They stayed outside talking for a while before coming in.
‘Why did you take so long?’ Rue demanded to know when they walked through the door. ‘We need to order ice cream.’
‘Ice cream, of course,’ Mum said, when it was clearly the furthest thing from her mind. I glanced at Wren, who was looking nervously between Mum and Dad, like she knew something was coming.
Mum ordered ice cream, then both she and Dad sat down.
‘We have some news,’ she said. She was looking at Rue when she said it, then looked at both me and Wren.
‘Good news?’ Rue asked with a huge smile.
‘Ithink so,’ Mum said.
My stomach twisted.
The waiter came back and set down bowls of vanilla ice cream in front of Rue and Wren.
‘Merci,’ I said for them. ‘What is it?’ I asked Mum, getting impatient.
‘Well, it’s about Rue’s operation,’ Mum said. Everyone looked at Rue, who just stared into her ice cream. ‘Remember that it was supposed to be in September?’
‘Yeah?’ I nodded, scared for what was coming next.
‘Well, we just had a phone call from Doctor Malone. She said she had a cancellation and can do Rue’s operation early,’ Mum said carefully.
I glanced at Dad, who just looked at Rue with pain in his eyes.
‘How early?’ I asked.
‘Next week,’ Mum said. ‘Which means we’d have to leave on Friday to get to Liverpool on time. And they said there’ll be space at the Ronald McDonald house, so we can stay there.’ Mum tried to sound bright and cheery, but her voice wavered and gave her away.
Friday.
The day of the qualifier.
35
Nobody spoke on the way home. Not even Rue, who had just gone quiet. Mum put on Taylor Swift for her, and we all listened, pretending that we loved the music when I’m sure everyone else’s brains were spinning as much as mine.
It was great news. Rue would get her operation early, and maybe it would help. Her legs might be less stiff, and she’d be more mobile. But her recovery would be tough. The pain would be so hard to watch. Mum and Dad would be terrified that something would go wrong, as they always were when Rue had to go to hospital. They thought they hid it really well, but a few days before any of Rue’s procedures, Mum would start cleaning the house. Like properly tearing it apart, throwing stuff out, scrubbing tiles, and trying to pretend it was normal.
I got it. I felt sick when Rue had to go in for any sort of treatment, and it must be even worse for Mum and Dad, but sometimes I thought all you needed to do was take one look at Rue, who showed up with them to the hospital, who held out her arms and feet for needles without so much as complaining.
I reached over for her little hand and squeezed it. She squeezed it back and I listened to her hum to Taylor Swift all the way to the campsite.
And by the time we got back, the storm had started. The wind blew hard into the tents that lined the little paths, and people were rushing around bringing in clothes and toys so they wouldn’t get destroyed. A lot of other tourists clearly hadn’t expected the storm to be here already, or maybe just hadn’t heard about it at all.
‘Ilovestorms,’ said Rue. ‘I hope there’s thunder.’
‘Thunder?’ said Wren, sounding scared.
Mum turned round to calm her down. ‘Don’t worry, love, let’s get inside before the rain starts. It will give me a chance to get on with some cleaning before we leave,’ she added for Dad’s benefit.
My breath caught in my throat, and I was scared I might cry as I got out of the car, so I refused to think about it.
‘I need to go somewhere. I’ll be back soon,’ I said.
And I left before they could convince me that it was too dangerous. Even though I heard them calling, and Dad telling Rue that she couldn’t follow me.
