AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Of course.’
‘I should also warn you that she gets confused at times. It varies. She can be very lucid, but there are times she thinks I’m my father. At other times I am ten, or...’ He ran a finger around his shirt collar. ‘She can be a little personal.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘I apologise in advance.’
They drove on in silence. Roula twisted a strand of hair that had escaped rather than bite her nails. They passed the very police station where she had given the statement that would condemn her brother.
‘We’re here,’ Galen said.
There were no care homes on Anapliró, but even so, this was not how Roula had envisaged one. Really, it was more like stepping into a five-star hotel from a glossy magazine. There were glamorous elders chatting in a lounge to one side, as if taking high tea, and there was even someone playing the piano.
‘Galen!’ A very sprightly man held up his stick.
‘Sir!’ Galen nodded.
The staff were all immaculate, though they appeared a little surprised to see him.
‘Galen! We weren’t expecting you today.’
‘This is Roula,’ Galen introduced her. ‘From Monday you will be liaising with her.’
‘Of course. It’s nice to meet you.’
‘Likewise.’ Roula smiled, and listened as they brought Galen up to date.
‘Kupia Florakis is still refusing to dress and is really quite distressed. We are about to give her something a little stronger than her usual medication. Would you like me to take you through?’
‘I know the way.’
He was coming across as abrupt—but then, Roula recalled, that was Galen. He dealt in facts and of course he didn’t need an escort.
‘How often do you manage to visit?’ she asked, assuming from the staff’s evident surprise that his appearances here were rare.
She had assumed wrong, Roula quickly realised.
‘I try to take coffee with her most days during the week, though I don’t generally come on a Friday. I prefer to work uninterrupted over the weekend.’
Roula was shocked when she saw Kupia Florakis dressed in her nightwear and standing rubbing the window, as if to clear it, as two staff tried to tempt her to a chair.
Gosh, she was so tiny. Or was it that Galen was so tall as he walked over to her?
‘Hey...’ he said, joining her at the window.
‘It’s gone!’ Even her voice had shrunk.
‘It hasn’t gone,’ Galen said.
‘It’s all disappeared into the sea...’
‘No, no...’ Galen gently refuted. ‘I work over there.’ He pointed. ‘And you are here so that I can see you more.’
Her room was beautiful, and there were multiple photos on the shelves, but Roula’s eyes were drawn to one of Galen in his military uniform. Her gaze darted away, back to where Galen was now guiding hisyaya.
‘Come and sit. I have someone for you to meet.’
She ran a hand over the arm his dark suit. ‘Are you here for a funeral?’
