A Little Love by Amanda Prowse

open, as if they might want to say goodbye to him as well.
    Pru was ashamed to admit that she had momentarily forgotten that William too had died, unable to see beyond the loss of her beloved Bobby. She gave a small nod.
    The doctor opened the door and pulled back the curtain to reveal William. His head rested on a slim white pillow and a pale blue sheet was wrapped tightly around his body. Like Bobby, he didn’t appear to be wearing any clothes. His eyes were closed and his face was pale, with blue and black bruising across his cheek and right eye. Clots of dark, dried blood were dotted along his jawline and around his nose. These details were hard to take in and would only be recalled later.
    All eyes were instead on the girl who stood by the side of his bed. She was weeping as she held William’s pale hand against her face, brushing her lips over the back of his fingers. She seemed to be whispering, praying with her eyes closed.
    ‘Oh! I thought he would be alone. I’m sorry. We’ll come back later.’
    The girl looked up, startled.
    Pru stared at her.
    ‘No, I’m sorry, I, I didn’t want to… to see anyone. I just…’ Her tears made further speech difficult. She struggled to contain her distress.
    ‘Are you okay?’ Pru’s tone was one of concern.
    The girl dropped William’s hand and staggered backwards as she wiped at the tears that coursed down her face. ‘I’m just saying goodbye!’ She was a cockney like them.
    ‘Who are you? Are you a relative?’ Pru asked, wanting to offer solace.
    The girl sobbed even harder and fought for breath as the next wave of grief washed over her. ‘No, no, I’m not a relative exactly. But I just wanted to say goodbye. I don’t want to cause any trouble!’
    ‘Of course not. We’ve just said goodbye to Bobby.’ Saying the words aloud made Pru shudder.
    ‘Did you know Bobby?’ Milly was curious.
    ‘No, I’ve never heard of him.’ The girl shook her head and eyed the door; this was more contact than she had bargained on.
    ‘Who are you, love?’ Pru asked.
    ‘I’m Megan!’
    ‘Well, Megan, we don’t want to disturb you, but we thought we might say goodbye to William.’
    Megan once again focused on the body lying on the bed. Her legs bent as if she might topple. ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble…’ she repeated, turning sideways to reveal the unmistakeable outline of a baby bump.
    Pru and Milly watched as the girl swayed and gripped at the curtain that enclosed the bed, trying not to give in to the faint that threatened. Then she fled from the room, howling pitifully as she went. Pru turned to see her run the length of the corridor. She hit the wall in her blind stumbling and ricocheted to the other side, as if she were in a pinball machine. Pru followed her outside, but she was too slow and didn’t see which direction she went. She flopped down on to the steps, feeling suddenly overwhelmed.
    Back inside, she found Milly talking awkwardly to William’s commanding officer in the corridor. Families Warrant Officer Major Sotherton of the Household Cavalry removed his hat and stepped forward. ‘We are of course here to help in any way we can, Miss Plum. I shall come and see you tomorrow if you would like, but if you need me before then, here is my number.’
    Pru took the piece of paper with his contact details. She placed it in her handbag for safekeeping. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
    The man replaced his hat. ‘Captain Fellsley was a fine soldier and a good man.’
    It was the wee small hours when the taxi dropped the weary duo back in Curzon Street. Pru sank down into her chair without putting on the lights, preferring the darkness and the yellowy glow that came from the streetlight directly outside their window. She had gone full circle from exhaustion to hyper and was now quite numb.
    Milly handed her a mug of tea. ‘We need to sleep.’
    Pru nodded. ‘They’ve given me something we can take; it’ll knock us out. I’ll take a couple in a