Three Amazing Things About You(79)

He nodded. ‘Still together.’

‘Was your heart broken?’

‘Shattered beyond repair for all eternity. Well,’ he amended with a grin, ‘for at least the next fortnight.’

‘You poor thing.’

‘I know.’ He nodded bravely.

Hallie said, ‘It’s not true, though, is it. Didn’t really happen.’

Ross burst out laughing. ‘How did you know?’

‘It’s a gift I have. I can always tell when people are lying.’

‘That’s both impressive and terrifying.’

‘Let me guess. You get bored with girlfriends, drop them, move on to the next.’

‘This is true.’ Ross nodded in agreement. ‘Because I’m always looking for something better, someone who really understands me. I always knew that one day I’d meet my match.’ His blue eyes crinkled. ‘It was just a question of being patient and waiting for her to turn up.’

It had been worth coming to the pub tonight just for this. To feel like a normal girl. Even though it was becoming more and more difficult to suck enough air into her lungs.

Not to mention successfully concealing the fact that it was becoming more difficult.

‘And I have to say, you took your time.’ His teeth gleaming white in the darkness, Ross leaned forward and murmured, ‘But better late than never.’

‘THERE SHE IS,’ bellowed a voice at the other end of the garden. ‘It’s OK, I’ve found her! She’s out here!’

And that was the end of feeling normal. Hallie turned to see Bea standing in the doorway to the pub, opening the door wide so that the wheelchair could fit through it.

‘My God, you gave us the fright of our lives,’ Bea shouted, hair flying as she raced across the grass. ‘We were on the dance floor and I thought you were in the corner talking to the Wilkinsons, then they moved away and I saw they’d been standing in front of an empty chair. And nobody knew where you’d got to! You can’t do this . . .’

Hot on Bea’s heels was Luke, pushing the wheelchair at speed over the bumpy ground so that the portable oxygen cylinder clanked against the back of it. And completing the entourage came Christina, wobbling in her elegant stilettos and looking concerned.

It was like a team of paramedics arriving at the scene of an accident. The look on Ross’s face was a picture as they came hurtling down the garden towards him.

‘Can you stand? Bea, take her other arm. Careful . . .’ Luke was lifting her out of her seat, manoeuvring her across into the wheelchair, uncoiling the plastic tubing and fitting the nasal specs on her face. He turned up the oxygen and stood back to watch her intakes of breath.

Hallie knew she’d left it too long. As the minutes had ticked by, each breath had become that little bit harder to draw in, but she’d forced herself to resist the urge to take massive, gasping gulps of air because that would have given the game away and had Ross wondering what on earth she was playing at.

As if he weren’t doing that now.

‘Don’t ever do something so stupid again,’ Bea ordered. ‘We were so worried. Anything could have happened and we wouldn’t have known about it!’

Hallie gazed past them and said nothing, concentrating on sucking the oxygen back into her lungs.

‘Jesus,’ Ross said finally. He looked over at Luke. ‘What’s wrong with her?’

There it was. How many times had she experienced this over the years, since the wheelchair had come into her life? Pair it up with oxygen canisters and tubes across the face and so many people – not everyone, but more than you’d think – automatically assumed you were incapable of answering simple questions.

She looked at Ross. ‘I have CF.’

He actually seemed surprised she could still speak. ‘What’s that?’

‘Cystic fibrosis. Have you heard of it?’

‘Of course I’ve heard of it. Lungs, right?’ A mixture of horror and sympathy flickered across his face as the information sank in.

‘Correct.’ Hallie nodded. ‘Well done.’

‘Wow.’ He leaned forward, picked up the pint of lager from the table, then put it down again. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

Did he really not have a clue? She shrugged. ‘Sorry. Slipped my mind.’

‘How are you feeling?’ Luke had his professional face on.

How am I feeling? Disappointed.

Oh well, at least it hadn’t come as any great surprise.

Aloud, she said, ‘I’m OK.’

There followed a brief awkward silence, broken by Bea saying, ‘Well, what are you going to do now? Do you want to come back inside with us? Or stay out here for a bit longer?’ She glanced at Ross. ‘Because if you do, that’s fine . . .’