At Seventeen
Chapter 15
Georgina had been waiting for a cab for just about forever.
She'd finally given up and joined the large crowd at the bus stop. The buses
were slow too, but at least she had some cover over her, to shield herself from
the rain. Nicky's probably still in the nightclub now, she thought angrily. Why
did he do this to her, he knew that she was tired. Maybe she put up with too
much - she would have to talk to him soon.
The bus was nowhere in sight. She sighed and looked at her watch. And then she
saw a taxi pass by, and hailed it. It stopped. Georgina took up her bag and
crossed the street to get into the cab.
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In the hospital, there was no news as yet. Eimear was despondent and the two
lads weren't much better. Mark's mother kept straying her eyes down the
corridor, willing a doctor to appear and tell her that her son was out of
danger. Barry, the elder of Mark's brothers, was half asleep. So too was Bryan.
But when Shane told him to go back to his hotel and get some sleep, he refused.
"I can't leave Mark alone."
"You're not leaving him alone," snapped Shane, a bit irritated.
"His whole family is here and me, and Eimear..." His voice trailed
off. Where was she? He looked to his left. It was only then that he realised
that Eimear was fast asleep. On his shoulder. A swift fleeting thought came to
him - I could get used to this. He smiled to himself. Behind him, Bryan was
standing, watching the scene. "You've finally convinced me," he said
with a grin. "You don't need me round here."
Shane nodded and would have stood up but for the sleeping Eimear on his left
shoulder.
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Jane didn't know how long she'd been there. She'd wandered around the hotel room
for God knows how long. Watched TV, filed her nails. Where was Kian, or more to
the point, Bryan? What was taking him so long? She'd had enough - she would
leave a message for him and the key at reception. Sligo at 2.30 am was a
completely different prospect. So quiet. If this was Dublin, she thought to
herself, I'd be fearing an attack or something.
Someone grabbed her from behind. "Oh my God," she murmured, and was
about to scream... till she found it was Bryan McFadden. "Twice you've
scared me, in how many hours," she said wryly. He must make a habit of it.
"Did you not miss me?" He was solemn though, there was something up.
"Jane, I've something to tell you..."
Or maybe not. Jane closed her eyes. I love you, I can't live without you, I've
never felt this way before, I'm so glad that you came along, do you believe in
love at first sight, Jane? Instead she heard the words: "Mark's seriously
ill. He's in hospital with meningitis."
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Nicky gave the taxi driver £20 and wouldn't accept change from him. "It's
the least I can do," he said, smiled and got out of the car. The driver
smiled back at him. Well, well, he thought to himself, Teresa'll be thrilled
with herself when I tell her, so she will.
He drove off. Nicky took out his key out of his jacket and opened the door. No
one was up. Good, he liked it that way. He would have to get up early that
morning, to leave for Sligo. He wasn't going to miss any time, he had to see
Mark. He knew that Georgina would be disappointed, but he was sure she would
understand. And, he added as an afterthought later, while trying to get to
sleep, it'll mean I won't have to see Tara.
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Eimear awoke, to find that she had drifted off - on Shane's shoulder. She felt
immediately embarrassed, and immediately jerked her head up, and sat down,
hoping no one had noticed. "You're awake," Shane said to her, with
more than a hint of a smile. Eimear blushed. How embarrassing.
It was only then that they saw Mark's mother, coming down the corridor. Tears
were running down her face. Eimear felt like she was going to faint, but Shane
put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. He looked fearfully at Mrs Feehily.
And then she glanced over at them and smiled. It slowly dawned on Shane that
there must be some good news. "What did you hear?" he asked, in a
voice that was far too hoarse for his liking.
"He's okay," she said, the tears threatening to flood again.
"He's fine. He had the viral form of meningitis, that usually could kill,
but he was very lucky. We brought him in early, you see," she continued,
reminiscint. "He wasn't too bad when Bryan brought him home, but I just
thought... anyway he's fine. We'll all have to take tablets of course, and look
out for signs that we didn't get it, but you usually can't get the viral form.
It's the bacterial one that is more contagious."
At this point, Eimear's, and indeed, Shane's eyes were brimming with water.
Shane gave one of his most genuine smiles, that made Eimear's heart melt, and
said chokingly: "That's great to hear. Can we see him?" We? thought
Eimear. What does he mean, we? But Shane had started to think clearly now. If,
as Bryan had seemed assured of, Mark and Eimear had, well, mutual feelings, then
it was only fair that she should see him first. He watched her walk down the
corridor. She turned around. "Shane - are you not coming?" "You
go in first," he answered, still slightly tearful, and he picked up a
magazine. "Look, I'll be fine, just go in."
Eimear nodded and was whisked away by a stern-looking nurse who looked
frowningly down at her. The nurse led the way. And then, she collided with a
young man coming the opposite way. This nurse must have been only about
nineteen, but had seemed extremely solemn to Eimear, yet on sight of this lad,
she blushed. Eimear, amused that this could have such an effect on her, leaned
over to see him. She was astounded to see...
"Kian! You came?" "Eimear, so we meet again," he said,
jokingly. "How is Mark doing?" he added, more anxiously. Eimear was
about to reply, when she heard Shane's voice behind her: "Ah Egan, you
missed all the drama, you let us wait here and take all the worry!"
"I'm sorry," said Kian, sheepishly, "I didn't know, I was
somewhere else." I won't say where, he thought to himself. "Nah, it's
alright," Shane replied, eyeing him cheekily. "So long as you weren't
doing anything with Jane!" What? thought Kian, he can't know!!! Or does he?
"Shane!" cried Eimear, "that's hardly fair to Kian! Look at him,
you really embarrassed him!" Kian was pink, although not with
embarrassment, but with guilt. "Ah Kian, I'm only messing with ya!"
cried Shane. "You didn't take me seriously, did ya?" Kian gave what he
hoped was a natural-sounding laugh. "That's typical of you, Shane, how can
you accuse me of that?" "Hey, no accusations!" insisted Shane,
and the two began to have a loud exchange of playful banter. The nurse stood
watching them, still blushing. Eimear grinned.
"Can you take me to see Mark?" she asked the nurse, who was watching
Kian, pretending to hit Shane with an imaginary punch. "Oh yes, yes, of
course," the nurse replied, rather hurriedly, but still looked over her
shoulder at the two till they were out of sight.