Unsuitable

“Mia is safe, Audrey. She’s with Esther. She’s not here. She’s with your mother. You’ve been very sick. You’re in the hospital. But you’re going to be well again. I’m Dr Barber and this is your nurse, Ronin. We’ve been looking after you.”

“Reece, where is Reece?” Mia should be with Reece. He wouldn’t let her cry. Oh, her head hurt so much. Too much to keep her eyes open.

“She’s asking for Reece. Do we know who Reece is?”

Why didn’t they know? Where was Reece? Where was Mia?

“No. Oh wait. Yes, he’s the guy who keeps ringing the nurse’s station.”

“We’ll find Reece, Audrey. Your mother is here.”

“No.” It hurts too much.

“Do you want to see your mother?”

“No.” Only Mia. Mia and Reece. She was so tired, so very tired.

The next time Audrey opened her eyes she was alone. It was dark, but there was enough light in the corridor to see the bed, the small room. A hospital room. Tubes in her arm. A tube in her nose; oxygen. Fish swam in her head and her throat was clogged with cotton wool. Her mouth was a birdcage bottom. Her stomach was cemented up. Her head was a blister of pain. Where was Mia? She scrabbled at the side of the bed, there must be a light, a button, a way to get attention. She needed Mia. She needed a bathroom.

In the corridor people moving about. “Hello.” She cleared her throat. “Hello.”

A woman in a uniform. “Ah, you’re awake.” A hand to her wrist. Another to her forehead, smoothing her hair.

Outrageous, painful thudding in her head. “Where is my daughter?”

“Honey, I’ve just come on shift. Let me find out for you.”

“Where is Reece? Why isn’t Mia with Reece?”

“Oh honey. I don’t know. Do you want me to get you a phone? But it’s after midnight.”

She got a bathroom visit on legs that were so unsteady the nurse had to help. She got a drink of cold water and that felt good. Mia was with Esther at home. She was nauseous and her head, her head, so tender it hurt to rest it on the pillow.

She slept again, but dreamed, fractured things. Birds crashing into walls. Glass smashing. An ambulance broken down. She was at work, but it was all wrong. There was no office, it was outside in the sun. Everyone had sunglasses. Les had freckles and Mia poured cordial. They were all so thirsty. And the birds where everywhere, making a noise, sitting on their computers. She wore a red dress but no shoes. She should have shoes on at work, but it was okay, everyone said it was fine. Mia was grown up now but she was still trying to catch the seagulls.

Morning came with sound rather than light. It came with voices and clattering, the sounds of people moving, things being dragged. Everything was too loud, hammering in her head. A different nurse. A man.

“Hello, good to see you awake. I’m Ronin. I’ve been looking after you with Dr Barber. She’s really good. You’re lucky to have her. You’re squinting. Do you have a headache, feel nauseous?

Audrey nodded, yes, yes to the headache, to feeling sick. “My daughter is with my mother?”

“Yes, with Esther.”

“Why isn’t she with Re

ece?” Mia hardly knew Nanna. Why wasn’t Reece doing his job?

“I don’t know.” The nurse checked the drip line. He had a tattoo running from his wrist up his arm and under his sleeve. “But I know who Reece is.” He fanned himself and she saw brightly coloured flowers, a skull and a black snake. “Tell me he’s a hunk. He’s been ringing here regularly wanting to know how you are. He’s the one who called the ambulance. He broke your door down to get to you. I mean, seriously. If you weren’t dying, that’s hot. Is he your boyfriend?”

Her head swam when she shook it, her brain felt bruised.

“Oh darling, then he needs to be.”

Reece called the ambulance. She had no memory of that, but why had he abandoned Mia? “No.”

“Good. Then I can flirt with him when he calls next.”

She licked her lips, so thirsty, and she had pins and needles in her legs. “Ask him to come. I need to see him.”