Free Sophie's Run by Nicky Wells

go in. She’ll probably go to sleep quite quickly though. It would be good if you could come back early tomorrow.”
    “Of course,” I immediately agreed. “I can stay the night if that would help…?”
    The doctor smiled. “I don’t think that will be necessary. You look like you could do with some rest, too. Is there somebody who could pick you up later?”
    “Err, yes, I guess so, but—”
    “Good, that’s settled. You can go in when the nurse tells you. Thank you for all your help. You probably saved your friend’s life.”
    And with that, she got up and left.
    I sat in a daze for a few moments, then reluctantly got out my mobile to text Dan, blithely ignoring the “no mobile phone” signs plastered all over the place. Mission accomplished, I sat back and waited.
    And right there, in this most unlikely of places, after this most horrendous of events, in the most awful of circumstances, I saw him again.
    Steve.
    I nearly didn’t recognize him in scrubs, but our eyes met once again, and it was definitely him. He was walking alongside a trolley carrying a badly injured man. He was busily monitoring the patient’s vital signs, and yet he caught my eye.
    For one second, his step faltered as he saw me, but he got swept along by the movement of the trolley, disappeared through some automatic double-doors. And the moment was over.
    My heart leapt in my chest and all my senses were jubilant. There was definitely something there. He had seen me. He had nearly stopped. I hadn’t imagined it, I knew I hadn’t. I very nearly did a little jig. Just wait until I could tell Rachel about this and—
    I crash-landed back in reality after my short but intense flight of fancy. I almost felt guilty at the joy and exhilaration I had so briefly experienced.
    A nurse stood in front of me. “You can go in now,” she repeated, a tad impatient.
    “Oh, oh, right, thanks. Sorry,” I gabbled, gathering up my things and entering Rachel’s room.
    “Only a few minutes, mind. We’ll be moving her to the ward shortly,” the nurse shouted after me.
     
    Rachel looked small and frail, but she had some color back in her face.
    “Sophie,” she croaked. “You came.”
    “Of course I came, silly,” I chided, trying not to burst into tears.
    “Can I have a hug?” Rachel pleaded.
    “’ Course you can.” I bent down to give her an awkward little hug.
    “Sit,” she invited me, softly patting her bed. So I sat, and held her hand.
    A fat tear escaped from Rachel’s right eye and slowly trickled down her cheek. She didn’t even bother wiping it away, so I did it for her. That brought on more tears, but she didn’t seem to have the energy for a full-on sobbing fit like she had had on the phone.
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so, so sorry. I know they all think I’m going to do myself in, but I’m not. I lost it. I’m sorry.”
    I hesitated. Was this the right time to talk?
    “Do you want to tell me what happened?” I asked, as gently as I could. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I don’t want to be nosey or anything… Just if you want to…”
    “He dumped me,” Rachel cut into my clumsy ramblings.
    I stared, uncomprehending.
    “He dumped you?” I repeated before I could think better of it. It was too big a fact to take in.
    “He did,” Rachel confirmed. “He didn’t even warn me. He simply turned up with somebody else. The bastard. The evil….”
    “Hold it, hold it, backtrack a little for me here,” I pleaded. “What was this thing on the boat anyway?”
    “I don’t really know, some posh function. A launch party, I think. Well, it had a launch all right,” she suddenly snorted. “Just not the kind they’d expected.”
    Humor. That was a good sign, surely?
    “Right, so you turned up at this party on your own?” I verified.
    Rachel nodded. “I didn’t really want to go, it’s not my scene. I didn’t know anybody there. We’ve had some friction over that lately. Anyway…”