The Significance of Orange Juice

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 “So you finally admitted it.” Doris began smugly, her eyes lit up in excitement. I nodded mutely, not wanting to give her any more ammunition against me. “I knew it. Never question an old woman’s judgement, dear. We’ve had a lot of time to learn.”

“Learn what?” asked Charles, entering the room with two drinks in his hand, one of which he passed to me.

"Isabelle is finally going out with Jay, that nice boy from the café.” I spluttered a little. At what point did Jay become ‘that nice boy from the café’? Was I the only one who noticed how much he teased me?

The conversation continued around me, but I sat quietly, sipping my drink and enjoying just being in the room. Charles and Doris had a love that spilled out from them to encompass anyone in the vicinity and the hospital room seemed to glow with the warmth of their love. It was such a change from Livvy and Alex. I grimaced slightly and checked my phone to see if Olivia had replied to my text.

I’d eventually drawn most of the story out of Olivia this morning over a bowl of Cheerios and two mugs of hot chocolate. It seemed Alex had pressed too hard on the subject of meeting his parents and becoming his girlfriend and had called Olivia out on being scared of commitment. Olivia had snapped, yelling that if he really cared for her, he’d be happy to go at her pace. After a few more insults had been thrown at the other, Alex had retorted that he wanted a girlfriend who wasn’t ashamed to admit she was with him. According to Liv, that was when she had run from the room, yelling that he’d better go and find that girl.

I put my phone away, knowing that Olivia would text me when she was ready. In all honesty, I was starting to agree with Alex. Olivia had a bigger fear of commitments than I had realised. But as her friend, I knew that I just had to wait by her side until she found the guy she was willing to take the risk for.

I looked up, realising that the room had fallen silent. Charles and Doris were staring at me, identical beams spread across their faces. “Was that your boyfriend?” Doris teased in a sing-song voice.

“No,” I retorted a little too quickly, noticing how both of their smiles grew even wider. I glanced at the clock on the wall before amending my answer. “But, I am going to have to go. I’m meeting Jay at the café in half an hour.”

I ignored the smug ‘I told you so’ expression on Doris’ face as I gathered up my coat and bags before leaning in to kiss Doris’ wrinkled cheek. “Get better soon.”

Charles chuckled and wrapped me in a hug. “Next time you visit, she’ll probably be running the whole ward.”

I laughed and walked out into the corridor, Doris’ indignant voice trailing after me. I shook my head. Some people never change.

I followed the twisting maze of corridors until I finally found the reception and the entrance hall. The band about my chest began to loosen and I took my first comfortable breath since I’d entered the hospital. No matter what happened, I doubted that I would ever feel fully comfortable there.

Jay was already waiting for me by the time that I arrived at the café, panting a little from having run through the last few streets in order to arrive on time.

 “I ordered you a latte,” he said, pressing a kiss to my lips in greeting. “It should be on its way.”

“Thanks,” I said gratefully. My throat was parched after my little stint as a runner. Clearly my sedentary lifestyle as a student-cum-artist hadn’t prepared me for the world of exercise. Anything above a fast walk was apparently well above my abilities. “Hey, did Alex -”