Dear Darling by Elle McKenzie Read Free Book Online

was so cold out, and the heating in the halls was almost none existent, so I was super speedy.
    Leaving the bathroom and heading back to the room, I could hear the generic ringtone from down the hall. Picking up pace, I burst through the door my eyes immediately seeking out my desk for my phone. It wasn’t there, so I moved slowly around the room, trying to pinpoint it from the noise. I eventually found it where it had fallen between my bed and the wall.
    “Hello.” I answered flustered, wiping my damp hair away from my face.
    “Saffron,” the voice on the other end replied. No one other than my parents called me Saffron, but it wasn’t them. Pulling the phone from my ear, I looked at the screen. It was Eli’s name, but it wasn’t his voice, either.
    “Yes. Who is this?” I asked unable to hide the confusion in my voice.
    “Saffron, it’s Aaron. You need to get to Maidstone Hospital. It’s Eli, he’s been in a car crash.” I swear my heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Waves of nausea swept over me like tidal waves sweeping over the land.
    “How bad?” My voice was choked.
    “They don’t know yet, he’s in surgery.”
    “I’ll be there. Will you call me if you find out anything?”
    “I will, I promise.” His voice was reassuring. It was as if he knew how hard I was trying to hold myself together in that moment. When I disconnected the call, I started moving. I grabbed the first set of clothing I put my hands on, tossed my phone into my bag, and ran from my room.
    Waiting for the train was excruciating, and the ride to Maidstone was torture. Tears poured out of me like a fountain as I sat and waited for the train to stop. People walked past, looking at me with sympathy but not wanting to talk to me to see if I was okay.
    When I arrived at Accident & Emergency, the receptionist with her perfect make-up and perfect hair told me to wait for someone to come and get me. My head was pounding as my anger built.
    Just because I wasn’t “officially family” didn’t mean I had any less right to see my boyfriend. We had been together for a year and a half, and I deserved some rights. I pulled my phone from my bag and dialled Eli’s number, but it went straight to the recording that asked me to leave a message. How was Aaron supposed to call me with an update if he turned it off? Those forty-five minutes were nerve wracking, and I alternated between pacing and sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs bouncing my leg in irritation. My stomach churned and sickness washed over me several times as I sat going over different scenarios in my head.
    Eventually, Aaron came through the double doors of the waiting room. His face looked tired and despondent, his brown hair spiked in all directions as if he had been running his fingers through it, his chocolate-brown eyes were bloodshot.
    “He’s awake.” My body relaxed and my stomach fluttered, but I still didn’t know what was going on. He pulled me to the chairs behind us and sat us both down. “He’s suffered a broken cheekbone and some minor cuts and contusions. He also suffered severe trauma to his spine. The doctors operated as soon as they brought him in to remove the bone fragments and get him stabilised. However, there’s some swelling and they need to wait for it to go down before they know more.” I sobbed hard, my poor Eli.
    “What does that mean??”
    He looked at his hands, knotting his fingers. He didn’t speak for a few seconds and the silence hung oppressively between us. Just as I was about to speak, he said. “He can’t feel his legs at the moment, they think it’s only temporary. We have to wait.” A sound that I didn’t recognise escaped from my mouth. I could tell that he was trying to be optimistic, but I could sense that he was worried. My chest tightened, and it felt like I was having a heart attack. My heart was breaking. My poor baby.
    How will he cope if he can never walk again?
    “Ca-can I see him?” I