Forever Is Over (131 page)

             
“
Married someone and had two kids with him, just to get at a sister
that I haven
’
t seen for years and for all I knew may never see again! Don
’
t
flatter yourself, Kelly!
”

“
The reason you were attracted to him though, Jemma, was because
he was mine! Ever since the Birch
’
s party when we were teenagers, you
have always made sure you bettered me!
”

“
You
’
re talking rubbish, Kelly!
”

I could feel myself doing the
‘
Big Sister
’
thing. I know I shouldn
’
t
have done, but sometimes when we are put back into familiar territory
of yesteryear, we revert to type. Kelly did not take well to being
patronised.

“
I am NOT talking rubbish! Ever since the Birch
’
s party, you have
tried to better me! At the Birch
’
s party, I start talking to Richie, we hit
it off, next thing I know, you
’
re telling me you shagged him! You saw me talking to him, let me tell you how much I liked him and then you
went upstairs, slipped your knickers off and asked him to come inside
to play. Literally!
”

I protested but not very well.

“
Kelly, it wasn
’
t like that! I was smashed off my head. I thought it
was Richie but it might not have been!
”

“
Are you trying to make yourself sound like less of a whore, Jemma,
because if you are, you are making a crap job of it?
”

The simple solution here would have been to slap her, but slapping
a patient sat up in a bed in intensive care would not have looked good
at all! I just bit my tongue.

“
Then, Jemma, when I was absolutely besotted by Richie, when he
was my total world, I found you cuddled up with him in Coronation
Park.
”

“
He had cancer, Kelly!
”

“
I know now he had cancer, but I didn
’
t know it then. You could
have told me. Do you think I would have disappeared like I did, if you
had told me? Of course not! That
’
s why you didn
’
t tell me! You let me
go, so you could have Richie all for yourself. Richie even told me, before
the crash that he was going to tell me about his cancer but YOU told
him not to! Everything has always been about you going one better than
me. Even when I killed our mother, you had to go one better, take the
blame and play the innocent victim in bloody prison!
”

“
Kelly, I was in prison for a murder that I didn
’
t commit, how is that
playing the innocent victim?
”

“
You orchestrate things though, Jemma! That night, when Mum
died, when I pushed her down the stairs, would I have killed her if you
hadn
’
t been waiting for her to come in, with a knife in your hand? For
years and years, I have felt guilty for destroying your life but I didn
’
t
destroy your life, did I? You are here p
laying happy families with the
one man I truly loved and the kids you have created together. I have
not destroyed your life, you have destroyed mine and you know what, I
think that
’
s what you wanted to do. Mission accomplished, Jemma!
”

“
All of that is complete bunkum, Kelly! I don
’
t know why Richie
would have said I stopped him telling you about the cancer, because the
opposite is true. I begged him to tell you.
”

“
You expect me to believe that?
”

“
It
’
s the truth. I don
’
t care whether you choose to believe it! IT IS
THE TRUTH! I did not do anything ever because I hated you. I did
everything because I loved you and then, when you went away, I grew
to love Richie too. There is no sinister sub-plot. I loved you and I loved
Richie, at different times.
”

“
I don
’
t believe you, Jemma! I believe you loved me and I believe
you loved Richie but I reckon the two overlapped. Do you know what,
knowing what I know now, I wish I hadn
’
t come out of my room that
night. In those few seconds when I charged at Mum, my life was ruined.
I wish I
’
d have just stayed in the safety of my room, left the pair of you
to slug it out.
”

“
Kelly, you don
’
t mean that!
”

“
Oh but I do! Can you go now? I despise you, Jemma. I can
’
t believe
it has taken me so long to see through you, but I
’
m so glad that I have!

Can you leave me alone now, Jemma. Forever!
”

“
Kelly, this is stupid!
”

I moved towards her but she turned over in bed and faced away from me.

“
Kelly, I am not going to stand here and grovel. I
’
ll leave now and
one day, when you
’
ve grown up a bit and come to realise that the whole
world does not revolve around you, track me down and apologise. I am
overjoyed you survived the crash, but whilst the Doctor
’
s are doing their
medical checks on you, Kelly, get them to do a reality check too, because
you could do with one!
”

“
Just go, Jemma.
”

“
I
’
m going! I
’
m surprised at you, Kelly! I always knew you would
be
annoyed with me for marrying Richie, I just didn
’
t think you would
be so
pathetic!
”

“
Keep away from me, Jemma!
”

“
I intend to.
”

“
And next time you have sex with your husband, look in his eyes.
”

“
Why?
”

“
To see whether you see your reflection in them or an image of me.
”

Melissa was sat on my knee, in the lounge, watching Dora The
Explorer and Jamie was running around the house, pretending to be a
firework, when the front door slammed.

“
What a bitch!
”
I heard Jemma say to herself in the hall,
“
after
everything I have done for her! The cheeky bitch!
”

             
I gathered Melissa up off my knee, placed her back down on the
settee, she was fully concentrating on helping Dora find Diego so she
barely noticed I
’
d moved and headed to the hall, closing the lounge
doors behind me.
It had been raining relentlessly all
day, so Jemma was shaking her
umbrella off in the corner and removing her coat with her other hand.

“
That woman has a bloody cheek!
”
she growled, this time for my
benefit.

If I hadn
’
t managed to involve myself in this mess, I would have
made some jokey, sarcastic comment about it not being a teary re-union,
but as I had been partially responsible
for the mayhem in our personal
lives, I kept my expression seriou
s and my attitude sympathetic.

             
“
I
’
m sorry it didn
’
t go well, Jemma. What
’
s Kelly have a problem
with?
”

“
Me, basically!
”
Jemma said as she
hung her coat at the bottom of
the staircase,
“
she thinks I married you to get at her!
”

“
You didn
’
t even know where she was when we got married!
”

             
“
I know! It doesn
’
t make sense. Do you have a tattoo on your arse
that says
‘
Property of Kelly Watkinson
’
, because that
’
s what she seems
to think?
”

“
No, just the one on my willy that says blow here to inflate!
”
Jemma gave me a look that said
‘
Men In The Doghouse Should Not
Tell Rude Jokes
’
.

“
Very funny,
”
she said as if it wasn
’
t,
“
by the way, did you tell Kelly
that you were going to tell her about your cancer, before she ran away,
but I stopped you?
”

“
NO! When?
”

“
When you met her before the crash?
”

“
No. As far as I knew, Kelly didn
’
t even know I had cancer. I
’
ve
never told her.
”

“
Well, take it from me, she knows.
”

“
Right
…
.I suppose there
’
s a chance I may have told her when I
was driving her back to West Tower before the crash, but I have no
recollection of that journey and I don
’
t see why I would have done. It
’
s
a random thing to come out with,
‘
By the way, did you know I used to
have testicular cancer, I was going to tell you but Jemma stopped me!
’
There
’
s just no way I would have blamed you for not telling her, you told me to tell her!
”

Jemma threw me a quizzical look.

“
There
’
s no way you could have had an alterior motive?
”

“
What alterior motive?
”

“
I don
’
t know, a romantic or physical one?
”

“
What? Slag you off to get her to sleep with me? No, absolutely
not! We
’
ve been through this over and over again, Jemma! It was not a
romantic meeting, by the time we got in the car, I just wanted to drop
her off and come back to try and kickstart a better relationship between
you and me. I had no reason to lie about my cancer or to say you told me
to keep quiet.
”

“
OK. Kelly
’
s got it in her head though that I told you not to tell
her. That
’
s not the only thing that she
’
s pissed off about though. She
’
s
pissed off about Mum
’
s death and even about us sleeping together at
the Birch
’
s party.
”

“
Kelly needs to get a grip. The world does not owe her a favour.
Anyway, I didn
’
t sleep with you at the Birch
’
s party!
”