Page 56 of The Flowers of Bay C
Jodie, Amina and Kat stare at me.
‘What?’ Jodie says. She blinks and then gawps at me as I share Barbara’s news.
It might not be such a bad thing, I’m thinking. It really was a daft idea all along, after all. I mean, what were we thinking? Playing with the idea of taking a sick old woman to the beach in the middle of winter? We’ve been like schoolchildren gleefully planning to wag off lessons, but possibly never really intending to go through with it. I am bathed in a strange mixture of disappointment and relief. But mostly disappointment.
‘Well, we just have to delay her transport,’ Jodie says. ‘And anyway, everyone knows that when hospital transport is arranged for the morning it doesn’t come until late afternoon.’
True.
‘But that’s no good,’ I say. ‘What if they come when we’re out? We’ll be wasting their time and that’s unfair.’
Jodie’s shoulders sag.
Amina takes a deep breath in. ‘I know this might seem an out-there idea, but what about if we actually ask the nurses? Tell them of our plan?’
Jodie shakes her head. ‘Sister Harris’ll never have it. You know that.’
‘But I do not see another way. Maybe they will say it is a good idea, if we tell them we have it all planned out.’
‘They’re not going to say yes,’ I say.
Amina rubs her chin, staring at the ceiling, and we stare up at it too, gazing at the discoloured tiles, patches of damp crawling over the edges, one of the recessed tile lights flickering and sputtering. We sag together in defeated silence.
‘But what about if we just tell one?’ Amina says.
Jodie perks up. ‘What about Nicki?’
I shake my head. ‘She could lose her job. She’d want to help, wouldn’t she? She’d see this is what Barbara wants, but then she’d get in trouble for allowing it to happen and not letting any of the other staff know.’
Jodie puffs out her cheeks. ‘But we’re not doing anything wrong! We’re only going for a bit of fresh air.’
‘But it’s where we are going that’s the issue,’ I say. ‘You know that. Taking a vulnerable person off site. It’s not on, really.’
Kat has been sitting silently, her hands busy with a crochet hook and a half-finished blanket, wave after wave in all the colours of the sea and sky. Blues and greens, turquoise and purple. I gaze at it and wish I could swallow myself up in its liquid depths. She looks up at us, her hands stilled for seconds, crochet hook paused in mid-air. ‘We could at least ask Nicki or someone else what time the transport’s coming for her.’
‘They won’t know,’ I say.
‘They’ll know vaguely, won’t they?’
‘And then maybe we could say to them, could we just take her to the Peace Garden one more time?’ Jodie says.
‘It feels wrong,’ Isay.
Kane struts into the bay wearing a white Adidas tracksuit, working away at some chewing gum. ‘All right?’ he says to us, slumping down on Jodie’s bed and digging out his phone.
Jodie simpers apologetically at us and turns towards him, sitting down on her bed next to him. He shoves her over. ‘Can’t you go on the chair? You’re always hogging the bed.’
Kat raises her eyebrows at me.
Jodie does as she is commanded, obediently settling herself on her chair. ‘Sorry. Just a bit knackered. Wanted to put my feet up.’
‘Well, what else do you do all day in here? I’ve been out working, unlike some. Putting food on the table.’
Seriously, why does she take this?
Why did I take it?
Jodie looks down at her bunny slipper-clad feet. ‘Well, I am in hospital, to be fair.’ Her voice is small, the words hushed, almost like she doesn’t want him to hear but still can’t help saying them. She’s a faded version of herself around him, like someone’s been in and turned down her dimmer switch until her usual glow is so dulled it can barely be seen. But the glow hasn’t gone out altogether.
