Lola thought she was all out of miracles, but life might have some magic for the invisible girl yet...
***
It's been fifteen years since a wayward spell turned Lola Lawrence invisible. She might have learnt to control the magic but life isn't any ea...
Ουπς! Αυτή η εικόνα δεν ακολουθεί τους κανόνες περιεχομένου. Για να συνεχίσεις με την δημοσίευση, παρακαλώ αφαίρεσε την ή ανέβασε διαφορετική εικόνα.
"Listen, you don't understand..." Mary hisses down the phone as I charge through the hospital corridor, dodging nurses and porters. The smell of antiseptic and hospital food lodging in my throat. My hair is sticking to my head and neck and I'm seriously regretting wearing a leather jacket today.
"I'm nearly there! Don't worry!" I press the little red box on the screen, just hearing Mary's voice before the call cuts out.
"No, no, Lola... that's not why I'm calling... he's..."
I'm breathless as I stumble into the ward I've grown so familiar with over the last four years. A place I hate as much as I'm grateful for. Outside the room, all peering through the glass window, a small crowd has formed. I'm panting as Toby's parents spot me and wave me forward.
Toby's mum, Emma, is a golden goddess. Her honeyed-blonde hair is blow-dried to perfection, her skin recently tanned and her pinky-brown lipstick newly applied. She's grinning as I approach. Her husband, Jeremy, is laughing deeply, his bright red polo shirt stretching across his broad chest. With round eyes and a bright smile, he's a larger, older version of his son, Toby.
"I can't believe this. I mean... Toby works so hard, but this... look at Gracie's little face," Emma coos.
"Go on Lola, you gotta get in there," Jeremy says, ending with another chuckle.
I smile at them and slip through the open door. The room ahead is full of parents standing by beds filled with their children, so I'm struggling to make out the source of their joy as I cut through the people. I spot Mary at the back, staring ahead, and when she sees me, she mouths something I don't understand. Ignoring her, I search through the crowd, hearing Gracie's giggle, and I step towards her.
Gracie is sitting on a bed at the back. Her cheeks are red and flushed as she chatters away happily. Toby is sitting next to her, grinning at her enthusiasm. A large form is sitting on the end of her bed. Another figure stands behind him.
My heart leaps into my throat. And I freeze on the spot.
Despite the packed room, the stuffy repurposed air and din of the hospital. Everything tumbles away. He turns, his warm smile dropping into shock when he sees me standing there. And then it returns, lighting up his face and I'm sixteen again, visiting him at midnight in a hospital ward just like this one. The same look on his face when I'd whisper his name. No one had ever looked at me the way he did, and they never have.
Slowly, Lachlan stands. He is perfection - and it knocks the breath from my lungs. Somehow, he's the same, but completely different. Those same dark eyes peer out from a face made of masculine angles and a stubbled jaw. He's dressed simply, but I can tell from the cut of the dark coat, white T-shirt and jeans that they're expensive. His dark blonde hair is cut stylishly, and he wears all the signs of a man now wealthy. But the coat is a little old, and the T-shirt is creased - some things never change, I suppose. On his finger, where there was once a wedding ring, is a pale line of skin.
