Page 38 of A Castle in the Sky: Fern & Connor
She looked up quickly. "Yeah, poppet?"
"Home?" Coral's eyes were wide, hopeful.
"Yes," Fern said, forcing a smile. "Home today. As soon as Da gets here."
The nurse popped her head round the curtain then. "All right, my love," she said to Coral. "We're all set. Just waiting for Daddy to sweep you away, yeah?"
"Late," Coral said seriously.
The nurse smiled, sympathetic, and gave Fern a little shrug. "It is Friday," she said. "Traffic'll be a nightmare. Give him another half an hour, and if he's not here, you shout for a wheelchair and I'll help you downstairs myself, all right?"
"Thank you," Fern said.
When she'd left, Fern checked the time again. 11:19.
She stared at Connor's last message, called him once only to get an automated reply. Huffing out a breath, she scrolled to Papa.
He picked up on the second ring. "Please tell me this is not another disaster," he said by way of greeting. They had a delivery coming, and he had agreed to wait at home since Connor promised to bring them home.
"Coral's ready, we're waiting. Connor's not here yet." She sighed.
A tiny pause. "Right."
"I thought he'd finish at the workshop early." The defensiveness in her tone annoyed her; she hadn't meant to sound like she was making excuses for him. "He said—"
"Want me to come and get you?" Harlan cut in, brisk. "I can be there in ten."
"Would you? I don't want to call a taxi if Connor's just stuck behind some lorry."
"On my way," he said.
"Love you, Dad."
She could hear movement in the background, him telling someone he was stepping out, keys jangling. "If Connor turns up in the meantime, tell him to meet us outside and try not to murder him."
She managed a weak laugh. "No promises."
They hung up, and she packed the last of Coral's things: tablet and charger, plushies, the nearly-finished police-themed Lego set her teacher had brought, the bum book. Once everything was in a tote bag, she double-checked that she had the medication.
By the time Harlan texted that he was outside, Coral was already sitting on the edge of the bed in her leggings and unicorn jumper, hospital gown folded and abandoned.
"Right," Fern said to Coral, gathering the handles of her bags until the plastic cut into her palms. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."
Coral gave the bed a solemn little pat. "Bye, hos-pital," she said.
Fern's lip wobbled. It felt like Coral had grown up overnight. "Let's go find Grampa."
Chapter 20
They'd just stepped out of the ward doors when the stairwell door at the far end banged open.
Connor took the steps two at a time, breath coming hard, hair damp at the temples as if he'd run from the car park. His T-shirt clung to his chest, workshop hoodie half-zipped, grease still faintly smudged along one forearm. There were deep lines carved between his brows and around his mouth that she didn't remember seeing two weeks ago.
"Fern," he called, too loud for the quiet corridor. "Fern, I'm sorry, there was—"
He broke off when he saw Coral, his expression cracking wide open. "Hey, sprite," he said, voice going soft and hoarse all at once.
"Daaa!" Coral's whole face lit up as she reached out with her good arm. Fern instinctively moved aside so he could carefully scoop her up, her heart giving a traitorous twist at the trust between them.
