Dancing Queen (Zodiac Girls) Read online

  I woke some time later. I was back in the ward. It was all over and Mum was next to my bed and my arm was in a sling tucked down by my side. After a slight hiccup (I felt groggy when I came round and threw up all over Mum!), I was allowed a cup of tea and some toast and not long after, I began to feel a little nauseous but almost back to normal.

  ‘How does the wrist feel?’ Mum asked.

  I focused on the area where it had been fractured. ‘Better, actually. That is, it’s a little sore but it feels OK and at least I don’t have to sit upright any more. I can’t tell you how heavenly it feels to be able to lie down! When do I get out?’

  ‘Soon,’ said Mum. ‘I think the nurse said that Dr Heaton wanted to do another X-ray and check in on you afterwards and then you can probably go home later today.’

  ‘Phew. Nightmare almost over,’ I said. ‘What time exactly?’

  ‘Around three, he said.’

  After the morning visitors, the ward seemed quiet again. I got up and found the bathroom and clumsily brushed my teeth with my good hand. Soon I’ll be free, I said to my reflection. I did look odd. Being away from mirrors, I’d forgotten that my hair was white plus now that the gel had worn off, I could see that the bleach had made it very dry. And it itched. Mum had tied it back neatly for me when she’d been in but I was longing to give it a good wash. ‘You’ve got hair like straw, m’dear,’ I said to myself in the mirror.

  When I went back to bed, I looked at the clock. Eleven. Four more hours, I thought. I did my best to keep occupied with my books and magazines, but I was grateful when a nurse came to take me for the X-ray as that made the time go even faster.

  When I got back to the ward, Skye was reading and Amy was sleeping, but they were no longer my concern. In a few hours they, along with this ward, would be history.

  One o’clock came round. One five. One ten. One fifteen. I read a little. One and three quarter hours to go, I told myself. Can’t wait. Can’t wait. I watched TV for a while, but when I looked at the clock again it seemed like only seconds had gone by. Time in hospital really does go slower than anywhere else on the planet, I thought, looking at the clock again. One forty.

  When Dr Sam came to check on me, I was sitting up trying to look as well as I could and I had my regular mobile ready to call Mum to let her know that she could come to get me. Please, please, please let me go home this afternoon, I thought as he approached the bed.

  He asked me a few questions about my wrist and how I felt.

  ‘Great. I feel great. Thanks for everything. Now can I go home?’

  Dr Sam grimaced. ‘Didn’t the ward sister tell you?’

  My stomach tightened into a knot. ‘Tell me what?’

  ‘About the X-ray machine?’

  ‘No. Why? What? Is there something still wrong with my wrist?’

  ‘No. No, nothing like that,’ said Dr Sam. ‘It’s just that we’re having problems with the X-ray machine and we couldn’t get a clear picture.’

  ‘But haven’t you got another machine?’

  Dr Sam nodded. ‘We do, but they’re all busy. The queues have been waiting here for hours. People wait for months for their appointments.’

  ‘So when can I do it again?’

  ‘Hopefully in the morning. The technicians are looking at it now, but, even if it gets fixed today, we have to wait our turn for it and the emergency cases always take precedence. You shouldn’t have to be here too long. You’ll just have to stay in another night.’

  ‘Wha—? Another night? Again? No. Please. Can’t I go home and then come back tomorrow?’

  Dr Sam shook his head. ‘With your kind of injury, there’s a slight risk of swelling. We need to keep you where we can keep an eye on it until we’re a hundred per cent certain.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Be a couple of days tops. It’s for your own good.’

  ‘Couple of days? You just said one more night.’ The nightmare was getting worse and worse.

  Dr Sam shrugged. ‘You can never be too sure. I hope it will be tomorrow, but it depends on what the problem with the machine is.’

  I could feel something in the pit of my stomach, like a churning volcano, burning, burning, ERUPTING into a noise in my throat. ‘NOOOOOOOO. Please. Let me go home, please.’

  Dr Sam shook his head. ‘Come on now. It’s not that bad,’ he said, then his bleeper went and he began to move towards the doors giving me a cheery wave as he went.

  I. Could. Not. Believe. It!

  ‘This so isn’t fair,’ I called after him.

  But he was gone and so were my hopes of freedom.

  Chapter Nine

  Mr Mars

  Two o’clock.

  Three o’clock.

  Three fifteen.

  Three twenty.

  Three twenty-five.

  What was going on with the clock? Surely time couldn’t be going so slowly?

  At four, Mum arrived for the afternoon visiting hour and I saw the nurses explain the situation to her.

  ‘Oh, darling, I am sorry. I did call and they told me, which is why I didn’t come earlier,’ she said when she came over to my bed. ‘But it won’t be long. Only another day or so.’

  ‘Another day or so? You just don’t understand. Something has happened to time in here,’ I said. ‘It has slowed down. It’s like being stuck in a time warp that never moves on.’

  A flicker of a smile crossed Mum’s face.

  ‘What?’ I asked. ‘What’s funny?’

  ‘Nothing, darling, just . . . it was the way you put that. It was cute. Stuck in a time warp.’

  I didn’t feel cute. I decided that it was her fault. All of it. The fall. The X-ray machine. All of it. And I wasn’t going to speak to her apart from to ask two questions.

  ‘Is Lois coming in later?’

  Mum shook her head. ‘She has a rehearsal for the school show.’

  My stomach sank. I felt so jealous. I would have been doing my own rehearsals tomorrow night. With Ollie. The thought of it all happening without me made me feel like crying.

  ‘What about Cissie and Eleanor? Are either of them coming in?’

  ‘No, darling. They thought you’d be out tonight and would see you at home.’

  ‘Oh, did they? Well, you can go now. Seeing as none of you appear to really care, you may as well stop this pretence.’

  Mum put her hand on my bandaged wrist. ‘Ow!’ I winced. It didn’t actually hurt, but I wanted her to suffer too.

  ‘Oh, Marsha, I am sorry. Does it hurt a lot?’

  I glanced over at Skye to make sure that she wasn’t watching me with her amused look, but she was busy with her own visitor, one of the ladies from Sunday who I reckoned was her mum. I nodded. ‘It hurts more than you will ever know,’ I said, and I stuck my bottom lip out. At the back of my mind, I could hear an inner voice say, You are acting like such a precious princess, Marsha Leibowitz. Get over yourself. But I couldn’t help it. I felt utterly miserable. I didn’t like where I was. I didn’t like what had happened to me. And I didn’t like the misery guts person I was becoming.

  After Mum had gone, I looked over at Skye, but she seemed oblivious to her surroundings and had her iPod headphones on. I glanced further down the ward to see if Amy was awake, but her bed was empty. She must have got up when Mum was here and I didn’t notice, I thought. I reached into the drawer in the cabinet next to me and texted Lois to tell her how unfair everything was. My zodiac phone was lying there. I picked that up. Just looking at it made me cross. I’d sent out a cry for help and there hadn’t even been one reply. So much for it being a good prize, I thought as I picked it up and hurled it to the bottom of my bed. Unfortunately, I misjudged the distance and it almost hit Amy as she went past before it clattered to the floor. She leaped back in surprise then looked over at me. She bent over, picked it up and brought it over to me.

  ‘I am so sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean to give you a fright.’

  She smiled and sat on the edge of my bed. �
��That’s OK. I’m Amy by the way.’

  ‘Marsha.’

  ‘You feeling mad about something?’ Up close, I could see how pretty she was, with delicate features and big cornflower-blue eyes in a pale face. However, the purple shadows under her eyes, like bruises, showed that she wasn’t well.

  I nodded. ‘And some. I just heard that I can’t go home today and well . . . I was just letting off some steam. Sorry. Mum’s always telling me that I act before I think and it should be the other way round.’

  ‘I know how you feel,’ she said. ‘I was mad when I first came in here. It seemed so unfair, like, why me? You should have seen me. I was Queen of Tantrums.’

  I smiled. She looked so pale and weak it was hard to imagine her having the energy to have a tantrum.

  ‘But you get your head round it,’ she continued. ‘I guess I’ve got more used to it now and it’s not so bad really.’

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked, then I put my hand over my mouth. ‘Oops. Sorry. Me and my big mouth. Not my business.’

  ‘I don’t mind. I have a type of Hodgkins disease. Something to do with my lymph glands.’

  ‘Well, I hope you get better,’ I said.

  She gave me a sad smile. ‘So do I. There are different kinds of it. It is treatable, but . . . oh never mind,’ she said, then sighed. ‘It’s so boring talking about it.’

  I glanced over at Skye who still had her headphones on. ‘What’s she in for?’

  ‘She hurt her ankle. They had to put a pin in it.’

  ‘Ooch,’ I said. ‘That sounds painful.’

  Amy nodded. ‘Yeah. She was pretty fed up about it too. Apparently she’s a dancer—’

  ‘A dancer? Really? So am I. Well, it’s one of the things I do. I was supposed to be in the school show. I had the lead role.’

  ‘Skye does hip hop. Apparently she was quite a star. All set to go through to some competition until she hurt her leg. I think she was very disappointed. Anyway, better get back to bed. I can’t seem to stay up for long these days.’

  ‘Give me the nod when you want some company,’ I said. ‘I’ll come over for a chat.’

  ‘That would be nice,’ said Amy, who then went back to her bed.

  I glanced over at Skye. We had more in common than I’d realized. It was a shame she was so stand-offish. I turned my attention back to Amy, climbing back into her bed. I wished there was something I could do to help. Maybe when I am out, I thought, I can send her something to cheer her up.

  I sat and read magazines for a short while and tried to resist looking at the clock every five minutes. It was difficult. It kept pulling me like a magnet, then mocking me, like look at me, look at me. Ha ha. I’ve hardly moved on at all!

  I decided to try my zodiac phone again. Why not? I thought. I have nothing to lose. I texted in:

  When I said I needed help, I meant now. Zodiac Girl

  The reply was instantaneous.

  Chill out, Zodiac Girl. Your Mars is conjunct with the moon. We will be there soon. Keep fighting. Mario

  Not long after, the doors to the ward opened and in walked Mr Ares and a lady who definitely didn’t look like one of the nurses. She looked like . . . a mermaid on legs. She was tall and willowy with silver grey hair in a plait down her back and she was dressed like a Victorian governess in a long silver skirt and high neck jacket. Both of them seemed to know the nurses and as they talked they glanced over at me. They looked out of place in the hospital because they radiated light and health. Both Amy and Skye looked up to see Mario as he came over to see me.

  He sat on the end of the bed. ‘So. Marsha. What’s all this nonsense?’

  ‘What nonsense?’

  ‘I think you know what I’m talking about.’

  ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘You haven’t stopped moaning since you got in here.’

  ‘Me. Wha—? But . . . in case you don’t know, I have had an operation on my arm and have been confined to bed. Wouldn’t that make most people moan?’

  ‘Some people, yes, but not someone with a chart like yours and not someone who has been chosen to be a Zodiac Girl.’

  ‘Oh that.’

  ‘You have your phone and your pendant?’

  ‘Yes. I won them as a prize.’

  Mario shook his head. ‘A prize? A PRIZE? You haven’t got it, have you? It’s a lot more than a prize.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘To be a Zodiac Girl means that you’re a very lucky girl.’

  I looked down at my arm. ‘Lucky? Hah! Doesn’t seem very lucky to me. In fact, life has been rubbish since I heard about the Zodiac Girl thing.’

  ‘Well, it is lucky,’ said Mario. ‘Every month, somewhere on the planet, one girl is chosen to be a Zodiac Girl. Only one girl. She gets three things. A piece of jewellery. You got that, yeah?’

  ‘My pendant with the little ram on it.’

  ‘That would be it. She also gets introduced to her guardian, who is me. Me because you’re an Aries. Each birth sign has a ruling planet. Mars rules Aries, so you get me.’

  ‘Er, could you rewind the tape a mo?’ I said. ‘I get the ruling planet bit. But what have you, the person Mario, got to do with the planet Mars?’

  ‘All the planets are here in human form. I am the living embodiment of Mars.’

  I burst out laughing. ‘Yeah, and I’m Queen Nefertiti.’

  Mario looked offended. ‘No, you’re not. You’re Marsha Leibowitz. I know it’s a lot to get your head around, but it’s true. We all live locally.’

  ‘The planets all live locally?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘And are here in human form?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘OK . . .’ He is clearly barking mad, I thought. He is in the hospital to see someone in the psychiatric unit and wandered in here by mistake. ‘Um, just got to go to the loo.’

  I hopped out of bed and limped over to the nurses’ room. ‘Hey, Cheryl, can I have a word?’ I asked when I saw her sitting having a cup of tea with the lady that Mario had come in with.

  ‘Sure. What is it?’

  I beckoned her to come to the door so that the lady wouldn’t hear.

  ‘That man by the bed. I think he may have wandered out of the mental unit,’ I whispered into her ear.

  Cheryl laughed. ‘No. That’s Mario. There’s no one saner. He does physiotherapy here with some of the patients. But the lady I’m having a cuppa with, she’s from the psychiatric unit. She’s one of the counsellors. She visits all the teen wards once or twice a week.’

  The lady behind waved. ‘Hi, Marsha. I’m Selene. Cheryl’s been telling me all about you.’

  ‘Um . . . hi. Um . . . good.’

  ‘Marsha,’ called Mario. ‘I haven’t finished with you yet!’

  I pinched myself as I went back to the bed. Maybe it was me that was going mad, either that or I was still asleep and having a very weird dream.

  ‘So, Marsha,’ Mario continued, ‘I came in today to tell you that you have to change your attitude. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and have a good hard think about what is happening to you this month.’

  ‘Easy. I can tell you exactly what’s happening. I am having a rotten time. All my plans have been ruined.’

  Mario put his hand to his mouth and yawned. ‘Zodiac Girl, get over it. You’re bigger than that and you’re stronger than that. I am very disappointed to see you behaving like this.’

  ‘So how should I be behaving?’

  ‘Like a warrior. Like a leader. Don’t you know that Aries is the first sign of the zodiac? People born under your sign become leaders, the movers and shakers of this world. Aries people don’t give in, not without a fight.’

  Although I was indignant that he didn’t get how awful my life was at present, a part of me felt like he was speaking to another part of me – a deeper, stronger part – and I couldn’t help but respond. I wasn’t going to let him know that, though. ‘Whatever.’

  ‘Fine. If that’s your a
ttitude, I’m leaving. For each Zodiac Girl it is different. Some use their gift, others ignore it, but remember this: we’re here to help.’

  ‘Yeah. Planets in human form,’ I said, and put the finger of my good hand up to my temple and made a circle sign as if to say, you’re living in lala land. He turned to walk away. I watched him go back into the room with Nurse Cheryl and Selene. I bet they’re talking about me now, I thought as I saw them get into an animated conversation and Selene glanced over at our section. When I saw Mario sit down, I crept out of bed and then, making sure that I was out of their sight, I positioned myself so I could hear what they were saying, whilst to anyone in the ward I looked as if I were casually looking at some of the leaflets on display.

  ‘Does she know?’ asked Selene.

  ‘I think she has some idea,’ said Nurse Cheryl, ‘but I don’t think she realizes what a rough ride she’s in for.’

  ‘What are her chances?’ asked Mario.

  ‘We’re not sure. We’re keeping her in for longer while we do some further tests,’ said Nurse Cheryl.

  ‘Very sad,’ said Mario. ‘Poor thing. She has to keep fighting.’

  My blood ran cold. Oh. My. God, I thought. They’re talking about me. It’s worse than I thought. I’m dying. I have to keep fighting. So that’s why Mario came to deliver that little speech.

  I felt faint. I need to get back to my bed if I haven’t long to live, I thought, scuttling back towards my area before they caught me eavesdropping. Ohmigod. I wonder if Mum knows. I wonder how long I’ve got.

  Chapter Ten

  Selene

  I felt numb. Outraged. In shock. One minute I was looking forward to playing the lead role in the school play. My whole life in front of me. Then what seemed a minor accident and my life is over? Over before it had even begun? It can’t be. There are so many things I want to do. Travel the world. Be a famous actress. Have a boyfriend. I haven’t even been snogged yet! I can’t die before my first kiss! Preferably with Ollie Blake. Tears filled my eyes. I had been looking forward to going home. Counting the hours. Now maybe I will never see our house again.

  Do Mum and Dad know? I wondered. And Lois? Oh, my dear friend. Who will she hang out with at the weekend? Who will she talk to? In my mind’s eye, I could see Lois sitting on her own in the school playground. Her face pale. No one to share her lunch with. No one to have a laugh with. No one to gossip with about what was on telly. About who we fancied. Ollie. No one to say ‘swoon, swoon’ with. She’d be lonely without me.