It was a bitter winter's Saturday evening and Zosia had spent the entire day with her child-minder. Eventually, Anya had come to pick her up and they had both gone to meet Guy from work, as he finished a couple of hours later than Anya did.
"Daddy!" She cried in excitement, jumping up and down, madly waving as he walked across the ward towards them.
"Hello sweetheart." He said, bending down to his daughter and kissing her head. "Have you had a good day?"
"No it was boring! We weren't allowed outside because of the rain so we couldn't go to the park like we always do!" Zosia told him in frustration.
"Tragic." He laughed. Anya grinned and Zosia frowned. Just then, a tall, middle-aged, stern-looking consultant approached them.
"Guy." He said. "There's a mass-casualty incident coming in, some will be rushed straight to theatre, you will have to scrub in." He announced. He turned to Anya. "You too Anya, we are already short staffed in the nursing department as it is."
"But…" She protested.
"What are we to do with Zosia?" Guy asked, finishing off what Anya was about to say.
"Sorry Guy, not my problem." The consultant shrugged and walked off.
"Oh brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Guy exclaimed angrily.
"Guy calm down. Can we leave her in your office until we think of something better?" Anya suggested. Guy huffed.
"I suppose we don't have any other choice." He turned to Zosia. "Zoshie, you are going to have to sit in my office for a little while. Is that alright?" Zosia nodded obediently.
"Will I be on my own?" She questioned.
"Yes. But mama and I will just be here on the ward, right outside. If we have to go anywhere else we will tell you first." He promised.
"Okay." She said. Anya and Guy took her to the office and told her not to leave because the hospital was a big place and it would be very easy for a little girl to get lost. Zosia did exactly as she was told. She had a lot to occupy her; a jigsaw puzzle, five teddies and a book, a children's novel that she was trying to read, using the sounds she had learnt at school to teach herself the words. This was proving quite difficult even for Zosia, the girl who was ahead of her whole class but then, they did only learn the very basics in the first two years of school. She managed to amuse herself for about two hours. The weather had been awful all day but an unexpected storm began to rumble in the distance. Zosia did not like it. Something about storms terrified her. At home, her mama would cuddle her until it stopped, or until she fell asleep. Zosia could usually fall asleep in Anya's arms, no matter what. Anya made her feel safe and protected. The rumbles of thunder gradually got louder and more consistent and the lights in Guy's office blew, making the lightening flash through the blinds in a terrifying manner. Zosia crawled under her father's desk, in a desperate attempt to escape the storm. It was not light enough for her to continue with her book and she was gradually becoming more scared now that she could not distract herself. She could see that there was light outside on the wards and so she decided to go and find somewhere lighter and perhaps less affected by the storm. Cautiously, she packed her things up, put her bag on her shoulders and crept out of the office. Every time somebody seemed to be heading towards her from any direction, she hid around the nearest corner she could find until she was sure that the corridors were once again clear. The storm was getting louder and louder, scarier and scarier and Zosia was practically running to find an escape. Before she realised it, Zosia had run up several flights of stairs and had no idea where she was. She began to panic and was soon more scared of the fact that she was lost and that her parents would be angry than she was of the raging winter storm. What made it worse was that various parts of the hospital, including some of the corridors, were in darkness and she could not even try to read the signs or see where they led. Zosia reached the end of one corridor and both directions it led were pitch black. She looked left and then right several times before deciding that left looked like there was light sooner than the right. She took a deep breath and headed down the corridor, by this point, tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was physically shaking, her ears once again tuned into the sounds of the seemingly everlasting storm. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor as she walked. All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder which made her jump violently and attempt to run, however, the grip was too strong.
"Zosia?" A gentle voice said. Zosia immediately recognised the voice and turned around.
"Colette!" She exclaimed, hugging the nurse tightly, breaking into sobs of both relief and terror of the storm and being lost. Colette was taken slightly by surprise but advanced to put her arms around the alarmed little girl clinging onto her so fiercely.
"What on earth is going on?" Colette asked once Zosia had calmed down a little.
"Mama and daddy had to help on the ward so I had to sit in daddy's office but the storm started and the lights went out. I just wanted to find somewhere where there was more light and where I couldn't hear the storm." She explained in despair.
"But how did you manage to get from the second floor to the eighth floor?"
"I don't know. I didn't know where I was going. Sorry." She said in a manner that melted Colette's heart.
"It's okay." She reassured the child. "It wasn't your fault. I've just finished my shift so how about we go and tell your mum and dad that you're safe and then find somewhere where there is light and I'll sit with you until you go home?" She suggested.
"Yes please." Zosia sniffled.
"Now dry those eyes." Colette ordered in a kind tone, wiping the tears from the girl's cheeks with her thumb. "You're alright now." The two of them walked hand-in-hand back down to the second floor, Zosia snuggled into Colette's side whenever they reached a darkened corridor or a sudden crash of thunder or flash of lightening occurred. It took them less than five minutes to get back downstairs, whereas it took Zosia around forty minutes of aimless wandering to find her way, by no means intentionally, upstairs. When they got to the ward, Colette immediately spotted Anya, went up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Oh! Colette!" Anya spoke after spinning round in surprise, seemingly flustered. Her and Guy had been to check on Zosia earlier only to find her gone. They begged and begged the consultant from earlier to let them go and look for her but, just like before, he said it was not his problem and that he needed all his staff.
"I found a stray." Colette announced, looking at Zosia, half-smiling.
"Zoshie!" Anya exclaimed, overjoyed. She picked her daughter up. "Please sweetie, never run off like that again. Your daddy and I have been so worried about you!"
"I'm sorry mama. I was scared of the storm and of the dark." Zosia told her mother solemnly.
"I found her wandering the eighth floor." Colette explained. "Would you like me to look after her until you finish up here?"
"I couldn't ask you to do that." Anya said.
"I'm insisting, we'll be alright won't we Zosh?" She questioned the child, who nodded.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Anya asked guiltily.
"Not at all."
"You are an absolute angel Colette, thank you so much!" She smiled, setting Zosia down on the ground and speaking to her. "Be good for Colette and no more running off. Okay?"
"I won't do it again mama, I promise." Zosia said honestly.
"Good girl." She grinned. Colette took Zosia to the staffroom, which was empty, as everyone was working on the overflow of casualties coming up with severe injuries and traumas.
"Right then." Colette said, shutting the door and the blinds. "We'll keep the blinds closed so we can't see the lightening very much and we will get up to mischief to forget about the thunder. And guess what? The lights work! Is that alright for you?" Zosia said nothing, but simply laughed. "What have you got in your bag?"
"Toys and books." Zosia announced, opening her bag and removing the contents. "I was trying to read a book but it was a bit too difficult." She said glumly.
"Which book is that?" She asked.
"Matilda. It's my favourite. Mama reads it to me." She told the nurse with a smile.
"Ah, Matilda."
"It's about a little girl with magic powers and she has a really really nice teacher called Miss Honey." Zosia explained, eyes lit up with enthusiasm.
"Would you like me to help you read it?" Colette offered.
"Yes please. But not all of it because it is very long and we might get tired." Colette laughed. Zosia retrieved the book and got onto the sofa next to Colette, opened the book and read the words she knew, pausing whenever she got to a particularly difficult word and Colette would prompt her. When they eventually got to the end of the first chapter, Zosia put the book on her lap. "Why can't I read like Matilda can? She's younger than me!" She questioned.
"It's a story Zosh. It's not real and books aren't always accurate." Colette tried to tell her.
"Well they should be! It's lying!"
"I don't think it would be very exciting if books were always about normal people. Imagine a story where someone got up every morning, went to work or school, came home, had dinner and went to bed. That would be a bit boring wouldn't it?"
"I suppose so. But it's still lying." She was insistent.
"Oh well, never mind. Do you want to read chapter two?" Zosia took up the offer and they got through chapter two a little quicker than they had the first chapter. They moved on to chapter three and then four and before they knew it, two whole hours had passed and they had read seven chapters before Zosia tired from reading. A short while later, Anya and Guy came to find them. They had finally been released from work and came to take their daughter home.
"Thank you for looking after her Colette, we're very grateful." Anya said, Guy nodded in agreement.
"Right, let's get you home young lady. It's past your bed time." He said, picking Zosia up.
"It's not my fault!" Zosia pointed out. "It's that silly man's fault because he told you to work late."
"That 'silly man' is my boss!" Guy laughed. Zosia gave a cheeky smirk. The four of them left the hospital and parted once they got outside. The storm had settled and Zosia fell asleep as soon as she got in the car. The evening had been one big adventure for such a little girl.