Page 5 of The Wish

A lex turns his motorbike into the hospital grounds.

He’s still annoyed with Ian and feels unprepared.

What exactly is he supposed to do? Ian has given him no brief, no indication of what actually needs to be done.

His bike parked, helmet under his arm, backpack slung casually over his left shoulder, Alex enters the hospital foyer.

Retrieving a crumpled-up piece of paper from his pocket, he looks at the words scribbled down as he walks towards the lift bank.

Scanning the space, Alex’s eyes rest on a large sign suspended from the ceiling.

‘What the hell am I doing here?’ Alex says to the doors.

Two cautious steps forward trigger the doors as if giving him the answer : don’t ask questions, just go on in there and get the job done .

Two more steps and Alex has entered the bizarre foreign world of ward 6 East: it looks suddenly like the digital world of a game.

He gazes at the brightly painted murals and hears laughter and quiet chatter coming from the rooms around him.

Two boys, each wheeling a mobile IV pole with tubes leading into their arms, are caught up in a swordfight with rolled-up newspapers, laughing at each other’s attempt to score a hit.

Staff, patients and visitors dodge them, seemingly oblivious to the mayhem they’re causing.

Alex watches, takes a step forward, then a step back.

His face registers anxiety and something like wonder.

He’s been told to report to the nurses’ station and so Alex walks further into the ward, finally seeing a long counter with people behind it dressed in an array of brightly coloured scrubs.

A young boy chases a girl behind the counter, and they are both shooed away.

Alex finally sees the sign reading NURSES’ STATION partly obscured by two women deep in conversation, one dressed in pale blue scrubs, the other in regular clothes.

Slowly, Alex makes his way towards them, not wanting to interrupt but finding it impossible not to overhear.

‘Kelly, you have to give whoever they send a chance. Stop being such a mother hen,’ the nurse is saying affectionately.

‘But there’s so much riding on this. Jesse’s wish is so important to her,’ the other woman replies. Alex notices how her blue eyes flash.

‘Dean is so angry about it that it needs to be amazing for him to come around. I just want to make sure that the person who takes this on knows just how important it is.’

‘Every wish is important, Kelly, you know that, even though we’ve never had one for a personalised video or whatever it is Jesse wants.’ There’s a slight admonishment in the older woman’s tone.

‘I know. You’re right. But who knows what they’ll send us – or who.’

‘They sent me,’ Alex interrupts them, sounding ruder than he meant to.

Kelly and the nurse startle, glancing at each other uncomfortably.

The nurse reacts first, extending her right hand. ‘Hello, I’m Sandy, I’m the charge nurse on this ward. Thank you for coming to help Jesse.’

Alex shakes her hand. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m not sure what it is you want from me but I’m here anyway.’

‘Jesse will tell you what she wants, don’t worry about that! If there is anything I can do to help, please find me.’

‘Thanks, but I was told to meet a social worker?’

Sandy glances at Kelly who has stood silently by. ‘Yes, that would be Kelly,’ she says, nudging her arm.

‘Ah, the one who wondered who or what was coming?’ Alex tries for a jokey tone, but seeing the faces of the two women realises it’s fallen flat. He shuffles uncomfortably on the spot, digging his hands into his pockets.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Sandy says, briskly stepping away.

‘Thanks, Sandy,’ Kelly answers, turning back to Alex. Holding out her hand, she says, ‘I’m sorry. You weren’t meant to hear that.’

‘Obviously.’

‘Let’s start again. I’m Kelly Vincent, the paediatric oncology social worker.’

Alex can’t help staring at her, momentarily disoriented.

She has the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. Her hair, tucked behind both ears, highlighting the round shape of her face, is unruly and shiny.

She clutches a folder to her chest, and his stomach clenches.

The folder, he recognises. Each social worker who passed through his life as a child – uprooting him from one foster home, taking him away from any tentative friendships, depositing him in another one only to uproot him again a few short months later – carried such a folder, detailing his short life.

Each one did their job with little compassion or understanding of what it was like for him to be handed from one stranger to another, never knowing how long this placement would last. Now here he is, standing in front of a woman around his age, who bears no resemblance to his memories of the many social workers he’s encountered.

‘And you are?’ Kelly asks.

Alex shakes himself back to the here and now, slowing his breathing, remembering where he is and why.

‘Alex Daniels from TriOptics. Look, I don’t have much time. How is this going to work?’

Kelly sighs, not bothering to hide her irritation. ‘Come with me, Alex Daniels from TriOptics. First, I’ll sign you in, then we need to have a little talk.’

Kelly goes behind the desk, punches something into a computer and gets him to sign a form.

She prints off a ticket, which says CONTRACTOR , folds it into a plastic lanyard.

‘Wear this,’ she says, gathering up her folder and walking to the far end of the ward.

Alex follows her, juggling his helmet as he tries to put the strap of the lanyard around his head.

Kelly uses a card to open the double doors and walks through, letting them swing back and one knocks into Alex’s shoulder.

Annoyance starts simmering up in him. Shouldn’t this Kelly person be more polite?

Isn’t TriOptics doing them a favour? He tries to forget about all the other work piling up on his desk right now.

Kelly enters a tiny room and sits behind a table. Alex shrugs off his backpack, places his helmet on the floor beside him, and sits down.

‘Alex Daniels from TriOptics. So, you’re the one they’ve sent us.’

‘Appears so,’ Alex says, rather more tersely than he’d intended.

‘I need to be clear with you. You have been brought in to help fulfil a young girl’s wish. This is extremely important to her. I have to know that you’re on board from the beginning, that you are not going to let her down.’

What? Like I was let down by social worker after social worker? Alex thinks to himself.

‘Look, I have been told next to nothing: go to the hospital, fulfil a wish. That’s it. How can I promise not to let someone down – someone I haven’t even met yet – if I don’t know what it is that’s wanted from me?’

‘I just need to know that whoever takes this on is serious about delivering what they have promised to do.’

‘I haven’t promised to do anything.’ Alex is filled with frustration. ‘Again, I was told you would fill me in.’

‘The promise TriOptics made.’ Kelly sighs again. ‘I had a brief chat with someone at your organisation, Ian, I think his name was? He said he would send someone out. But perhaps you should go back and ask him to send someone else.’

Alex looks away. There it is again, that fear of losing his job, his house, Max. Being out on the streets, turning back into that scared little boy with no security, no home.

‘I can’t do that.’

‘Why not?’

‘What Ian did say was that whatever this wish is about, it needs someone who can work with 3D CGI. That’s me, I’m the only one in the company who has that skill.

’ Alex looks down at his hands, then clears his throat.

‘Look, if this isn’t going to work, I’ll send the kid our latest game she can play on her tablet. It hasn’t been released yet.’

‘This isn’t going to work, your attitude’s all wrong.’

‘My attitude? You’re the one with the attitude! How about you find me someone who can tell me what the kid wants, why I’m here?’

Kelly takes a deep breath and seems to be considering.

‘OK, OK,’ she says at last. ‘I see we have got off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we speak to Jesse, and she can decide what she tells you. How’s that?’