Human Remains

day or two, maybe less. But not long. Is there anyone you need to call?’
    I’d forgotten about my cousin, but what would be the point of telling her now? I hadn’t spoken to her in years.
    ‘No,’ I said.
    Eventually she went. Another hour and a half went past. It was technically lunchtime, so I opened the bag of sweets and had one. I was contemplating a fourth sweet when there was a brief, sharp knock at the door and two nurses came in, wearing aprons and gloves.
    ‘We’re just going to change your mum,’ one of them said, ‘make her comfortable.’
    ‘Oh, shall I go?’
    ‘Might be best. We won’t be long.’
    I went into the waiting room where I’d been in the middle of the night. The television was on in the corner, some lunchtime chat show I’d never seen. I sat down and watched without paying any attention at all. I was thinking about work, and the cat.
    Half an hour later I went back to Mum’s room, and the nurses were gone. I went out to the nurses’ station again. This time three of them were sitting there with cups of tea.
    ‘I’m sorry to disturb you,’ I said.
    ‘That’s alright, don’t worry,’ said the nearest. She was the one who’d come in to sort Mum out.
    ‘I wondered if it’s OK if I go home for a while,’ I said. ‘I need to feed the cat…’
    ‘Of course!’ the nurse said. ‘And why don’t you have a shower, get something to eat, too? I can ring you if anything happens.’
    On my way out, I walked past the smokers, my head down, hoping that nobody would notice my distress. I needn’t have worried. Even though there were clearly some seriously ill people in the group, the general atmosphere among them seemed to be one of hilarity.
    I was concentrating so hard on the pavement that I didn’t notice the man ahead of me until I walked into the back of him. He turned and caught me by the elbow as I went over on my ankle and half-fell into the ambulance bay at the front entrance. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘I was – ’
    ‘Annabel?’
    I looked up in surprise. For a moment I was lost and looked at him in confusion.
    ‘Sam,’ he said. ‘We met yesterday?’
    Yesterday? It felt like years ago. ‘Oh, yes,’ I said. ‘Of course. I’m sorry. It’s been – a long day.’
    ‘Is everything OK?’ he asked, nodding towards the hospital’s main entrance.
    ‘My mum – she had a fall.’
    ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said. ‘Is she alright?’
    She’s dying
, I thought. I tasted the words, like bile, couldn’t say them. ‘She’s unconscious,’ I said. ‘I was just going home.’ I started to turn back in the direction of the car park, ignoring the sharp pain in my ankle. It was fine, I told myself; it wasn’t a bad twist, I just needed to walk it off. Then I remembered my manners.
    ‘What about you?’ I asked. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘It’s been a really, really mad couple of days. I’m just waiting for a taxi but I think it would have been quicker to walk.’
    ‘I’ll give you a lift,’ I said, before I could help myself. ‘Where are you going?’
    ‘Just back into town,’ he said. ‘Keats Road.’
    ‘I don’t know where that is. You’ll have to direct me,’ I said, walking back towards the car park.
    ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’m really glad you ran into me now.’
    I was trying not to hobble.
    ‘Are you OK? You’re limping.’
    ‘I’m fine,’ I said, gritting my teeth. ‘Really. I just turned my ankle a bit.’
    ‘Here,’ he said, offering me his arm.
    ‘Really, I’m fine.’
    He gave me a ‘suit yourself’ shrug and shoved his hands back into his jacket pockets. I could see the car park ahead, full of cars driving around slowly waiting for someone to come out of a space so they could nip into it before someone else did.
    I found my keys and opened the door, easing myself into the driver’s seat. It was chilly inside. I reached across and unlocked the other side. Other than my mother, nobody had sat in the passenger seat until now.
    I started the engine and put the heaters on full blast to try and get the windscreen cleared enough for me to drive off.
    ‘So,’ he said, ‘did Andrew Frost tell you what happened to me yesterday?’
    ‘No,’ I said, ‘what happened?’
    ‘I had a phone call at work yesterday, just when I was about to go home. It was a woman’s voice, but she sounded odd – distant – I don’t know. Anyway, she told me there was another body, and then she gave me the