Page 79 of Barging In

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, Clem,” Victoria said, getting into the driver’s seat. Her hand settled briefly on Clem’s knee.

Clem took a deep breath. Victoria’s reassuring voice and touch brought a flicker of solace. She decided to send a text to her dad. Maybe she could get something — anything — out of him to quell the storm raging in her chest.

As Victoria started the engine, Queen’s “Somebody to Love” blared out loudly. She quickly reached for a knob on the RetroSound unit and turned it down. The sudden silence was somehow even louder than the music.

“Hey,” Clem protested. “You can’t turn Freddie off.”

“Sorry. I thought you might want some peace.”

“No — a distraction would be great actually.”

Victoria turned the music back on, and they made their way down the road, listening to the sounds of Queen. As it was, it couldn’t distract her from her looping thoughts. What had happened to her mum? Crushed finger? Broken arm? Something worse? Surely Dad wouldn’t call from the A&E for something minor. She tried not to imagine the worst-case scenarios, but they found their way in anyway.

When Victoria finally pulled the car up outside the Accident and Emergency department, Clem was out in aflash. She leaned down through the open window. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” Victoria replied, with a wink.

Clem dashed through the automatic doors and into the reception area. Glancing back, she noticed Victoria drive away. Spotting the long queue, she approached a passing nurse, giving her mum’s full name and asking where she might be. She led her through the waiting room, along a corridor, and into a clinical bay. Clem followed closely behind the nurse as she negotiated uniformed staff rushing among curtained nooks. She discovered her mum sitting a few nooks in, with two fingers bandaged together. Her dad was sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair to one side of the hospital bed.

“There you are,” Clem said, letting out a long, heavy breath. “What happened?”

“It’s just a broken finger,” her dad called from the other side of the bed.

“Just!” her mum protested.

“Oh! Is that all?” Clem said, exhaling with relief.

“What do you mean ‘Is that all’?”

“I thought it was serious! That you’d had a heart attack or a stroke or something.”

“Well, I wish I had now,” she uttered. “At least I might get a bit of sympathy.”

“Sorry, Mum.” Clem raked a hand through her hair. “I was just really worried, and I couldn’t get through to Dad.”

“Sorry, love.” He sounded sheepish. “The mobile was working fine outside by the ambulance, but I must’ve lost you when I came in.”

“It wasneverworking fine. All I heard was Mum was in A&E. At least I caught which one. Why the ambulance?”

“Well, how else would we have gotten to the hospital?” Her mum sniffed.

“They are emergency vehicles, not glorified taxis. How did you even do it?” Clem asked.

“I was cleaning the windows from the towpath. A boat sped past and upsetThe Kingfisher. My hand was leaning on the rub rail.”

Clem sucked in a noisy breath through her teeth. She could imagine the rest.

“You didn’t need to come.” She turned to her husband, exasperated. “I thought you were going to send a text, Tom.”

“I thoughtit would be easier to call her. A text message might have worried her.”

Clem shook her head at them both.

“How did you get here so quickly?” her dad asked.

“Victoria gave me a lift.”

“From next door?” Her mum glared at her. “Friends now, are we?”