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And I knew Ellis would have had a hundred questions, but he took one look at me and just nodded. “Christ. It’s okay, Tull.” He drove my car like he’d stolen it, and it still wasn’t fast enough.
I wanted to tell him thank you. I wanted to tell him what had happened, but I didn’t trust myself to speak.
“They choppered him in, yeah?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Then he’s in the best hands.”
I nodded again, wiping away a tear. “He better be okay. He just has to be.”
Ellis slid his hand up my shoulder and squeezed the back of my neck. “He will be.”
“Fuck, Ellis. He wasn’t lookin’ so good.”
He gave me a gentle shake as we drove into the hospital grounds. “Hey. He’ll be okay. But I tell ya what, I’ll drop you off at the A&E and go and park the car. You need to tell them he’s your husband, okay? Tell them you’re married so they have to let you in to see him. They don’t give a fuck otherwise.”
I nodded, trying to pull myself together.
He pulled up at the emergency doors. “I won’t be long. I’ll find you.”
I got out and went inside, heading straight for the triage window. The nurse took one look at my wet, dirty, tear-streaked face. “Can I help you?”
“Yes,” I said. Then I remembered what Ellis had just said. “I’m here to see my husband. The medevac helicopter brought him in. He was struck by lightning.”
Now, I don’t know if it was what I said or how I could barely speak at all or if it was the look on my face, but she stood up and nodded toward the access door. “I’ll buzz you through.”
Ellis came running in at the right time, just as the security doors opened, and we went through, but the look on the nurse’s face stopped me in my tracks...
Jesus, no.
“Is he...? Where is he? Is he okay?” I couldn’t quite catch my breath. “Is he...?”
“This way,” she said.
She still hadn’t answered, and now my legs wouldn’t work and Ellis had to all but make me walk. Through the corridors, the awful smell of hospitals, the fluorescent lights, the coldness of it all.
“I just need to know if he’s okay,” I said, trying to swallow back tears and the need to be sick.
The nurse stopped at what I now realised was the critical care ward. “Stay here, I’ll get the doctor.”
“Where is Jeremiah?” I asked, but she was gone. I went to follow. I needed to find him.
“Hey,” Ellis tried, pulling on my arm. “We have to wait.”
Why wouldn’t anyone tell me where he was? “Jeremiah!” I yelled, heading toward the door. “Jeremiah!”
A doctor appeared with the nurse. A tall woman with a concerned scowl. “Excuse me,” she said.
“I need to find Jeremiah Overton.”
“Were you with him when he was struck by lightning?”
“Yes, I—”
“What can you tell me about it?” she pressed on. “Was it a direct strike? How close was—”
“Is he okay?” I asked, but my voice wouldn’t work. “Is he alive?” I asked, louder this time. Ellis still had hold of my arm.
