Leap of Faith Read Free Page A

she’d lost track of her pain whistle – hadn’t sucked on it for ages. She looked around and down. Suddenly the thought of the pain returning was quite terrifying.
    She found the whistle clutched in her hand, lying on her chest. Thank God she still had her little friend. But how long would it help her? She took a suck and firmly told herself to pull it together. There was no blood or protruding bones that she could see; she was probably only bruised and suffering from shock. All of this was most likely just precautionary and part of event procedures to comply with their insurance cover.
    â€˜Hi, I’m Anna,’ said the nurse who had materialised beside the bed, dragging the curtain closed behind her with a long whoosh and metallic zing.
    Jessica tried to say hi, but her chin was too wobbly and her voice came out as a croak. She thought she probably should be embarrassed to be blubbering like this, but then decided the nurse would have seen a hell of a lot worse in her time.
    â€˜Are you in pain?’
    â€˜Just feeling sorry for myself,’ Jessica finally managed with a grimace of a smile.
    â€˜You’re allowed. I hear you’ve had half a tonne of horse on top of you, you poor thing,’ she said. ‘You’re damned lucky to still be here, let alone conscious. Now, first up, I’m going to get these wet clothes off and get you warm. If you’re not already, you’ll be cold soon. And I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut your boots off. And they look so expensive. I need some heavy-duty scissors, back in a sec.’
    Jessica nodded, feeling a new wave of tears threatening.
    â€˜The ambulance guys said your horse got up okay. Thank goodness for that,’ the nurse continued when she reappeared with a large pair of what looked like dressmaker’s shears. Jessica nodded. Tears poured down her cheeks again. She didn’t know what had set her off this time; she’d known her boots would have to be sacrificed and had thought she’d already come to terms with it. She looked down at them, wondering what damage they were hiding. Now she was thinking about it, her boot felt really tight, like, excruciatingly tight. The sooner it was off, the better. She hoped it wouldn’t hurt.
    â€˜Such lovely boots – what a waste. I feel terrible doing this. Hopefully they’re covered by your insurance,’ the nurse said as she began to cut.
    Jessica mumbled and tried to make a mental note to remember to look into their contents insurance, but she was suddenly feeling very queasy. She felt the bile rise.
    â€˜I think I’m going to be …’ Too late. She only just managed to turn her head to stop the vomit from going down her front. It went onto the floor instead. Her throat burned from the acid and the absence of anything else in her stomach.
    â€˜Oh God, I’m so sorry,’ she groaned.
    â€˜It’s okay. Someone will clean it up later. It’s my fault; I should have made sure you had a bowl first up. You might have concussion. Do you think you lost consciousness?’
    â€˜I don’t think so, but it is all a bit of a blur.’
    â€˜You might need a CT scan. We’ll see what the doctor says when one turns up. Not sure when that will be.’
    The nurse went back to work on her boot. Jessica could feel the movement of every snip. It didn’t really hurt, but did feel uncomfortable. She hoped the nurse wasn’t doing any more damage to her leg. She looked away; she didn’t want to see anything gory when the boot came off.
    As she studied the geometric pattern on the curtain, Jessica felt time starting to do weird things again. One moment she felt like she’d been in the hospital for hours, but the next it was as if only seconds ago she and Prince had been making their way around the course. And she’d been doing so well. A touch slow, but clear. Damn it!
    Jessica heard the words, ‘Just over