Harry was by my side for two hours until the nurses told us only immediate family could stay. I said I was Chris’s sister so he wouldn’t be alone, and hugged Harry goodbye. It was after midnight when I made my way home in a cab. A message from Harry arrived on my phone.
Is everything okay? How’s your friend?
I called him. ‘He’ll be okay. His leg’s broken. Shattered really. He lost a lot of blood and he has concussion. But he’s been released from the ICU.’
‘Tough night?’
My lip trembled. I couldn’t speak. ‘It’s –’
‘Hey, Vy, don’t cry. What can I do? Where are you? I’ll come get you, take you out for a late night hot chocolate or something.’
‘No, Harry, it’s okay. You don’t have to do that.’
‘How about I come by tomorrow and take you to the hospital? Afterwards we’ll go for lunch.’
I nodded, sniffling.
‘I’m taking that as a yes,’ he said.
‘It was an accident,’ I told Harry over yum cha the next day. ‘Chris doesn’t want to press charges, and if he did, what would they be? Michael didn’t mean to push him onto the road. They both tumbled into the path of the traffic. Either one of them could have been hit. Michael started the fight, but Chris fought back hard. Michael has a blooming great back eye to show for it. He looks like he’s been slugged with a plum pudding. Not that a black eye compares to nearly …’ I couldn’t bear to say it. I ran my hands through my hair. I’d hardly slept.
‘What about you?’ Harry reached out and touched my hand. ‘Are you okay?’
My jaw clenched; a warning sign I was about to cry. ‘I feel so helpless.’
‘Vy, you saved him. That’s what the doctors said. That accident opened his femoral artery. He could have lost his leg. He could have lost his life, if it wasn’t for you.’
‘I’m still worried he’ll get an infection.’
Harry laughed softly. ‘You’re quite remarkable.’
‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘No, this is all my fault.’
‘How is it your fault?’
‘I’ve been acting so crazily, running around the world, chasing a boy. Trying to control things I can’t control.’ I rubbed my eyes.
‘Everybody goes a bit mad when they’re dealing with a break-up.’
I peeked at him from behind my hand. ‘Really?’
‘’Course. How do you think I got this tattoo?’
‘I just wish I didn’t feel so helpless.’
‘You, Violet Mason, are not helpless.’
A sob escaped my lips. ‘What am I going to do now?’
Harry smiled. ‘Whatever your heart desires.’
A week later Harry had returned to Sydney and Michael to Melbourne. I visited Chris hospital on my way to my own flight. His hospital room was full of balloons and flowers, including two bouquets that lay either side of him on his bed.
‘Roses and tulips. I couldn’t decide,’ he said, holding them out.
I laughed. ‘Aren’t I supposed to bring you flowers?’
‘After saving my life? I don’t think so. When I told the nurses you were coming they insisted on helping me get them from the gift shop.’
‘Are they both for me?’
‘At first I thought, roses are so cliché. Vy needs something different. But then, roses are for love. I was just about to buy them when I thought, Vy’s the type of girl who makes up her own mind. Better give her a choice.’
‘Chris that’s really kind.’
It was everything I had ever wanted to hear. It felt wonderful. But not for the same reasons it would have a month ago. He was right. I had become someone who chooses her own path.
Behind me my backpack stood waiting at the door, with all of my possessions inside. Silvie had already laid claim to my purple desk lamp and I’d given Kym the luxurious bed linen.
‘If you’re ever in Melbourne, give me a call,’ I’d said to both of them, over a teary good bye the night before.
‘You’re still going then?’ Chris said, looking at my pack.
I nodded. ‘But I have time for an old friend.’ I sat on the bed beside him. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘They said I should be out of here in a week. There’ll be a lot of rehab … Are you sure you want to go back to boring old Melbourne?’
I nodded. ‘Not so boring though. There are new things there waiting for me.’
‘Like what?’
‘Well, I’m thinking … I’m thinking maybe med school.’
Chris’s eyebrows flew up. ‘That would be perfect for you.’
‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘Since coming on this trip I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life. I’m hoping I can put my fascination with infections and diseases to use.’
‘Vy, that’s great,’ Chris said. ‘It’s really, really great, but … well, everything you have in Hong Kong, you’re just going to … leave?’
I sighed. ‘I have to stop relying on other people to make me happy. I have to make my own happiness.’
He nodded. ‘I have to tell you something.’ He stared at his hands, suddenly shy. ‘I think we could have been really great together.’
I gazed down at him at him. He was the same boy I’d adored most my life; that blond hair that looked like the sun coming up over the horizon. But I didn’t want an idol anymore.
‘Maybe,’ I said, touching his arm. ‘But I need to figure out what I want.’
‘Yeah,’ he nodded slowly. ‘I guess I do too.’
‘Are you going to go back to accounting?’
‘Nah.’ He shook his head. ‘Once the leg’s better I’m going to start back at the Shangri-La. Maybe I’ll enrol in hospitality management or something. Reckon I’d be good at that.’
‘I do too,’ I smiled.
I kissed him on the cheek, and he put his arms around my neck.
‘Good-bye, Chris Campbell,’ I said.
‘Bye, Violet Mason.’
I waved as I lifted my pack and walked out of his room. Downstairs there was a taxi waiting to take me to the airport. It was time to go home.