Chapter 33
HE’S A DOG!
Becca
‘You should really think about going home and getting some sleep,’ a lovely nurse with rosy cheeks and a truly impressive bosom says.
‘It’s likely your mum will sleep a lot today, and you have all been here all night.
You’re running on fumes and let me tell you this, you’re going to need more than fumes to be a good support to her. ’
I’m holding my mother’s hand gently in mine, acutely aware of the canula in her hand and the vivid blue and purple of a bruise blossoming from it like an ink stain on her skin. She feels so very fragile and I can’t imagine letting go, let alone leaving the room.
‘I really think I’d prefer to stay,’ I say. ‘I want to be here when she wakes up. I don’t want her to be scared or think she’s alone.’
‘She knows you are here and we will be watching out for her,’ the nurse says. ‘Looking after yourselves is going to be just as important as looking after your mum, but I understand. It’s been a huge scare for you all.’
‘Becca, maybe you really should think about going and grabbing an hour or two of sleep?’ Conal chimes in. ‘If you want, I’ll stay with your mum. Then when you come back, I’ll go and bring Daniel to my house and he can hang out with Lazlo for as long as you need.’
‘You do look like shit, Mum,’ Adam says.
‘Thanks son,’ I say, sticking my tongue out at him, even though he is right. I caught my reflection in the mirror of the bathroom outside the Room of Doom and I almost scared myself. And that was absolutely hours ago.
‘You know what I mean!’ Adam says. ‘I’ll stay with Conal. You and Uncle Ruairi go and grab a couple of hours. Daniel will be losing his mind by now, or peeing all over the place. Or worse. We’ll swap it out later.’
The nurse looks confused at the mention of an incontinent housemate called Daniel. I’m too tired to tell her he’s a dog and while his pooing and peeing is not at all ideal, it’s not quite as worrying as if we had an elderly relative just dropping his trousers all over the house.
Even though I am so tired I could cry, I still say, ‘I don’t know,’ unable to imagine leaving my mother for a minute. The thought of leaving her side makes me feel queasy. So much so that I have been absolutely busting for a pee for the last two hours but I have refused to budge.
What’s a little UTI between mother and daughter?
‘Mum,’ he says. ‘I love you and I don’t want you to end up in a hospital bed beside Granny, so please. I’ll be fine here with Conal. You heard Lizzy, Granny is likely to sleep the day away anyway.’
It takes my tired brain a moment or two to work out that Lizzy must be the friendly nurse with the big bosom. A bosom that reminds me of the soft pillows waiting for me at home. Maybe I really do need to sleep more than I think I do.
‘Okay,’ I say. ‘But you two have to promise me that you will absolutely call me if she needs me and I’ll be back here in twenty minutes.’
They nod but I want to make sure they know how very serious I am. That I do not want to miss anything. That I need to be able to trust them.
‘I mean it,’ I say, looking at Conal, the responsible-est adult in the room.
‘I promise you, Becca,’ Conal says, ‘I’ll come and get you if I have to. We’ve got this – Adam and me. Don’t worry.’ He places his hand, warm and gentle, over mine and I finally feel able to let go of my mother. I stand up and Adam takes my seat, his hand immediately covering my mother’s.
‘Come on, sis,’ Ruairi says. ‘Let’s get some rest. Do you mind if I crash at yours?’
‘As long as you don’t mind Daniel body slamming you as soon as we get in the door.’
‘I’d expect no less,’ he says with a small smile.
‘Daniel’s a dog,’ Adam says, cutting in, and I see the relief on Lizzy’s face.
‘Thank goodness. I was about to flag a safeguarding issue.’ She smiles and I know it’s a cliché and said much too often but I really can’t help but feel that she, and the other nurses who have been quietly coming in, taking observations and checking on us, are all angels.
Overworked and underpaid angels, but angels all the same.
As we go to leave, I tell Ruairi I want to check on Mrs Bishop on the way home. ‘She must be worried sick,’ I say.
‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ Adam says. ‘I’ve been keeping her in the loop.’
Ruairi, Conal and I look at him, all of us confused.
‘Seriously, Mum. She’s fully embraced her new iPhone. We’ve been on WhatsApp.’
‘Mrs Bishop’s on WhatsApp?’ Ruairi asks.
‘Well, it’s better than Snapchat,’ Adam says. ‘They got me to show them that and I was tortured for a full week with filtered pictures. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from some of the sights I saw.’
‘Them?’ Ruairi asks, still confused, and it dawns on me that my brother must not be aware of just how much our mother and Mrs Bishop have finally embraced the era of the smart phone.
‘Yeah. Granny and Mrs B,’ Adam says, turning his phone screen towards us to show us a picture of the two older ladies with the famous dog filters on their faces.
‘Dear God,’ Ruairi says, and it’s hard to know if he’s impressed or horrified. Perhaps it’s a bit of both. I decide he might not be able to hear about their TikTok adventures. I’m not sure this is the best time to tell him either – not unless I want him in a hospital bed too.
‘Anyway, Mrs Bishop is fine and she sends her love and says not to be worrying about her. She’s going to the day centre today to help keep her mind off things,’ Adam says.
‘Good for Mrs Bishop,’ I say, relieved not to have to call in with her before I can finally get home and get some much-needed sleep. Now that I have accepted that I need a rest, it has become next to impossible to keep my eyes open.
‘Let’s go,’ I say to Ruairi, and as we make to leave the room, I turn to mouth ‘I love you’ to Conal. Because I do love him so very, very much.