Page 110 of The Little Board Game Café

‘No, just that he was in hospital.’ Emily looked at her watch. ‘Will you drop me off? Alan said visiting hours finish at half past eight and it’s almost quarter to now and I really, really want to see him. See with my own eyes that he’s okay. Assuming he is okay.’

‘Come on then.’

She grabbed her handbag whilst Kate found her car keys.

Emily’s anxiety levels rose with each mile. Kate took every corner at speed, went through every amber traffic light. And possibly a couple that had just turned to red. Emily gripped the door handle and tried to hit the brakes with her right foot, like a nervous driving instructor, only they weren’t in a dual control car. Unfortunately.

And it wasn’t just Kate’s driving. She was desperately worried about Ludek’s injuries – Alan hadn’t known much – and she felt awkward about seeing him again. She’d only seen him once since the morning after they’d slept together – when she’d returned his board games – and that had been decidedly awkward. And now he was seeing someone else…

Oh god, how badly was he injured? What if he didn’t pull through?

Kate pulled up outside the main entrance with a screech of brakes. Emily wiped her sweaty palms on the skirt of her pinafore.

‘Are you going to be okay, Em? You look awfully pale.’

‘I’m fine,’ she said, but as she opened the car door and tried to get out, she realised that her legs were shaking.

‘This is the first time, isn’t it?’

Emily nodded. She knew what Kate meant; the first time inside a hospital since the day she went to see Mum for one final time before her life support was turned off.

Emily had spent her whole adult life avoiding hospitals. That bad gash from a kitchen knife that probably needed stitches? Steri-Strips from the pharmacist. That bang on the head when she was stepping aside to avoid the hissing geese and walked into a lamppost? Well, she was only unconscious for a minute or two. That dodgy ankle when she tripped outside Nico’s? So lucky that Ludek had been there.

Ludek. She had to see him.

Her mouth was dry. A wave of nausea rose up from her stomach. She was half in, half out of the car, still gripping the door handle. Another vehicle beeped from behind.

‘Em, you don’t have to do this,’ Kate said. ‘We can ring the ward, see how he’s doing. Send flowers or something.’

‘I don’t think they allow flowers on hospital wards any more, do they?’

‘Grapes then. Interfruit.’

Emily managed a small smile. The car behind sounded its horn again.

‘I’m going to have to get out of his way, Em. Are you getting back in the car? Or braving it?’

‘Braving it. Please can you wait for me?’

She slammed the car door and walked towards the entrance, trying to take deep, steady breaths. Behind her, she heard Kate drive away, revving the engine way too much as usual. The automatic doors opened as she approached and willed her legs to take her inside.

She wasn’t sure she could do this.

Chapter Forty

The smell hit her as soon as she was inside. That all-too-familiar smell: Costa Coffee. Since when did hospitals have a Costa in the foyer?

It had taken them twenty minutes to drive to the hospital, but it took her at least another ten to find the right ward. When she eventually opened the double doors, Emily spotted her – Ludek’s girlfriend – before she spotted him.

The dark hair was loose now and she looked even more attractive with it lying on her shoulders. She was wearing a navy shift dress. Emily looked down at her own outfit, the old pinafore she’d been wearing all day; there was a splash of paint on the skirt. Well, whoever this woman was, she didn’t need to worry about Emily. There was no competition.

And then it hit her. Why would Ludek want to see her when he had this gorgeous creature by his bedside?

She started to turn away again. It was becoming a habit now. She’d see the dark-haired woman, turn on her heels and flee. But then she heard her name.

‘Emily?’

She turned back to the ward. The dark-haired woman was heading in her direction.