“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll be there soon.”
I hang up the phone and bring my hands to my face, letting the tears soak my cheeks.She’ll be okay. She’s okay.A prickle up the back of my neck has my breath stalling. A chill runs up my spine. That feeling of being watched.
I lift my head slowly, searching around the nearly empty car park behind the salon. A few people pass by, and I almost ignore it until I notice a man standing across the road, just beside Sweet Escape. He’s on the phone. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but then he looks straight at me.
I need to get to Aurora.
He says something into the phone, then turns, moving out of sight, just as a hand presses lightly against my back. I jump back with a gasp, hands clutching my chest.
Claire watches me with concern. “It’s okay, babe. It’s just me.”
My hands grip my bangles as I draw in a deep breath.
“Do you need me to do anything?” she asks.
“Can you drive me to the hospital?”
40
Aurora has her head resting against my shoulder, her hand wrapped in mine, with her injured arm clutched to her middle, as we sit in the emergency room waiting to be called through.
Maevyn texted me Aurora’s medical details so I could get her through triage without having to wait for her, and the nurses offered some mild pain relief to take the edge off.
“Aurora Day.” A nurse in navy blue scrubs with bright tropical flowers on them stands beside the triage desk with a smile.
“Come on, sweetie.” I squeeze her hand, not letting go as we both come to our feet.
Aurora keeps her weight against my side as we approach the nurse. “Her mother is still on her way,” I say.
The nurse nods. “That’s okay, we’ll make sure she finds you. Follow me, please.”
We’re taken through to another ward, a curtain separating the beds lined up against the wall. I rub my thumb over Aurora’s hand as we give the nurse a rundown of what happened. She inspects her arm, checking for swelling, mobility, and any sign of a fracture.
“I think we might need an X-ray,” she says, writing notes against her clipboard. “I’m going to ask the doctor to come in and assess. She had pain relief when you came in?”
“Yes.” I nod.
“How is the pain at the moment, Aurora?”
“It’s okay. Better than when it first happened. I feel really tired, though.”
“Probably the adrenaline of it all wearing off and a bit of that pain relief.” She tucks her pen into the pocket of her scrubs, her head tilting in that reassuring way all nurses seem to have. “You can lie back and rest until the doctor comes in. Dad, just hit that button next to you if she needs anything.”
It feels like my heart goes into overdrive when the nurse calls me Aurora’s dad. I squeeze my thigh to stop my leg from bouncing, and I glance over to the little girl resting beside me, preparing myself for her reactions. Laugh it off? Make some smart little quip like her mother might do? But Aurora just shifts onto her side, facing me. Brown eyes, like her mum’s, stare back at me, with that same guarded hope.
When the nurse walks away, I twist in my seat, crossing my arms over the mattress.
“How are you really doing, kiddo?” I whisper.
“Okay.” She rubs over her arm. “It kinda feels like an annoying throb.”
“How mad do you think your mum’s going to be?”
That gets me a smile. “She’s definitely going to be freaked out.” Aurora looks away, watching where her hand sits over her arm. “Don’t get mad, okay?”
“I’m not mad at you, sweetie. I feel terrible that you got hurt on my watch.” My stomach was in my throat when she came down. Time seemed to move in slow motion. Seeing her in pain is probably up there as one of the worst things I’ve ever felt.
“I mean, don’t get mad at mum if she loses her shit at you. She’s…protective.”
