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The picture starts to tremble in my hands, and I puff my cheeks out, setting it down carefully in its place. Jesus. They’re so young. Their whole life together in front of them.
Coughing my throat clear, I turn away from the collection of photographs, struggling to see Lo and Billy looking like completely different people. It’s gut-wrenching, for no other reason than their story is so fucking sad. I wander aimlessly down the corridor until I find myself in a kitchen. It’s there I find Boris looking a little perplexed. “Hey, boy.” I drop to my haunches and give him a little fuss. “Mum will be home soon.” I check his water bowl is full and head out, but the sound of a phone ringing stops me. I look across the kitchen and see Lo’s mobile on the countertop next to a set of keys. She’ll need them. I collect them up, seeing a London number flashing up on the screen. It could be a friend of theirs, and I’m sure Lo would want whoever it is to know what’s happened.
“Hello?” I answer as I make my way to the door.
“Mr. Harper?”
“No, he’s unavailable at the moment. Can I ask who’s calling?”
“My name is Derma Pierce. I’m an agent for DWS. I was speaking with Mrs. Harper earlier on her landline but we seem to have been cut off.”
My pace falters as I near my car. DWS. “As in the debt collecting company?”
“I’m sorry, who am I speaking with?”
“A friend of Mrs. Harper’s.”
“Is Mrs. Harper available, please?”
“No, she’s not.”
“Then I would be grateful if you could get her to return my call at her earliest convenience.”
I slide into my car and start it. Steve launches himself onto my lap, and I fight to get him back on the passenger seat. “I’m afraid Mrs. Harper won’t be available for a while,” I tell him firmly. “But, if you let me know the outstanding debt on her account, I will make a direct transfer on her behalf.”
“I’m afraid I can’t discuss the account without verbal or written confirmation from Mrs. Harper.”
“Then you’ll be waiting a while for your money.” I hang up and race across town to drop Steve home before heading to the hospital. I knew she had money problems, but debt collectors are bad news. They’re also relentless, as is proven when her phone starts ringing again. This time, I ignore it. Right now, Lo is all that matters.
It takes three nurses to finally tell me where I can find Billy Harper. I jog down the corridor of the hospital, my need to get to Lo urgent. I round corner after corner, scanning the dozens of signs on the walls for where I need to be. “It’s a fucking maze,” I curse, heading back the way I came.
I eventually locate the ward I need and push my way through the double doors. A huge bottle of clear liquid hangs by the entrance with a prominent red sign telling me to sanitize my hands. I squirt some into my palm and start massaging it in as I stride toward the nurses’ station. “I’m looking for Billy Harper,” I breathe, out of breath after my run around the hospital.
“Are you a relative, sir?”
“A friend.”
“I’m afraid only close family are permitted outside of visiting hours.”
I feel irritation start to bubble. “I’m not leaving until you tell his wife that I’m here,” I say lowly, leaning over the desk.
The nurse coughs and looks over her shoulder, where a sign states that abuse toward staff is a criminal offence. Abuse? “I’m merely stating a fact,” I point out, trying to calm myself down. “I would be grateful if—” My planned, more diplomatic request diminishes when I see Lo exit a door at the end of the ward. “Lo,” I whisper, not possibly loud enough for her to hear me, but she glances straight up at me nevertheless. She looks utterly exhausted, ready to collapse. Her bottom lip starts shaking, along with the rest of her body. My legs are running toward her before I can even think to hold back, her body visibly folding before my eyes, and I just catch her before she crumbles to the floor. She collapses into my arms on a wretched sob, and I squeeze her frail body close, sinking my face into her neck. “I’m here,” I assure her, absorbing the jerks from her crying. “I’m here now.”
She breaks down on me, clinging to me with what little strength she has left, as I gently hush her, whispering comforting words in her ear. “I’m not going anywhere, darling.”
“Please don’t.” Her plea slices me in two. “Please don’t leave me.”
I let her cry for as long as she needs to, looking through the window into the room where Billy is unconscious on the bed, a drip pumping him with meds.
