Outside, I had the worst feeling about how the morning had gone. It was so clear to me how badly triggered Kane was. The question was, whether he could find a way out of it. My heart couldn’t decide whether to hope or despair.
Chapter 38
Kane
“Bethan is a beloved member of the family here. We’ve done everything we can to alleviate her symptoms during this most recent advancement of her condition.”
The small office shrank around me, and I forced my breathing to calm and my attention to stay on the care home manager. Not on the closed doors. Not the condemning of my mother.
As meek as a lamb, Blair listened to the summary on Ma’s health, her hands folded in her lap. “It’s been such a shock with how sick she’s become. Ye know what would happen if we moved her.”
My mother had reached a critical stage in her condition. Her swallowing. Her pain. She would struggle to fight off any other kind of illness, the sort of minor infection that could take hold under change or stress.
Blair had accused me of trying to kill her. My failure could prove her right.
Worthless. A burden. Only make things worse.
Her words haunted me. Broke me. She always had the same allegations to throw. Worse, she was right. My existence alonehurt my mother. My aunt was only too eager to tell me how, after every visit, she’d be sicker for it.
I hated myself for that.
Loathed my existence to the bone.
I hadn’t been able to restore the Marchant family money, and the bills were racking up. Despite that failure, I wouldn’t let the care home change a single thing about my mother’s care.
Whatever it took, I’d keep her here.
The manager shook her head. “We’ve already discussed how a well-planned transition would be the best solution in light of the change in long-term funding for Ms Ryan. I’ll talk you through the arrangements.”
I raised a hand. “She won’t be moving.”
The manager formed a patient smile. “Mr Ryan, I understand your concern, but the policy of the trust lays out the guidelines I have no choice but to follow if a patient is unable to pay. While your mother’s accounts have been stable since she first joined us, it is apparent her circumstances have changed, with some permanence. We have to do what’s right for the patient with the budget available to them.”
“Ye can’t wait even a few weeks? At most, a month, then I’ll have the money.”
“I’m so sorry. We’ve already had a payment plan in place for twice that amount of time, and there has been no reply regarding the source of funding.”
She meant from the solicitors Mila and I had met with. Fuck all things Marchant.
“Without the immediate clearance of the outstanding fees, we have no choice but to move to the alternative provision. Believe me, none of us want that.”
She rattled off the details.
Sweat broke out on my brow. They wanted to move Ma to a council-run palliative care home. No doubt the staff cared and worked hard, but they were three times fewer than here.
It would end her.
Not on my watch. I had a choice, and no matter if it was a shite one, I could take it.
“If I can get the money today, will that change your mind?”
She blinked at me. “It would.”
“I’ll make a call.”
The manager gestured for me to go into an adjacent conference room. I dialled Primrose.
“I’ll take your offer if you can pay a bill today.”
