‘No. It’s something much better.’ Slowly, she opened the door and beckoned Olivia to follow her through.
‘What on earth could be better than a giant chocolate statue of me?’ Jacob laughed wearily.
‘This!’ Helen announced, stepping aside to reveal Olivia.
It was as though someone had flicked a switch and sent them all into slow motion. Jacob’s face was mutinous, his charcoal eyes wide in his gaunt face. Olivia noticed his bony hands grip the edge of the duvet cover so tightly that his already ghostly white knuckles became luminous.
‘Hi,’ Olivia murmured, the tension of the moment making her voice audibly shrink.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ He recoiled, turning to his mum. ‘What thehellis shedoinghere?’
‘Don’t be like that, darling,’ his mum purred sweetly, her hold on Olivia so firm it hurt a little. ‘She’s here to cheer you up!’
‘Why?’ he spat. ‘How?’
Olivia wanted the ground to swallow her whole. To chew her up and spit her back out somewhere far away from this awful situation. She was a fool for coming. What had she been thinking?
‘I saw you looking at her email every day and how desperately sad you were becoming, so I messaged Olivia here and asked her to visit you.’
‘No,’ he hissed.
‘Come on, sweetie,’ Helen pleaded.
‘I saidno.’
Olivia felt her cheeks start to burn.
‘But she’s come all this way.’
‘I don’tcare. I don’t want her here. I don’t wantanyonehere.’ His skeletal chest was rising and falling rapidly, his fingers still clutching on to the covers as though his life depended on it. ‘I don’t need some pity party. I don’twantanyone to see me. What part of that don’t you understand?’ He turned his hollow eyes to Olivia. ‘Get out.’
‘Jacob darl—’
‘I said,GET OUT,’ he screamed at the pair of them.
Helen began to sob, and Olivia felt the urge to join her. Instead, she swallowed hard and turned to leave.
‘I’m sorry, Jacob. I didn’t mean to upset you.’ She stole one last look at him before walking as fast as she could from the bedroom.
‘How dare you be like that, Jacob? How could you be so cruel?’ Helen’s cries could be heard all the way down the stairs, but within seconds Olivia was outside and sitting in the car.
‘Why!’ she shouted, slamming her hands on the steering wheel. ‘Why, why,whydid you think this was a good idea?’ Tears were running thick and fast down her cheeks, her chest heaving for breath. His hollowed face haunted her thoughts.
You can’t save everyone.
You can’t fix everything.
A tentative knock on the window jolted her.
‘Olivia?’ Helen called.
‘I shouldn’t have come, I’m sorry.’
‘Olivia, please.’ She tapped again on the window. ‘I’m the one that should be sorry. Can we at least talk for a second?’
Olivia wound down the window and sat back in her seat.
‘I’m so sorry about that. He’s just upset, he doesn’t know what he’s saying. I thought a surprise was a good idea, but clearly …’ She sighed deeply. ‘Anyway, at least come and have a cup of tea with me. You can’t drive home when you’re upset like this. It isn’t safe.’
