‘I promise he won’t yell,’ Caitlin said, holding my hand. ‘I’ll message him before he catches the flight to let him know that you have some important information to share, and that he needs to stay calm.’

I thought about how relieved I’d be once I told Dad and how I’d finally be able to get on with things without feeling so guilty.

Later, I heard Dad come through the doorway and say hi to Caitlin. ‘Is everything okay?’ he asked.

Caitlin said, ‘Phoebe is fine, she’s in her bedroom.’

When he saw me, Dad gave me the biggest hug and a kiss on the forehead. He was almost crying. ‘I won’t leave you like that again, Phoebe.’

‘I’m okay Dad, I’m not even having any headaches now,’ I reassured him.

‘So what happened?’

‘Mum had a fight with her boyfriend.’

‘No, that’s not what I meant,’ he said, brushing my hair out of my face. ‘What happened during the game? How did you hit your head?’

I told him, ‘I remember starting the game and feeling good. I was getting heaps of shots. Then when I was running to the basket on a fast break, one of the girls on the other team, this huge girl that plays football, bumped me while I was in mid-air putting up a shot. Apparently I fell off balance, my head hit the court and then an ambulance was called to take me to hospital.’ I also remembered being really pissed off with Trent, but I wasn’t going to tell Dad that.

‘Are you scared?’

‘Of what?’

‘Playing basketball again.’

I hadn’t really thought about it. ‘Not really. I think it was just a random accident.’

‘That’s good, because you don’t want to go through life being scared of things.’ Then Dad asked, ‘Are you okay to get out of bed?’

‘Yeah, I’ve been fine for a while, although Caitlin insists that I stay in bed.’

‘Well, come on then, I’ve got you something.’

I sat with Dad on the couch and Caitlin handed us both a cup of peppermint tea. Dad pulled some New Zealand candy out of his workbag.

‘Thanks, Dad,’ I said, glad that I was going to get some sugar after the health kick that Caitlin had put me on.

And then Dad handed both Caitlin and me small gift-wrapped presents. We unwrapped the presents to reveal beautiful earrings made out of paua, abalone shells.

‘They’re gorgeous,’ Caitlin said, wrapping her arms around Dad and giving him a kiss.

‘Yeah, thanks Dad, I love ’em.’

Dad handed me another gift-wrapped box. It was big but it felt light. I opened it slowly, thinking it might be a jacket or something. I was so happy to see the most awesome ugg boots ever.

‘To keep you cosy through the winter,’ he said. ‘And it seemed like the right gift to buy in New Zealand.’