The Aura by Carrie Bedford

any other injuries? To the hip or shoulder, perhaps? Were you facing the car when it happened, or crossing a street?”
    I felt dizzy again, felt the blood draining from my head. The bright lights were dazzling and hurt my eyes. Telling Leo the real story hadn’t worked very well. I could only imagine the reaction if I told the truth to the nice young doctor. He was watching the heart monitor and scribbling notes on my chart.
    “Don’t talk,” he said. “Just rest for thirty minutes. Then we’ll check on you again.”
    “I really need to go,” I said. “I’m late for work.”
    “I can’t discharge you when your heart rate is so high. I’ll be back soon. Stay calm and rest.”
    A nurse appeared to place a warm coverlet over me. The heaviness of it seemed disproportionate to its fluffy whiteness. Lying still, held captive by the blanket, I tried deep breathing to slow my heart down. My watch and cell phone were with my clothes in a locker in the changing room, so I had no idea whether one minute had passed, or five or ten. The achromatic cubicle was timeless and ephemeral, a space where patients and doctors passed through; a brief interaction and a myriad of outcomes.
    Maybe I dozed for a while, maybe the time vortex spun faster than I thought, but the doctor was soon back and he smiled at me when I opened my eyes.
    “Very good. All vital signs are normal. Do you have anyone who can come to fetch you?”
    “No.” The only person who might possibly come was Leo and he was in Italy.
    “I could send you home in an ambulance, I suppose,” the doctor said, taking off his glasses to clean them with a corner of his white coat. “You must have assistance to get home.”
    Embarrassed by the attention, his concern, and the thought of using up an ambulance driver’s valuable time, I decided to call Josh, hoping that he’d have his cell phone on. I also hoped that Alan wasn’t around to prevent him from answering it. The doctor gave me my bag and I found my cell phone. When Josh picked up on one ring, I explained what had happened.
    “I’ll be right there,” he said.
    ***
    It took some time to convince him I was well enough to go back to work, especially as the nurse had told him I should go straight home. In the taxi, Josh was quiet, sensing that I wasn’t up to talking. When we reached the office, he helped me out of the cab and put his hand under my elbow to walk me to the elevator.
    “Don’t want you falling,” he said.
    Inevitably, the elevator stopped on the second floor and Alan got in. There must be some mathematical equation that calculates the chances of such a thing, but it seemed preordained that I’d bump into the one person in the universe that I wanted to avoid.
    “So nice of you to make an appearance, Kate. What was it this time? Shopping, quick jet set to Tuscany?”
    “I had a doctor’s appointment during my lunch hour. It went longer than I thought it would,” I said, my head beginning to ache again. “I’ll make up the time this evening, I promise.”
    “You bet you will,” he said. “We’re not running a resort here.”
    “Alan, be nice,” said Josh. “Kate was injured and she needed a CT scan. You know she’ll get the work done.”
    Alan just scowled at us. He got off on the next floor. Leaning against the wall of the elevator, I closed my eyes briefly. I felt Josh take my hand in his.
    “You okay?” he asked. Without thinking, I moved towards him, resting my head against his shoulder. I felt his arms go around me. For a few seconds, I felt warm and safe, until a loud ping signaled our floor and the doors slid open.
    I kept my wits about me for long enough to thank Josh for coming to my aid and wandered off towards my office, thinking of how his arms had felt, how concerned he’d looked. Seated at my desk, I picked up a pencil. It felt alien in my fingers. I had no idea what to do with it. Francesca and Sophie were both dead. They’d both had the moving air around them.