Turn The Paige✔

CHAPTER TEN

"What on Earth happened between you? Were you training for the WWE?" Madeline exclaimed.

Paige rolled her eyes and smiled. She picked a cube of cheese on her plate and munched on it. "I took a tumble in the bushes after the Hawton plant sampling. I am fine."

Madeline shook her head and laughed with her mouth full of lettuce. "What part of your pharmacology research involves 'tumbling in the bushes?' I wonder what Daddy Adesanya will think of that."

Paige raised both eyebrows. "He would be livid. I am definitely not going to tell him," she chuckled.

They settled into a thoughtful silence as they continued their meal. Paige and Madeline were eating salad and chatting shortly after Paige arrived in London. She hailed a cab straight from the station, and was glad to meet her roommate at home. They were sitting side by side in their living room, after squealing excitedly about how much they missed each other. Suffice to say, Madeline was shocked by Paige's injuries.

Paige set her bowl aside and turned to lie down facing Madeline. "Do you want to know all the details?"

Madeline's eyes widened. She dashed from the bed to the kitchen. "Bollocks! You have got to be joking. Wait right there while I get some popcorn."

"It is not what you think, Madeline," Paige groaned.

"I don't care, it is juicy gossip. Salad won't cut it," Madeline called back from the kitchen.

Paige could hear her rummaging through the cupboard and muttering something about forgetting to buy snacks.

"Get back here right now or I won't tell you," Paige said firmly.

Madeline walked into the room with a knowing smile on her face and a glass of orange juice in her hand. "Stern and assertive Paige is a new development. Methinks I can guess who you learnt it from." She straightened her side of the bed and sat down.

Paige giggled and bit her lip.

Madeline folded her arms. "I am all ears, babe. This had better be good."

Paige told Madeline everything about what happened in Dover. Right from the train ride, to the hot air balloon experience, and how they ended up in hospital. She talked in details, excluding the heart to heart life confessions and regrets that were shared between her and Brian.

Madeline looked tearful, and eventually pulled a tissue from the box on her drawer. She dabbed at her eyes gently before she broke into uncontrollable sobs.

"Hey, stop crying Mads," Paige said softly. She pulled her into a hug, and felt her own eyes become hot with tears.

"Stop crying, damn it. Now I am crying," Paige sobbed.

They held each other for a while and wept. Silent as they reflected upon how the accident could have been fatal.

"I could have lost you, Paige," Madeline cried. "What would life be like without you? We have been friends since we were in diapers."

Paige wept and brushed hair away from Madeline's face. "I am here. That's what matters. I thank God I am alive."

"Who would eat all my stir fried noodles and dumplings during Chinese New Year celebrations?" Madeline joked as tears streamed down her face.

Paige elbowed her in the gut. "Uncle Wong would do a great job of that," she retorted, as she blew her nose on a handkerchief.

"Uncle Wong is still in love with you," Madeline joked. Her sobs had quietened, but not ceased.

"He should take the 'L' like a man. I dumped him for Cousin Zhang. He makes better spring rolls," Paige replied.

Both of them burst into a fit of giggles. They snorted as they laughed, rolling around on the bed. Madeline rolled off the bed and landed on the carpet with a thump.