Lottie had to double-check Bernard was breathing. ‘I don’t think you mean an autopsy,’ she said, trying to ignore the tittering from Daniel and Angie behind her. They had no respect. ‘Possibly a biopsy?’
‘Yes. That is it,’ said Dayea, pointing at Lottie in agreement. ‘The nurses will explain better. They are lovely,’ she added.
‘I’m sure they are. And they do such a brilliant job. Have they talked about when he might be able to come home?’ she asked.
‘No. I asked, but they are not able to say. I think we may need a nurse at home to care for him.’
Angie shot forward and almost fell off her chair. ‘If you’re talking about a private nurse, that sort of care costs a lot of money. Surely he’d be better off staying here.’
‘He can come to live with me,’ said Dayea, jutting out her chin at the end of the sentence. Lottie was pleased to see her standing up to Angie.
Angie turned to Daniel. ‘That might be helpful foragreeing a completion date for the sale of the property.’ Daniel nodded along. They were bloody unbelievable.
‘It’s okay, Dayea,’ said Lottie. ‘You don’t need to think about that right now. We just need to focus on Bernard getting better.’ She shot a look at her mother and uncle, but neither seemed bothered.
Dayea looked tired. Her usually bright complexion was washed out and she had dark circles around the eyes.
‘Have you slept?’ asked Lottie.
Dayea nodded. But Lottie wasn’t convinced, and it probably showed on her face. ‘A couple of hours maybe.’
‘I brought Bernard some things from home. And his new slippers I bought him for Christmas.’ Lottie opened the bag to show Dayea.
Lottie could see Angie was getting fidgety already. She picked up the menu off the side. ‘Roast chicken; cottage pie; herb-crusted salmon,’ she read out. ‘This sounds quite good. At least he’ll get a decent meal in here.’ She tipped her head at Lottie as she laughed at her own joke.
‘Do they have a vegan option?’ asked Lottie. ‘Because you could always join him.’ She gave Angie a murderous look and her mother put the menu back.
They all sat and stared at Bernard. Lottie found she was breathing in time to the rhythm of his monitor. If she wasn’t careful she was at risk of nodding off herself. This was the trouble with hospital visits. They were always too warm and, when the person you’d come to visit was asleep, there wasn’t really much to be said.
However, it appeared that the elderly gent in the next bed was quite chatty. ‘Hello, there. Merry Christmas,’ he said, swinging his legs out of bed.
‘Hi, Merry Christmas,’ said Lottie, being polite. She had a bit of an issue with saying this on Boxing Day, butshe’d let it go – the poor chap might not know he’d missed it.
‘Nice to meet you; I’m George.’ He offered a hand to shake, which Lottie and Daniel both took.
‘Family outing, is it?’ asked George, with a chuckle. Lottie responded with a small smile. ‘He’s better than he was when they brought him in.’ He pointed at Bernard. ‘Woke me up, they did, but I don’t sleep too well in here anyways.’ He put his slippers on. ‘Best place for him though.’ He sighed. ‘Dodgy ticker, but he’s okay now,’ he added, with great authority.
‘Yes, that was a relief,’ said Lottie, feeling that someone really should answer the poor man.
A nurse came over and began checking George’s monitor. George leaned forward conspiratorially to Daniel. ‘Yesterday, this nurse checked me down there and said I was circus sized,’ he said, proudly.
‘No,’ said the nurse. ‘I said you were circumcised.’ She shook her head and George looked thoroughly deflated. Daniel belly laughed and George gave him a grumpy glare before forcefully pulling round his curtains. Lottie couldn’t help but snigger. Poor George.
Angie stood up and leaned over Bernard. ‘Uncle Bernard, it’s Angie. Can you hear me?’
‘Angie what are you doing?’ asked Nicola.
‘I’m seeing if he knows we’re here. Because if not, then …’ Angie tapped her watch. Lottie gave her mother her best death stare and Angie huffed and sat down again. She was worse than a toddler.
The nurse moved on to check Bernard and they all watched her intently; especially Dayea. Lottie hadn’t thought of it before, but it must be quite odd to do a job where you were constantly watched by others.A bit likealways being on stage, she mused. The nurse jotted something in a folder at the foot of the bed.
‘How’s he doing?’ asked Lottie.
‘He’s stable. He’s only sleeping. You can wake him up if you like.’
Lottie was relieved to hear this. ‘Thank you.’
‘Any questions, just ask,’ said the nurse with a friendly smile, and she moved on.
