‘I thought it would be this big moment, you know? We would all be around her bed and she would reach out and we would touch and hug and cry. I didn’t think she would be in a foul mood and have no memory of Leon.’
Spencer laughed a little. ‘I think you have seen too many movies.’
‘Maybe.’
‘Do you want her to remember Leon?’ asked Spencer.
‘I’m not sure if I want her to remember him if he was the one who caused this,’ said Violetta.
They all sat in silence. Then Carlotta stood up and kissed Spencer on the cheek. ‘I’m going to go for a walk. Let me know if anything changes.’
Spencer smiled. ‘Go, it’s been a big day for you.’
Carlotta left the hospital and walked out onto the busy street. Where could she go? She glanced at her wristwatch. Five o’clock. She stood on the street, wondering what to do when she heard a voice behind her. ‘Can I walk with you a while?’
She smiled as she turned. ‘I am so fucking glad to see you,’ she said to Chris, in his large black overcoat.
‘I thought a girl might need a friend at a time like this.’
Carlotta nodded and then started to cry and Chris held her tight as she sobbed. He held her as he ushered her towards his car, which he had double-parked at the front of the hospital.
‘Hop in,’ he ordered as he opened the door.
‘Home,’ he said.
And Carlotta sat back as he drove them towards his house.
*
Grace awoke with a thumping headache. She tried to read the time on her phone, which was next to her bed. Seven o’clock in the morning? That can’t be right.
Sitting up in bed, she felt violently ill and lay back down again. She took a deep breath, sat up again and closed her eyes, waiting for the dizziness to subside.
She stood up and walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Why was she sleeping in her clothes? She undressed carefully, each movement hurt her body and she stood shivering, waiting for the water to warm up. Stepping into the shower, she let the water run over her and she washed her head, feeling as though she had pins and needles in her scalp.
A tentative knock at the door made her scream. ‘Who is it?’ she yelled.
‘It’s Thea.’
Thea? Why was Thea in her apartment? She turned off the shower and pulled on her robe. Dripping wet, she opened the door.
‘What are you doing here, Thea?’ she asked.
‘Violetta asked me to come, to make sure you were all right,’ said Thea, looking at the floor. She had known Grace since she was a baby but from what Violetta had said about her behaviour, this was not the Grace she knew.
‘What? Why wouldn’t I be all right? What’s going on Thea?’ Grace asked, as she walked in past her and went to her kitchen. She opened her cupboards and then the dishwasher. ‘Where are all my glasses and cups?’ she demanded.
Thea looked at her oddly. ‘They were broken, yesterday,’ she said, trying to remind Grace.
‘Broken? Who broke them?’ asked Grace furious.
Thea frowned. Violetta hadn’t warned her about this type of behaviour.
‘Who broke them?’ asked Grace again.
‘You did.’
‘What?’
