Do you want another coffee?’ Kris asked Jo, whose eyes were red and puffy from crying.

 

‘Yeah, please,’ Jo replied, looking at Phil, who just nervously looked around the hospital waiting room.

 

‘Did they call his parents?’ Kris asked, pacing the room towards the drinks machine.

 

The housemates were at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where Gary had been taken after crashing his car in Alborford. He had been critical for some time, and nobody was telling them anything…

 

‘Where the hell is that doctor we saw earlier?’ Jo cried, nearly bursting into tears again.

 

 

***

 

 

Val was heading into Hamborough to the clinic, today was the day of her abortion. She felt totally calm about it now, it was the right thing to do. Josie was going to meet her in town beforehand, the two women always helped each other out and shared many secrets.

 

‘Hello,’ Josie hugged Val as they met outside the clinic.

 

‘Have you got long?’ Josie asked.

 

‘About an hour,’ said Val, looking at her watch.

 

Well, let’s go have a coffee or something,’ replied Josie, feeling just as nervous as her friend.

 

 

 

***

 

 

Kris paced up and down in the waiting room.

 

‘Does anyone know where his parents are?’ She squealed.

 

‘No,’ Jo wiped her eyes, ‘they’ve probably gone away on another holiday! Never gave a damn about him anyway...it was too little, too late,’ she was muttering away to herself, and nobody was really listening to her. Everyone was wondering whether or not Gary would pull through….and if he did, would he become the old Gary that they all knew before?…

 

 

***

 

 

Nathan, Max and Fiona were taking a break from emptying boxes and tidying up, and relaxed with a beer.

 

‘Fiona was saying that there had been an accident in town earlier,’ Max mentioned to Nathan.

 

‘Really?’

 

‘Yeah, it looked a total wreck, some idiot in a sports car,’ said Fiona.

 

 

 

 

Nathan felt a bit uneasy now.

 

‘Did you see what kind of car it was?’

 

‘Nah, they’re all the same to me, it was a red one though…’

 

Nathan looked startled for a moment.

 

‘Are you OK?’ Max asked.

 

‘Erm...you don’t think that the car was Gary’s do you?’

 

‘No…..no, I’m sure it wasn’t...could have been anyone!’

 

Nathan fidgeted in his seat, swigging his lager. Sure, it may have been someone passing through...but if not, how many red sports cars are there in Alborford, it could have been Gary’s….

 

 

 

***

 

 

‘Well, that’s it, all over,’ said Val as she emerged from the clinic later on. She was being very strong, Josie thought, holding everything together if she was feeling it underneath.

 

‘Ready to head back to Alborford?’

Josie asked.

 

‘No, not just yet, shall we wander around for a bit, maybe get a bite to eat?’

 

‘Yes, that’s fine,’ Josie put an arm around her shoulder, sensing that she needed support more than she was letting on right now...

 

 

 

***

 

 

Richard and Rachel had just got baby Harry to sleep, when there was a knock at the door.

 

‘Who was that?’ Rachel asked when Richard came back into the lounge.

 

‘Tim from work, well from the old PR firm, he wondered if I fancied a drink.’

 

‘Why didn’t you go?’ Rachel was snapping with her tiredness.

 

‘Well, I didn’t think you’d want me to, with Harry,’ Richard was trying to do the right thing and had been walking on eggshells ever since their reconciliation.

 

‘He may have some jobs news for you? Connections! Richard, for goodness sake! You’re always telling me how important connections are!’

 

He started to get angry ‘Not more important than our son, surely?!’

 

‘This IS about our son’s welfare! You need to get back into a better job, earning like you used to, otherwise that poor little bloke is going to suffer!’ Rachel was really ranting by now.

 

‘We’re hardly on the breadline,’ Richard replied.

 

 

We soon will be!’ By now, Harry had woken up and was crying again, and Rachel stormed upstairs to see to him. Richard was stunned, they were both tired and irritable at the moment, but hadn’t rowed like that for ages…

 

 

***

 

 

At the hospital, a doctor came to see the housemates in the waiting room.

 

‘Doctor, has anyone tracked down his parents yet?’ Kris asked.

 

‘We’ve found out that they are out of the country for a while, so the authorities are getting in touch with them,’ the doctor replied solemnly.

 

‘What’s happening? Is he going to be OK?’ Phil asked, his voice shaky.

 

‘We’ve operated and he’s out of theatre, but still on the critical list. In the absence of his family, would you like to see him?’

 

Kris, Jo and Phil filed into the private room and saw Gary wired up to machines, with a heavily bandaged head.

 

‘Oh, look at him,’ Jo started to sob, holding Kris’ and Phil’s hands.

 

They sat by the bed and tried to talk to him through tears.

 

‘Gary, can you hear me? We’re here for you mate,’ said Phil.

 

 

Yes, everything will work out fine,’ Jo smiled.

 

Seconds later, an alarm sounded as Gary’s heart monitor flatlined.

 

‘What’s happening?’ Kris asked.

 

‘You’ll have to leave for a moment,’ a nurse replied.

 

‘No. No.’ Jo whispered in disbelief.

 

They watched through the window nearby, as the medical team tried to save their friend, the kind of routine that they’d seen on TV medical dramas a thousand times before.

 

Soon it became obvious. Gary was dead.

© 2010 Danny Alborough / DJA Publications
All characters, names and situations are fictitious.
Any similarities to places or people, living or dead, are purely coincidental.