Eve rang Hil, who didn’t answer.
‘Please let him be okay,’ she said to whatever gods might be listening as she willed the train to go faster but knowing it was an impossible task.
There was nothing she could do but try and stay calm until she arrived in Leeds.
Her phone rang and she saw it was Hil’s number on the screen.
‘Hil, what’s happening? Mum told me. I’m on my way now.’
‘It’s terrible, Eve. He’s inhaled so much smoke – they’re doing all they can but they think he has burns inside his respiratory tract and the accelerant was poisonous.’
Eve dug her fingernails into her leg to try and focus on what Hil was saying but felt like she was floating above the train. How could this be happening?
‘What are they doing for him?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know now. I’m outside; he’s surrounded by doctors and nurses. It’s just terrible.’ She was distraught and Eve knew Edward needed someone steady to relay information and news.
‘Just stay there, Hil – you’re all he has by his side right now and I know he relies on you and cares about you as much as you care about him. I can’t think of anyone better and more capable and calm to be with him.’
She was sure she could hear Hil breathe out slowly, as though Eve had given her permission to get herself together.
‘Thank you, Eve, I’ll go and speak to the nurses and see what’s happening and I’ll let you know.’
Eve held on to the phone, glancing at the screen every other second to see if there was news. At least Hil was there, she thought, trying to find something positive in the moment.
The rest of the trip was an exercise in patience and staying in the moment. Every time the train slowed she thought she would lose her mind and when it moved faster, she wished it would fly to the hospital.
At last the train arrived and Eve sprinted off the train with her bags and ran to her mother’s car, which was idling on the street with Donna in the driver’s seat. Eve threw her items into the back seat and jumped into the car.
‘Any news?’ asked Donna as she drove right on the speed limit to the hospital. ‘And don’t ask me to go faster; we don’t need us in the ED too.’
Eve knew her mother was right but it felt torturous to get so close and still not be there.
‘It’s a twelve-minute drive; I can make it in ten,’ Donna said as she expertly overtook a bus and gave it a honk and a wave.
‘That’s Davey – he’s doing my shift,’ she said and Eve turned around and waved at the man in the driver’s seat.
‘I spoke to Hil but she hasn’t let me know anything since. It’s been over an hour,’ Eve said. ‘I hope that doesn’t mean anything other than her phone ran out of charge.’
‘Don’t go there, love,’ said Donna and she pulled up at the front of the accident and emergency department. ‘Off you go, and I’ll find a car park.’
Donna had barely stopped the car when Eve had run inside and she went to the desk.
‘Hi, I’m Eve Pilkins. I’m here for Edward Priest,’ she said to the nurse who was staring at a computer screen.
She looked up at Eve who saw her face change.
‘Wait here and I’ll get someone for you,’ she said and disappeared behind a door.
Within seconds the nurse was back and she buzzed Eve inside.
‘I’m just taking you to the family room,’ she said, ‘where Mrs Hilditch is waiting.’
‘How is he? Any change?’ she asked the nurse as she trailed behind her.
‘I don’t know – I’m not looking after him,’ she said but not unkindly as they came to a wooden door with aFamily Onlysign on the front of it. The nurse knocked at the door and then opened it and gestured for Eve to go inside.
Hil sat on a sofa, a box of tissues in front of her, several already used and on the floor.
