At Seventeen
Chapter 11
"No," cried Eimear, "it can't be." He had
told her. Mark had meningitis. "It is," said Bryan. He sounded like he
was in tears. "He's in Sligo General. And there's no answer at Shane's or
at Kian's, and their mobiles are turned off... and Nicky's in Dublin..."
"I'm coming over," Eimear decided. "No, Eimear, you don't have
to." "No, I'm coming. There's no one there but Mark's family, yeh?"
"Well, yeah."
"So I'm coming over! And I'll check to see if those eejits have their
phones on..." "Thanks Eimear." He was definitely tearful now.
"Could you ring my hotel room as well? I just remembered I gave Jane my
key." "Christ, Bryan, you really love her, don't you?" Eimear
regretted saying it as soon as it was out of her mouth, but she was very
surprised. "Yeah, I guess I do. Even after knowing her a few hours."
He paused. "It's so weird... am I going too fast?" "Well, you
know, love at first sight!" Eimear said. She would have laughed but for the
seriousness of Mark's condition.
But that's not true, thought Bryan to himself. It wasn't even that. I had a bit
of a crush on Eimear, I didn't even look at Jane. He began to feel guilty.
"Look," he said, his voice rising, "just... just do what you
can." And Eimear could sense the desperate sadness in his voice and she was
concerned. So all she said was, "Yes."
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They stood close, gazing at each other. But in a flash it hit Kian, like a bomb.
He shouldn't be doing this. Quickly he pulled away from her. Jane stared at him,
wordlessly. She watched as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
Finally she found her voice. "Kian...."
"I shouldn't have done that, Jane. We....." He shook his head.
"God knows, Bryan's never been with any of my girlfriends. But I still
betrayed him. That's what it is - betrayal!" An open-mouthed Jane could
only stand there as he slammed the door behind him, and think of the damage that
had been done.
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Eimear cursed again. One more time, Shane Filan, and I'll hang up, she told
herself. You may do things to my heart like no one else does, but I swear... No
one answered yet again. Eimear was in a state. But this was Shane, come on, one
more time. She melted inside for a split second, then pulled herself together,
feeling slightly guilty. Mark was in a life-threatening condition and all she
could do was dream of Shane.
Eimear pressed the redial button for the last - yes, the last - time. She began
to think over what to say, if by chance the receiver was picked up. Oh God, no,
it'll probably be his ma who answers or something, and she'll think I'm just a
crazy fan. She began to panic when...
"Hello?" It was a male voice anyway. Eimear was so stunned that the
phone had been picked up that she couldn't speak. "Hello?" Whoever it
was seemed irritated. "Em hi, my name is Eimear Cleary, I'm a friend of
Bryan McFadden, who asked me to carry on an urgent message for Shane..."
"Okay, who are you?" It was Shane, no doubt about it now.
"Where are you from? This is Shane, you don't need to pretend. I was trying
to get to sleep though! Honestly, you fans are crazy... are you in a different
timezone or what?" "I'm telling the truth. I was in Carrs pub tonight
with Bryan and Mark, and yourself and Kian, and my friend Jane..."
Something in Shane's mind stirred. That was right - hadn't Bryan two girls with
him - one whom he couldn't take his eyes off, and the other seemed to be the
first girl's friend, and Mark had seemed very interested in her. The girl's
genuine, he realised.
"Jees, I thought you weren't for real," he thought out loud. Then he
realised where he was. Talking on the phone to some girl who was a friend of
Bryan, with a message for him. "So what did Bryan say?" "Emm... I
don't know how to say this...." "But what?" Shane's suspicion was
immediately aroused. "Did something happen?" "Well...."
Eimear suddenly found herself speaking in a rush, but it all made perfect sense
to Shane, surprisingly. "When I went home, the others went onto a
nightclub, I'm not sure where, and Mark had a headache... so Bryan took him
home, and Kian and Jane stayed... then Bryan couldn't contact you, or Kian or
Jane, he phoned me..."
What? thought Shane. "What do you mean, what happened?" "Mark's
in hospital." "Is he okay, so?" Shane was reasonably relaxed.
"Am I to visit him?" "Well, all his family are over there, his
parents and his brothers and aunts and uncles..." Eimear realised that
Shane wasn't aware how sick Mark was. But Shane wasn't stupid. "His
uncles... oh God, it's serious, isn't it." It wasn't a question. He knew.
"I... Mark... he has..." Eimear couldn't address Shane by his name, it
was too hard. She was struggling to explain even. "I don't want to
know." Shane's voice had dropped and he spoke in a hoarse whisper.
"I'll find out, won't I? Why did this have to happen to Mark of all
people?" He was emotional, but when he next spoke his voice was black and
unmoved.
"Are you at the hospital?" "No, just going over there now."
"Don't bother, I'll pick you up. You can tell me what it is on the
way." Eimear was moved by this sudden burst of generosity, and was about to
say thanks, but Shane read her thoughts, even through a telephone line.
"Don't thank me. Where are you?" "The Silver Swan." "Be
outside the front entrance in 10 minutes. Are you the redhead?"
"Yeah." That was all she could say. He hung up.
Eimear recalled she had to ring Kian, and then Jane at Bryan's hotel room. She
looked down at the numbers Bryan had given her and decided to do that at the
hospital. She didn't have time now - she had to get ready.