Being in a complete state of panic, the return journey on the private jet wasn’t quite so magical. Neither was the trek from the airport back to Kent.
I hate hospitals, I always have. They make me think of illness and death, and after my last little visit a matter of days ago, I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to set foot in one for a while. And yet here we are.
‘Mum,’ I say, hurrying towards her along the corridor.
‘Mia,’ she says, grabbing me and hugging me close. I can count on one hand the number of times my mum has hugged me as an adult. My God, it feels good. ‘Your granddad is this way.’
I follow my mum along the corridor, towards the ward where my granddad is.
‘Any news about Leo?’ I ask, petrified something is really, seriously wrong with him.
‘Don’t worry,’ my mum assures me. ‘I’ve spoken to Maria. She says he’s broken a couple of bones. He needed surgery to put them right, but he should make a full recovery. She’s going to let me know when you can go and see him.’
I exhale, finally, after what feels like two hours of holding my breath.
‘What the hell happened?’ I ask.
‘I’ll let your granddad tell you himself,’ my mum says, nodding towards his bed.
‘What the hell have you been up to, hey?’ I ask, trying to sound upbeat, but seeing my little old granddad here in a hospital, with his arm in a sling and forehead stitched and bloody, breaks my heart.
‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ he insists. ‘Just a knock on the head and a dislocated shoulder.’
‘What happened?’ I ask, stroking his hand lightly.
‘I couldn’t sleep. I was in a lot of pain with my knees, so I went to sleep downstairs, in my chair,’ he explains. ‘Anyway, I woke up a few hours later and the bloody room was full of water, with more pouring in by the minute. Your bloody gran was fast asleep upstairs. She didn’t want to help me,’ he laughs. ‘So I called the fire brigade and then, er… well, I don’t know. I woke up here.’
‘Turns out your granddad took a tumble and fell under the water, couldn’t get back up.’
‘Oh my God,’ I gasp. ‘Granddad, you could’ve died.’
‘I could’ve,’ he agrees. ‘Until a brave fireman came in and saved me. Picked me up, got me out to the paramedics, apparently. I’ve no recollection of this, although I hear he broke his leg in the process.’
‘Leo,’ I say.
‘They say he insisted he went in,’ my mum tells me. ‘He’s a good man.’
‘I know he is,’ I reply. ‘So, what caused this?’
‘A bloody burst water main,’ my granddad says. ‘Ran down the hill and down our driveway, filled up the house in no time.’
‘Shit.’
‘Language,’ my gran says, waking up in the chair next to my granddad’s bed.
‘Sorry, Gran,’ I smile.
After my mum receives a message from Maria saying Leo is out of surgery, and that she’s going home to get changed while we wait for him to wake up, my mum and I hurry to his bedside. We arrive in the room where Leo is recovering. A nurse is fussing around him, doing various tests.
‘Are you his fiancée?’ she asks. I nod.
‘His mum told me to expect you. She’s gone home to get some things for him but you’re welcome to wait here until he comes round.’
‘Thanks,’ I say, curling up in the big armchair in the corner of the room.
‘Do you want me to stay with you?’ my mum asks.
‘I’ll be fine,’ I tell her. ‘Thank you for everything.’
‘Don’t mention it,’ she replies. ‘You’re still my little girl.’
I feel a tear escape my eye, which I quickly wipe away.
I look over at Leo, in his hospital bed, looking so helpless and yet so peacefully asleep.
I would spend hours, sometimes even full nights, worrying about him doing his job, and in a way I was right to, because he has had an accident. But if there weren’t people like Leo doing this job, there wouldn’t have been anyone to save my granddad’s life last night. Leo isn’t just my hero, he’s a real hero. On the plane, on the way over here, when I had no idea what had happened to him, I was so scared I’d never get to tell him how I felt, that he’d die thinking I didn’t want to marry him. Now all I want him to do is wake up so I can tell him as soon as possible.
You know that feeling when you wake up and you know you’ve been asleep, with your head at a funny angle and your mouth wide open? Ouch.
I straighten my neck and wipe my chin with the back of my hand as I get my bearings, remembering where I am.
I look over at Leo’s bed. He’s awake and sitting up. My God, it’s so good to see him.
I rush over to him, hugging him so tightly it makes my chest hurt.
I release him and look into his eyes, and for a moment neither of us says a word.
‘You just couldn’t handle not being the centre of attention, could you?’ I joke. ‘I have an accident, you just have to go and have an even more impressive one.’
‘Oh no, you see right through me,’ he says sarcastically.
I hold his hand tightly.
‘Thank you for saving my granddad,’ I tell him.
‘Just doing my job,’ he says. ‘Anyway, he’s practically my granddad too. You never need to thank me for looking out for our family.’
I smile. Then I cry.
‘Leo, I shouldn’t have gone to Paris, I’m so sorry.’
‘I’m sorry for so much more than that,’ he tells me. ‘I was feeling insecure and I didn’t know how to tell you.’
‘Have you seen yourself?’ I ask him. ‘You have nothing to be insecure about. Your abs have abs.’
Leo laughs.
‘Yeah, but I don’t have endless money. I can’t give you the lifestyle you had before. Not like Dylan could… I guess that’s why I got so jealous, seeing you and him getting on so well. He could give you your old life back.’
‘Leo, I don’t want my old life back,’ I assure him. ‘Skinner offered me my old job back and I said no. Sure, I thought about it, fantasised about it even, but I told him I don’t want to go back to LA and there’s no negotiating or expensive gift basket that can change that. I knew that, if I told you, you’d tell me I should go.’
‘I just want you to be happy,’ he tells me. ‘And since you took this new job, you’ve been happy again. Happier than you were at home with me.’
‘Yes, it’s been nice going out to work, and yes, I’ve enjoyed the perks of hanging out with Dylan, but I realised something while I was away. You’re absolutely right. I have been putting off planning this wedding, and you were sort of right about me not wanting to get married… I love you so much and I want to be married to you, but I don’t want a big white wedding. I’m sorry. It’s just not me and the thought of having to go through with it has been terrifying me. And then, well, I got myself into a little bit of a state because my girl stuff is a bit messed up and I googled eggs and I don’t have that many left and—’
‘What have I told you about googling things?’ he says.
‘That it’s smart?’ I reply, knowing full well that isn’t the answer. ‘I know, I know, and I know I probably have nothing to worry about but… It all sounds kind of stupid now but I guess I worried that if I couldn’t give you a wedding and I couldn’t give you kids… I should’ve just been honest with you.’
‘Mia, listen to me, OK?’ I nod. ‘I don’t care about any of that stuff – not one bit of it. All I care about is you, and whatever does or doesn’t come with that package is fine by me. You should’ve just said you didn’t want a big wedding. Do you think I care about that stuff?’
‘Everyone was just pushing me towards it,’ I tell him. ‘And then when Belle came over and told me no one in the family would be a bridesmaid for me I realised I didn’t have anyone to ask. And then all the other stuff that followed, it just wasn’t me.’
‘You should’ve asked Rory and Iwan,’ he laughs.
‘I should’ve just spoken to you,’ I reply.
‘So, how about we just elope then?’ he suggests. ‘Forget the wedding stuff, forget the family. Let’s just do things how you want to do them.’
‘What, like, on a beach in Hawaii, just the two of us?’
‘That could be arranged,’ he replies with a smile.
‘We should probably wait until your bone has healed.’
‘Bones,’ he corrects me. ‘My fibula and my talus.’
‘All right, all right, don’t milk it,’ I laugh. ‘Here’s the thing, though. I don’t think our family would be very impressed with us if we got married without them.’
‘Probably not,’ he replies. ‘But who cares?’
‘I do,’ I tell him. ‘Let’s come up with something together, that makes everyone happy.’
‘I’d love that,’ he tells me. ‘And I love you.’
‘I love you too,’ I reply. ‘Now, when can we get you out of here?’