‘Sheisputting him first!’ Annie said, taking hold of Orla’s hand. Partly to offer her solidarity, partly to stop Orla committing physical abuse towards a member of hospital staff, which the signs assured us would not be tolerated under any circumstances. ‘Surely he’ll recover better if he’s at home, surrounded by his family. Who love him.’
‘We can arrange for him to receive treatment as an outpatient; however, it is essential that you are aware that his state of mind is extremely fragile. And if there has been an underlying issue with alcohol dependency, then you need to be prepared to deal with potential mood swings, difficult behaviour, poor choices regarding his self-care—’
‘What, and he didn’t have to deal with all that from me through three nightmare pregnancies?’ Orla was practically yelling now.
‘Mrs Peterson, I appreciate that you want to do whatever you can for your husband, but we must stick to reality. Your husband has experienced a period of extreme mental distress.’
‘Well, that makes two of us, then. And sticking to reality is exactly what I’m doing. The reality is, I vowed for better or worse. He’s coming home with me.’
‘Well,’ said the either very brave or slightly stupid doctor, ‘I will bear your input in mind, but perhaps we allow Mr Peterson to make the final decision.’
* * *
That evening the Donovan sisters gathered in a pub a short walk from the hospital for an impromptu Non-Wednesday Wine. Sofia had joined us, leaving Moses and Paolo babysitting the kids. Mum had offered to watch them, but she was exhausted enough from having to do without our help for a week, and we didn’t want Dad left alone for the evening with all this going on.
‘Fill me in on the meeting,’ Sofia said, squashed up on a padded bench beside Annie and Bridget.
‘Orla ignored the doctor’s advice and said she’s taking Sam home instead of letting him go to a rehab place,’ Bridget replied, her sisterly solidarity somewhat lessened now we were alone.
‘I’mnotnot letting him go!’ snapped Orla, who like Sofia had chosen Coke instead of wine. ‘But him being off in some facility in Birmingham isn’t going to help. Sam got drunk and fell because we had a fight about me going out and I dangled in his face who I was going out with. He was depressed and stressed and I didn’t know, so I made it tons worse. The reason for the fight is over; he’s taking a break from work. I’ve searched the house and there’s no evidence of any hidden alcohol stash. It was us not facing things together that caused this. I’m not going to let that happen again.’
We filled Sofia in on the rest of the meeting, including Annie’s startling admission about sticking around, which it turned out even her twin had known nothing about.
‘Is everyone just resigning from their jobs?’ Sofia asked, somewhat exasperated. ‘How’s that going to work out long-term?’
‘I’m self-employed,’ Annie huffed back. ‘It’ll take no time at all to build up the business again once I’m back. Besides, my husband is loaded, remember? The bills’ll still get paid.’
‘And what does Greg think about you ditching everything and turning a week-long visit into an indefinite one?’
Annie shifted on the bench, her elbow knocking into Bridget. ‘He knows how important my family are to me.’
‘You haven’t told him.’ I gaped.
Annie grew very engrossed in faffing with her fringe for a moment. ‘He’s currently working on a thing at the Singapore office. I’ll tell him once he’s back, and we know a bit more about what’s happening.’
‘How long is the thing?’ Bridget asked, frowning as a message pinged through to her phone. ‘I have to go,’ she said, tapping off a quick reply. ‘A lab emergency.’
‘Ooh, is it a radioactive leak?’ Sofia wondered. ‘Or a massive explosion?’
‘More likely the rats have escaped,’ Annie said.
‘Prof’s forgotten to tell anyone that the funding donors are visiting first thing tomorrow. There’s no way they can see the labs in their current state. The mess is one thing, but the ceiling tiles hanging off and the defaced health and safety posters don’t quite say “successful neuroscientific research laboratory”.’
‘So, Emma.’ Annie turned pointedly to me as soon as Bridget had left. ‘How’s married life? Spent one night with Cooper and then decided to move into Orla’s? That must have been a night to remember.’
‘That’s not fair,’ Sofia warned.
‘Well, that appears to be no longer a problem, seeing as you’ve offered to move in. I’ll let Cooper know I’ll be home later tonight.’ I took a defiant swig of wine.
Only, in the end I completely forgot about messaging Cooper, as to all of our astonishment, our mother suddenly barrelled through the pub door.
‘What is this?’ she asked, assessing the evidence. ‘A family gathering without me?’
‘No, Mother, that would never happen,’ Annie muttered under her breath.
‘We were all here for the meeting with the doctor, and thought Orla could use a breather,’ Sofia added, ever the peacemaker.
‘Hmm.’ Mum eyed the glasses of wine, as if mentally filing away which of her wild daughters were chocking back booze on a weeknight within a stone’s throw of a hospital. ‘Well. I heard about your crazy plan, Orla, and I decided it was time we have a talk.’
