Alive

Close As Strangers

Ben's POV

I hang up the phone and run as fast as I can to Ian's. I know that it's the middle of the night but right now I couldn't care less who I wake up. I need to talk to my brother. None of this makes sense.

I bang on the door repeatedly until someone finally opens it.

"You don't have to call Phil dad. Ben's here" Lucy says, not even bothering to look at me.

"Ben thank god" Ian says walking towards me. "Did you get the same call?"

I nod, knowing exactly what call he's talking about.

"It must be some kind of joke. Jasmine and mum are both dead. They must have the wrong number"

Ian looks at me as if there's something I've missed.

"It's not just Jasmine that's at the hospital" He informs me. "Mums there too"

Jasmine's POV

As soon as I open my eyes, I become almost blinded by the bright lights above my head. I look around and I realise that i'm not at home. I'm in hospital.

"You can come in now" I hear a nurses voice say and I look up to see my mum walking in the door.

She looks worried and extremely tired.

"Have you been here all night?" I ask her and she nods.

"Do you know where we are?" She asks.

"Hospital" I answer.

"You gave me a right scare. Don't ever do that again" she says making me laugh.

"I can't help my epilepsy mum. What hospital are we in?" I ask

"The Royal London" she informs me.

"Why are we in London?" I ask her. Last thing I knew we were still in South Africa.

"You've been out cold for over a week. Hit your head when you fell and put yourself in a pretty bad coma. The doctors didn't know wether you were going to survive. I asked for you to be moved here so that you could be with family" she explains.

"What family?" I ask. The only family I have in London are my brothers Ben and Ian and my dad Phil. I haven't seen either of them since I was forced to go into hiding.

"I phoned Ben and Ian" she says looking guiltily down at the floor.

"You did what?" I ask shocked. We've spent over a decade in hiding and now it's all going to have been for nothing. Gavin is going to kill us.

"You and Ben were so close when you were younger. I didn't want you to die without him getting to say goodbye"

"We're about as close as strangers nowadays. Him and Ian already think i'm dead and what about dad have you phoned him as well"

My mum seems lost for words and decides to leave the room. I use the quietness to my advantage and attempt to fall asleep. The only thing getting in the way of me and the dream world is the sound of a man yelling just outside my room.

I sit up and try to listen to what they're saying.

"But you don't understand, you must have the wrong person." The man has a strong cockney accent.

The argument between him and the nurse continues on but one thing he says catches my attention.

"Jasmine Mitchell is dead." He repeats this a few times and I can hear his voice cracking as if he is crying.

The door flies open and although he's a lot older than I remember him, I recognise him immediately. Ben.

"Minnie?" He asks. I nod.

He wipes the tears from his cheeks and walks over to my bedside.

I know that he's too shocked to listen to me so rather than explain things I just decide to prove my identity. I turn my arm to reveal my birthmark. I then take his hand in mine and push up his sleeve to reveal an identical one.

He stares at both our arms and turns as white as a sheet.

"Ben?" I ask worriedly. He looks as though he's about to throw up.

He pulls his hand away from mine and runs out of the room.