Chapter 12
TWELVE
April brought new life, promising green shoots erupting all around them.
Daffodils sprouted on the verges and the trees burst with buds.
It had been chilly last Easter at home when they had the pool to swim in and the gardens to wander; yet now, in this cramped little box with no outside space, the weather was glorious.
Nina took a little joy in flinging open the French windows every morning to let the day in.
She found herself waking naturally a little before her alarm.
She made sure the boys had pizza in the fridge or a casserole in the oven if she was going to be home late.
They managed. If anything, the responsibility was good for them.
Declan remained a little tight-lipped about his school days, still slightly unnerved by the unruly antics of his peers, but in his usual inimitable fashion, he made the best of it.
Connor veered between vociferously informing her how much he hated his school, his home, his life, and going very quiet.
It was hard to say which she preferred. All she could do was try to be accessible.
Her confidence was growing daily. The later shift would be a test for her – she was doing a practice run acting as manager, to see if she could handle the role in case Fiona ever had an emergency absence.
It was a big day for Connor, too: his official rugby trial.
He had been training hard; this was his big shot.
Nina, however, had to push her home life from her mind and concentrate.
An elderly lady in a wheelchair approached, pushed by a man.
‘I’m Jacob and this is my mum, Miss Molly,’ he said as they made their way into the impressive atrium.
She knew in advance that Miss Molly had been convalescing in hospital and that this was her first trip out in weeks.
She bent low to greet the elderly woman.
‘Welcome to Celandine Court. I’m Nina, and I will be showing you around today and helping you settle in. This must feel a bit daunting, but don’t worry, Miss Molly. I think you are going to love it here.’ She hoped she sounded convincing.
Molly’s head hung forward, her expression blank. Slowly the woman’s eyes flickered upwards towards the glass roof.
‘It’s quite something, isn’t it?’ Nina followed her eyeline up to the sky that was darkening.
‘Most people like to sit out here in the sun, but I can let you in to a little secret.’ She bent closer.
‘The best time to sit here is when it’s raining.
There is nothing like watching the raindrops hit the roof.
That’s much more interesting, don’t you think? ’
Nina walked alongside Molly’s chair as Jacob wheeled her from room to room, pointing out the positives in the pretty décor and spacious layout, and trying to distract her from the shouts of some of the residents or the loud television.
Not that Molly seemed to notice. Her son, however, seemed to jump at every new noise.
Nina smiled reassuringly at the man. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, with short dark hair.
He had a fat, bulky watch on his tanned arm, and carried an iPad and a phone in his hand, which rested against the handle of his mother’s wheelchair.
It reminded her of the kids, who couldn’t bear to be separated from their phones, and of Finn, who always needed to be connected to work.
‘Oi!’ Eliza, who sat alone at a table in the middle of the games room, called out to her.
‘Excuse me a moment, Miss Molly.’ She laid her hand on the old lady’s shoulder.
She walked over to the table and watched as the woman sorted through a packet of large cards that she laid face down. ‘Hi, Eliza.’
Eliza looked her up and down, as she always did, as if this were the first time they had met, and maybe for her it was. ‘D’you play cards then?’ she shouted.
‘I do, but very badly.’
‘All right then. I’ll play with you.’ Eliza tutted loudly, as though the very idea were an imposition to her.
‘That sounds great. Let me get Miss Molly settled, and I shall come down and join you – how about that?’
Eliza huffed. ‘Well, I won’t wait all night! I’ve got places I need to be, you know!’
At the end of their tour, Nina introduced Jacob and his mum to Alma, one of the senior care workers who came from the Philippines, as bossy as she was kind. Then Nina said her goodbyes and returned to find Eliza.
When Nina’s shift came to an end, she made her way up to the first floor to check on Miss Molly one last time.
The door to the room was ajar, but she hesitated before going in, spying Jacob sitting in the glow of lamplight, holding his mother’s hand.
The curtains were drawn and the room had an air of serenity.
‘You are going to be happy here, I can tell. And I will be in every single day to see you, I promise,’ he whispered.
She watched as Miss Molly closed her eyes and Jacob lifted the sheet up to her chin.
Her bowed, bulbous knuckles remained peeping over the edge of the bed linen and her fingers lightly touched the cotton; she seemed to take comfort from the soft edge.
Nina felt the same maternal pull for this old lady that she did when watching babies fall asleep, their vulnerability similar.
She was moved by the tender moment between mother and son. She thought of Connor.
‘Night-night, Miss Molly,’ Jacob whispered. ‘Sweet dreams, and I shall see you tomorrow.’
Nina made her way to the reception desk to sign out, smiling at Roy, the night guard, on the desk. Jacob appeared from the lift. He looked emotional.
‘She usually sleeps straight through, but if she doesn’t . . .’ He hesitated, as if not sure what he wanted to ask.
‘Is it her first night?’ Roy asked knowingly.
‘Yes, it’s ridiculous really, she’s been sleeping in a hospital for weeks, but that was okay for me because it was temporary. This feels a bit more permanent,’ he confessed.
‘Have you seen these?’ Nina leaned on the reception desk and pointed to a bank of televisions behind Roy’s desk.
Jacob leaned over and peered at the screens.
She watched him squint at monitors, where residents, some with carers, made their way along corridors or into the dining room, in another a resident had stopped for a sit-down in a chair by the lift on the first floor.
‘We have every square inch of communal area monitored, and Roy watches all night. There are also sensors in the halls that detect movement, as a double precaution. And if Roy isn’t watching, if he has a break or whatever, another member of staff sits here and monitors.
We have two nurses who make rounds. The first is at ten thirty and they do so every three hours, checking in.
I promise you, Miss Molly will be fine. And I guarantee she will sleep better than you. ’
‘I feel a bit like I am abandoning her.’ He gave a false laugh, as if to balance the display of sentiment.
‘I think a lot of people feel like that, and the residents that have someone to care about them in that way are very lucky.’ She thought of Eliza, who Nina had never seen to have a visitor.
‘She’s right,’ Roy agreed.
Jacob looked down at his feet. ‘I’d best be off, but thank you.
I do feel a bit reassured and I shall no doubt see you tomorrow.
’ Nina waved goodbye to Roy and left the building just after Jacob.
She stepped out in the cold, watching as he climbed into a shiny off-road pickup.
The diamond-lustre paintwork and smart leather upholstery reminded her of when she too had a flashy car to hop in and out of at will.
Jacob called out to her. ‘Do you need a lift anywhere?’
‘No! I’m only a short walk away. But thank you, that’s very kind.
’ She put her hands in her jacket pockets.
‘And try not to worry. They are a great team at Celandine Court and they will let you know exactly how your mum is faring. If they think she’s unhappy or needs a change to her care plan, they will let you know. You’re not doing this alone.’
Jacob fastened his seat belt. ‘Thank you for that. I suppose it’ll get easier, leaving her.’
‘It will.’ She nodded.
‘Do you live nearby?’ he asked through the open car door.
‘Yes, just in Portswood. How about you?’
‘On the marina, so a little drive, but to be honest it clears my head. Anyway, have a good evening.’
‘You too.’ She walked on ahead and heard the roar of the engine as he drove past. She didn’t look up. The sound made her think again of Finn and the noise that heralded his arrival, the gunmetal grey Mercedes E-Class that he so loved, the car in which he had died.
‘Hello, hello!’ Nina called out as she put her key in the door of the flat. Kicking off her shoes in the hallway, she listened carefully, wondering if she might be mistaken, but no, there it was: the unfamiliar sound of Connor’s laughter.
‘It’s true! I am telling you, Connor, you can see the Great Wall of China from space. I read it in my magazine,’ Declan insisted.
‘But’s it not true! And just because so many people say it is, doesn’t make it a fact. It’s just one of those things that is said so often that people believe it, like the misconception that all bats are blind. They are not. They all have eyes and are capable of sight.’
‘You are so wrong, Connor.’
‘I am not!’ the older brother shouted playfully. ‘And when you are ready to admit you’re wrong, I will accept your apology, but you need to do it in a public place for maximum impact.’
‘How public?’
‘Very public, and full of people we know,’ Connor fired back.
‘Hey, you two!’ she called, overjoyed to hear their interaction.
‘We’ve had supper,’ Declan announced, as if this in itself were an achievement. The scent of baked potatoes and ham still lingered in the flat.
‘How was it?’ she asked as she walked down the hall and sank into the sofa.
‘Good!’ Declan said.
‘And how was your try-out, Connor?’ She studied the smile that played about his mouth.