Poorna Bell latest novel,In Case Of Emergency, follows a string of fantasticnon-fiction pieces, includingStronger.
With my phone smashed, an Uber ride home from the hospital was not an option.
I hailed a black cab, readying myself for the usual chattiness a journey entailed.
Are you okay, love?
she said craning her neck to look at me after Id clambered in.
Its just that normally when people look like you do now, they get someone to pick them up.
Like a family member.
kindly make her stop talking to me, I silently implored the universe.
A fresh dose of medication bubble-wrapped me from the worst of the pain.
Internally I felt numb.
I looked down at my body, covered in the dark petals of bruises that hadnt fully blossomed yet.
I turned off the shower and changed into my M&S pyjamas.
But this was not a normal day.
I pulled out my home laptop and started messaging people.
My colleague Maggie had been frantically trying to get hold of me.
I picked it out myself, he wrote.
There was a part of me, Im ashamed to admit, that wanted to be fussed over.
I scrolled through the first ten chats on my WhatsApp and texted a few people.
No one messaged back.
A sense of dejection crept in, but, I reasoned, they were probably still at work.
I went a bit further down the list and messaged the next five.
And Amy, the only lasting friend Id made through my most recent ex.
I hovered uncertainly over Ranvirs name and decided not to text her.
Waiting for them to reply was agony.
I closed the laptop and went back to watchingThe Matchmaker.
Anthony saidOMG!And that he hoped I was okay, and his daughter Elliot was a handful.
My brunch friends saidlet me know if you need anythingandwow youre so lucky you werent hurt.
I realised that most of these people had no intention of prolonging the exchange.
My laptop pinged with a message from my mother.
Mum: Bel, you havent texted your father in ages.
In Case Of Emergencyis published with Century, Penguin Random House and is out now.
