Ruby & The Rose (lesbian stories)

Chapter 3

3

Bag packed and room paid for, Rose left the hotel at around midday. The air outside was cool, and hinted of yet more rain.  She stood beneath the shelter of a heavily vandalised bus shelter, keeping her distance from the group of cigarette-puffing adolescents adding to the ‘artwork’ on the cracking plastic walls. A while passed before Rose pulled up her jacket sleeve to check her watch. The bus was already five minutes late. She began to tap her foot impatiently.

Ten minutes. The youths spat out their gum onto the pavement and went on their way. Rose was considering whether or not to call for a taxi when the squeal of brakes and a sudden outburst of commotion caught her attention. A medium sized group had already gathered in the middle of the road, fumbling for their camera phones and no doubt composing status updates in their heads. The driver of the rusting Volvo responsible cursed a lot in a particularly violent sort of way before driving off in the other direction.

Rose, meanwhile, slung her duffle bag over her shoulder before joining the crowd.

Many of them had dispersed back into normality once they saw that no extremely gruesome injuries had been suffered, and the one or two that had stayed were now fussing uselessly. When she got closer, and Rose saw the tangle of long blonde hair cast across the asphalt, she knew immediately who it was.

“Ruby?” she asked, dropping to her knees. “Ruby, are you alright?”

The girl turned her head upwards. Her pale face was yet again cut and bruised, but she looked well enough all the same.

“Rose…” she said, her voice hoarse. “Rose, isn’t it?”

Rose gave a smile. “Yes, that’s me. What did you do this time?”

“You know… I’ve no idea.”

“You got hit by a car love,” said a man, who now stood above them with his arms crossed and a tall woman at his side, in a monotonous way. Rose wondered if he had to practice being that unhelpful or if it just came naturally. She helped Ruby stagger to her feet and held up two fingers.

“How many?” she asked.

“Er… th-three?”

“Nice guess. Where’s the nearest hospital?”

After managing to get rid of the very helpful man and his sour-faced companion (by paying them each twenty-five pounds and telling them in the politest voice she could muster to have lunch on me her), Rose balanced the lighter and lighter headed Ruby up against the nearest shop front and rang for a taxi.

“Get me an ambulance!” the latter yelled, when she realised that the former had not, in fact, dialled 999.

“Do you not keep up with the news?” asked Rose, as she waited for them to pick up. “The state of budget cuts at the moment, I’d be surprised if the NHS can afford the petrol- oh hello, is that ‘Dave’s Cabs’?”

It took them less than twenty minutes to get to the hospital. Rose had to half-carry Ruby- who now declared that she could see stars- into A&E. Once there, Rose was handed a form by a mainly-make up receptionist who looked barely old enough to be out of school and told to fill it in as quickly as possible. This, Rose was soon to admit, was easier said than done. She made do with Ruby’s alias under ‘name’, but after that she had to clutch at straws.

“What’s your date of birth?” she asked, kneeling in front of a plastic chair and scribbling the touch-and-go ball point on one corner of the form.

“Um… forty five,” replied Ruby, her eyes vacant. “My wrist hurts as well.”

Rose made up the majority of the remaining answers, and handed it in looking extremely flustered. It was a good three hour wait amongst school children nursing bloody elbows, worried mothers with toddlers who seemed perfectly well, and that odd looking man with a saucepan stuck on his head. When they were finally called in to see a young doctor with chestnut hair and a novelty Disney tie, Rose was so relieved she could have kissed him. But he wasn’t exactly her type, so she didn’t.

“I’ve been called in from Paeds,” he said, in explanation of his tie as he ushered them into the small consulting room. “It’s been a busy day over here. Now what seems to be the problem?”

Some painkillers, five stitches, two x-rays, one sling, and an ice-pack later, Ruby was feeling “much better”, and discharged promptly. The two ate in the cramped hospital café, feasting on such delicacies as soggy tuna sandwiches and bags of cheesy maize-based snacks.

“Thanks again,” Ruby said timidly, taking a big slurp of strawberry milkshake. Rose shrugged.

“Don’t mention it. Tell you what- next time, you can buy me dinner. Then we’ll call it quits.”

Ruby gave a laugh that made butterflies dance in Rose’s chest. “This is dinner? Goodness, you know how to treat a girl.”

“Oh I’m a proper Mrs Casanova, me.”

At around six, as darkness was just tinging the sky, Ruby and Rose stood in the car park. Rose puffed on a roll-up and tried to blow smoke rings. She wasn’t doing very well.

“You’re doing it wrong,” said Ruby. “Here, let me show you.”

Rose passed her the cigarette, and watched as Ruby placed it carefully between her lips. She inhaled slowly, then held the cigarette away. Her jaw and neck twitched minutely, before her lips formed an ‘o’, and perfect white halos billowed from her mouth. Mesmerized, Rose couldn’t be sure how long passed before there was the nudge of a sharp elbow in her ribs and Ruby said, “Do you not want this back?”

“Oh,” Rose cleared her throat, and took the cigarette. “Thanks.”

Silence fell over the pair. Rose managed to blow three smoke rings in a row, and Ruby grinned her congratulations. As the car park began to empty of evening visitors, a mutual thought crept into their minds that it really was time to go.

“I’ll get going then, I guess,” said Ruby, with a shrug. Rose looked up slowly. “Thanks for everything, I mean it.”

“But-” Rose began, then stopped herself. “Why don’t you come with me,” she suggested, in a surer tone.

“Really?”

“Well it’d save you getting beaten up again, wouldn’t it?”

Ruby smiled just a little, and tucked a length of hair behind her ear.

“I’d like that, Rose. Thank you.”