Good Days Bad Days

Not Lost

On Saturday morning Ricky was starting to get worried. He hadn't heard from Jayne since about 5 pm the previous evening. It was probably nothing but he couldn't help that nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Maybe her phone battery had run out, maybe she'd lost it. Whatever the reason he was sure he was just being a bit neurotic.

He went to her flat earlier than they'd agreed just incase she was there. There was no sign of her there. He asked a balding and fat neighbour who told him to piss off cose he was interrupting the rugby. He headed into the city centre to see if she was at work. She should still be there if he was lucky.

He parked his car a few streets away and headed over to the shop where she worked. He got more worried when he looked around the shop and couldn't find her. She was one of few female staff at the shop and pretty easy to spot. Maybe she was just in the stock room or something.

"Excuse me, is Jayne here? Long black hair, brown eyes." he asked a member of staff who was stacking shelves.

"I'm afraid I can't give out that kind of information sir." the man said.

"I'm her boyfriend, I'm supposed to be picking her up soon but I haven't heard from her. I'm not just a random customer with a crush on her." Ricky clarified.

"I'll have to get my manager." the man said. "Come with me."

He lead Ricky over to a desk where a man with thick glasses sat at a computer.

"Mark, this man says he knows Jayne. Her boyfriend." the younger man said.

"I'll take this." the spectacled man told his junior then turned to Ricky. "What did you say your name is?"

"I didn't, I'm Ricky." he introduced himself.

"I'm Mark. I'm Jayne's boss. She didn't turn up for work this morning." the manager explained. "I thought maybe she was ill or running late. Her mum phoned and I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you this."

Ricky's blood ran cold and his heart beat faster with panic.

"She had an accident last night. She was hit by a car." the man said.

"Oh god! Is she... did she..." Ricky stammered, not wanting to ask the question.

"She's in hospital with a head injury. They don't know how long she'll be there or if..."

"Where?" Ricky asked.

"St Thomas's" the man replied.

"Thank you." Ricky said before running out of the shop and straight to his car.

He drove as fast as he could as he could to the hospital they'd told him. He parked, jabbed some money into the ticket machine and stuck the ticket in his car window before he ran into the hospital. He barked Jayne's name at the receptionists who tapped around on her computer painfully slowly. He took off in the direction she pointed him.

He was about to go into a room that looked like a ward with a few beds when a nurse stopped him.

"You can't go in there sir." the nurse said. "It's family only."

"But my girlfriend's in there!" he protested.

"I understand you're anxious but this is a time for family only." the nurse said firmly.

"Jayne could be seriously ill in there. I need to see her. If something happens to her and I haven't seen her then so help me cose there'll be hell to pay!" he snarled.

"Is there something wrong out here?" a man asked from the doorway.

He looked in his late twenties and had the same sleek black hair as Jayne. He must be her brother.

"I'm Jayne's boyfriend, Ricky." he introduced himself.

"I'm Fred, Jayne's brother. She told me about you. You're a singer or something?" the dark haired man introduced himself.

"Yes. A singer." Ricky nodded. "I was taking her to see my band playing tonight."

"Come through." Fred ushered him into the room. "I should warn you, she's not looking pretty at the moment."

"I don't care as long as she's safe." Ricky said just before he saw her.

She was lying on her back in a bed surrounded by machines and with wires and tubes going in and out of her. Her skin was bruised and scratched. A patch of hair on her temple was shaved and a dressing was taped to her scalp. The white of the dressing and her bared scalp jarred against her black hair. Her long hair that was once long, straight and sleek was now dull, tangled and slightly matted in places.

"Oh my god!" Ricky said to himself.

He heard Fred explaining who he was to a couple who must be their parents. All he could do was stare at her in horror.

"Talk to her. She's in an induced coma so she can heal but she might be listening." her mum told him.

"Hey Jayne." he said awkwardly as he stepped closer to the bed. "I came to pick you up for the gig tonight but it doesn't look like you're going to make it."

Her family explained to him what had happened, what injuries she had and how the doctors thought that might effect her. She had taken a knock to the head and had needed surgery to stop the bleeding. She also had several broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm, a slipped disk in the base of her spine, fractured hip and a broken leg. As he held her hand he was quite impressed that despite all of her injuries she hadn't broken a single fingernail or chipped the nail varnish too much. She'd be quite impressed with that if she were awake.

He reluctantly left her after several irate phone calls from his manager. He kissed her gently on the forehead and left to go and sing with the rest of the Kaiser Chiefs. It felt wrong to him that he should be entertaining people when she was lying in a hospital bed unable to breathe for herself.