ENSHROUDING LIGHT

THE CLOSE CALL

CHAPTER 28

THE CLOSE CALL

'Oh, Nevaeh, I thought we'd lost him,' her mum cried one rainy morning over the phone.

'What happened?' Nevaeh stared out of the kitchen window, looking out at the dull sky, thinking it was a reflection of her heart. While she'd made minimal progression over the last few weeks, her dad had frequently dropped in and out of consciousness. Now, mid-March, the hospital had moved him to the ward's last room, dubbed 'the dying room'. They said the room was set for ensuring the last moments of his life were comfortable, but no doubt it was so the other patients didn't have to watch what would soon be their own fate.

'The beeper thing went off because his heart stopped, but they rushed in and...and saved him!' Her mum howled down the phone.

'I'm coming now!' Nevaeh ran into the classroom. 'I'm going to the hospital.'

Tom's eyes began to fill with tears as Mark took her back into the hall and closed the door. 'Is everything okay?'

'I don't know,' she said. 'I don't know how long I'll be there. Are you okay to look after Tom?'

'Of course.' He placed his arm around her. 'I'll order you a taxi.' He walked into the living room and made the booking.

How could she have not managed to get her light powerful enough yet? He could've died. She scowled at Mark. He could help. He could just come with her and save him, and she wouldn't have to live with such frustration every single day, it would all be over, but he still believed she should teach Tom to do it, still believed she could master her power in time to encourage him.

When the taxi pulled up in front of the hospital, she threw the money at the driver, ran past the main reception and up two corridors to her dad's ward. After being buzzed in, she rushed past the nurse and straight to his little room.

'Oh, Joan,' her dad wheezed in a faint voice, 'I'm okay! What have you phoned Nev for?'

'Still have the strength to scold, I see.' Nevaeh smiled and gave his bony face a kiss.

As his thin, shaky arms lifted to her face, she caught a glimpse of his ribs, sticking out of his pasty chest, through the armhole of his nightgown which hung from his weak and frail bones like a baggy sack. The skin at the top of his arms dangled from his bones like all muscle, sinews and fat had been eaten away. His good looks had gone. In such a short time, the life had been sucked out of his face.

'We shouldn't be having many visitors, Mr Croft,' a nurse said from behind. 'We don't want you to do any talking.'

'I'm okay. I wish...you'd all stop...fussing!' He attempted to lift his head, but it fell back.

Her mum began to plump the pillow.

Her dad tutted.

Nevaeh walked round to her mum and took her hand. 'Let's leave him to rest. We'll go to the café for some breakfast.'

'I don't want food.'

'You're beginning to look as weak as Dad.'

'I can't eat, Nevaeh!'

Nevaeh pulled her up from the chair. 'You have to!'

Once they reached the café, Nevaeh ordered some toast and two pots of tea, but when the order came, her mum simply fiddled with it.

'Sometimes he's delirious.' She pushed the toast around her plate. 'And sometimes he's angry with me.'

Nevaeh held onto her mum's hand. This was the first time her mum had ever looked lost and unkempt. She was always so prim and together. 'What actually happened, Mum?'