“You look and sound thrilled about that decision.” Her mum paused. “Why couldn’t it work? There are things called planes.”
“It’s a long way, Mum. Expensive, too. Besides, you know what Dad said. To travel, follow my dreams, and not let anything or anyone tie me down or stand in my way. I’m trying to honour his wishes.”
Mum sipped her wine, then sat back. “Your father said a lot of things, but they were mainly about him. He wanted to travel with no ties, but then we met and had Nicole, then you, and he never regretted that. Not for a second. Plus, we still got to travel, just with you kids in tow. He wanted you to live the life he didn’t, but he wouldn’t have traded the life he had for anything.”
She exhaled. “He wanted you to have adventures, but also to find love, too. I want that for you as well. It’s what any parent wants for their child. Love and happiness. You’ve got the adventure lined up with your new job, but maybe Morgan’s an adventure you hadn’t bargained for. An exciting, unexpected one. If she is, and you like her, be open to it. If you want to make it work, you will. You can have a new jobanda new girlfriend. If it’s on offer, why not have it all?”
A loud, clattering crunch of metal made them both jump. Ali’s blood froze.
Her mum dashed into the lounge. “You okay?” Her voice was frantic. Neither of them could bear anything else happening to someone they loved this year.
“It’s outside,” Nicole shouted.
Ali dashed to the window. Two cars had smashed into each other almost outside the pub. On Christmas Day of all days. Smoke spewed from the yellow car’s bonnet.
“Is someone dialling an ambulance?” Ali shouted. She ran through to the lounge, where Nicole nodded, talking into her phone.
“Let’s go down and see if we can help, shall we?”
Ali nodded at her mum. They grabbed their coats and keys, went through the pub, which Ali always found eerie when it was empty, then unlocked the door to the street.
It was only when Ali got up close that her heart jumped into her throat and her bones turned to jelly.
She stopped, then stared. Her pulse sprinted, then screamed. All the air left her body. She couldn’t quite process what she saw.
Because Morgan sat in the driving seat of the sunshine-yellow car.
Walt, the old guy from their plane, was in the other.
They’d had a head-on collision. Both airbags were fully inflated, and blood oozed from Morgan’s forehead.
Ali immediately ran around to Morgan’s door and tried to open it, but it was crinkled from impact and jammed shut.
She rattled the handle and banged on the window. “Morgan!”
Please let her be okay!Ali put a hand to her hair and pulled. Why had she said all those things when she didn’t mean them? Why had she let Morgan think she was willing to let her go? She wasn’t. She wanted her in her life. But now it might be too late to tell her.
“Morgan!”
They’d only just found each other. She couldn’t lose her now. All the potential futures she’d imagined overnight exploded into a million fragile pieces. Ali’s heart sank to its knees, trying to piece her future back together. Blood roared in her ears.
“Morgan! Stay awake, you hear me? Stay awake!”
She didn’t open her eyes.
* * *
Ali pacedthe waiting room in the A&E, flashes of doing exactly the same thing this summer with her dad far too fresh in her mind. She still remembered the nicotine-coloured walls, the posters with curling edges. This room only had a tiny window, which meant a severe lack of light and hope while you waited for any news. Ali’s mum sat on the edge of her blue plastic seat, ready to spring at any moment. Being back here wasn’t easy for either of them.
Her mum checked her watch, then stood up. “Shall we go outside for a bit of air? I always find hospitals so stifling.”
Ali bit her top lip. “I don’t want to miss any news.”
“They’ve only just taken her in, and she was stable in the ambulance. We won’t hear anything for a while yet.”
Her mum was probably right. Ali followed her out into the cold, biting air. She pulled her scarf close. “You sure we won’t miss anything?”
“Positive,” her mum replied. “I have more experience in hospitals than you, remember? Plus, anything’s better than sitting and thinking about the last time we were here.”
