Page 28 of The Flowers of Bay C
She calls him Mr Hot Vicar when he’s not there, and Kat always laughs and says yeah, he is.
Nate whirls around and proudly holds up a large fluffy brown thing. It’s a Chewbacca onesie, complete with ears on its hood.
‘Cool,’ Jake says.
‘I thought you’d be chilly,’ Nate says to Kat, turning back to her and laying Chewbacca on the bed. ‘You having pneumonia and everything.’
Kat laughs, a raw, tired chuckle. Then she pulls him close and snuggles into his neck. Jodie whistles.
‘Have you felt the temperature in here?’ Kat says.
Nate shrugs. ‘Just wanted to make you feel better.’
‘I know.’ She kisses him. ‘You’re adorable. But please take Chewie home with you. He’d boil me alive in this place.’
Okay, he says, but when he eventually goes Chewbacca is still strewn across the bed, Kat cuddling him close to her and waving to her husband. I love you, he says, I love you too, she says, and I wish I knew a love that would bring me a Chewbacca onesie in hospital.
‘You’ve got a gem there,’ Jodie says to Kat.
‘What’s that even supposed to be?’ says Violet, gesturing at Chewie with her eyebrows knit together. ‘Is it one of those fur rugs?’
Jodie and Jake snort in unison.
Barbara is awake in her corner, her eyes fixed intently on the onesie, and I am sad for her, with no one to visit her, no one to see how she is. I reproach myself for being jealous of Kat. I have a son who loves me in his own gruff way, I have friends and family who aren’t always ideal but are still there for me. Barbara has no one.
‘It’s the rat,’ she says, pointing with a withered finger. Her chest crackles so loudly I wonder if her ribs might splatter into tiny pieces. ‘It’s going to get the mouse.’
‘Big rat,’ Jake whispers, and I shush him.
Barbara’s voice is higher, quavery. ‘Get the rat out of here!’
Kat walks over to her, slow, stumbling, wobbly steps, clutching the onesie. ‘See, Barbara, it’s just some daft pyjamas my husband brought in. I’m never going to wear this in here, am I? Silly sod.’
Violet’s mouth is agape and I can read the thoughts on her face. The vicar said sod!
Barbara reaches out her hand and touches the onesie tentatively. ‘The rat’s not here?’
‘No, darling, the rat’s not here.’ Kat sits down on Barbara’s chair, laying Chewie on her lap. Barbara keeps her hand on the material, stroking up and down.
‘Willyoutake me to the seaside?’ she says.
Chapter 9
Dr Chowdhury is pleased with me the next morning. ‘You’ve been up, I hear?’
‘Well, as far as the bathroom.’
‘Good, good.’ He strokes his chin. ‘Everything is mainly heading the right way, although your temperature is still a little high.’
‘Oh.’
‘You should keep going on little walks. It will help your circulation and strengthen you a bit.’
I know I should, but my body heaves a great sigh at the thought of it.
‘I’ll ask the physiotherapist to come by again today,’ he says. ‘Get you clearing a bit more again. And a bit of moving, today, perhaps to the garden?’
The Peace Garden seems a million miles and another lifetime away, but in reality it’s only round the corner. And if Jodie and Violet can manage it, then I can, too.
