The small spot of light at the end of the tunnel suddenly turned into brilliance. ‘Thanks...’ Rafe tried to catch his breath. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’ll get someone to call you. When she wakes up? Or are you going to get some shut-eye?’
In a world where Mimi was awake, Rafe doubted whether he could get any sleep. ‘Thanks, but... Let her brother spend some time with her first. I’ll wait.’
Eddie raised his eyebrows quizzically, but didn’t ask. ‘Okay. Just to let you know.’
‘Thanks.’ Rafe took the doctor’s hand and shook it, gripping tight. ‘You know when people tell you they don’t know how to thank you?’
Eddie chuckled. ‘Yeah, I know that one.’
‘Well, trust me. They don’t. I’m indebted to you...’
‘Watch out. I might just collect.’ Eddie turned and walked away, leaving Rafe to wander down to the canteen for breakfast in a daze of happiness.
* * *
‘Thought I’d find you here...’ Rafe was holding the paper in front of him, pretending to read it so that he didn’t have to look at anything else. But Charlie’s voice made him look up.
‘You’re early. Can I get you anything?’
‘How can you eat at a time like this?’ Charlie peered at Rafe’s plate, where his untouched breakfast was beginning to congeal. ‘Correction. How can you buy food and not eat it at a time like this?’
‘Force of habit. Never let a meal break pass you by. They called you?’
‘Yep. Said they were waking her up. The doctor said she might not be fully conscious until lunchtime.’
‘Probably not. Everyone takes their own time.’
‘I remember when I woke up in the ICU...’ He saw Charlie’s hand fist around the wheel of his chair.
‘I know that was a very rough time for you, but you were badly injured, Charlie. It’ll be a lot easier for Mimi. Remember that.’
Charlie took a breath. ‘I will. Thanks.’
‘She’ll be drowsy, and she might well be uncomfortable. But this is a real step forward.’ Charlie had been looking to him for advice and Rafe had been careful to keep his expectations realistic, but at the same time stay positive. He knew that Charlie’s worst fears were grounded in his own experience.
‘When should we go up, then?’
‘I reckon an hour or so. They’ll let you in early if they’re waking her.’
Charlie narrowed his eyes. ‘What’s with the you? You’re not coming?’
‘She’s...’ Rafe shrugged. ‘It’s you she wants to see, mate.’
‘Right. You two were arguing, weren’t you?’
‘Yeah.’ Every time Rafe thought about it, it was as if a knife had been slid into his heart.
‘More than you were when you first turned up?’ Charlie grinned.
‘A lot less than that, actually. In fact we were in complete agreement...’ In the last three days the dogged determination that she was going to get better had overwhelmed everything else. But now... The sadness that Rafe had felt on their last morning together, when they’d both known it was over but hadn’t been able to say the words, washed back over him.
She was waking up. And he had to go.
‘You and Mimi broke up again, didn’t you?’ Charlie’s voice was heavy with resignation.
‘Well...we were never together, so it follows that we couldn’t have...’