‘What shall we do about Mum?’ he asks, picturing his mother in the care home, oblivious to what is unfolding in the family. Oblivious to most things, nowadays.
‘I’ll try to pop in later, but I won’t tell her yet,’ Liam says. ‘She’s so confused, it’ll just frighten her. I’ll fill her in on all the mountain rescues instead,’ he says with a wry smile. Their mother has a habit of confusing them. She has done it since they were boys, but whereas she used to be able to correct herself quickly, these days she can have entire conversations with one son pretending to be the other. Liam finds it amusing, but Liam handles most of life’s difficulties with irreverent humour. Callum is envious of this trait – his mother’s slow degeneration is nothing but depressing to him.
‘Is there anything else I can do?’ he asks eventually. ‘Any practical jobs I could help with?’
Liam sighs. ‘Can you go and check on Arthur – if he’s hungry he’s probably barking and driving poor Mrs Fletcher mad.’
‘Of course – I’ll take him back to my place. Anything else?’
‘Well, could you take Maddie and give her a break? She’s been hanging around here with us all day, and I’m not sure it’s doing her any good. She can either stay with you tonight, or I can collect her when I pick up some bits and pieces from home later.’
‘That’s fine,’ Callum says. ‘She can stay with us for as long as she wants – whatever helps – don’t worry about that. And I can get things for you from home if you need them.’
‘It should be okay. They’re expecting Sophia to come round in the next couple of hours, and once I’ve seen her wake up I’ll go home and take a shower. Then it’ll be a matter of trying to get Helene to do the same. Her nerves are shot – she’s questioning the doctors about everything, worried they might have missed some other injury. She keeps going on and on about internal bleeding. One of the nurses slipped her some valium last night, I think they just wanted a break from her.’ Liam attempts a chuckle, and Callum sees a hint of his boisterous brother. ‘That’s why she was dozing when you came in, the drugs finally knocked her out, god bless her. But we’d better get back, I don’t want to leave them alone for too long.’
Callum drains the rest of his drink and follows his brother out of the cafeteria, glad that Liam knows the way back through the twisting labyrinth of corridors. When they reach the room, Helene has moved to the edge of the bed and is stroking Sophia’s hand. Liam goes across to Maddie.
‘Uncle Cal is going to take you home for a while,’ he says. ‘You can either stay there, or if you want to come back, then I’ll pick you up when I come home for supplies.’
Maddie looks at Sophia for a long time as though weighing up whether or not to argue. But eventually she nods, gets up and grabs her bag.
After a round of goodbyes, Callum goes across and gives Sophia a peck on the cheek. ‘Georgia sends all her love,’ he whispers in his niece’s ear. Then he turns to go.
Their way is blocked by a doctor, accompanied by a security guard. As they step into the room, the doctor closes the door gently behind him.
‘What’s this?’ Liam asks warily.
‘We would like to speak to you about an incident,’ the security guard begins, his voice hushed, the doctor solemn behind him. ‘We need to be discreet, so please keep your voices low. Would you mind stepping outside with us for a minute?’
‘I’ll stay with Sophia,’ Callum offers immediately, and Liam frowns at him, then nods.
The security guard opens the door. ‘You too, Mrs Turner,’ he says to Helene, who gives Callum an uncertain glance as she follows them.
Callum watches through the slatted blinds of the interior window as the group huddle together, the security guard talking fast. He shows Liam and Helene something on an iPad, and they both stare at it for a while and then look back at him. One at a time, they shake their heads. Callum sees his brother put a protective arm around his wife as the security guard continues to talk.
Beside Callum, Maddie looks on. The doctor leaves, but the security guard remains with them. Liam says something to Helene, then Helene leans against his chest, seeming to take deep breaths, before righting herself and nodding to him.
They step back inside the room. Before Maddie can ask anything, Liam shakes his head as though he doesn’t want to talk.
‘Dad!’ she snaps.
He beckons her and Callum outside as Helene goes back to Sophia and takes her hand.
‘Can you explain this to them?’ Liam asks the security guard once the door has been gently closed.