Page 2 of The Side Road
Saige peered into the bag of socks. ‘I get to choose?’
‘Yes. But customers come first.’ Mia opened her phone and called Carlos, the local taxi driver. The town was too small to support an Uber business.
Forty minutes later,Mia entered the emergency ward of the regional medical centre. An attendant showed her to a cubicle where her Uncle Leo waited, perched on the edge of the bed. A dishevelled, good-looking man in his seventies, Leo had a wiry smile and the same optimistic blue eyes as Mia.
Beside him was Blanche, Mia’s aunt by marriage. Five years ago, in a modest registry ceremony, Blanche had married Leo. The couple met at a regional dance competition. Leo’s waltz had impressed her. Six months later, he proposed. After buying a small Federation house, they settled in a neighbouring town.
Blanche held a blood-soaked towel over Leo’s knee. She wore a black pantsuit under a yellow cardigan. Her blond hair was tucked behind her ears, and chunky sunglasses rested on her forehead. When she saw Mia, her cautious expression softened into an amused, friendly smile.
After Mia kissed her aunt on the cheek, she removed the sunglasses and handed them to Blanche.
‘Thank you. I would have forgotten.’
‘Tell me again, what happened?’ Mia asked.
‘It’s nothing serious.’ Leo waved Mia away. ‘You’re not needed. You can go back to work.’
‘He put a frozen chicken under his hat,’ Blanche said. ‘The cold gave him brain freeze, and he passed out.’
‘Why would you put a chicken…’
‘He was trying to smuggle it out of the supermarket.’
Mia considered her uncle. ‘Are you losing your mind?’
‘I don’t think so. By god, I almost got away with it.’
‘We’re still waiting to see the doctor. This room is giving me agoraphobia. There’s a kitchen across the hall; I’ll make us a cup of tea.’ Blanche handed the blood-soaked towel to Mia and walked toward the door.
‘She means claustrophobia,’ Leo said, his gaze on his wife as she left the room. ‘Now that we’re alone, I should tell you I hit my head on the way down, but I haven’t told them, so it’s our secret.’
Mia sat next to her uncle and stared at the side of his head. ‘You might have a concussion.’
‘I feel fine.’ He patted her knee.
Blanche returned with takeaway cups filled with scalding-hot tea. ‘I could only carry two cups,’ she explained. ‘Leo and I can share.’ After placing them on a high mobile table, she wheeled it closer so Leo could reach the cup.
‘Actually, I’m glad you’re here because we wanted to have a chat with you about freezing your eggs,’ Blanche said.
Mia choked on her tea.
‘Just give it some thought. Meredith’s daughter is your age, and she’s done it. We think it’s something you should consider.’
‘Along with my hair colour.’
‘You’re making light of a serious subject.’ Blanche blew into the cup of tea.
‘I’ve always loved a dark comedy.’
‘Dark comedy aside, you know what we mean? The success rate of pregnancy from frozen eggs is low – I did some reading – but it’s still a good backup plan. Just in case…’
‘Are we really having this conversation in theemergency ward?’
Leo smiled. ‘She’s lovely when she’s angry, isn’t she?’ Heturned to Blanche. ‘If we sold her, how much do you think we’d get?’
Blanche slipped on a pair of reading glasses and looked Mia over. ‘I’m not taking anything under a million.’
‘We’ll need that much to get through our retirement.’ Under the table, Leo tickled Blanche’s knee, and she giggled.
