both got a fright because, as he said, the last person in the world he’d expected to see shining a light in his face at 3 a.m. was ‘Ed’s freakin’ mother’. She’d sent him a hurried message to tell him she was coming – but in the rush of leaving she hadn’t told him when.
Johnny was standing by the windows taking a drink of whisky too. He’d poured them both a hefty measure after Maddie had stopped screaming. He’d told her to shut up because the owner would be coming to investigate and he shouldn’t be in Ed’s room, but he’d crashed there after taking Ed to hospital.
She couldn’t really make him out. For all she knew he could be a serial killer. She’d watched Luther on the plane and now she wished she hadn’t. But she was almost too tired to care. A sixteen-hour flight with a dribbling teenager slumped on your shoulder was enough to find you welcoming a drink from a possible serial killer.
‘Tell me what happened? To Ed.’
‘He got a bit of a knock to his head. Concussed, bloody took the waves too far out. There was this bomb came out of nowhere—’
‘Bomb!’
‘A wave, sweetie. Anyway, Ed was doing great, but then he just flipped. But it was the board that got him. It basically hit him full on, on his head. Lucky I was there.’
‘You saved him?’
‘Kind of.’
‘I’ve been worried sick.’
‘Yeah, he’s right, though. He’s OK. They gave him a CT head scan.’ And with that he touched Maddie’s hand.
They were both sitting on the edge of the bed now. There was nowhere else. She couldn’t really see him in the dark, but she was glad of his hand on hers as he gave it a squeeze. ‘Don’t worry.’
‘Do you know how to get to the hospital?’ Maddie asked.
‘Yup. We took him to the private one, just three kilometres from here. Didn’t know if he had private medical insurance, but it was the nearest. They speak English there and I, well—’
‘No, of course, that’s fine, we did get him medical insurance. I just need to check—’ She thought of Tim. She’d better tell him about Ed. They’d pay whatever it cost.
‘I guess you want to go now?’ She saw the glint of his watch in the shadowy darkness, as he glanced at it. It was 4 a.m.
‘Will we get in?’
‘Yeah, it’s twenty-four hours. Plus you’re his mum – they’ll let you in. Bring your passport. I was with him earlier,’ he added. ‘Doctors said he’s OK, bit dizzy and can’t remember the actual accident, but that’s normal. That bit of memory should come back eventually. Got a mother of a headache – that’s normal too. He’s been told to do very little in the next few days. C’mon, I’ll take you. ‘And with that he stood up. He picked something off the floor – a pair of shorts – and pulled them over his boxers and then a T-shirt, next sliding some flip-flops onto his feet.
‘Righto, let’s go.’
As they stood in the dusty street, which was admittedly slightly quieter now, she glanced at Johnny in the green light of a nearby bar. He had dreadlocked blond hair down to his shoulders, tied back in a half ponytail with a band, the silhouette of a strong jaw outlined in inky darkness. He towered above her as he lifted his arm up to hail a cab. It stopped in front of them and he opened the door for her. As they both slipped into the back seat, Maddie was grateful for the cool, air-conditioned cocoon of the cab. Johnny said something in Indonesian to the driver.
When they pulled up to the hospital, he tilted his head to one side. ‘You OK?’
She nodded. She wasn’t really but she needed to see Ed.
*
The hospital building looked like a temple had been stuck to the front of it. It had terracotta tiles and a pointy roof, large spotlights were stuck to the walls, and there were stone statues of elephants, goddesses and various figurines surrounding the base – but the building to the rear was square and modern.
Johnny spoke to a woman at the front desk who was in a crisp white shirt, dark trousers and a pearl necklace. Her hair was pulled off her face with a red headband. She gestured with her hands and spoke to Johnny as he nodded. Maddie heard what she thought was ‘treema kassay’ at the end.