Free Do You Remember? by Mandy Baggot Page A

urged, trying to help him up.
    ‘Oww!’ Dominic let out a screech of agony.
    ‘Oh goodness. Shall I call an ambulance?’ Ally reacted.
    ‘No. Just leave him alone. Let me get him out of here and to a doctor,’ Emma shrieked.
    ‘Let me take him,’ Guy said.
    ‘No. I can do it,’ Emma said. She tried to lift Dominic up but he was a dead weight and far too heavy for her.
    ‘Emma, please. I can carry him to your car,’ Guy told her.
    ‘I don’t need your help,’ she insisted through gritted teeth. In an attempt to make a stand she lifted Dominic skyward, only to have him cry out in pain again. Some of the other children whimpered.
    ‘I’m taking him to the car,’ Guy stated firmly.
    Worried for Dominic, Emma let Guy take over. With minimal effort he lifted the boy into his arms and headed out of the hall.
    ‘Give me a ring, Em. Let me know he’s OK,’ Ally said, catching Emma’s arm before she could depart.
    She nodded. That was all she had the will for. She needed to be with Dominic, holding his hand and making everything better, just like she’d always done. She caught up to Guy.
    ‘You’ll be fine, Dom. Remember when Grandad tripped over the garden hose? He made all that fuss and it was just a sprain,’ Emma said.
    ‘It hurts a bit,’ Dominic admitted, his eyes moistening.
    ‘It’s just the shock,’ Emma said. She hoped that was all it was.
    ‘Sometimes the body causes pain so it may repair,’ Guy offered. He turned his back to the door pushing it open with the force of his body. Emma tried to help by pulling one of the doors back but her effort wasn’t needed.
    ‘I shouldn’t have turned so fast. I didn’t listen to you,’ Dominic moaned. He screwed up his eyes.
    ‘It wasn’t
your
fault,’ Emma said. She caught Guy’s eye and hoped she left him in no doubt just whose fault it was.
    ‘Good footballers have to put up with the lows. We all have injuries,’ Guy told him.
    ‘It’s the silver car…just there,’ Emma indicated. She led the way.
    ‘Have you had injuries?’ Dominic asked him, raising his head.
    ‘Of course. Just last week, before I move to England. I bruise my foot just by hitting the ball the wrong way,’ Guy explained.
    ‘And did you have to stop playing for a bit?’
    ‘The physio say at least three days rest but…’
    ‘You didn’t, did you. You played.’ Dominic’s expression turned to one of boyish wonder.
    ‘That’s helpful, isn’t it? He’s injured and you’re filling his head with suggestions about not resting,’ Emma blasted.
    ‘That was not what I meant…’ Guy began.
    ‘He’s a child. They’re easily influenced.’
    She flung open the back door and started to push objects across the seat to make room for Dominic.
    ‘He’ll have to sit on his booster seat, but I’ll move the seat right forward,’ Emma told him.
     
    Guy adjusted his stance, leaning in slowly to set Dominic down. The boy tensed his body as he met the seat. Guy removed his arms from underneath him and stepped back. Dominic looked pale but that wasn’t so unusual when you’d had a shock. Guy reached forward, his fingers making contact with Dominic’s dark hair.
    ‘Thank you for your help,’ Emma interrupted. ‘We’d better go.’
    Her words stung. He was being dismissed. She’d partially closed the door, stopping him from any further words or contact. This could not be. He would not let this be.
    ‘We must talk,’ he stated.
    She shut Dominic’s door, avoided eye contact. She had almost turned her head away completely.
    ‘I have to get Dominic to the hospital.’
    ‘Emma…please…tell me.’ He reached out for her, his fingers gently grazing the skin of her forearm.
    ‘I have nothing to say,’ she stuttered.
    ‘He is my son.’ He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t skirt around the issue anymore. He knew but he needed to hear it from her lips. He wanted to hear her say the words, tell him what he longed to know.
    ‘No.’
     
    She saw him rock on