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“This, Marshall, is an English breakfast,” Lea replied with a laugh, wrapping her long black hair into a messy bun on top of her head, her large brown eyes sparkling from behind her gold-rimmed glasses, making her look like an incredibly sexy librarian. “Fried egg, bacon, sausage, baked beans, toast, fried mushrooms, and tomatoes.” She handed me a plate piled high with food.
I held up a piece of bacon. “This… this is not bacon. Bacon should be crispy. This is barely cooked.”
Neither of them replied, their eyes fixed on me, obviously waiting for my next reaction.
“And what the hell arebaked beans?And is a fried egg just an egg, sunnyside up?” I took a bite of the toast. “Well, at least the toast tastes American.” I winked, watching Lea’s eyes narrow in fake annoyance.
“Hey, how about you eat it all and then tell me that you don’t like it? England is built on its breakfast… don’t diss it until you try it. ”
“Y’all are crazy, but fine, I’ll give it a go.”
Cutting up a piece of the anemic-looking bacon, I took a mouthful, missing the crunch instantly, but trying not to let it show on my face. But then I tried the rest of it and minutes later, I was digging back in for seconds, making them both laugh.
“When we’re back in England, I’ll make you black pudding,” Lea promised. “You Americans banned it for some reason, but it tastes amazing.”
“Black pudding?” I asked, before cutting into my runny egg, watching as it leaked into the beans.
“Like a sausage made with animal blood and some other stuff.”
My eyes widened. “Is it too late to change my mind about moving to your country? Cold, wet, you drive on the wrong side of the road and you eat blood sausage.”
Lea’s hand landed on mine, squeezing it tight before she spoke. “I’m sure we can show you a whole heap of things you’ll enjoy about our cold, wet island. I mean, there is the tea alarm.”
My eyebrows pinched as I took another forkful of baked beans, which might be a culinary masterpiece.
She continued. “Every day an alarm sounds across the whole country, and we have to stop whatever we’re doing and have a cup of tea.”
“I hate tea,” I mumbled around my mouthful of food.
Lea gasped. “You can’t live in England if you don’t like tea.”
“Y’all are full of shit. You don’t have a tea alarm.”
Lea lifted her phone and clicked around for a few minutes before holding it out in front of me, showing me a TikTok video of someone reacting to the apparent tea alarm. For a second, I believed her and my face must have shown it, but then she burst into fits of laughter, looking to Ionee, who looked as puzzled as me. “Don’t tell meyoubelieved me?” she asked her friend.
“What?” Ionee spluttered. “I lost my memory and haven’t been back to the UK since; there might have been a tea alarm, and I’d have no clue.”
Lea’s face fell as she grabbed her friend’s hand. “Shit. Shit. Sorry. God, I’m the worst. I didn’t even think. There’s no tea alarm.”
Ionee let out a long sigh before a smile spread across her face. “You are trouble, I can tell, but I think I’m going to like it.”
Lea’s face brightened as a laugh spilled from her lips. “I have missed you so much.” Then she turned to me. “And you need to learn to love tea if you’re ever going to be accepted when we get home.”
For a second, her smile and infectious laughter made me wonder if I could find a new place to call home and even a family. But then my past bitch slapped me, reminding me how much caring about people hurt and how you could never trust a word anyone said.
“I’m going to go take a nap.” Ionee stretched, yawning. “I’m about to slip into a food coma.”
“Go ahead, honey. Have you taken all your medication?”
A flash of something I couldn’t explain crossed Ionee’s face before she stood, turning as if she was about to walk to her room, but then she paused, twisting back around. “Lea, I appreciate that you’re worried about me, but I looked after myself for months.” Lea recoiled like Ionee’s words had physically wounded her. Noticing, she held up her hands. “Hey, I’m not having a go. I made the decisions I did to protect Archer… to protect you all and maybe they weren’t the best decisions, but I coped. All this time, I coped. I don’t need you to worry about me. My tumor stole my past, don’t let it define my future too. I don’t need a nurse, I need a best friend.”
She stared at Ionee for a moment, as if she was deciding how best to respond. “But I’m so worried about you. I mean, someone opened your head and took part of your brain. They literally took your past; a lifetime's worth of memories.”
Ionee ran her fingers over her scar. “They did, but I get a chance to make new ones. People who love me found me and aren’t letting me go. Doesn’t that make me the luckiest person in the world? I have people who love me enough to fight for me. But I can’t feel like a victim, Lea, or someone who’s sick.”
Lea sat up straighter, tears collecting in the corner of her eyes, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was intruding on a moment that should have been just the two of them. “I promise, no more checking in on you, but you have to know that I would have always protected you and that won’t change. I would fight to the death for you.”
Ionee laughed loudly. “Well, I appreciate that. Right, I need sleep. I’ll see you both in a bit.”
