Page 16 of The Girls in the Lake
‘Jodie?’ he replied, squinting at her in the dim room. Something was very wrong. ‘Is that you?’
The words hung in the air for a moment before she pointed to the chair next to the bed.
‘Have a seat.’
Shocked, he forced his feet to walk towards the chair and sat down, taking in the dark shadows under her eyes, her pinched cheeks and the lines on her forehead that hadn’t been there a couple of months ago.
‘What’s happened?’
‘Leukaemia,’ she said quietly.
He felt his head shake. ‘How?’
‘Christ knows, but look at the state of my fucking hair.’
‘I always said you would suit short hair.’ He smiled, limply.
She laughed and for a moment she looked like the feisty girl he’d married all those years ago.
‘You always did know the right thing to say.’
He shrugged. ‘Got to try, haven’t you.’
This made her laugh again, and he joined in. The nurse popped her head around the door at the commotion and nodded in approval at the scene. Jodie waved at her, and she winked and left them to catch up.
‘I told her you might still be mad at me for being such a complete bitch to you.’
‘It wasn’t all your fault. I worked too much and didn’t give you enough attention. You remember; not enough staff and too much crime.’
‘You care too much about people, Josh. That’s not a bad thing, it really isn’t. I just used to get jealous that you spent more time with your victims than you did me. I was stupid.’
He realised she was being sincere and reached out for her hand. ‘We both were.’
She nodded, squeezing back.
‘I’m sorry. I know you’re busy and I don’t expect you to say yes, but I have a favour to ask. You can say no. Please don’t agree to it because I look a state and you feel sorry for me. I mean, I do look a state, but I’m not trying to guilt trip you in any way.’
She paused.
‘Go on.’
‘I want to go home. I hate it in here. Don’t get me wrong, the staff are lovely, but like Dorothy said inThe Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”. Only I can’t because I have no one to check in on me. Last time I messed my meds up and ended up taking too many. They said I can only leave when they’ve sorted out someone who can come and check on me a couple of times a week and help with my meds. Can I tell them you’ll do it? I don’t expect you to; I’ll be fine on my own and I’ll be careful, but you just need to make them believe.’
‘What about Carl? Will he not help?’
She shook her head. ‘Carl was a mistake; as soon as I told him I might be ill it was over. He wanted a good time, not the baggage that went with it.’
Josh felt even more anger towards the man than he already did. He’d caused such a huge mess and hadn’t even had the decency to stick around.
‘He’s an idiot. So you want me to lie and say that I’m helping you when I’m not?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘I can’t do that, Jodie. What if something happens to you?’
Tears filled her eyes. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.’
‘No, I don’t mean that I won’t do it. I’m just not going to say I’m helping you, and not help you. I’ll only say it if you let me do it. I can pop in, sort your tablets out, pick up some shopping, whatever you need. We might not live together any more, and I know it all went horribly wrong, but I still care about you.’
