Sticks and Stones

by Susie Tate

  Since then, although still on the quiet side, Frankie had been regularly demonstrating a stubborn streak a mile wide. Fortunately Lou’s pain, although still there to some extent, was much better controlled. She hadn’t needed any help over the last week (shopping might have been difficult but Bronwen had left enough food to feed an army, and the suspiciously fresh carton of milk she found in the fridge this morning had her suspecting that Bronwen might still be making use of her key), and she could cope with standing up at the front of a church for half an hour or so.

  She heard to door open behind her and was surprised to see a nervous Katie standing in the doorway.

  ‘Hey there,’ Katie said with a small wave and Lou instantly felt a stab of regret. Try as she might she just couldn’t tamp down the burning jealousy when it came to this girl. Katie was the only one who had lasted longer than a few nights with Dylan since Lou had known him, and even though they weren’t together now, Lou had seen them talking more than once with their heads bent close, engrossed in one another enough to make her doubt that there wasn’t still something there. Only tonight she’d seen Dylan whisper something to her and Katie move to give him a tight hug. He was, she knew, an affectionate guy, and maybe she should have just shrugged it off, but instead she’d found herself scowling across at Katie until she’d caught her eye. Bizarrely instead of looking sufficiently guilty for mauling her man (okay, so he wasn’t technically Lou’s, and it was less a mauling and more a casual gesture, but whatever) she looked pleased and had even dared to smile happily back a Lou, which only served to piss Lou off and confuse her simultaneously. Was Katie gloating? That didn’t seem particularly likely given her personality and the fact that she would have no way of knowing how Lou felt about Dylan anyway.

  ‘Hey,’ Lou said in return, forcing a smile.

  ‘I just wanted to…’ Katie trailed off and looked away from Lou for a second, tucking her hair behind her ears before she looked back up at her. ‘I hope you don’t mind but…’

  Lou clicked her tongue; patience was not one of her virtues. ‘Sometime this year would be great, I really should be getting back,’ she snapped then instantly regretted it as she saw Katie wince.

  ‘Right…um…the thing is…’

  ‘Katie – ‘ Lou said in warning and watched as Katie squared her shoulders and met her eyes with new determination.

  ‘Why won’t you just give him a chance?’ she blurted out and Lou’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Dylan. Look I know you like him; I’ve known for bloody ages that you like him. Why won’t you give him a chance?’

  ‘Look,’ Lou started, her tone laced with ice. ‘I’ve no idea why you’re asking me about Dylan. As far as I’m concerned you two only broke up about five minutes ago so you can’t exactly – ‘ Lou was cut off as Katie let out a bark of laughter.

  ‘What? You think Dylan and I were together? We went out on a few dates but after that night in the club we’ve only ever been friends. And…well…you mustn’t be cross but he needed someone to talk to, and he didn’t want to tell Frankie or any of the others because…well…the main thing he wanted to talk about was you.’

  Lou blinked. ‘Me?’

  ‘Well yeah…’ Katie looked confused. ‘I kind of thought Dylan had told you how he felt…I mean he’s told everyone else now so…’

  ‘He’s told everyone else what?’

  ‘That he’s in love with you and how he knows you feel the same etc, etc.’ Lou stared at Katie, for once lost for words. ‘I mean he’s been bending my ear about you for over a year now, so I guess it was only a matter of time before he spilt the beans to everyone else. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he does have a big mouth.’

  Lou narrowed her eyes at Katie.

  ‘If he was sooo into me, why did he start going out with you in first place?’

  Katie shrugged. ‘I asked him the same thing. He said at the time he just wanted to at least be your friend again and that you always seemed to hate his um…exploits. He thought you might respect him more if he was in a real relationship, and he picked me mostly because I can quote “Blackadder”.’

  ‘Lou’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. ‘He told you that?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Katie shrugged, a small smile on her lips. ‘Real charmer isn’t he?’

  ‘Who’s a charmer?’ Both girls jumped and turned to see a glowering Dylan filling the doorway. Katie laughed, totally unaffected by his glower.

  ‘I’ll leave you kids to it,’ she threw over her shoulder as she skipped past Dylan at the doorway.

  ‘So apparently I’m to give you space to get your head straight,’ Dylan bit out. ‘Well space doesn’t seem to be working, so I think from now on I’m going to be doing things my way.’

  ‘I don’t want to talk to you Dylan,’ Lou told him. She was trying to process everything Katie had told her and what it all meant. She needed more time.

  ‘No,’ he agreed. ‘To be honest that doesn’t seem to work for us either.’ Before she knew it he had stalked across the kitchen, taken her face in his large hands and was kissing her. It wasn’t like the kisses he’d been giving her the two weeks previous. It wasn’t soft and gently and sweet; it was demanding and filled with need. Lou stiffened for a moment but her pent up feelings wouldn’t let her hesitate for long. She buried her hands in his hair, slanted her head to the side and kissed him back. Just as they had eighteen months ago, things got out of control quickly, and before long he’d lifted her up onto the kitchen counter to get better access to her mouth.

  ‘Ahem.’ Dylan sprung back from Lou, leaving her perched on the counter, and whipped round to see Benji standing right next to them, a smug expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

  ‘Benji, mate. I um…didn’t see you there. Lou and I were just…’

  ‘You were kissing,’ Benji said accusingly.

  ‘I…uh…well we…’

  ‘It’s fine.’ Benji shrugged. ‘You can take over from here,’ he offered magnanimously. ‘Annabel Evans at school wants to be my girlfriend anyway now, so I won’t have time to look after Lou as well. Mummy and Auntie Frankie will be surprised though. I think I’ll just…’

  ‘Alright Vito Corleone. How much?’

  ‘Oh I’d say a tenner would cover it…for now,’ Dylan sighed and slipped Benji a tenner from his wallet as Lou jumped down from the counter. Benji gave them both a bright smile, then surprised Lou by dashing forward and giving her a gentle hug around her middle. ‘I won’t have to worry about you anymore now,’ he said into her side, and then drew back looking embarrassed before running out as silently as he came.

  ‘Little shit,’ Dylan muttered and then grunted when Lou punched him in the arm.

  ‘Don’t you dare insult my hero.’

  ‘Babes, he’s bleeding me dry here.’ She rolled her eyes and to his relief she was smiling. He moved towards her again, ready to pick up where they left off but her hand went up against his chest to stop him.

  ‘Lou, I love you. Please –‘

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Why what?’

  ‘Why do you love me?’ She was staring at him intently and he could see he was being given a chance here, but the kiss had scrambled his brains, all coherent thought was a thing of the past.

  ‘I…I…I just do,’ he said lamely, running his hands through his hair, a confused expression on his face.

  She moved forward and cupped his face in her hand. ‘Your sense of humour, your laid back nature, your unwavering support to anyone you consider the underdog, the love you have for your family, your loyalty to your friends, your ability to make me laugh so hard I snort, your endless optimism, your ambition, your drive to succeed, your ridiculously extensive knowledge of “Blackadder”, your gift at making even the most shy person feel at ease, your eyes, your hair, your stubble, your jaw, and last but certainly not least your arse. Those are the things I love about you Dylan. I’m so
rry but “I just do” isn’t going to cut it for me to believe that you’re serious.’

  Dylan stood open-mouthed, trying to process everything Lou had just said and trying to get out actual words to salvage the situation. But his throat seemed to have closed over, and all he could do was watch helplessly as Lou dropped her eyes from his and her hand from his cheek and walked out of the kitchen.

  Chapter 31

  You’re still a twp bugger mind

  Lou smiled as she looked up from the lectern at the front of the lecture theatre. Today’s Grand Round was a very special one, completely unique in fact. Curious mutterings were spreading through the much larger than normal crowd. Practically the entire hospital staff had turned up for it. All the seats were taken, and people had crammed into the aisles and down the sides. As she surveyed the front row she gave a little wave to an excited Benji, who shot out of his chair and waved back enthusiastically. His brothers seemed to be equally excited, and Sarah and Rob were having a job keeping them all contained in their seats. Lou turned her attention to Alun and continued waving, knowing how much it would piss him off. Her smile grew even wider as she saw him grunt and look away, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Benji and Alun were flanked by Ash and Tom. Lou had drafted Ash and Tom into ‘Alun duty’ yesterday, which had involved basically kidnapping him and forcing him into the lecture theatre.

  A lot had happened in the two weeks since the Christening. Lou was back at work for a start. The chief executive had phoned her at home to request a meeting, which she had reluctantly attended. She’d been surprised that he wanted it to be in a conference room, but soon realized why when she arrived and was confronted by the entire elderly care department seated around the large table. The Chief Executive had started by apologizing for not taking the previous threats made by Mr Talbot seriously. Apparently they were treated in the context of complaints so the aggression behind them was overlooked. Lou nodded along with this, thinking that the fact that Mr Talbot was drunk or high on the hospital grounds was also conveniently overlooked at the time, but thought better of adding any fuel to the fire.

  As she knew by now that they would be, Dr Hudson and Miles were her staunch defenders, and both demanded that she be allowed back to complete the rotation. Miles even said that if he could pick anyone as a consultant colleague it would be Lou. And Dr Hudson added that for the good of the elderly care department (which she pointed out had been flailing somewhat since Lou left, seeing as she had been doing the work of at least three registrars) that they must do everything in their power to keep Dr Sands. For his part Rich just sulked in a corner until called upon to withdraw his previous appraisal, which he begrudgingly did saying that he ‘got confused by the layout of the new online form’ (Dylan had already withdrawn his comments multiple times, and had become such a thorn in the side of the department that he was banned from the meeting). To be honest Lou didn’t think that she even needed everyone to vouch for her, from the fear she could see in the managers’ eyes when they talked about the attack she knew that they would do anything to appease her, probably worried she would sue, or worse, go to the press.

  So, yesterday Lou had started back on the elderly care wards and fallen into her old routine easily. She was on reduced hours for two more weeks, and was loving every minute. But before she could settle back in properly she felt that she needed to do this, hence the packed lecture theatre.

  ‘Ahem,’ she cleared her throat and the sound was amplified around the large space, causing everyone to fall silent.

  *****

  Benji’s eyes flicked up to Louey as he heard her cough. He instantly stopped fidgeting and gave her a big smile. She smiled back and winked at him before starting her speech. She was back to the old Louey now: long, flowing, shiny hair like a princess, pink in her cheeks and on her lips, tall again, now that she wore those weird stilt-shoes, and colourful again. Her bright blue dress seemed to make her stand out from the other ladies in the room. It was like she was a splash of colour in a sea of greys and blacks, and it suited her.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen thank you for coming to this very special Grand Round today.’ Benji didn’t exactly know what a ‘Grand Round’ was but it sounded pretty important and his chest swelled with pride. ‘I’m not sure if all of you know this, but six weeks ago I was attacked in the hospital car park and I nearly died. In fact, without the people I’m going to thank today I definitely would have done.’ She stopped and blinked her eyes for a minute, and Benji noticed that they looked a little glassy. He was relieved when she managed to stem the tears though. It was bad enough if he cried in front of Jack, he reckoned that to cry in front of this many people would have been mortifying.

  ‘I’ll start with my rescuers.’

  Benji nudged Alun next to him. ‘That’s us,’ he said in a stage whisper and received a longsuffering sigh in response. Benji did not understand why Alun wouldn’t be excited. When they’d called Benji up in assembly to give him a bravery certificate he’d been beside himself. But, then again, Alun seemed to be grumpy about most things, maybe he didn’t have any other settings, kind of like when Benji had broken Daddy’s computer and all it would do was show a flashing screen. Dad said it had ‘crashed’ and Benji thought that was a good description of Alun.

  ‘Benji honey, would you come up here?’ Benji sprang out of his seat and ran to stand next to Louey. Louey curled her arm around Benji and gave him a squeeze. ‘This young man was with me at the time and he was very brave. He – ‘ Benji jumped up suddenly and pulled the mic down to his level.

  ‘I whacked him in the willy with my marbles,’ he said proudly, and a ripple of laughter went through the crowd as Lou wrestled the mic back from him.

  ‘Right, okay…well I’m not condoning violence but at the time it did save my life so Benji thank you.’ She kissed his cheek and put a medal around his neck as the audience burst into applause.

  ‘My other rescuer was less keen to attend today but, just as with Benji, I owe him my life and that means that I get to be a pain in his arse forever. That’s the saying, right Ash?’

  ‘I think you’ll find the Chinese proverb is more like “Save a life and you are responsible for that life forever”,’ Ash shouted out, and the crowd (most of whom had been ‘proverbed’ by Ash before) groaned collectively.

  ‘Well, anyway. The next person, who is apparently responsible for my life, is Alun. Come up here Alun.’

  *****

  Alun glared at the crazy blond doctor. He was not going anywhere. It was bad enough to be dragged away from his comfortable armchair at home for this nonsense. He certainly wasn’t going to be hauled up in front of all these people and be thanked for something any decent man would have done in his place. He felt something pulling on his hand, and saw that the kid had left his place at the front of the lecture theatre to try a get him to move. The determination and excitement in his little face weakened Alun’s resolve, and when he looked back at the crazy blonde, the blinding smile she was directing at him melted it completely. He grunted and used his stick to get to his feet, ignoring offers of help from either side of him. He’d bashed a guy’s head in for Christ’s sake; he could bloody well manage to walk a few yards on his own. Still scowling at the crazy blonde, he made his way up to the front of the lecture theatre and stood next to her, leaning heavily on his stick.

  ‘Two years ago Alun suffered a massive stroke, and was unable to walk or talk for many weeks. He was not only brave enough to recover from that ordeal, he then went on to save me by – ‘

  The kid made another successful grab for the mic and before Crazy Blonde could stop him he shouted into it. ‘He bashed him with his stick. It. Was. Awesome.’ Crazy Blonde rolled her eyes and managed to wrestle the mic off the kid. For the first time in a long time Alun felt his lips attempt to tip up in a small smile. He caught the kid staring at him and watched as his eyes went wide, taking in his expression. Alun fought back a laugh, the kid was probably shocked to see him wear any expression
that wasn’t pissed off, but Alun couldn’t help himself; the little bastard was ffwcin* funny.

  ‘Okay Benji, I don’t think we all need the gory details,’ Crazy Blonde continued then turned to Alun. ‘Thank you Alun.’ He grunted in response and made a move to sit back down, but was frozen in shock as Crazy Blonde lurched forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him hard on his cheek.

  The lecture theatre erupted again into applause, and Alun felt an unfamiliar emotion swell in his chest that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He’d always been a bit of an arsehole. It was why he never married, why his only surviving family that bothered with him was his long-suffering niece, and why moments of pride in his life had been few and far between. But standing there in front of all these people, a beautiful blonde wrapping her arms around him, he felt a surge of pride for the first time in a long time. All that beauty, intelligence, life and vitality; he’d had a hand in saving that and if his whole life amounted to no more than that single act, he knew it was worth it for the woman in front of him.

  Still, when she finally let him go he managed to roll his eyes, grumble under his breath that he needed a bloody drink, and grunt at anyone in his way as he hobbled back to his seat. But when he looked back at her and her already dazzling smile cranked up a few more notches, he knew that he hadn’t quite managed to blink away the wet in his eyes, or completely hide the small pleased smile playing on his lips.