by Judi Curtin
‘Domino came back,’ I said. ‘She just showed up on my windowsill the other night. She was dirty and hungry, but she seems OK. I don’t know what happened to her, but I think she got a fright. So maybe she won’t run away again. I hope not anyway.’
It was strange talking to someone who seemed to be asleep.
It was very strange talking to Alice without her interrupting me, or laughing at something that I was saying.
But I knew I had to go on.
I told Alice that Mum was already going crazy cleaning the house for Linda’s wedding, even though it was still ages away.
I told her that Rosie said she wanted her to hurry home.
I told her that I was making a card for her, but that it wasn’t finished yet.
I told her all the things I could think of, but still Alice didn’t move. She just lay there, white and still.
After a while, Peter tapped me on the shoulder.
‘Your mum is here to bring you home,’ he said.
I stood up and went outside to the corridor where Mum was waiting. I didn’t want to go, but I didn’t really want to stay either.
I just wanted everything to be all right again.
Chapter twenty
Mum let Domino sleep in my bed that night. In a way I was glad, because cuddling Domino is always nice. But it made me sad too, because I knew it meant that Mum was really worried about Alice.
I thought about Alice all night long.
Alice doesn’t even like sleeping late in the mornings – she’s always afraid that she’ll miss something exciting.
And now she’d been asleep for more than two days and two nights.
What was going to happen to her?
What if she never woke up again?
What if she just lay in that white bed, getting older and older, while the world went on without her?
* * *
The next day was Sunday, and in the morning Peter phoned again.
When Mum had finished talking to him, she came and looked in through my bedroom door.
‘How’s Alice?’ I asked.
Mum shook her head slowly.
‘I’m sorry, Megan,’ she said. ‘No change.’
* * *
I lay in bed, looking at the ceiling.
If only I hadn’t made that stupid, stupid wish on Linda’s ring. The wish might not have made any difference, but it was still making me feel very, very guilty.
Then I made a decision. I had to tell someone or I was going to go crazy.
I got dressed quickly, and ran into the kitchen.
‘I’m calling over to Kellie’s house for a while,’ I said, and then I raced out the door before Mum could call me back and make me eat breakfast.
Luckily Kellie was at home. She had already heard that Alice was in hospital, and she listened patiently while I filled in the details for her. She cried a bit and she hugged me, and then we chatted about Alice for ages. Kellie was really, really nice, and did all she could to make me feel better.
I knew that, except for Alice, Kellie was the best friend I had ever had.
I also knew that I wasn’t brave enough to tell her about my wish.
How could I tell her that?
How could I risk making her hate me?
So after a while, I told her I needed to do some jobs for Mum. Then we had one more hug, and I set off for home.
* * *
I walked very slowly.
I didn’t want to be at home.
I didn’t want to be anywhere.
I walked with my hands in my pockets and my head down, kicking a small stone along in front of me. I watched without much interest as it rattled along the footpath.
Suddenly I felt angry with myself, and I kicked the stone as hard as I could. It bounced off a wall, and then whacked into the legs of someone who was walking towards me.
I didn’t dare to look up.
‘Omigod,’ I muttered. ‘I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean—’
‘Hey, Megan,’ said a familiar voice. ‘I see you’re still getting into trouble.’
I looked up.
‘Marcus!’ I said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’m home for the weekend,’ he said.
Then he gave me a huge smile, and I suddenly realised that I was very glad to see him.
‘How’s boarding school?’ I asked.
He shrugged. ‘It’s not too bad. You’d be proud of me. I wear my uniform every day. And I don’t get into trouble … well not too much trouble anyway.’
I had to laugh.
‘I’m glad,’ I said. ‘I’m really glad.’
‘And what about you?’ he asked. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine,’ I said. ‘But Alice ……’
‘Alice what?’
I told him about Alice’s accident.
Marcus and Alice had never been friends, but that didn’t seem to matter now. He listened like he really cared.
‘Poor Alice,’ he said, when I was finished. ‘You must be really worried about her.’
I nodded, and then there was a silence.
Did I dare to tell Marcus about my wish?
Would he think I was totally evil?
But last year he’d done loads of bad stuff. Did that mean he’d be able to understand this one bad thing that I had done?
Or would he just laugh at me, and rush back to his boarding school to tell all his new friends about this crazy superstitious girl he knew in Limerick?
I made a quick decision. Then I took a deep breath, and started to talk.
‘There was this competition …’ I began. Marcus listened carefully until I came to the end of my tale, ‘…. so you see, I never wanted Alice to go to France, and then I made that stupid wish, and then she had the accident, and it’s all my fault. The whole thing is my fault.’
I stopped talking and waited for Marcus to start laughing.
I waited and waited, but he didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile. Then he did something very strange. Very slowly he put first one hand and then the other on my shoulders. Before I could think too much about how weird this was, he leaned forwards and hugged me tightly.
‘Poor, Megan,’ he said. ‘Poor, poor Megan.’
Being hugged by Marcus was nice, but soon I started to feel embarrassed.
I pulled away. I knew that I was blushing, but I didn’t feel too bad when I saw that Marcus’s face was starting to go red too.
He put his hand up and pushed his hair out of his eyes.
‘Don’t feel guilty, Megan,’ he said. ‘It’s not your fault. I know it’s not your fault.’
‘How do you know?’ I asked.
‘Because if wishing things made them happen, my life would be different now. I’d live in a huge house with a swimming pool and a soccer pitch in the back garden. I’d have a big brother, and a little brother and loads of sisters.’ He hesitated and then finished in a low voice. ‘And if wishing things made them happen, my mum would still be alive.’
Now it was my turn to put my hand on his shoulder.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said.
He shrugged.
‘It’s OK. But just hear what I’m saying. Of course you didn’t want Alice to go away to France. She’s your best friend, so that’s only natural. Wanting to be with your best friend isn’t a crime. And that wish you made – well that was just a stupid wish, and it doesn’t count for anything. Do you believe me?’
He put his hands on my arms and squeezed them tightly, and for one second I felt afraid.
Then he dropped his hands to his sides, and smiled. ‘When you see Alice, tell her I hope she gets better soon, OK?’
I nodded. ‘OK. Oh, and Marcus …’ He was already walking away, but he stopped and turned back to face me.
‘What?’
‘When you’re home for the weekend again, text me. Maybe we can meet up. You and me and my friends. Maybe we could go to the cinema or something.’
He smiled.
�
��I’d like that,’ he said.
And then he turned again and walked away.
Chapter twenty-one
After lunch, Peter called to bring me to the hospital. Once again, Jamie was playing with his cars on the floor.
Alice was still lying on the bed with her eyes closed. She still looked pale and sick and not really like herself at all.
Nothing had changed except that Veronica looked even untidier than she had the day before. When she saw me, she stood up and moved over to the corner of the room.
‘Why don’t you go to get something to eat now that Megan’s here?’ asked Peter. ‘If you don’t eat, you’re going to get sick too.’
But Veronica just shook her head.
I don’t care if I get sick,’ she said. ‘I can’t leave. I’m Alice’s mum. I have to be here when she wakes up.’
Peter didn’t argue. He looked too tired to argue.
I sat down beside Alice. I touched her hand, and then stopped when I realised I was patting her like she was a puppy.
‘Hi Alice,’ I said. ‘We’re all dying to know what happened to you. It’s a real mystery. I wish you’d wake up and tell us.’
There was no response, but by now I’d learned not to expect one. I just wondered what I was supposed to say next.
I put my hand into my pocket, and felt a sudden rush of relief when my fingers touched my phone.
‘All your friends say “hi”,’ I said. ‘They’ve been texting me all morning. There are messages from Grace and Louise and Kellie and Josh, and loads of other people. I’ll read them out to you.’
I switched on my phone and read out all the messages. Alice didn’t even blink.
I tried again.
‘Linda phoned Mum this morning. She was very sorry when she heard about your accident. She and Luka said you’re to get better soon. They are all excited about their wedding. It’s going to be sooo much fun.’
Alice had been so excited when I told her about the wedding, but now she lay there without moving. I might as well have been talking about maths problems.
I suddenly remembered a word that Mr Dunne had taught us in English class. ‘Monologue,’ he had said. ‘It’s when one character in a play speaks for along time, with no interruption from anyone else.’
Now, for the first time, I understood what he meant.
I held back my tears, and continued my monologue.
‘Oh, and guess who I met this morning?’
I felt stupid when I remembered that Alice wasn’t in a position to guess anything.
So I answered for her.
‘I met Marcus this morning. I know you never liked him very much, but that’s because you never got to know him properly. Maybe when you’re better we can meet up with him and you can see that he’s really very nice.’
I was running out of things to say.
My monologue had ground to a halt.
I looked around the room. Peter and Veronica smiled at me, but didn’t say anything. Jamie was making car noises that were so loud and horrible that I knew Alice would tell him to shut up – if only she could.
It was totally weird. I missed Alice so much it was giving me a pain in my chest. And yet she was only half a metre away from me. How could that be?
I got up and walked over to the window. It was a cold, sunny day. A man was walking on the footpath outside. A sudden gust of wind blew his hat into the air. He ran after it, but every time he came close, it blew out of his reach.
‘Look, Al…..’ I began, before I remembered.
I pressed my face to the window, so no one could see my tears.
Then I heard one word.
‘Domino.’
Was that …?
Could it be …?
I spun around quickly.
Veronica and Peter were beside the bed, where Alice was lying with her eyes open, looking slightly surprised.
‘Hey, I’m trying to play here,’ said Jamie, but no one took any notice.
I raced over to the bed.
‘Megan?’ said Alice, looking even more surprised than before.
By now Veronica was crying big loud sobs, and Peter was frantically ringing the bell over Alice’s bed.
Jamie stood up and folded his arms.
‘I don’t get it,’ he said to Veronica. ‘Before, you were crying because Alice was asleep, and now she’s awake and you’re still not happy.’
At that Veronica started to laugh through her tears. She reached out to hug Jamie, and Peter bent down hugged Alice, and I stepped away to let them enjoy their happy moment.
And I did my own small dance of happiness over by the window.
My best friend was back.
Chapter twenty-two
After that, lots of nurses and doctors came in.
Some of them looked into Alice’s eyes. Some of them asked her stupid questions like what was her name, and when was her birthday. They seemed pleased when she gave them the right answers. One nurse patted Alice’s head, and said, ‘Clever girl.’
For a second I felt really angry. She was thirteen years old – a teenager – so why were they treating her like she was a little baby?
Then one of the doctors took Peter and Veronica aside, and they whispered together for a while. Veronica who had stopped crying, suddenly started again, even louder than before.
I felt a sudden stab of fear. Then I saw that Peter was smiling, and I realised that Veronica was crying happy tears. I could understand why Jamie was so confused.
Soon there was only one nurse left in the room. She straightened Alice’s sheets, and checked the machine that was still beeping next to her bed.
Then she looked at Peter, Veronica, Jamie and me.
‘Don’t upset the patient,’ she said. ‘Don’t ask her about her accident. There will be time enough for that tomorrow, when she’s feeling better. OK?’
We all nodded, and the nurse continued. ‘And after five minutes you’ll have to go away. Alice needs to rest.’
It seemed to me that Alice had done nothing except rest for the past few days, but the nurse didn’t look like the type to involve in that kind of argument, so I didn’t say this.
We all clustered around the bed. Now that Alice was awake, I wondered if I should warn her that she might drown in her mother’s tears.
‘Can I talk to her?’ I said.
Peter and Veronica nodded.
‘Hi, Alice,’ I said, feeling suddenly shy.
‘Hi, Meg,’ said Alice in a weak, hoarse voice. Suddenly I remembered something.
‘When you woke up, you said “Domino”. Were you dreaming about her? I didn’t think you liked cats enough to dream about them.’
Alice shook her head, then stopped and put her hand to her bruised forehead.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t dreaming about Domino. But I found her. I saved her.’
What was she talking about?
Was she still half asleep?
I looked at Peter and Veronica.
Veronica was pulling yet another tissue from her pocket, and using it to wipe her eyes. Peter shrugged as if to say he had no idea what his daughter was talking about either.
I remembered that we weren’t supposed to be upsetting Alice or talking about her accident.
‘Er … right,’ I said. ‘Whatever.’
‘Really,’ said Alice. ‘I found Domino and saved her.’
‘I’m sorry, Alice,’ I said, ‘but I don’t understand.’
Alice didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she spoke quickly, in a funny whispery kind of voice.
‘I was just going to get ready for bed, and I was thinking about how sad you were because Domino was missing. And then I remembered that when you and me and Kellie and the others did the big search, none of us went down Shelbourne Road, and that was stupid because there are so many big houses there, with big gardens where Domino could get lost. So I was going to call for you and ask you to come with me, but I thought your mum would be cross with me for call
ing so late. So I just decided to go on my own, for a quick look. I walked down Shelbourne Road, calling Domino’s name, and then I heard a tiny weak miaow. At first I thought I had imagined it, and then I heard it again. I looked up, and I saw that Domino was up a tree, just near the footpath. I called and called her, but she wouldn’t come down. She just kept saying this tiny little miaow, and you know I don’t like cats all that much, but I felt really sorry for her. I couldn’t just go away and leave her there, and there was no one else around to help. So I decided to climb up the tree, and when I got up, I saw that Domino’s collar was caught in a branch, and that’s why she couldn’t get down. So I climbed right up next to her, and freed her collar. I tried to pick her up, but she wriggled out of my arms, and ran down the tree. I saw her racing along the footpath towards your house, as fast as anything. And ……’
Alice stopped talking. She looked weak and tired.
‘And what?’ prompted Peter.
Alice shook her head slowly.
‘And I can’t remember any more after that.’
She lay back on her pillows and breathed deeply, like she’d just run a marathon or something.
‘You must have fallen out of the tree,’ said Peter.
‘Cool,’ said Jamie.
‘Oh, Alice, you only got hurt because you saved Domino,’ I said. ‘She came home straight away, and I never knew how. Thanks, Alice, but I’m so sorry that you got hurt.’
No one said anything for a minute. We all had lots to think about.
‘How did I get here?’ asked Alice after a while.
‘Luckily, you must have screamed while you were falling,’ said Peter. ‘And a man heard you and called an ambulance. The ambulance brought you to hospital and you’ve been here ever since.’
Alice looked puzzled.
‘Ever since?’ she said.
‘That was on Thursday night. It’s Sunday now,’ said Peter gently.
‘I’ve lost nearly three days,’ said Alice.
I had a sudden thought.
‘You always give me a hard time just because you’re two days older than me, but maybe now I’ve caught up,’ I said. ‘Maybe I’m a day older than you now.’