Clopwyck River - revised version

Chapter Four

I slip out of a watery nightmare, my eyelids flickering as light penetrates my eyes. I squeeze my eyes shut but can't block out the light, turning my head away and opening each eye, one at a time. I can't see anything but white and shining steel.
Where the hell am I?
I try to pull myself up to a sitting position but my skull weighs a tonnne, so I fall back onto a crisp pillow. I feel like I'm glowing my skin buzzing with heat. I look down, gasping at the swaddles of white bandages wrapped around my hands. I notice something in the corner of my eye and I look round, trying not to move my head too quickly.
I'm not alone.
"Hey. Don't freak out. You're okay. Let me call the nurse."
I can hear a male voice but my vision hasn't caught up yet, so I blink a few times then go to rub my hands in my eyes. A chair screeches against the floor, and I feel two big hands clasp my wrists, pulling them away from my face.
"I don't think you should do that."
I close my eyes again, relieved that they seem to be tuning themselves into normal vision when I open them. The male voice does in fact belong to a male, and his blue eyes and extra-long boy lashes add to the wooziness floating around in my head.
I open my mouth to speak, but a dry rasp escapes from my throat instead. The boy grabs a plastic cup and jug from the table beside me and I look him up and down as he pours water into the cup. He's really big, like, rugby player big, and I hope he's not here to put a pillow over my face.
A mess of light brown hair stands in tufts on top of his head, making him look as though he's also just woken up somewhere unfamiliar. He plops a straw in the cup and slowly brings the drink to my lips, nodding at me as I look between him and the straw.
I decide I'm too thirsty to worry whether he's trying to poison me or not, and take a deep drink from the straw, immediately feeling like I'm drowning and start to cough, the water going down the wrong way.
Rugby Player's eyes widen in shock, and he puts the cup down, then gently grips my shoulders and pulls me forward until I stop coughing.
I look at the cup of water, my throat still dry.
"You sure?"
I nod, and he picks it up again and brings it to my lips. I go to suck from the straw and he pulls it away suddenly.
"Slowly."
I glare at him and he places the straw in my mouth. I take a drink then pull away, and he puts the cup down.
I clear my throat and try my voice again.
"Nurse?"
"What? No, I'm not the nurse." He scratches his head. "Did you hit your head as well as almost drown?"
"No." God, talking is hard. "You said you'd get the nurse. Am I in hospital?"
"Oh, right. Yeah, nothing gets past you, hey?" I'm so pleased to find that I have the energy to roll my eyes at him. "Sorry. Yes, this is the hospital. Don't you remember what happened?"
I frown, the skin on my forehead screaming at me as I do. "I went for a run. And then......" My brain throbs and I can't string my last memories together. "I can't really remember."
"Okay, where to start?" Rugby Player sits down on a clinical looking chair, and leans forward, clasping his hands together and rests his elbows on his long legs. "Well, you saved someone's life. Do you remember doing that?"
A memory explodes over me like a water balloon. "B-Ben?" Rugby Player smiles and nods. "Is he okay?"
His smile fades, and he looks down at the floor. "He's in a worse state than you, I'm afraid. He got quite badly burned, and he's still unconscious. My Dad is with him at the moment."
"Burned?" I look at my hands; that's why they're all wrapped up. "Am I? Is my face...?"
He shakes his head. "No – your face is lovely." I blink, he blinks and he goes as red as my skin feels. "I mean, your face is fine. You got the worst of it on your hands. You were drenched in rain water when you grabbed Ben, then you were in the river before the fire could do you any real damage."
His words are making me dizzy and I shake my head, trying to get my thoughts straight. "Sorry, but who are you? You seem to know a lot about what happened?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry." He puts a hand out to shake mine, then looks at my bandages and thinks better of it. "I'm Leo. I'm Ben's brother."
"Oh." Good looks run in the family then. God, how shallow am I? "I'm sorry about Ben."
"Please, you don't need to apologise. I hate to think what state he'd be in if you hadn't done what you did. It was really brave."
I shake my head. "I should have got him down. What was he doing up there? I met him earlier yesterday and he didn't seem upset about anything. What was wrong with him?"
Leo sits up in the chair, rubbing his hands on his legs. "I don't know."
"But you're his brother, he must talk to you?"
"Does your sister tell you everything?" His words have an edge, shocking me like a slap in the face. He sees the effect his response has on me, and his face softens. "I'm sorry, I'm just tired. We've been here all night. I don't know what's going on with him, but he's always had a few...problems."
He says the word like he's swearing and I decide to drop it. For now.
I jump up in my bed and Leo whips around as the cubicle curtain flies across on its rail, revealing Andrew dressed half in pyjamas and half normal clothes.
"Oh my God, Demi!" He strides to my bed side and goes to hug me, then takes in my appearance and changes his mind. He walks up and down the side of the bed instead, running his hands through his hair. "We've been so worried! What the hell? You've not even been here twenty-four hours yet!"
"I'm sorry, Andrew."
He stops mid-stride, lowers his hands, and then perches on the side of my bed.
"What? No, no, you don't have to apologise! I mean, you're supposed to be in our care and you're in the hospital before you've even had your first meal with us! I was going to do you a breakfast buffet because I didn't know what you'd like. Like in a hotel."
Poor Andrew. "It's okay, Andrew. I don't even eat breakfast."
He smiles at me. "Well you should; it's the most important meal of the day. Are you okay? How do you feel? Are you in pain? We'll take you to the hairdresser when they let you out of here and get that straightened out, yeah?"
"What!? What's wrong with my hair?" I glance at Leo, annoyed to find him repressing a smile. My hands shoot up to my head but I can't feel anything through the bandages. "Is it bad?"
Leo looks at Andrew whose eyebrows are about to shoot off his forehead. "What? No. Nooooo. Your hair's fine. Hardly any different. Maybe just a little singed. And lopsided."
Great. Although, I should be grateful that I'm not lying unconscious in another room in this hospital. It's just hair. Don't be such a princess, Demi.
Andrew carries on smiling at me, and I realise he's on his own.
"Where's Daria?"
His smile falters, then he scratches his head as if he doesn't know who I'm talking about.
"She wanted to come, Demi, but Elliot was making a fuss, and then he wanted to come if she was coming, and we didn't think it would be appropriate. We weren't really sure what sort of state you'd be in. Sorry you got me instead."
"It's fine."
A few awkward seconds pass until Leo speaks.
"I'm going to check on Ben. If I see a nurse on the way, I'll let them know you're awake." He stands up and nods at Andrew, and walks over to the curtain, then turns back to me. "I'm really glad you're okay, Demi. It was good to meet you."
I don't have a chance to reply before he closes the curtain on me and Andrew.
"Well, he seems very nice, don't you think?" I roll my eyes at Andrew. "I hope you thanked him."
"What?" I pull myself up despite the aches in my bones.
"He was the one who pulled you and Ben out of the river."
"Leo did?" I frown, looking at the closed curtain. "What was he doing there?"
Andrew shrugs his shoulders. "I have no idea, but I'm glad he was. He called an ambulance and got you here. Your phone was completely dead from all the water, so couldn't get any contact numbers but he knew you were staying with us so the hospital could call us."
"How did he know I'm staying with you?"
"Crikey, I don't know, Demi, maybe because it's a small town? News travels faster than the broadband around here." Andrew scratches his head, then smooths out the sheet on my bed. "Look, instead of all the questions, maybe you should just get some rest and be grateful that he found you when he did."
Maybe. Or maybe I'll save my questions for another time.