‘You promise she won’t curl up?’ Rosie whispered, smushing his face with her little hands.
‘The next time Mummy curls up it’ll be around you and me on the sofa,’ Jamie told her, and Libby’s mouth dropped open again. What was he playing at? Her parents wereright there, taking in this exchange with open mouths; her father’s expression was one of stunned awe, her mother’s far more wary.
‘Would you mind explaining exactly who the bloody hell you are?’ Rita asked, her hands going to his hips.
‘Of course, Mrs Penny,’ Jamie said, extending his free hand to her mother. ‘Jamie Grantham, I’m Libby’s boyfriend. We spoke on the phone, remember?’
It had taken Libby a good few weeks to convince her mum that Jamie was just a friend after that phone call, and now he was blowing all that careful lying out of the water.
‘Boyfriend,’ her dad breathed, and Libby nearly rolled her eyes. Clearly Jamie would not have to work too hard to win one of her parents’ approval.
‘Gwanny,’ Rosie interrupted, ‘you said “bloody”!’
‘Yes, love,’ she said. ‘Yes – yes, I did. And when you’re fifty-eight you can say bloody whenever you want too.’
‘Hurrah!’ Rosie cried, all signs of small voice gone. Libby was pleased that Rosie wasn’t scared anymore, but irrationally annoyed that Jamie was the one to take that worry away. ‘Can I say bum and poo and wee at the table as well?’
‘No,’ Libby said before her mum could give Rosie any more ammunition for pre-school.
‘Ah … the anaesthetist?’ her mum asked.
‘A doctor,’ her dad said, again with the awe-filled voice. Libby did roll her eyes at this. She could practically hear the cogs turning in her father’s brain. Never mind that his daughter was well onherway to being a doctor,no, the fact that she had caught the eye of a medical professional was much more important in that man’s warped brain.
‘What are you – ?’ Libby started.
‘Don’t worry, darling,’ Jamie cut her off smoothly, shifting Rosie more firmly onto his hip. ‘Your mum, dad and Rosie are going to come and stay with me whilst you’re an inpatient. Then you’re going to move in until you recover.’
Libby’s eyes flashed and she opened her mouth to speak; but all that came out was a succession of hacking coughs. She struggled to sit up in the bed for a moment, before strong arms lifted her forward. She continued the coughing and wheezing fit with a warm familiar hand on her back, which stayed there as the hacking subsided and she tried to catch her breath. When she was finished she searched the room for Rosie and saw her tucked into her Bumpa’s arms, her bottom lip trembling dangerously. Libby forced a smile.
‘It’s just a cough, Little Louse,’ she croaked. ‘I’m fine. Okay?’
‘’Kay,’ Rosie whispered, sounding anything but.
‘Rosie-Pose can stay with me,’ Kira put in, throwing Jamie a dirty look and then smiling at Libby’s parents. ‘Then you guys don’t have to put yourself out staying down here.
‘Ki Ki, you can’t do that,’ Libby said as she sank back down into the pillows and tried to steady her breathing. ‘You’re in halls. They’re not going to want a four-year-old around.’
‘Everyone loves Rosie. I’m sure they’ll bend the rules for her,’ Kira said, her face set with stubbornness.
‘And then there’s your revision, honey,’ Libby said softly, and Kira’s eyes slid away. Kira hadn’t been doing nearly enough work this term and she knew it.
‘You’re sweet, love,’ Rita said, moving to Kira and squeezing her hand. ‘But we’re not leaving for the moment. Not until Libby’s back on her feet.’
‘Great,’ Jamie said, ‘it’s settled then. I’ll take you all over to Libby’s. We can pack a bag for Rosie and then come back to mine for the night. Kira, you can stay with Libby.’
‘Bossy arse,’ Kira muttered.
‘Kira!’ Martin snapped. ‘Dr Grantham is being very kind. I think you should show a little more respect.’
‘Can I say “arse” when I’m fifty-eight?’ asked Rosie, and all the women in the room replied ‘No!’ together, whilst all the men chuckled.
‘Good plan, mate,’ Martin said, slapping Jamie on the back, which in Martin Penny’s world was as high a recommendation as you could get. ‘We’d be very grateful. Must say I wasn’t keen to squeeze onto the dreaded sofa bed from hell.’
‘Good, that’s settled then.’
‘Jamie,’ Libby tried to make her voice as firm as possible – tricky when it was emerging in a series of squeaks and croaks. ‘I don’t think – ’ Her words stalled as Jamie bent down to her and brushed his lips against her temple, reaching up to push the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes back behind her ear on the other side.
‘Just rest,’ he muttered into her hair. ‘Everything is going to be okay now.’ She wanted to tell him to bugger off. Wanted to say she could manage without him; didn’t want to accept this help given out of pity; but the conviction threaded through his words was too much to resist. So just for tonight – just whilst she felt so weak – just for now, she let herself believe him.
