Emergency Sleepover. Fiona Cummings

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СКАЧАТЬ It was all my fault! What if I’ve caused her some permanent damage?”

      “It’s not like you to get so wound up. You must be very upset,” Dad said gently.

      I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again. I wiped them away angrily I hated crying, but somehow I just couldn’t help it. “Look love, there’s no point worrying,” Dad told me. “We’ll just have to wait for Rosie’s mum to ring.”

      I swear to you that waiting for that phone to ring was the worst time in my life. I’ll tell you how bad I felt – I couldn’t even kick a football about, and that’s BAD. And it didn’t help that my horrible sister, Molly the Monster, kept winding me up.

      “I knew your stupid wild ways would get you into trouble one day,” she said. “I’m just sorry it’s not you in hospital!”

      “Why don’t you just shut your mouth before I put my fist down your throat?” I snarled.

      “Oooh, temper temper!” she mocked. “I think one injury’s quite enough for one day, even for you!”

      I think I would have thumped her anyway if the phone hadn’t rung. I ran to answer it, but Dad had got there first.

      “Hello Karen. How’s the patient? Good… Oh, that is good news… Ooh dear, that will be painful… Well, yes, that’s very wise… Oh yes, I’m sure they would. Yes, yes – I’ll tell her. Send our best wishes to Rosie, won’t you? Bye.”

      “Well?” I asked anxiously.

      “She’s fine,” Dad smiled, “apart from a badly sprained ankle and a bit of a headache. They’re keeping her in hospital for observation because she was unconscious, but she should be back home in a couple of days’ time.”

      “Can I…?”

      “Yes, you can go and see her. Rosie’s been asking for you all.”

      “Right then! What are we waiting for?” I rushed to the door.

      “Not so fast, young lady,” Dad pulled me back. “It’s way past visiting time now. You can go tomorrow afternoon. But what you can do now is ring your friends. I’m sure they’re all anxious to know how Rosie is. But make it quick, OK?”

      Frankie and Lyndz were both really relieved to hear that Rosie was all right and said that they’d come to the hospital with me the next day. But Fliss just couldn’t resist having a go at me again.

      “Well that’s no thanks to you!” she spat when I told her the news. “Mum said that she was lucky not to be paralysed after your antics.”

      Fliss’s mum is a real prophet of doom – like mother, like daughter… She didn’t even want Fliss to come to the hospital with the rest of us, in case she picked up some terrible disease! But I shamed Fliss into it by saying she’d look a real misery-guts if she didn’t come.

      So three o’clock the next afternoon found us outside the main entrance of Queen Mary’s Hospital.

      “I hate the way hospitals smell,” moaned Frankie. “Although I didn’t mind it so much when I went to visit Mum after she’d had Izzy.”

      “I hate hospitals, full stop!” Fliss whimpered. “In fact I think I might just wait out here.”

      I glared at her, and the others flapped until she agreed to come in with us.

      “I’m going to go to the hospital shop to buy Rosie some sweets,” said Lyndz.

      “I’ll come with you,” Frankie told her. “I’m going to buy her a magazine to read.”

      I’d already bought her a puzzle book and Fliss had brought some nail varnish to cheer her up. But we went to the shop with the others anyway because we couldn’t bear the thought of just talking to each other.

      I don’t know if you’ve been into many hospitals, but it seems to me that they make it as confusing as possible for you to find your way to the wards. There were hundreds of corridors to walk down. And just when we thought we’d found the Children’s Ward, we had to go up another flight of stairs.

      “I’ll never find my way out of here!” grumbled Fliss.

      Eventually we got to a huge set of double doors covered by a painting of a jungle scene. This just had to be the Children’s Ward. Unless they’d started treating gorillas on the quiet!

      We burst through the doors – and who should be the first person we saw? Rosie! All trussed up like something out of a horror movie. She had a great big bandage covering the top of her head and her foot looked really swollen. That had a bandage round it too, and was raised up on a sort of pulley thing.

      “You look terrible!” said Fliss, plonking herself down on the chair next to the bed.

      “Charming!” laughed Rosie. “I thought I was looking pretty stylish actually!”

      The rest of us cracked up and handed over our presents.

      “You’re too kind, guys!” Rosie grinned. “I ought to get myself into hospital more often.”

      “I’m sure it can be arranged!” I told her in a silly voice.

      I looked up and saw Fliss looking at me accusingly. My good mood at seeing Rosie suddenly disappeared.

      “All right!” I snapped. “I’m sorry, Rosie. I didn’t mean to make you fall.”

      “That’s OK!” Rosie smiled. “It was an accident.”

      “You’re honoured!” laughed Frankie. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Kenny apologise before!”

      “Give over!” I protested, and pushed her gently.

      I couldn’t believe it when she fell off the edge of the bed and thudded on to the floor.

      “Look what you’ve done now!” squealed Fliss. “You’re dangerous, Kenny!”

      I went hot and cold.

      “Oh my head,” Frankie moaned. “My head hurts!”

      “Quick get a nurse!” Rosie suggested.

      Lyndz was just about to go and find one when Frankie leapt up and started laughing.

      “Fooled you!” she shrieked.

      “That wasn’t funny,” I grumbled. “You nearly had me in hospital with a heart attack!”

      “Well if you had one, you wouldn’t want to be in this ward,” said Rosie quietly.

      “Why? What’s up with it?” we asked.

      “Well, the nurses are great,” Rosie explained. “But the day-room hasn’t got much equipment. The TV’s broken and they’re still waiting for a replacement. There are hardly any books or toys. It must be really miserable if you have to stay in for a long time.”

      “That’s СКАЧАТЬ