“I look forward to meeting him. I’m sure I can rekindle his interest.”
Corey grins. “That would be good.”
The journey goes by in a blur of talking and laughing. It’s a short walk from the station to the observatory. Even though it’s evening, it’s still fairly busy with tourists taking photos on and of the International Date Line. We wait our turn, and I take a selfie of the two of us standing over the Meridian Line. Then we go inside the observatory and spend time in the Time and Longitude Gallery, looking at the clocks John Harrison made to enable sailors to determine not only the time but also their longitude at sea.
“Have you been here before?” I ask as Corey stares at the brass clocks with wide eyes.
“No. These are amazing.”
“You’ve lived near London your whole life, and your brother liked stars, but you’ve never come to the observatory?”
Corey shrugs. “I don’t know why we never came here. Maybe by the time Mum and Dad thought about it, Blake had traded his interest in stars for make-up.”
“I’m sure he’d still have loved it here.”
“Yeah, I think he would. I’ll have to bring him someday.”
“You liked painting. Blake was into stars.”
“And make-up.”
I smile. “And make-up. What was Archie interested in?”
“Archie loved dinosaurs and reading adventure novels. We went to art galleries and the National History Museum a lot, but never here.” He turns and hugs me. “So tell me, Daddy, if you were into astronomy, why did you become a doctor?”
“I suppose I wanted to help people more than I wanted to observe the stars.” I wrap an arm around his waist and cuddle him. “My dad died when I was young.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, so it’s a hurt I’ve learnt to live with it. He took his own life. The doctors did everything they could but weren’t able to save him. I think that was the moment I decided I wanted to be a doctor so that I could do everything in my power to stop families from having to go through the hurt and pain we did.”
“You can’t save everyone,” Corey says quietly.
“No. I was never under any illusions that I could. But I do my best, and when I can’t save someone, I try to do what I can for the families. The nursing staff do a stellar job of supporting grieving families, but I’m always the one to deliver the news if I’ve lost a patient.”
“That must be hard.”
I smile sadly. “It’s part of the job. We’re not heroes. We’re just men and women who do our best every time we’re on shift. It must be the same in teaching.”
“We don’t tend to have anyone’s lives in our hands.”
I chuckle. “I meant in terms of doing your best every day.”
Corey nods. “Yes. Well… every teacher I know tries their hardest every day.”
“Including you.” It’s not a question but a statement of fact. I can’t imagine Corey putting less than his all into everything he does.
“It’s not always easy,” Corey says. “And there are days and weeks when I doubt myself. But overall, it’s worth it.”
I put my arm around his shoulders and start to guide him towards the planetarium. “I’m here to support you and help you to relax whenever you’ve had a tough day, sweet boy. Even if I’m on shift, you can still text me. I’ll reply as soon as I’m able.”
“You’re very good at helping me to relax, Daddy.” Corey rests his head on my shoulder as we walk. “But that goes both ways, you know. I can listen and hold you if you’ve had a bad shift. Or be on the end of the phone.”
“I know. Believe me, I’ll take you up on that one day.”
I show our pre-booked tickets, and we file into the planetarium and find our seats. I hold Corey’s hand as the lights go out and our seats recline. He gasps as the ceiling comes alive above us, showing us high-definition images of the cosmos. As we learn about the birth, life, and death of stars, I catch glimpses of his face, illuminated by the visuals above us. He looks utterly captivated and absolutely stunning. This whole trip was worth it just to see his wide-eyed wonderment.
“That was amazing!” he says once it’s finished and we’re making our way out. “I’m going to have to bring Blake at some point. He’d love it.”
