Page 57 of The Wish

‘I trust you, Alex. But you’ve not done anything like this before, have you?’ Jesse asks.

‘No, not really. Not brought together in the way we’re planning. We’re usually given a script, producers’ notes, camera angles, other kinds of details, and we work with them. This is . . . this is something else. But I know we can do it.’

‘Thank you,’ Jesse says, her voice barely above a whisper.

Amy struggles from her bed onto Jesse’s, hugging her tightly, the IV pole threatening to topple over as the line pulls taut. Alex grabs it, holding it steady. Jesse pulls free from Amy and speaks quietly to her friend.

‘Hey, Amy, can you go get Kelly? I think she might be able to help.’

‘Great idea, let’s get Kelly here,’ Amy says, grinning at Alex and winking at Jesse.

Alex helps Amy untangle the IV line, hands her the pole and watches as she expertly wheels it out of the room. He turns to Jesse. ‘How do you think Kelly can help?’

Jesse leans back into her pillows, exhaustion written all over her face and frail body.

‘I didn’t want the others to hear this, but Alex, I need you to hurry.’

Alex looks around the room. Nothing in his life has prepared him to hear these words under these circumstances. Nothing in his life has prepared him to spend time with teenagers facing life-threatening conditions, facing death. No one has told him the words he should say right now.

He feels Jesse’s small hand take his.

‘It’s OK, Alex. I’ll be OK, you’ll be OK and thanks to you, my family will be OK.’

Amy and Kelly enter the room, breaking the moment.

‘What’s going on here?’ Kelly says, seeing the two of them holding hands.

Jesse, without missing a beat, says, ‘Nothing to worry about, Kelly, Alex is just reading my palm. He says I’m going to have a long and happy life. Aren’t I, Alex?’ The cheeky grin has returned.

A look of panic crosses Kelly’s face as she and Alex stare at each other. He is completely overcome.

‘Joking, I’m joking!’ Jesse says. ‘We were just saying goodbye to this place, weren’t we, Alex? He’s going to come to my home after the weekend when we know Dad is at work and won’t be dropping in. He’s just waiting for Ryan and Luke to bring him back some materials he needs for my experience.’

‘Anything I need to know about?’ Kelly asks, in a lighter voice.

‘Best not,’ Amy says, firmly.

‘Oh, look – they’re back. Did you do it?’

Ryan and Luke reappear at the door laughing and whispering. They spy Kelly and try to hide the large pile of papers behind their backs.

‘Ah yeah, mission accomplished,’ Ryan says. He clears his throat, glancing at Kelly.

‘Alex, Luke’s got something for you. Would you step outside, please?’

‘What is going on here?’ Kelly says in a voice that indicates she’s asking as a formality: she doesn’t really want to know what the friends are up to. Their energy and enthusiasm are infectious and she knows these moments are golden – they’ll give Jesse strength for all that lies ahead.

‘Nothing, nothing, just saying goodbye,’ Alex tells her, managing to recover, and moving towards the boys, both of whom exaggeratedly walk outside the room.

As Alex walks past Kelly, he bends down and whispers in her ear.

‘I’ll see you next week, have a great weekend.’

Kelly feels herself blushing. ‘Dammit,’ she mutters.

Jesse looks at her and smiles broadly.

Walking from the hospital, Alex rings Mandy, wanting to talk to her about reading her poems for Jesse’s wish. She invites him to pop over.