Chapter 7

Eight days went past without a flicker from Anna’s body. As soon as she was transferred to the London Royal Hospital she came of her ventilator. Now she spent her time in a room of her own down the corridor from the intensive care unit. Everybody went back to work and tried to get on as normal as possible. All except Nicky who was devoted to spending time with Anna. Day in, day out he would sit by her side talking to her. Telling her about what everyone was up to and the latest jokes that Bryan had told him. Every even he would sit silently at the end of her bed, watching as the soft evening, setting sun shone on Anna’s face bring a little bit of colour to her pale cheeks for just a few minutes. As soon as the sun had gone down he would close the curtains, kiss Anna on her cheek then leave for the night, only to return in the morning. He never got sick of it.

The other boys came home for the weekend. On Saturday morning Nicky went downstairs to find Mark sat at the table eating his breakfast. He wasn’t expecting him to be home as he wasn’t told anything. Nicky was shocked to see him there. For the last week it had just been him and Claire. They would sit up until the early hours of the morning just talking and letting off steam about everything. “Mark!” Nicky cried.
“Hey man,” Mark said standing up and giving Nicky a hug. “How are you? How’s Anna doing?”
“I’m fine. Anna’s still fighting off that chest infection. She’s getting better everyday but she’s still unconscious.”
“I know Shane still feels really bad about it all. He still thinks it’s all his fault. He shuts himself away all the time and won’t talk about it. The other night I noticed his hotel room door was slightly open so I peeped in. He was really drunk but he was still drinking. He had tons of cans around him. I’m really worried about him Nicky.”
“Oh. I didn’t know it was this bad!” said Nicky, shocked. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”
“You have enough to deal with. What he really needs to do right now is talk to somebody but he won’t.” Tears started rolling down Mark’s cheeks. Nicky pulled him in for a hug while tears started in his own eyes. “I don’t want to see Shane like this,” cried Mark. “It’s hurting everyone else as well as him but he doesn’t see it.” Nicky wrapped his arms tighter around Mark. They stayed like that for a little longer then Mark let go to wipe away his tears. “Feel better?” Nicky asked. Mark nodded. “I’m off to see Anna. See you later.” Nicky left Mark to finish his breakfast.

When Nicky got to the hospital he had the shock of his life. Anna was awake and was eating her breakfast. Nicky dropped his bag by the door and bounded over to Anna’s side and put his arms around her. Anna returned the gesture. “I never thought I would be able to do this again,” He said as tears came to his eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Awful,” croaked Anna as she coughed. “My throat and chest are killing me.” Nicky let go of her and sat down next to her on the bed.
“Why did you go out there without telling anyone?”
“I wanted to be on my own. If I told any of you, you’d all demand to go with me.”
“Well you’re ok now.” He leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. “If only I could say the same for Shane.”
Anna didn’t get what he meant. “What’s wrong with Shane? Is he ok?”
“He still feels really bad about everything that happened. He still thinks that in some way it’s all his fault.”
“But it isn’t. I went out there on my own. I was the one who didn’t tie that boat up properly.”
“We’ve tried telling him it’s not his fault but he won’t listen. We think he’s turning to drink to block it all out. Mark caught him in his hotel room the other night. It didn’t look good. I’m worried about him too.” Tears came to Nicky’s eyes again but only a single tear came out. “What’s going to happen to him?” Tears released themselves and began flowing freely. Anna felt pain when she moved so she laid her hand over his.

Shane sat in the park all evening. He leaned back against the tall wall in the corner and rested his head against it for a moment. He had heard that Anna was conscious but couldn’t face going to see her this evening while everyone else did. He told them he wasn’t feeling well and that he was going out for a walk to get some fresh air. He sat there with a plastic carrier bag full of lager cans held firmly in his left hand while he had an open can in his right hand. He finished off his can then proceeded to get the next can out of the bag. He sat there like a robot. Drinking, reaching into the bag and drinking again. He couldn’t stop. It gave him the feeling of freedom. The feeling he didn’t get when he was sober. He knew this wasn’t right. That he shouldn’t be doing it but he couldn’t stop. It blocked everything out. By nightfall he had passed out under the stars with a mound of empty cans beside him.