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And then there were no distractions or excuses. She was here, in Tak’s hospital, and every corner she turned, every corridor she walked,
seemed to be a home for ghosts of him.
Had it really only been three days since that night at the gala? Since that kiss? Since he’d seen exactly how she lived? It felt like a lifetime, and if she never had to see him again she would be just fine with that.
She ignored the traitorous part of her which whispered that wasn’t true. Just as she pretended that her eyes weren’t scanning through every door, every window, wondering whether he was just on the other side.
‘Are you looking for Tak?’
Effie jumped guiltily as she swung round to see his sister, Hetti. ‘Of course not,’ she lied brightly. ‘I was looking for James, one of my paramedics.’
‘Oh.’
She tried not to react to Hetti’s all too knowing smile.
‘How are you, anyway? How was the ball?’
Effie hesitated ‘Good. Yes, fine.’
‘You enjoyed it?’ Hetti pressed.
‘I...yes. Sure. What did Tak say?’
‘Not a lot, really,’ continued Hetti airily. ‘You know Tak.’
But that was the issue, wasn’t it? Effie didn’t know Tak. Not at all, really. Yet she couldn’t help thinking that Hetti was watching her a little too closely, as though hoping for a reaction.
‘Sure,’ she lied, her grin almost painful.
‘Having said that,’ Hetti added, a little too casually, ‘I’ve never seen him so...shall we say buoyant?’
She would not react. She would not.
‘Oh. Well. That’s good,’ she offered brightly. And then she spoiled it all by smoothing her flight suit down as though it was some designer gown. ‘Well, I’d better find my paramedic and get back to the heli.’
Hetti practically leapt forward to grab her arm. ‘Oh, but...not yet, Effie. There’s something I want to ask you.’
‘There is?’
‘Yes.’
Effie waited patiently.
Hetti clapped her hands and clicked her tongue. ‘Yes. There is.’
The moment was eked out until it was almost uncomfortable.
‘Well... I really should get going...’
‘The thing I want to ask you is...’ Hetti shifted awkwardly. Then, as the doors banged at the other end of the corridor, she grinned, exhaled heavily and shook her head and began to hurry the other way. ‘Never mind. It’ll keep.’
Effie turned away, bemused. And slammed into a solid wall. A warm, human solid wall.
She didn’t need to see his face to know who it was. A tremor ran through her body like the after-effects of an earthquake.
‘Tak.’
‘Effie.’
