Trespassers by Claire McFall

Author:Claire McFall [McFall, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536227277
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

THIS WAS HOW TRISTAN MUST HAVE FELT. DYLAN SAT IN A hard, plastic chair in the emergency room, alone and frightened, and realized that Tristan had been in this position just weeks ago.

It was horrible.

Dylan had been allowed to ride in the ambulance with him, but once they arrived at the hospital, the two paramedics had whisked Tristan away. She followed as best she could—damn crutch!—but they wouldn’t let her go beyond the expansive waiting room, crowded with people. That hurt, but not in the way she’d come to expect. It hurt because she was scared—she hadn’t seen his eyes open since they’d strapped him to the stretcher and wheeled him into the emergency vehicle.

And now . . . now she didn’t feel that tightness of breath, the nausea. The echo of pain in her leg. She couldn’t see him, she didn’t know where he was, what was happening to him, and she felt nothing—except a sick terror.

It’s because he’s unconscious, she told herself. When he comes round, you’ll feel like hell—and you’ll be grateful for it.

There was nothing to do but take a seat . . . and wait. A receptionist came and took Tristan’s—very scant—details. A nurse came and asked if Dylan needed to be examined, but even though her leg was throbbing furiously, she refused. She didn’t want to be trapped in a bed somewhere when Tristan finally woke up.

A few minutes later, something happened that made her really, really wish she’d gone with the kind-faced nurse: a much less kind-faced nurse burst into the waiting area, eyes raking the crowd for Dylan.

“Are you all right?” Joan barked when she saw her. “Marie said you refused to be seen.” Her eyes dropped to Dylan’s leg, taking in the stiff, awkward way she held it.

“I’m fine,” Dylan said quietly. She tried to draw the limb closer to herself, moving languidly like it was nothing, but she couldn’t quite pull it off. A sharp hiss escaped her clenched teeth. “Do you know how Tristan is?”

“You’re not fine! I don’t know what you two were doing,” Joan told her. “You’re coming with me to X-ray.”

“Do you know how Tristan is?” Dylan repeated her question. “Nobody will tell me anything.”

Joan stared straight down at her, lips clamped tightly shut and eyes angry. She knew something, it was obvious. Dylan prepared herself for an almighty fight, but instead tears filled her eyes. One slipped free and ran down her cheek. “Mum . . .”

And that was all it took.

“He’s fine.” Joan sighed. “Well, he’s not fine. He lost a lot of blood. They had to put an IV into him,” she added, making Dylan gasp audibly, “and he’ll need a lot of stitches. But he will be fine.”

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