Page 24 of C is for Comfort

“Mr Morris,” Mr Snyder says, motioning towards the door. “Bring your things.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Am I about to get fired? Did someone find out I went to that party? I haven’t been to a kink club since I started teaching just in case. Why the fuck did I go to that stupid party? I grab my planner and bag, trying not to get too worked up in front of the class.

Mr Snyder is waiting for me in the hall. “Try not to look so panicked,” he says.

“Sorry, sir.”

“Your daughter’s school called.”

My heart leaps into my throat. “She had a fall at breaktime, and they think she might need to go to the hospital.”

“The hospital?”

“Do you need a lift to pick her up?” he asks. “I know you don’t drive.”

I wipe my hand over my face. “Umm… I’ll call a taxi.” I’m not going to waste time on buses when Lexi is injured.

“I’ll get Barbara to take you.”

Barbara is his PA.

“Come on.”

I’m numb as I follow him through the school to Barbara’s office, which is right next to his. I don’t listen as he talks to her. All that matters is getting to Lexi and making sure she’s okay.

“Let us know how she is,” Mr Snyder says.

I nod. What he really wants to know is whether I’ll be in school tomorrow or not.

I’m quiet as Barbara drives me to Lexi’s school, and she doesn’t try to talk to me. I want my brothers, but Archie is at work—Hamish didn’t fire him—and Blake is at a casting call. I can’t ask either of them to drop everything just to come and hold my hand.

My thoughts go haywire as I think of every scrape and fall Lexi has had in her short life. When she was first learning to walk, she fell and hit her chin on Mum and Dad’s coffee table, biting her lip. There was so much blood. It looked worse than it was. She was fine after ice and cuddles, but my heart rate didn’t calm down to normal until a couple of hours later.

More recently, she started learning to ride a bike and fell off, scraping her knee and elbow. I cleaned her up and put plasters on her scrapes while Blake made her laugh.

Neither incident was worthy of going to the hospital.

“They’re probably just being cautious,” Barbara says as she pulls up outside the school. “They have to be with kids.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all it is.”

“I’ll wait,” she says, offering me an encouraging smile as I get out of the car. “I can drive you to the hospital if you need.”

“Thank you.”

I hurry to the gates and press the intercom.

“Hello?”

“I’m Lexi Morris’s dad. Someone called and said she’d had an accident?”

The gate buzzes open, and I slip inside, making sure it closes and locks behind me.

Lexi is sitting in the school reception with a teaching assistant, sobbing her heart out. She’s cradling her left arm. The sleeve of her school jumper has been pulled up. Her wrist is heavily bruised.

“Daddy!” she says.

I expect her to jump up and run to me, but she just stares at me miserably.