“We could ask someone to come to the house and help you.”
He nods slowly.
“I thought I’d ask Martin.”
“Martin?”
“He’s trustworthy.”
He looks at her, but isn’t listening to her anymore. His attention has already drifted elsewhere.
I sigh anxiously, looking around at my family circling the kitchen. A family who’s suffering, each trying to get through this moment – because, soon, we may lose the most important person in our lives, leaving a hole so big in our hearts that it can never be filled.
5
Nick
“So? How is it?”
“How’s what?”
“How is it being here, all three of you?”
“Well, actually, you’re here too,” Ian says, handing me a beer.
“Details, details…”
“I wish your constant presence was just a detail.”
I lean against the kitchen counter as he loads up the dishwasher.
“By this point you may as well have come for dinner.”
“I didn’t want to intrude.”
He looks at me over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.
“Too much,” I add, taking a few sips of my beer. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Because you didn’t answer mine.”
I came to Ian’s to talk about our dad, but as soon as I got here, I chickened out – especially once he started asking me how he is, what he said about the baby, whether he really understood what was going on. So I tried to buy some time and change the subject. But Ian’s clever – it’s not like talking to Ryan. He analyses every single syllable and every breath. I don’t even want to imagine what it would be like to live with him. Poor Riley.
“We were talking, the other day, at home.”
He closes the dishwasher door and straightens up, facing me.
“He has to start physio, Ian. We can’t keep delaying it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We thought we’d find someone to come round to the house.”
“And Dad agreed to this?”
I sigh but I don’t answer.
“God, it’s all so strange.”
