up, his pulse taken.
‘Where am I?’
‘You’re in the hospital, Sir Arthur. You’ve had a little turn.’ The face metamorphosed into ten-year old, Doctor Jason Hargreaves. ‘But don’t worry, we’ll have you up and about in no time and home again.’
He turned away for a moment to repeat his reassurances. ‘Don’t worry, Lady Robinson, you’ll be able to take him home again soon.’ Oh please God, no ...not with Ferna.
Arthur wished they’d all go away and leave him in blessed peace. Weariness slackened his muscles. Somewhere a machine beeped. His limbs felt so heavy, all he wanted to do was sleep.
As he drifted into unconsciousness again, he recalled Edna’s death in the Close Observation Ward and hoped he wasn’t occupying the very bed she’d died on.
But of course, he was.
CHAPTER 12
The Turning of a Worm
Marli
Tuesday: morning.
M arli always reckoned her sister, Brittany, stuffed her thumb in Marli’s mouth instead of her own before they were born, because she’d been shutting her up since they started to talk. The night before was no exception. She’d rung to tell her about meeting their father, David. Brit became ominously quiet before lashing into her, citing everything she thought Marli had done wrong all her life and finished with an ultimatum.
‘You’re not to go near him, Marli, do you hear me? Otherwise, I’ll never speak to you again.’
‘Why not?’ Marli felt hurt and utterly bewildered. She had thought Brit would at least be interested. ‘Don’t you want to find out what he’s like? And why he didn’t want to be with us?’
‘No. Like, what’s the point?’
‘But–’
‘ Harry, is our dad,’ Brit snapped, ‘and our loyalty is to him . He’s the one who brought us up. That creep didn’t even want to know us. Like, if we weren’t good enough for him when we were babies, why should we drop everything and let him see us now? And anyway, I’m not going to upset dad by seeing this–David–so you can for-get a great hearts and flowers reunion. Okay?’
‘But Brit, we need to give him a chance, he’s really nice ... we don’t really know what went on after Mum broke up with him.’ She didn’t dare tell her sister about her mother’s confession. Brit would go ballistic and twist things around so that she, Marli, would be to blame for everything.
True to form, her sister honed in on her thoughts. ‘If mother has told you anything about him, it’s all lies. She’d say anything to get herself out of the firing line. Look what she did to Dad! I hate her, and as for him –they deserve each other. So don’t you even think about going near him! I’m telling you, Marli, if you do, I’m never going to speak to you again!’
‘You can’t tell me what to do!’
‘Yes, I can.’ The phone went dead.
Marli didn’t know what to do. Disappointment and anger intermingled with the realisation that her own opinions and feelings didn’t matter to the one person she loved more than anyone else in the world, her identical twin. ‘She hung up on me! Brit actually hung up on me.’
Tears welled up and oozed down her cheeks, but she lacked the energy to wipe them away. All the excitement of seeing David and being privy to their mother’s story disappeared like water soaking into sand. ‘Doesn’t he at least deserve a chance?’ If she told her mother what Brit had done, she knew all hell would break loose and it would make the situation worse.
She finally went to bed and cried herself to sleep. When she awoke in the morning, it was with a steely core of determination building inside. She’d boasted she was adult and been trusted with her mother’s secrets, so now she’d need to act like it. She hurried to dress, make the bed, feed her pet rats and clean their cage before breakfast.
She was hungry, but indecision had her firmly in its grip. Somehow plain cereal and fruit didn’t seem to cut it. Then she saw it. Happy food. She dragged the plate of jam
‘Where am I?’
‘You’re in the hospital, Sir Arthur. You’ve had a little turn.’ The face metamorphosed into ten-year old, Doctor Jason Hargreaves. ‘But don’t worry, we’ll have you up and about in no time and home again.’
He turned away for a moment to repeat his reassurances. ‘Don’t worry, Lady Robinson, you’ll be able to take him home again soon.’ Oh please God, no ...not with Ferna.
Arthur wished they’d all go away and leave him in blessed peace. Weariness slackened his muscles. Somewhere a machine beeped. His limbs felt so heavy, all he wanted to do was sleep.
As he drifted into unconsciousness again, he recalled Edna’s death in the Close Observation Ward and hoped he wasn’t occupying the very bed she’d died on.
But of course, he was.
CHAPTER 12
The Turning of a Worm
Marli
Tuesday: morning.
M arli always reckoned her sister, Brittany, stuffed her thumb in Marli’s mouth instead of her own before they were born, because she’d been shutting her up since they started to talk. The night before was no exception. She’d rung to tell her about meeting their father, David. Brit became ominously quiet before lashing into her, citing everything she thought Marli had done wrong all her life and finished with an ultimatum.
‘You’re not to go near him, Marli, do you hear me? Otherwise, I’ll never speak to you again.’
‘Why not?’ Marli felt hurt and utterly bewildered. She had thought Brit would at least be interested. ‘Don’t you want to find out what he’s like? And why he didn’t want to be with us?’
‘No. Like, what’s the point?’
‘But–’
‘ Harry, is our dad,’ Brit snapped, ‘and our loyalty is to him . He’s the one who brought us up. That creep didn’t even want to know us. Like, if we weren’t good enough for him when we were babies, why should we drop everything and let him see us now? And anyway, I’m not going to upset dad by seeing this–David–so you can for-get a great hearts and flowers reunion. Okay?’
‘But Brit, we need to give him a chance, he’s really nice ... we don’t really know what went on after Mum broke up with him.’ She didn’t dare tell her sister about her mother’s confession. Brit would go ballistic and twist things around so that she, Marli, would be to blame for everything.
True to form, her sister honed in on her thoughts. ‘If mother has told you anything about him, it’s all lies. She’d say anything to get herself out of the firing line. Look what she did to Dad! I hate her, and as for him –they deserve each other. So don’t you even think about going near him! I’m telling you, Marli, if you do, I’m never going to speak to you again!’
‘You can’t tell me what to do!’
‘Yes, I can.’ The phone went dead.
Marli didn’t know what to do. Disappointment and anger intermingled with the realisation that her own opinions and feelings didn’t matter to the one person she loved more than anyone else in the world, her identical twin. ‘She hung up on me! Brit actually hung up on me.’
Tears welled up and oozed down her cheeks, but she lacked the energy to wipe them away. All the excitement of seeing David and being privy to their mother’s story disappeared like water soaking into sand. ‘Doesn’t he at least deserve a chance?’ If she told her mother what Brit had done, she knew all hell would break loose and it would make the situation worse.
She finally went to bed and cried herself to sleep. When she awoke in the morning, it was with a steely core of determination building inside. She’d boasted she was adult and been trusted with her mother’s secrets, so now she’d need to act like it. She hurried to dress, make the bed, feed her pet rats and clean their cage before breakfast.
She was hungry, but indecision had her firmly in its grip. Somehow plain cereal and fruit didn’t seem to cut it. Then she saw it. Happy food. She dragged the plate of jam
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