Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

I blinked. ‘Well … I think some of these can be saved. I brought some wood
glue with me, if you’re happy for me to have a go at them. Or if you want to
replace them I can pop into town during my lunch break and see if I can find
some more. Or we could both go, if you fancied a trip out … ’
‘Who told you to start fixing them?’
His stare was unflinching.
Uh-oh, I thought. ‘I … I was just trying to help.’
‘You wanted to fix what I did yesterday.’
‘I –’
‘Do you know what, Louisa? It would be nice – just for once – if someone
paid attention to what I wanted. Me smashing those photographs was not an
accident. It was not an attempt at radical interior design. It was because I
actually don’t want to look at them.’
I got to my feet. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think that –’
‘You thought you knew best. Everyone thinks they know what I need. Let’s
put the bloody photos back together. Give the poor invalid something to look at. I
don’t want to have those bloody pictures staring at me every time I’m stuck in
my bed until someone comes and bloody well gets me out again. Okay? Do you
think you can get your head around that?’
I swallowed. ‘I wasn’t going to fix the one of Alicia – I’m not that stupid … I
just thought that in a while you might feel –’
‘Oh Christ … ’ He turned away from me, his voice scathing. ‘Spare me the
psychological therapy. Just go and read your bloody gossip magazines or
whatever it is you do when you’re not making tea.’
My cheeks were aflame. I watched him manoeuvre in the narrow hallway, and
my voice emerged even before I knew what I was doing.
‘You don’t have to behave like an arse.’
The words rang out in the still air.
The wheelchair stopped. There was a long pause, and then he reversed and
turned slowly, so that he was facing me, his hand on the little joystick.
‘What?’
I faced him, my heart thumping. ‘Your friends got the shitty treatment. Fine.
They probably deserved it. But I’m just here day after day trying to do the best