Hens Reunited by Lucy Diamond

with goosebumps.
    Mrs Knight turned and looked up at Georgia. ‘See if you can find some chairs for you and your dad,’ she said. ‘There’s never enough in here.’
    Georgia didn’t need telling twice. She was more than happy to turn on her heel and walk away from her grandmother’s bed with something practical to do. She didn’t want her parents to see the shock-horror on her face, the jolt of fear that had kicked through her. Nan was going to die, wasn’t she? How would she ever recover from this? Oh God. Georgia half wished she hadn’t come at all . . .
    No. That was cowardly. That was a cop-out. But she couldn’t bear the way the feelings of guilt were churning through her body. She hadn’t visited, hadn’t been there. And while she’d been detached from her family, in her own London world, her nan had been deteriorating, shrivelling, withering. Her nan had become old , without Georgia stopping to notice.
    She sighed, feeling bereft. What had seemed like a great escape not so very long ago already seemed like carelessness now. Why had she ever . . . ?
    ‘Hey! Watch it!’
    Her head down, lost in thoughts, Georgia had just walked straight into someone. All she could see was the white coat before her eyes for a second before she straightened up and blinked. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled, raising her gaze to the cross-looking man she’d barged into.
    He had dark eyebrows, olive skin, brown eyes, a dimple in one cheek. He gave her a curt nod and went on his way.
    Mardy arse, she thought, pulling a face behind his back. Why did people have to be so bad-tempered, anyway?
    Right. Chairs. There were two at the far end of the ward, grey plastic chairs like the sort she’d sat on at school. She stacked them up and carried them back towards her nan’s bed. Best foot forward. She’d just get through this ghastly day and go home. Faster than a speeding bullet.
    Nan was still asleep when Georgia returned to the bedside. Her mum was talking softly to her, holding her hand, but the lined old face on the pillow hadn’t moved.
    Georgia set a chair down for her dad, then sat on the other. What now? she wondered. Did they sit there until her nan woke up? Or was the whole exercise one of reassurance that her nan wasn’t going to die while they weren’t looking?
    Her gaze fell on her handbag and, by reflex, she couldn’t help wondering how many emails she had banked up for her by now. There was no harm in looking, was there, while her nan dozed? Might as well keep busy.
    She reached her hand in and pulled out her phone. Forty-seven new emails already – well, the news didn’t stop just because it was the weekend. In fact, with all the parties and premieres taking place, the gossip quota always shot up on a Saturday. One email with a red exclamation mark by it caught her eye. It was from Isabella, her boss. KEIRA’S NEW MAN! the subject read.
    Ooh, photos too – excellent. Georgia couldn’t resist having a quick squiz to check out the new love-interest . . . Phwoooarr, not bad actually. Out of ten, she’d give him one any day.
    ‘Hi, I’m just coming to do Mrs Hatherley’s obs here . . . Oh. Excuse me. I said, excuse me!’
    A doctor or a nurse – someone in a white coat – had come over to Nan. Was he talking to her?
    ‘Just a sec,’ Georgia muttered, scrolling down to get a good look at all the totty pictures.
    ‘No – now , please. You have to turn that off. Can’t you read? There are signs everywhere!’
    She looked up, irritated by the man’s hectoring tone. Oh God, it was that grumpy bloke she’d bumped into a few minutes ago. Might have guessed. ‘All right, all right,’ she muttered, rolling her eyes. ‘It’s just something for work—’
    ‘I don’t care,’ he snapped. ‘The signal interferes with the hospital equipment. You need to turn it off now.’
    Bloody hell! What was his problem? She narrowed her eyes at him in her best withering glare as she switched her phone off. Not exactly what