Chapter 20:

As she made the tea, Amber shuddered as she realised just how much about herself she had revealed. But Will was her closest friend and she knew she could trust him with anything.

Then she made a phone call.

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A thought occurred to him as Amber handed him the hot mug.

"Do you know where my dad and brother are?"

"I think the nurse said your dad was going to drop off Luke at your Aunt's house in Scarborough. From what I heard, I think he was planning to stay the night."

"So he doesn't know I'm back yet?"

"Either that or he's forgotten."

Will nodded. He wondered about calling Saffi, but his mind was too emotionally exhausted to muster the strength, or even think about what to say. He sighed.

He sipped the tea and almost gagged on the sickly sweetness. "How much sugar did you put in this?" he choked, almost laughing as he gasped for breath.

"I was going to put a few teaspoons in, for shock, you know, but my hand slipped and I managed to tip half the pot in. I thought it'd wake you up anyway."

"I think you've probably put me back in shock now. I'll probably have a sugar high." He drank a little more for good measure.

A loud knock at the door made him jump. Amber leapt to her feet. "I'll get it."

"Who is it?"

She smiled conspiratorially. "Guess."

His mind reeled with all the possibilities, finally settling on the one person she was most likely to have called; the person she felt would help most in this situation. Saffi. His heart gave a little leap, too tired to jump any higher. He'd missed her a lot, and it'd only been two days.

"Saffi?" he asked, subdued elation flooding his veins.

"Wait and see."

She disappeared in the shadowy hallway.

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She'd clambered out of her seat to answer the door, hoping that it was Saffi and not some random unhelpful person. Will really needed to be cheered up right now, or at least distracted. She'd smiled when she'd seen the light in Will's eyes return a little at the mention of his absent girlfriend, glad that she'd made the call.

She opened the door, coming face to face with the girl she'd seen in the photos on Will's phone. "You must be Saffi."

The girl smiled nervously, "Then I guess that makes you Amber."

She nodded equally nervously, allowing Saffi to enter the hallway.

"He's just through there." Amber whispered, gesturing towards the lounge.

"How is he?"

"Not good. A little better but still not good. He'll be glad to see you though."

The comment brought a smile to the other girl's face and Amber disappeared into the kitchen under the pretence of making her a drink, so that the couple could have a little privacy.

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Anxiously, Saffi tiptoed towards the sitting room, suddenly shy again. While they'd been alone in the middle of nowhere, it had seemed like a dream where anything could happen – and it had. It had been sweet, wonderful and blissfully random, governed only by their own actions and consciences and it had been only about them.

Now, back in the real world, in reality, there were billions of other people and the harshness of reality had struck home cruelly. Now they were back in the real world, she was nervous that everything they'd had was just an extension of that fantasy and no longer existed. Would he still be pleased to see her? Would he even want to see her now?

Had it all just been some wild fantasy to escape from a reality that now no longer existed?

Balancing nervously on the balls of her feet, she tiptoed into the lounge.

Will was perched miserably on the edge of the sofa and his head jerked up at the sound of the door creaking open.

A mixture of confusion and delight spread across his face and relief coursed through Saffi as the forlorn, lost look on his face lessened slightly. He hadn't forgotten her. The adrenalin rush that flooded her veins spurred her momentum and she found herself flinging her arms around him.

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Peeking through the crack in the open doorway on tiptoes, and supporting the weight of a tray was not an easy task, and after five minutes she was easily bored, waiting for an opportunity to enter the room without disturbing something.

Amber leant back against the doorframe, wood pressing into her back, the ache in her arms from supporting the tray gnawing at her muscles, sapping their strength.

Eventually, she could only hear the steady murmur of speech and staggered to her feet, legs dead after standing still for so long. Stretching as best she could with a heavy tray, she pushed open the door, just balancing, just not spilling the hot tea all over the tray.

And she could feel the bones in her wrist stretching where she'd dislocated them a year ago.

She looked up at the two solemn, but smiling faces and made her way as hastily as she could to the table before her wrist went.

She could feel the bones grating, threatening to slip out of their joint. Her elbow began to stretch, putting more pressure on the wrist. Leaning more heavily on the other side, she staggered towards them.

Her wrist gave, buckling with a jolt of agony that spread up her arm in waves. She let go of the tray, clamping her eyes shut. There was going to be a mess on the carpet was her only thought as she cradled her wrist to her chest, biting down on her lip until she tasted blood. The tang of salt and metal tainted her tongue.

She could hear voices, seeming so far away, but when she opened her eyes, the tray was not on the floor. It had been removed from her hands before her wrist gave, balancing safely on the table.

A hand touched her shoulder, jolting her out of the cloud of shock and pain.

"Are you alright?" Saffi looked worried. "Amber?"

"It's her wrist." She heard Will explain. "She dislocated it last year. It's been weak ever since."

Their voices seemed so distant, the other side of a void.

"Amber?"

She blinked dizzily. The pain receded slightly. She forced her eyes open, blinking furiously as they blurred, trying to see through the haze that clouded her vision.

"Yeah I'm here." She murmured.

"Did it dislocate?" Saffi sounded concerned still.

"Yeah." With all her strength, she dragged herself out of the swirling mist and back into reality.

Faces swam in front of her, gradually clearing as her vision focused.

Her wrist erupted in pain, white hot knives stabbing the skin, the bone as she shifted position.

"Amber?"

She forced her head upwards to look at Saffi, feeling the familiar grating as the bone attempted to slip back into position.

Amber snatched back her arm as Saffi examined the bruised area with a hiss of pain.

"Sorry. Are you sure you're alright? I think the bone is going back in, but you're white as a sheet."

Amber gave her a wan grin. "You should've seen the mess it was the first time."

"No thanks. You scared me enough this time."

"Yeah, I was scarred for life after that. It was like something from Casualty or something. You couldn't just dislocate it could you? You had to rip the skin too, and have half your arm hanging off."

"Nah, that bit was just to make it more fun for you to watch. I don't do things half way."

She winced as the bone clicked back into its original position.

"Has it gone back?"

"Yeah. I won't be trying that again. From now on, Will carries the trays. He's a man."

"That's not fair." He protested weakly.

"Depends on how you look at it."

"Well, still……"

"Anyway, what I was going to say before my arm caused a scene was that I think we should do something tonight. You know, watch a movie or something. Texas Chainsaw massacre, something nice and gory to scare the hell out of us."

"It might work. I've never heard of it as a traditional method, but new is good."

"Have you ever seen it?"

Amber shrugged. "Nope."

"It gave my brother nightmares for a month."

"Yeah but he's ten and shouldn't be watching it."

"Fair point. It kinda spooked me too."

"Kay. How bout something less bloodthirsty?" she offered.

"Maybe. Let's order pizza too."

"Why?"

"'Cos I've never done it before, that's why."

Amber laughed. "Fair enough."

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An hour later, they were still arguing over films.

Pizza had arrived but had been abandoned on the floor amongst a few heaps of DVDs that buried the lounge.

And everything was in chaos.

Grabbing the nearest DVD, Amber opened the case without looking and decided to solve the arguments with nobody's choice. She reached out, placed the film in the machine and in that split second, a sudden flash tore through the whole room, and the house was plunged into impenetrable darkness.

"Well there goes that idea."

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"Whose idea was it to tie us together with string?" Amber asked after a few minutes of fumbling in the dark kitchen for candles. "I'm practically wrapped round a doorframe here."

"Yours." Came the two person strong reply.

"Oh.

"Well has anyone found anything yet?" she amended.

"A few candles, but no matches."

"What's this?"

"How do I know? It's pitch black."

"Aha!" a sudden flicker of orange illuminated Amber's face as she struck a match, so close to Saffi that she nearly set both of them on fire.

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A short while later, the house was once more filled with a glow of light, tiny orange flames flickering warmly around the room, twinkling like minute suns.

The pizza was gone. And now they were bored. Will ran a hand over his face, trying to scour away the memories that persistently attacked his mind.

He shook his head, blinking back the images that rested on his retinas.

It didn't help. The unquenchable misery began to seep back into his soul, trying to rip him apart.

"Will?" Saffi squeezed his fingers, bringing him back to the present moment.

"Mm?"

"Don't let it destroy you."

"What?"

"She means, there's grieving, and there's tearing yourself apart. And you shouldn't go there. It will destroy you."

"I just……can't see past the dark."

"You've got us."

"True." He smiled slightly.

"I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse, but you've got us anyway. I'm a limpet by the way. I don't let go." Amber added.

"I guessed that. But thanks."

Saffi smiled.

Amber grinned. "Now I'm thinking, spin the bottle or hide and seek?"

"Spin the bottle for definite." Saffi enthused gleefully.

"What have I let myself in for?" Will asked nervousness seeping into his voice.

"You'll see."