Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

A great lump had risen, unbidden, to my throat, and I tried to swallow it. ‘I
don’t know. You’ll do anything for attention, Will Traynor. I bet this was all just
a –’
He closed his eyes, cutting me off in mid-sentence. When he opened them
again, they held a hint of an apology. ‘Sorry, Clark. I don’t think I can do witty
today.’
We sat. And I talked, letting my voice rattle away in the little pale-green room,
telling him about getting my things back from Patrick’s – how much easier it had
been getting my CDs out of his collection, given his insistence on a proper
cataloguing system.
‘You okay?’ he said, when I had finished. His eyes were sympathetic, like he
expected it to hurt more than it actually did.
‘Yeah. Sure.’ I shrugged. ‘It’s really not so bad. I’ve got other things to think
about anyway.’
Will was silent. ‘The thing is,’ he said, eventually, ‘I’m not sure I’m going to
be bungee jumping any time soon.’
I knew it. I had half expected this ever since I had first received Nathan’s text.
But hearing the words fall from his mouth felt like a blow.
‘Don’t worry,’ I said, trying to keep my voice even. ‘It’s fine. We’ll go some
other time.’
‘I’m sorry. I know you were really looking forward to it.’
I placed a hand on his forehead, and smoothed his hair back. ‘Shh. Really. It’s
not important. Just get well.’
He closed his eyes with a faint wince. I knew what they said – those lines
around his eyes, that resigned expression. They said there wasn’t necessarily
going to be another time. They said he thought he would never be well again.
I stopped off at Granta House on the way back from the hospital. Will’s father let
me in, looking almost as tired as Mrs Traynor. He was carrying a battered wax
jacket, as if he were just on his way out. I told him Mrs Traynor was with Will
again, and that the antibiotics were considered to be working well, but that she
had asked me to let him know that she would be spending the night at the
hospital again. Why she couldn’t tell him herself, I don’t know. Perhaps she just
had too much to think about.