Page 116 of Washed Up

Dylan shook his head. ‘Southampton,’ he said.

She glanced at Dr Mac, who nodded confirmation. ‘This is for the best.’

Lily was clutching her husband’s arm, oblivious to anything else, so Frankie didn’t bother trying to explain to her what was going on. Every now and then Brian let out a little moan, and Dr Mac would lean forward and take his pulse, but apart from that it was all, thankfully, very undramatic.

Until they reached Southampton anyway, where they looked down on the large hospital building to see doctors, porters and nurses all gathered on the helipad beneath them, with a trolley ready, waiting to whisk her dad away as soon as they landed. That was the moment when reality hit Frankie. That was the moment she realised they were nowhere near out of the woods yet.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

And so it proved to be. Brian was whisked away in super-fast time and Dr Mac, Lily, Dylan and Frankie were shown into a stuffy family waiting room with four chairs covered in a dismal faux leather and a little box of tissues on a coffee table.

‘Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?’ said Dylan as they sat down.

Lily let out a long breath.

‘It’s okay, Mum,’ said Frankie. ‘He’ll be okay.’

Lily smiled tightly then turned to Dylan. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’

Dylan gave a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘Honestly, it was nothing.’

‘Well, it’s not nothing to me,’ said Lily, sincerely.

Frankie nudged Dylan with her knee. ‘She’s right,’ said Frankie, almost a little shyly. ‘You were amazing. And you, Doctor,’ she said, turning to him.

Dr Mac mirrored Dylan’s dismissive gesture. ‘It was nothing.’ He gave her a weak smile, then he looked at Dylan. ‘But they’re right. This will have made all the difference, I’m sure.’

Lily and Frankie turned two sets of hopeful eyes on him, and the doctor coughed and hastily backtracked a step or two. ‘I mean, he’s been given the best chance at least,’ he said. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just go and call my wife, I haven’t had a chance to tell her where I am.’

‘You’ve got quite a story,’ said Frankie. She glanced at Dylan, offering him as much of a smile as she could muster and Dylan seemed to relax, as if he’d been on edge, waiting to receive it. Waiting for a sign she was okay. He smiled back at her and, despite everything, her heart did a little flip. God, she was so glad he was here.

This time, Lily raised her eyebrows.

‘Something you two need to tell me?’ she said, sounding a little more normal.

It was Dylan’s turn to cough awkwardly. ‘Er…’ he stuttered. ‘I’ll go and get some coffees, shall I?’ He disappeared out of the room before they could respond.

‘They just don’t want to be in this horrible little room,’ said Frankie with an attempt at a laugh. She moved next to her mother, and they held each other’s hands, sitting in silence for a few moments.

‘Oh, Mum. That was so awful,’ said Frankie eventually.

‘I thought he was a goner,’ said Lily in a faraway voice.

‘So you two do love each other.’ The words were out of Frankie’s mouth before she could stop them.

Lily looked at her for a second. ‘Whatever does that mean?’

Frankie broke eye contact first. ‘Well, I just mean you’re always going on about other men and stuff, you know. Your past with this glamorous boyfriend or that one. And you’re not exactly shy around boys on the island, either.’

What am I doing?

But Lily seemed to take her words to heart. ‘I do do that, don’t I?’ she said thoughtfully. ‘Your poor dad must think I’m such a hussy.’

‘We all do, Mum,’ said Frankie, but her attempt at humour sounded hollow. ‘I don’t mean that, sorry. I just mean, I thought you were sort of a bit proud of that fact.’

Lily shook her head. ‘Not proud, exactly. No.’

‘So, what then?’ pushed Frankie, glad of a way to keep her mum distracted at least.