At Seventeen
Chapter 10
Shane walked home in a daze. He hadn't taken anything in that
night. He hadn't even known who he'd been talking to. He was getting over
Cassie, but not too soon. He just couldn't lose the memory of her, and the
bitter realisation that she had loved someone else more than him.... He reached
home to find his mother in the kitchen, making hot chocolate. "Do you want
some? You look wrecked," she said to him. He nodded and sank into a chair.
Unwind and relax, he told himself, relax and forget her.
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Mark had a headache. It worsened as the music grew louder. He saw Kian glance at
him questioningly. He actually saw Jane tear her eyes away from Bryan to look at
him. "You look bad," said Bryan. "Will I get you a taxi
home?" Mark could only nod in reply. The pain was worsening. "I'll
take it with you," Bryan assured him. "I guess the party's over."
He looked at Kian and Jane. "But it's not fair on you."
"We can still party," replied Kian. "We'll still be here when you
get back. All you have to is drop Mark to his house." "Good
plan," said Bryan. "You have my mobile number, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I don't need it!" "Okay, okay! You take good care of
Jane now. Here," tossing a key at her, "if you want drop off at my
hotel room to wait for me, Jane." Jane looked at him with adoration, he
just smiled. And with that he and Mark were gone.
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By the time Mark had reached home he seemed worse. Mark's mother came out when
she heard the taxi. She was shocked to see the state Mark was in. Bryan told the
taxi driver to wait outside as he and Mrs Feehily brought Mark into the house.
Mark's brother Barry was in the living room, his eyes widened as he saw his
older brother.
"What happened, he's not drunk, is he?" Mark's mother asked Bryan,
businesslike. "No," said Bryan. He was beginning to get frightened.
"We hadn't even got near the bar, we weren't ten minutes there when he
complained of a really bad headache."
Mrs Feehily checked Mark over. Then she asked Barry to turn the light on, who
obliged. "No...I can't look at the light," cried Mark. Bryan grew more
worried. He glanced at Mark's mother, whose mouth was half-open in horror.
"Give me a glass from the kitchen, quick, Barry!" Barry raced back
with it. Mrs Feehily, shaking, held the glass onto the rash she had spotted, it
was developing at the back of Mark's neck. She pressed the glass harder against
his skin, and then began to cry.
"What is it, what is it?" cried Bryan, immediately turning to try and
see. The rash did not disappear under the pressure of the glass. "You know
what this means," said Mark's mother. Bryan and Barry looked puzzled, but
the horrible truth slowly dawned on them. "Mark's got meningitis,"
Barry barely whispered. The shock on Bryan and his mother's faces only confirmed
the tragic news.
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The phone in the Filan household rang once, twice, three, four times. No one
answered. They were all asleep. Shane, stretched out on his bed, at this moment
looked as if he would not wake for two weeks.
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Kian and Jane were enjoying the atmosphere in the nightclub, despite everything.
Jane didn't seem to miss Bryan half as much as she had thought she would have.
Kian was very entertaining, and danced with her all night. They both giggled at
the same jokes, and Jane felt so comfortable for the first time in ages.
She must have had a lot to drink, because her head seemed to spin, and then she
felt a warm cloth revive her. It was Kian. As far as she could sense, they were
in Bryan's hotel room. "Bryan," she called out, but Kian just
answered, "I turned the mobile off, you don't want it annoying you, do
you?" She nodded. He gently took the cloth away, and started stroking her
forehead. "Are you okay?"
She nodded again, and gazed up at him, "Oh Kian...." Her head was
against the pillow. She suddenly stood up, close to him. Her gaze was steadfast.
He couldn't break it. He reached out his hand to her, but she slowly lowered his
head, her hands behind his neck, and gently brushed her lips against his. Again
she repeated it, until Kian responded. "Jane." She looked into his
eyes, and he gave her a long, deep kiss.
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Eimear awoke to hear the phone in her room go off. 1:30 AM. She looked at the
bed adjacent to her. Jane wasn't home yet. Oh well, she was probably having a
good time with Bryan anyway. She'd be home eventually - she was really crazy
about Bryan. Eimear shook herself - she had just been dreaming about Shane. He
had been holding her hand and she had felt that feeling in her hand again, only
ten times better. She felt a little silly, but she didn't want to be woken, she
wanted to know what would happen. Drowsily, she lifted the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Oh thank God, Eimear," came the male Dublin voice on the other line,
which she instantly recognised as Bryan's. "I have some terrible
news...."