fingertips lightly on his arm. ‘Oh, Jack.’ Her voice was barely audible. Michael placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head protectively, and inexplicably the gesture made me want to weep. They were as close as Jack and I were and the thought I might have lost that …

‘What happened?’ Faith asked. ‘A car accident?’

‘No.’ I lowered my voice. ‘He was stabbed.’

‘What?’ Faith spun around to face me. ‘When you said accident I assumed—’

‘He was mugged. The doctor said he was lucky, it could have been … The man that stabbed him missed his vital organs.’ My voice now a whisper.

‘He’s going to be fine.’ Alice gave my shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

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