‘I’m going to call an ambulance,’ Katie’s mum said and I was relieved someone was taking control of the situation. I was tired of having to deal with Mum on my own.

The ambulance sirens woke everyone. Two paramedics came to the door. They asked some basic questions about Mum and I had to tell them about Mum being drunk as everyone listened in. Then we showed them out to the back lawn where Mum was sprawled.

And then Katie’s parents and my friends looked on as one of the paramedics said, ‘Hi Bronwyn, I’m Karen and this is Sunjay. We’re here to help you. First of all, I need to know: what happened?’

Mum replied, ‘I just hit my head.’

‘How did you hit your head?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Mum said, slurring and struggling to sit up. Karen shone a light in Mum’s eyes to check for concussion while Sunjay started taking things from his first aid kid to clean Mum up.

‘It’s important that you tell us, Bronwyn,’ Karen said.

‘My boyfriend is boring,’ Mum said. ‘So boring.’

‘Did your boyfriend do this?’ Sunjay asked.

‘He wanted to go home, but we’d only got there,’ Mum said.

After examining Mum, Sunjay said, ‘Her lip is going to need a stitch and ice and painkillers for the bruising.’ As Mum fell back into a doze, he said, ‘I’ll get the stretcher.’

As Sunjay left, Karen turned to me: ‘Would you like to come to the hospital with us, Phoebe?’

Katie and her mum wrapped their arms around me. Through my tears, I said, ‘I just want to sleep. Can you please call my nana?’

‘Of course,’ said Karen, but it didn’t stop the tears from flowing as Mum was taken to the hospital. Katie led me into her room and although I was heartbroken and exhausted, thoughts about Dad losing his shit over the events of the night meant that it was ages before I fell asleep.

When I woke, I checked my phone. There was a voicemail from Nana: Your mother is okay. It’s only a small cut, some bruising and a bruised ego.

What about my bruised ego, I thought, angry that Nana hadn’t even asked how I was.

Gingerly, I walked out into the living room. Katie, Jane, and Katie’s parents were seated around the breakfast bench.

‘Good morning,’ they all said politely. I was relieved that the boys had already taken off.

‘How are you feeling?’ Katie’s mum asked.

I shrugged.

‘It was a pretty full-on night,’ she said.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Katie added and Jane nodded before they came over and gave me big hugs.