We spent Christmas together at Mum’s, the whole family. And I didn’t call when I got back because…well, life, I suppose. Actually, probably, work. Things get surprisingly busy in hospitals around the festive season.
Joe isn’t impressed. “Hmph. Right, well, just so you know, Mum started checking the traffic news for crashes, so…make of that what you will.”
“Listen, Joe, I need your advice. Something has come up. But you’ve got to promise me you won’t tell Mum, all right?”
“What are we—seven?” he chuckles.
“I need you not to tell her, Joe, please?” There’s urgency in my voice and his smile fades slightly.
“What is it, Em?” he asks, instantly serious.
“I’ve been offered a new job and I don’t know if I should do it, or even if I want to do it yet, so I don’t want you mentioning it to her. I don’t want her to worry about it. I don’t want her going through anything she doesn’t have to….But—I might have to go back to Norfolk.”
His gaze hardens at the word.
“Why?” he asks bluntly.
It’s a good question.
If I didn’t have his full attention before, I have it now. He stares at me grimly, as if he’s seen a ghost. And in a way he has. We don’t talk about the past; all of that got left behind with the house.
“It’s a job opportunity, Joe. A big one. Have you seen the news?”
He’s silent for a moment before he speaks.
“Er, yes, I have. Why? Which story? This isn’t to do with the dead girl on Hampstead Heath, is it?” He looks away, rubs his eyes, suddenly tired.
What dead girl on Hampstead Heath? God, another thing I haven’t even heard about. And Hampstead Heath isn’t too far from my apartment either. I really need to start watching the news.
“No, it’s nothing to do with a girl on Hampstead Heath. Joe, they found a man on a beach near Holkham. They have no idea who he is, or where he’s come from, and neither does he apparently. Like the Piano Man, in Kent. You remember him, right?”
“The guy on the news? You mean Matthew, right? Yeah! That’s happening in Holkham, is it? Jesus! I thought this one was in Kent too. Shit. Must have got those two stories mixed up in my head. Yeah, I’ve seen the story. Yeah, Matthew’s such a weird story.”
Wait! Matthew?
“Hang on, Joe. What do you meanMatthew? Are you saying the guy on the beach is someone named Matthew? How do you know that?”
Joe scowls, baffled by my flurry of questions.
“Joe, nobody knows what his name is, or who he is, that’s the point of them hiring me! I mean, they’re calling him Mr. Nobody, so how the hell do you know what his real name is?” Literally everyone seems to know more about my potential patient than I do.
“What are you talking about, Em? Matthew’s not hisactualname, that’s what they’re calling him at the hospital. I guess they can’t call him Mr. Nobody in a hospital, can they? Apparently, this nurse just started calling him Matthew and it stuck. I suppose they’ve got to call him something, but it’s all a bit, well, a bit stupid, to be honest.” Joe rumples his hair. “They called him Matthew because apparently somethingoddhappened in the hospital,” he says skeptically. “I dunno.” He studies my face and puts two and two together. “You’re seriously thinking about taking this job and you haven’t even researched it yet, have you?”
My brother can read me like a book. “No. No, I have not,” I admit tentatively.
“Let me guess, because ofwork?”
“Yes. Work. That is correct.”
He sighs. “Well, Emmy, you’re in for a treat when you finally do get around to it; it’s an absolute shit show up there. Get googling. The press are already camped out all over Kings Lynn. It’s a media circus. That Piano Man case on crack. Oh, andMatthewmeans ‘gift from God,’ by the way, just so you know the level of crazy we’re working on here.” He studies me, disapproval written large across his lovely face. He sighs again, loudly. “I’d say run a nautical mile from this crap, but something tells me you’ve already made your mind up and you just want me to agree with you. Don’t you?”
I smile penitently. “Yeah, I think you’re right, Joe. I think I do.” There’s no use lying to him. I’ve never been able to anyway.
“Can you handle going back, though, Em? Seriously. I mean, really, can you handle it? I know you’ll say you can and you’ll make it work somehow, but could you?”
“If I’m honest? I don’t know, Joe. I won’t know until I get there, I suppose. But I have to give it a try, don’t I?”
“No. No, you don’t have to give it a try, Em. Sometimes you can just let things go. Let an opportunity go, if it’s not right for you. Sometimes it’s not a test, or a challenge or whatever….Sometimes it’s just you, pushing yourself too far.”
