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Authors: Malorie Blackman
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past Pops to leave the house.
Liam stepped aside on the garden path to let her get past. No one spoke until Julie was in her car and driving away. I took a glance at Pops then. A muscle in his cheek just under his eye was doing the samba. I’d only ever seen that particular muscle dance like that once before – when, ages ago, Pops took me to the park and some other boys had made fun of my limp.
‘Let’s go,’ Pops said gruffly.
‘Let me know how she is – OK?’ Liam said.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
All the way to the hospital, neither Pops nor I spoke. Pops doesn’t like to talk and drive at the same time and I wasn’t in the mood to speak anyway. It took ages to get to the hospital. Pops drives at least ten miles below the speed limit. He calls it ‘safe driving’, but judging by the dirty looks we kept getting I don’t think the drivers around us would’ve agreed.
At last we reached the hospital. After a lot of wandering about, trying to find out where Mum was, we at last reached her ward. Mum was in a side room and we’d barely been told the number before I was running towards it and flinging open the door. And I got the shock of my life. Mum’s head was swathed in bandages and she was linked up to a monitor beside her bed. And yet with all this stuff around her, Mum’s eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. That’s the part that really scared me. She looked so peaceful, as if she was above and beyond everything going on around her. I stood in the doorway, watching her. My throat started to hurt and I had to swallow quite a few times before it stopped.
‘Dominic, are you going to hover in the hall all night?’ Pops said irritably.
Slowly I walked into the room, followed by Pops. Only when I was fully in the room did I see Jack. He was sitting slumped on a chair in the corner of the room. And his eyes were puffy and red.
‘Is Mum going to be all right?’ I whispered.
Jack shrugged. ‘The doctors don’t know yet. Apparently the next few hours are going to be crucial.’
‘What exactly is the matter with her?’
‘Concussion, severe bruising and a broken rib. The rib punctured her right lung but that’s OK now.’
I blinked stupidly at the catalogue of injuries VIMS had inflicted on my mum. ‘Where is VIMS now?’
‘Back in the testing area at Desica,’ Jack said.
‘I hope that dangerous bag of bolts is going to be dismantled,’ Pops said furiously, ‘before it can harm anyone else.’
‘We’re still discussing that,’ Jack said sombrely.
‘But you can’t do that. Mum would hate it.’ The words exploded from me before I even realized what I was going to say. I, of all people, should’ve been happy about the prospect of VIMS being dismantled, but instead I was horrified. VIMS was Mum’s life work. VIMS was Mum’s
dream
.
‘I’m sorry your mum ever started working on VIMS,’ Jack said bitterly. ‘I’m sorry I ever heard of the thing. I’m sorry … I’m sorry …’
And this is going to sound really mushy, I know, but that’s when I realized just how much Jack loved my mum.
‘It’s not your fault, son,’ Pops said gruffly. ‘According to what that Resnick woman told me earlier, the VIMS machine just went out of control and Carol was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
‘Yes, but I should’ve persuaded Julie and Carol to postpone the demonstration this morning until we’d figured out what was wrong with VIMS. I did try but …’
‘But knowing my daughter, you didn’t get very far.’ Pops sighed.
‘I should’ve tried harder,’ Jack said angrily.
Pops and I looked at each other. We knew Jack was angry with himself, not with us and not with Mum. Jack turned to look at me. It was the first time he’d looked away from Mum since I’d entered the room.
‘Dominic, you can stay for a while and then I’m taking you back home.’
‘Oh, but—’
‘No, buts!’ Jack interrupted. ‘You’ve got school tomorrow.’
‘But,
Liam stepped aside on the garden path to let her get past. No one spoke until Julie was in her car and driving away. I took a glance at Pops then. A muscle in his cheek just under his eye was doing the samba. I’d only ever seen that particular muscle dance like that once before – when, ages ago, Pops took me to the park and some other boys had made fun of my limp.
‘Let’s go,’ Pops said gruffly.
‘Let me know how she is – OK?’ Liam said.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
All the way to the hospital, neither Pops nor I spoke. Pops doesn’t like to talk and drive at the same time and I wasn’t in the mood to speak anyway. It took ages to get to the hospital. Pops drives at least ten miles below the speed limit. He calls it ‘safe driving’, but judging by the dirty looks we kept getting I don’t think the drivers around us would’ve agreed.
At last we reached the hospital. After a lot of wandering about, trying to find out where Mum was, we at last reached her ward. Mum was in a side room and we’d barely been told the number before I was running towards it and flinging open the door. And I got the shock of my life. Mum’s head was swathed in bandages and she was linked up to a monitor beside her bed. And yet with all this stuff around her, Mum’s eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. That’s the part that really scared me. She looked so peaceful, as if she was above and beyond everything going on around her. I stood in the doorway, watching her. My throat started to hurt and I had to swallow quite a few times before it stopped.
‘Dominic, are you going to hover in the hall all night?’ Pops said irritably.
Slowly I walked into the room, followed by Pops. Only when I was fully in the room did I see Jack. He was sitting slumped on a chair in the corner of the room. And his eyes were puffy and red.
‘Is Mum going to be all right?’ I whispered.
Jack shrugged. ‘The doctors don’t know yet. Apparently the next few hours are going to be crucial.’
‘What exactly is the matter with her?’
‘Concussion, severe bruising and a broken rib. The rib punctured her right lung but that’s OK now.’
I blinked stupidly at the catalogue of injuries VIMS had inflicted on my mum. ‘Where is VIMS now?’
‘Back in the testing area at Desica,’ Jack said.
‘I hope that dangerous bag of bolts is going to be dismantled,’ Pops said furiously, ‘before it can harm anyone else.’
‘We’re still discussing that,’ Jack said sombrely.
‘But you can’t do that. Mum would hate it.’ The words exploded from me before I even realized what I was going to say. I, of all people, should’ve been happy about the prospect of VIMS being dismantled, but instead I was horrified. VIMS was Mum’s life work. VIMS was Mum’s
dream
.
‘I’m sorry your mum ever started working on VIMS,’ Jack said bitterly. ‘I’m sorry I ever heard of the thing. I’m sorry … I’m sorry …’
And this is going to sound really mushy, I know, but that’s when I realized just how much Jack loved my mum.
‘It’s not your fault, son,’ Pops said gruffly. ‘According to what that Resnick woman told me earlier, the VIMS machine just went out of control and Carol was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
‘Yes, but I should’ve persuaded Julie and Carol to postpone the demonstration this morning until we’d figured out what was wrong with VIMS. I did try but …’
‘But knowing my daughter, you didn’t get very far.’ Pops sighed.
‘I should’ve tried harder,’ Jack said angrily.
Pops and I looked at each other. We knew Jack was angry with himself, not with us and not with Mum. Jack turned to look at me. It was the first time he’d looked away from Mum since I’d entered the room.
‘Dominic, you can stay for a while and then I’m taking you back home.’
‘Oh, but—’
‘No, buts!’ Jack interrupted. ‘You’ve got school tomorrow.’
‘But,
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