Megan ran into her friend’s bedroom. Lizzie and her fella Jamie had gone away for a week to Ireland to visit her parents as they hadn’t seen them in over a year due to the pandemic. Lizzie was a student nurse, only started at the hospital around six months ago. She riffled through the rail in her friend’s wardrobe, but failed to find what she was searching for. She stepped back, her five feet three inches not enough to see what might be tucked away on the shelves above. Megan raced across the room to retrieve the chair in the corner and dragged it into position. A glimpse of blue fabric caught her eye. She smiled. See, it wasn’t such a daft idea after all, was it?
Yes, do it. Her mother’s distant voice encouraged her.
Rummaging some more, Megan smiled when she located a long black wig. She threw the two items on the bed and continued her search. A dark blue cape should complete her ensemble. All she needed now was to find some flat black shoes and tights and her outfit would be complete.
After locating the required items, she went back into the lounge to find Matthew still bawling his eyes out. “Stop it. You’re annoying me now, you wouldn’t want to see me when I’m really angry, I promise you.”
The boy instantly fell silent, apart from the odd sniffle. He wiped away the snot and the tears on the sleeve of his sweatshirt and stared at her. “What are you going to do with those?”
She grinned. “It’s none of your business. Right, I’m going to have to leave you here while I nip out for a while.”
“I don’t want to be left alone. I’m scared.”
She raced towards him, he flinched and shielded his face behind his arms. “Don’t hit me.”
Taking a step back, Megan stared at him. “Do they hit you? Your parents, do they hit you?”
His arms lowered and he nodded. “Sometimes when I’m naughty. I try not to be, but sometimes, I do really silly things.”
Megan traced a finger down his cheek. “I’m sorry they treat you so poorly. If you were my brother, I’d care for you properly. Maybe when this is all over, you should seek help, speak out about the abuse you receive from your parents. I’m sick to death of hearing dreadful stories about parents treating their kids like punching bags. The world needs to get rid of parents who treat their kids so appallingly.”
The loving way her parents treated her and her brother surfaced in her mind. A smile developed on her face. She shook herself out of her reverie and went into the kitchen to prepare the boy a sandwich. Cheese and pickle, that’ll do, with a can of coke, that’s what boys of his age crave for.
“Here you are, eat this. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“But I don’t want to stay here, can’t I come with you?”
“No, that’s impossible. I have an errand to run, I’ll be there and back before you’ve had the chance to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious properly. Go on, give it a try.”
“Super…what?”
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” She almost broke into song. She didn’t have time for this, to pander to the boy’s whims. She needed to get to the hospital urgently. “Give it a try. If you succeed, I’ll buy you a cream doughnut while I’m out, how’s that?”
“Mum says I shouldn’t have too many sweet things, it’ll ruin my teeth.”
“And she’s right, silly me.”
He chomped on his sandwich and let out a satisfied moan. “This is yummy. You’d make a nice mummy.”
In spite of the anger bubbling inside, she smiled down at the boy. “One day, if that’s what’s in my future, I’d like to have a little boy, just like you. Now, I have to get changed. Be good.”
He took another chunk out of his sandwich, and she left the room. In Lizzie’s bedroom, she swiftly changed into the nurse’s uniform and admired the result in the full-length mirror in the wardrobe. Luckily, they were the same size. She tucked the cape around her shoulders, slipped on her shoes and nodded. “You’ll do. Let’s hope the transformation will be enough to get past any police presence at the hospital.”
She checked on Matthew one more time. He was trying to get his tongue around the long word she’d thrown at him; his attempt was poor, but he was having fun trying all the same. It would be a distraction for him in her absence.
“Wow. I didn’t know you were a nurse. You look cool,” he said through a mouthful of sandwich.
“It’s borrowed. I’m not really a nurse. I’m going to the hospital to visit someone, which is why I need you to stay here and be good. Can you do that for me?”
His brow furrowed. “I think so. I’ll do my best not to be scared. When my mum goes to the hospital to visit someone, she doesn’t get dressed-up or change the colour of her hair.”
“I like to look the part. Be good. I’ll be back shortly, I promise.”
Megan parked the car in a road near the hospital rather than pay their exorbitant fees just to have a space near the entrance. She entered the building and stopped at reception to ask what wards her brother and uncle were on.
“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before,” the redhead on reception asked.
“I work at another hospital, well, it’s more like a care home for the elderly.”
“Ah, is that Cedar Home?”
“Yes, that’s the one. I thought I’d pop in and see my relatives on the way home from a long shift. I started at three this morning.”
“I’m sorry, that’s tough. Let me check the system, see what I can find out for you.” She tapped the keyboard and then smiled at Megan. “Here we are, they’re both in ICU. Take a left, hop on the lift and go to the fourth floor. Follow the signs when you
