Fractured(32)

And then the answer came to me. How could it have taken so long for me to get it? Especially when I’d seen The Sixth Sense so many times I knew parts of it off by heart.

‘Can anyone else see Jimmy in the room?’

I can’t begin to describe the pity on their faces as they all exchanged extremely meaningful looks. My dad answered for them all.

‘Of course we can, love.’

‘No, Dad, don’t humour me. Just be honest. I can see Jimmy’s ghost right there at the foot of my bed. Now can anyone else see him or not?’

Dad’s pain was obvious as he tried to formulate an answer but before he could reply the incredibly solid-looking ‘ghost’ of Jimmy came up to sit on the bed beside me, gently picking up my hand. I felt the mattress depress when he sat down, felt too the warmth of his fingers against my grazed skin; the ghost theory was losing ground fast.

‘Rachel, just listen to me for a moment without speaking, would you?’ I opened my mouth to protest but he gently pressed his forefinger across my lips. ‘No interruptions, right?’

God, if he was a ghost he was a bloody bossy one. And that finger against my mouth had felt so strong… so real.

‘You’ve taken a nasty blow to your head.’ He carried on as though I was going to contradict him. ‘You’d travelled back here for Sarah’s wedding.’

At last, something I could agree with. ‘Yes, I know that.’ There was a communal sigh of relief that I had grasped at least that one truth.

‘Now something happened, we think you were probably mugged, after leaving the station. And we think that somehow, when you were attacked, you must have hurt your head. And all these… strange… thoughts and ideas you are having right now are because of your injury.’

He might as well have saved his breath.

‘Then this must all be a dream,’ I announced, seizing upon the only other solution that made sense. Someone, I don’t know who, gave a loud sigh of despair. I ignored them. ‘This is all just a very real and very vivid dream, but it’s all in my subconscious. Any minute now I’m going to wake up.’

There was a long silence, which no one seemed to have the words to fill. It was though my absolute determination to stick to my own beliefs had sucked all protests clean out of the room.

Silently, Matt came up to the other side of the bed and rested his hand lightly against the back of my neck. Something flickered in Jimmy’s eyes as he immediately let go of my hand and got up from the bed. This dream was really peculiar; it was like going back to when we were teenagers all over again. The awkward moment was interrupted by a softly ringing bell from the nurses’ station.

‘I think that’s the end of visiting,’ my father announced with relief. ‘Perhaps you should all go now, I think Rachel could do with her rest.’

Actually, I was feeling much calmer now I’d finally worked out that none of this was really happening at all.

‘Look, why don’t you go home and rest too, Tony,’ offered Matt, unexpectedly. ‘You look really exhausted. I’ll stay with Rachel.’

Dad looked reluctant, but Dream Matt was insistent. ‘Go on, you go and get a few hours’ sleep.’

But my dad still appeared unwilling to go.

‘I don’t know, I think I should stay. I’d feel wrong going home and leaving her.’ Adding in final justification, ‘She’s my daughter; she needs me here.’

Matt’s response was firm.

‘I understand that but you’re not much use to her if you’re dead on your feet. Go home. I’ll take good care of her, Tony. I know she’s your only daughter but you’re not the only one who wants to look after her; after all she is also my only fiancée!’

I jolted with surprise and instinctively looked over at Cathy who was picking up her coat and handbag and getting ready to go. Matt’s words didn’t seem to have affected her at all.

‘Although right now she’s a fiancée without a ring,’ observed Jimmy in an unfathomable tone.

I stupidly looked down at my left hand as if to seek confirmation. There was obviously no jewellery upon it, although as I looked more closely I could see the faint white mark where a ring had obviously sat. Also strangely, the knuckle appeared reddened and swollen, something I’d not noticed before amongst the others cuts and bruises. It looked as though whatever had been on my finger might have been pulled off quite roughly.

I looked up, my face registering a sort of dazed surprise, and interrupted a very dark exchange of looks between Matt and Jimmy as they stood facing each other on either side of my bed. The thin veil of friendship between them looked stretched to the point of rupturing.