Look Back at Me (Fleckney Fields Series, Book 1)

Light and Full of Berries

2/2 

Aren't you the best readers in the universe? <3

Love,

K. xx

***

'Of course, if you aren't busy' was obviously Rhys' way to give her an excuse to refuse. And of course, it was Nana who'd insisted he called Viola and invited her for a cuppa. No matter how angry Viola was with him - are you angry with him, Viola? - she knew he would never put her in such an awkward position. What was it he'd said the previous night? 'What does it matter now?' He seemed to think it was over between them - is it, Viola? - but he was right in making it look like nothing was wrong in front of Nana. Nothing should upset the woman right now. After giving Nana's last night's remarks a thought, Viola had finally seen it as it was: Mable Holyoake had been setting it up from the start. She'd arranged Viola's return to Fleckney; she'd found her a job and accommodations; she'd had Rhys and Viola over for dinner together; she'd teased and hinted on Fenton's attention towards Viola, well-aware how possessive Rhys could be. Viola felt a pang of resentment towards such blatant match-making - but then she remembered Nana's ashen face and how small she'd looked on the hospital gurney.

"I'll be happy to stop by," Viola said.

"Oh? I mean, yeah, that's great." Rhys sounded predictably surprised, but he recovered quickly. "I'll text you the details, alright?"

"Sure," Viola said. "Say 'hello' to Nana."

"I will. And, Vi?" His voice dropped, deep and emotional. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Rhys."

She hung up and looked down at the screen. It went dark, and she stared at her reflection. She looked tired and unwell, with dark circles under her eyes, and the lowered corners of her mouth. She pushed her phone into her handbag, said goodbye to Yola and her new friends, and started walking away from the Old Station. It was starting to snow again, and her headache was getting worse.

***

She bought herself lunch in the Oak and Shield, which was rather empty, probably due to most of the residents of Fleckney still recovering from the festivities. Still, there was too much public attention towards her - and too many questions regarding the health and well-being of both Rhys and Mable. Viola took her lunch to go and slowly headed back to the surgery. When she got back, her food was already cold, and Viola put the container in the fridge and went to her bedroom. She lay down on the bed, over the covers, and closed her eyes. Her feet felt cold, and she thought that perhaps she should consider investing in a good afghan. A white fluffy afghan, just like the one on Rhys' sofa. The first tears spilled and unpleasantly tickled the bridge of her nose, and she wiped them away. She didn't notice how she drifted to sleep.

When she woke up, she saw a text from Rhys. They were keeping Nana in the hospital for one more night, but he reassured Viola there were no serious concerns.

She sat up and cringed from the sharp pain behind her temples. That was a hunger induced migraine, she was intimately familiar with those. She now had a choice to either go to the kitchen and warm up her lunch. There was a fifty per cent chance she'd be able to keep herself from vomiting it out afterwards. Alternatively, she could go back to sleep, but it could mean nasty flu-like symptoms tomorrow. Besides, the tightness in her chest and her shallow breathing were alarming. She'd put her body through an enormous stress in the past seventy two hours. She needed to woman up and take care of herself. Viola pulled her knees up and buried her forehead into them. Her phone beeped again, and she picked it up and looked at the text, squinting from the light coming from the screen.