Rufus wanted nothing more than to pace the floor, but being bed bound and advised against any strenuous activity, he could do nothing. Instead he just mimicked the movement, which was part of his physiotherapy anyway, and wished he could have a smoke.

'Suppose this could be a good opportunity to give up, though,’ he thought, resigning himself to not smoking, ‘meh, I still wanna smoke. Stressed out here!’

“Hey Roof, I’m back!” Cynthia bounced into the ward.

“Oh good, I missed you,” Rufus gently kissed Cynthia on the cheek, “how was work?”

“Meh. You know my boss, total bitch. How was rehab?”

“Jinkies, you make me sound like a junkie!”

“Pfft, you know what I mean,” Cynthia kissed Rufus back.

“Yeah, well, look what I can do,” Rufus grinned and marched in the bed.

“Wow, you couldn’t do that last week,” Cynthia grinned back.

“Bring my tea yet?”

‘lol the man loves his tea’ Cynthia thought, actually saying lol in her head.

“Yes, I did, want a cup?”

“Please?” Rufus begged in a cute manner.

Cynthia went away giggling and made Rufus his tea. The nurse came to check on Rufus to see if he was okay.

“So, you asked her to move in yet? And how’s Amy?”

“Wha’?” Rufus’ face drained.

‘How’d you know about Amy?’ He wondered.

“I’ve not asked yet... I’m crapping it. How’d you know about Amy?” He asked flabbergasted.

“I can see her. Anyway, you need to ask her. You’re making good progress and you’ll be discharged in a week or so. Well, better get back to it,” she patted Rufus on the shoulder and went back to her other duties.

‘Huh, clairvoyant curse... Called Claire!’ He giggled to himself.

“Haven’t seen you giggling for a while. Looks like the gigglemeister is back,” Gloria laughed, “where’s Cynthia?”

“Making tea, didn’t you see her?”

“No, hang on, I’ll go find her.”

Gloria went to the door and disappeared. Rufus wasn’t going to let her have all the fun, so he grabbed his crutches and followed her. His progress was slow, but he made it to the door.

‘Now to open the blasted thing!’ He thought, ‘I’ll make it, not gonna let a door beat me.’

He raised his crutch and poked it at the door, swinging it open.

“Do you want a hand with that?” The nurse asked.

“Nah, I’ve got it, thanks Claire,” Rufus smiled.

Gloria and Cynthia watched as Rufus poked at the door again and hobbled through it, making his way to the the kitchen.

“At this moment, I’m gonna have to admit defeat and ask one of you to help me sit,” Rufus groaned.

Cynthia went to one side, Gloria to the other and they helped him into the conveniently located wheelchair. Another person on crutches came along and furrowed their brow at Rufus.

“I’m sorry, is this your chair?” He apologised and motioned to get out.

“It’s fine, I’ll sit here. To be honest, I just wanted to scoot around in it!” The man laughed took a seat and sighed, “so what catastrophe has befallen you?” The man asked.

“Broken pelvis and cracked ribs from a car accident,” Rufus smiled.

“Wow, how long you been here?”

“Couplea weeks, doctors say I’m making good progress,” Rufus smiled smugly.

“I’ll say! Either you’re really strong, or it wasn’t too severe,” the man smiled.

“Oh, he’s strong,” Cynthia told the man.

Rufus took a sip of his tea and smiled, “perfect,” he said, “I love you, Cynthia.”

“Young love, eh?” The man laughed, “well, I’d best be getting away, see you around?”

“Sure. I’m Rufus, by the way,” Rufus extended his hand to shake the other man’s.

“Michael,” the other man shook Rufus’s hand, “as you might have guessed, I’ve got a broken leg. Anyway, see you around, hope you make a good recovery,” the man hobbled off on his crutches.

“Okay, see ya around, speedy recovery to you too.”

Rufus wheeled himself into the ward and picked up his phone. He checked Facebook and then messaged Vlad.

“Man, I’m so bored. Tired too. How long is it until visiting hours?”

“Five hours,” Cynthia answered.

“You lot mind if I sleep for a bit?”

“No, go ahead, we’ll just go shopping for a bit,” Cynthia and Gloria each kissed him and went away, “sleep well, Rufus,” they shouted after him.

Rufus went to sleep and awoke about four hours later. He had a strange urge to write a diary entry, so he grabbed his pen and paper:

I’ve just woken up from the strangest dream. I was out shopping with Cynthia and someone else. I wasn’t sure who else it was, but whomever it was, she seemed familiar. We all went to a clothes shop and Cynthia was trying on sexy outfits. The other girl, who was about sixteen, was helping Cynthia to decide. She felt somewhat like a daughter to me. I can’t quite place it, but she was special. It was only after a little while that I realised who it was.

Rufus was interrupted by people coming in. He hadn’t realised it, but it was visiting time now. He put the journal away, thinking 'I’ll continue this later’ and greeted his visitors with a smile. It weighed on his mind. He wanted to write down who it was he saw in that dream. He’d just have to wait until visiting time was over.