Page 39 of The Last Kiss

The only satirical newspaper on Fleet Street.

Inside is a beautiful hardbound copy of Romeo and Juliet. No note.

It makes me grin, heat flooding over me.

Carefully putting it on the side away from the kettle, I go and grab my diary and add to my list of yearly goals.

Read Romeo and Juliet instead of pretending I have.

10

B Negative

“Dr Simmonds won’t be long,” the secretary behind the wall length counter says. “The nurse will be with you in a moment to do your checks.”

Liv squeezes my hand tight, and I clutch it back while I try to look around the waiting room at the other patients. Are we all waiting for hearts? All of us cooling our heels in a waiting game.

And it is a waiting game.

So far, for me, nothing has changed. Every morning I wake up feeling roughly the same, the more convinced I’ve become that they’ve made a mistake.

It happens.

“How you feeling?” Liv whispers.

“Fine.” I look at an older man, probably mid-fifties. His wife is holding his hand. Every so often he pats it absentmindedly. I wonder if he’s been waiting long, or if this is his first time here too. His wife rests her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around him like she’s worried he might disappear.

“Julianna?” I turn at the call of my name to where a nurse with peroxide hair and a wide smile is holding my file.

“Hi.”

“Want me to come with you?” Liv asks.

“So you can see how much I weigh? Not a chance.” I grin down at her, hiding the pound of my heart behind my smile.

“I already know how much you weigh.”

I pull a face and turn for the nurse. “Hi.” My voice wobbles, uneven.

“Don’t worry, this is just standard stuff.”

I nod, not clear on what standard stuff is. I follow behind her into a room where she closes the door. “Simple checks, Julianna.”

“Jules, please. It’s a mouthful otherwise.”

She smiles and motions for me to sit, logging into her computer. Why do they have paper files and computer files? That seems a waste of time and resources to me. Glancing quickly at the screen, she opens the file and then hammers her pen open with a resounding click.

“Bloods first. I can get them sent off and the results should be back before you leave.”

“What are the tests for?”

“Just checking inflammation levels, iron, general things like white blood cells etc.”

I nod. “I’m B negative.” I tell her, mainly just to show that I do know something, anything.

Her face flickers but she keeps on the smile. “That’s always good to know. You’d be amazed the people who don’t know their blood type.”

“I didn’t, I have to admit.”