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I compose myself quickly, afraid that Kayla will pick up on my fears. I watch as the nurse draws crimson blood into a vial. Kayla doesn’t budge.
‘So, did Aiden have any news?’ I ask, my fingertips stroking her hair.
Kayla lifts her head off my shoulder and turns to stare at me. She shakes her head. ‘No. I’m pretty sure I’m the one with all the news.’ She narrows her eyes and adds a sarcastic air quote with her free hand. I know her snappiness isn’t directed at me, but it still stings.
‘Did you tell Aiden?’ I ask.
‘Yeah.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’ Kayla snaps again.
‘And, what did he say?’
Kayla shrugs.
‘Okay all done,’ the nurse says, securing a ball of cotton wool against Kayla’s arm with some white surgical tape.
‘Really?’ Kayla smiles.
‘See that wasn’t so bad, was it?’ she says.
The nurse makes her way over to the drawer again and my attention drops to the vials of dark blood resting on a metal tray with a mint surgical cloth draped across it.
‘This is for you,’ the nurse says, pulling a bright-purple lollipop out of the drawer that seems to have everything. ‘I know you’re probably too grown-up for lollies, but these blackcurrant ones are delicious and a little sugar after giving blood will make sure you don’t go all dizzy on me.’
Kayla looks at the lollipop, uncertain, and I think she might cry.
‘Would you prefer lemon?’ the nurse asks. ‘The strawberry ones are all gone, I’m afraid.’
‘Blackcurrant is good,’ Kayla says, composing herself and taking the lollipop. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re very brave, Kayla,’ I say. ‘Well done.’
Kayla slides the wrapper off the lollipop. ‘Sorry for biting your head off,’ she says, before popping the lollipop in her mouth.
I don’t reply, I just kiss the top of her head reassuringly.
‘I’m going to get these off to the lab,’ the nurse explains, lifting the tray. ‘And the doctor will be in to see you soon.’
The nurse isn’t wrong because as she walks out the door Doctor Patterson walks in. They stop for a chat in the middle and the nurse walks all the way out the door and the doctor walks all the way in. It all seems to play out in slow motion.
‘Kayla. Heather.’ The doctor nods, looking at each of us in turn. ‘How are you?’
Kayla looks away and I groan inwardly, and I wonder if that answers his question.
‘Did I tell you I used to play basketball myself when I was younger?’ the doctor says sitting into the uncomfortable-looking plastic chair next to Kayla’s bed.
‘Nothing as cool as on my school team, mind you. In fact, I wasn’t very good at all,’ he says. ‘But, I tried. That’s all that matters, right?’
I’m not sure what the doctor is expecting Kayla to say but I see her smile while crossing her legs to get comfortable. I breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Yeah, trying is really important,’ Kayla says. ‘I wasn’t great when I was little. But I kept practising and last year I got made captain.’
Kayla and the doctor chat effortlessly about shooting hoops and dribbling and who their favourite player is and I sit back down on the bed and listen, joining in only very occasionally because it’s just so lovely to listen to Kayla talk about something without the wobble of fear that crept into her voice last night when Gavin and I told her how sick she was.
Time flies by as the three of us chat. And, after half an hour, maybe more, I wonder when Doctor Patterson is going take on a sudden seriousness and start talking about surgery and medication. I find myself fidgeting and staring at the cartoon characters on the wall wondering if somebody, someday, is going to paint a new head for Wendy. The sound of Kayla’s girly giggles grabs my attention. The doctor laughs too. I wonder what’s so funny and I wish I’d been listening.
