Page 31 (1/2)
"I feel co what you wanna feel"
Helen laughed and winced
"Hurt?"
"Laughing does Sneezing does Coughing does Moving does Breathing does If I keep off those it’s fine"
"Well, you can’t have any more painkillers until half past five so you’ll have to practise ht you up to be so hard"
"Yup, you did Tea?"
"Thought you’d never ask"
Helen was propped up on the sofa with the French s open onto the garden It had been a beautiful day to coht, a beautiful day to be thankful that you were alive when you could so easily have been …
"Lizzie, how many people have died now?"
"Morbid"
"No I want to knoas incredibly lucky--how lucky was I?"
"Nine people, and four with serious injuries But out of danger So yeah, lucky Too true"
A squirrel leapt into the ash tree at the bottoarden, scrarass Beautiful, Helen thought That is the most beautiful squirrel I have ever seen and the tree is theto deserve life just as the others did not deserve death But I a to be grateful for it Her ribs hurt Her shoulders hurt Her neck was excruciatingly painful if she tried to turn it so much as a millimetre and none of itbetter and how different thatworse
She remembered very little of the accident It was like a filh her mind from time to time, in which parts had been removed and parts elided with others so that the time was muddled and the scenesThe lurch as they tipped or fell She rerip on her wrist as he found her and then his face "OK, love," he kept saying, "you’re OK"
How Phil had simply crawled out and walked away virtually unscathed was another h she had not known about that until she was at the hospital and he had turned up with Lizzie He had not taken a day off but been in school as usual first thing the next et co the fallen leaves which Tom had pro so sain
She closed her eyes and dozed and akened by the sound of the doors being closed Phil looked round "Good to sleep," he said "Lizzie’s in charge next door How do you feel?"
"Stiff Sore Very happy"
He caet upstairs all right later?"
"Oh yes I can’t sleep on a sofa, that’s what invalids do Hoas your day?"
"Busy I had a bit of running round to do"
"They should be keeping you on light duties--I said you should have a week off"
"I know"
"Why running round?"
"I had to go into town Shopping Bought you this"
The door opened on Lizzie bearing a tray so she put the package to one side while they set up a table and cloth and helped her to sit up Moving to an upright position was painful enough to make her catch her breath Four cushions at her back Her left ar was slow but the fish was the best food she had ever eaten, the vegetables perfectly cooked, the bread and butter h but knew that it was relief, the high of having cheated death She had said prayers of thanks in her head several tis as miracles," he had said
Perhaps it didn’t iven her only a se it all Soh she knew there was nothing wrong She drank tea, ate soreat thanks, refused a date slice Felt faint with exhaustion
And then Phil handed her the package again It was the size of a box of chocolates She hoped it was not Chocolate was not what she needed
But inside an empty chocolate box was another box and, inside that, another and another and then the san to cry
An hour later she was still crying but upstairs in bed Phil had gone ho on top of the duvet beside her
"I can’t stop grinning," she said
"So I see"
"If it hadn’t been foryou onto the Internet …"
"True You’ll have to wear pink satin, you know"
The front door slah please, it’s so painful"
"Mu about pink satin Where have you been?"
"Giving out leaflets"
Lizzie groaned and pulled a pillow over her head She steered clear of what she called Toious mania but when he went into bars and cafés or shops handing out Jesus leaflets she wanted to curl up with eht to have let you out?"
"Quite sure Very sure And I’m fine, thanks, love, never better Sleepy and sore and never better"
Tos, she’s just going to getall hidden inside lots of boxes, I think it was thein the world, I’m really jealous"
Tom stood half in the rooht ahead He seemed hardly to breathe
"Great news, To