Lifesaving for Beginners

feeding the baby. He says I have to make sure the teat is full of milk, which is trickier than it looks. I’m not allowed to hold the baby yet in case I squash him, on account of him being so small. The bottle is nearly as big as the baby. He sucks pretty well, though. Dad says he’s going to be a great grubber.
    ‘You’re a big brother now, Milo. You’ll show this young fella a thing or two, won’t you?’ It’s actually nice being somebody’s big brother, even if you’re just a half one.
    Kat and Faith are outside, in the corridor, when I come out. Kat stayed in a hotel last night. Faith went to the hotel this morning. She didn’t even have any breakfast before she left the house. She just got up and went to the hotel. She looked like she’d gone to bed in her clothes and didn’t bother going to sleep.
    Kat says, ‘I just wanted to say goodbye, Milo, before I went back to Ireland. It was lovely meeting you.’ For a moment, I think she’s thinking about hugging me or something, but in the end, she doesn’t.
    Faith says, ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ and disappears down the corridor.
    I look at Kat. ‘Will you come and visit again?’
    She smiles. ‘I’d like to.’ She looks better than yesterday.
    When Faith comes back, she is holding three cans of Coke and three chocolate muffins. ‘Are you hungry?’
    I say, ‘I’m starving.’
    Faith says, ‘I was talking to Kat.’
    Kat says, ‘Yes. I am,’ even though she doesn’t look like the type of person who eats chocolate muffins. I reckon she’s more of a salad and fruit type of a person, like Miss Williams.
    I eat with my hand under my mouth so I can catch any crumbs.
    I say, ‘I’m glad the baby is a boy.’
    Kat and Faith say, ‘Why?’ at the same time, which makes them sort of smile at each other. They seem a bit shy, like new kids in class.
    ‘Dad says I can teach him everything I know.’
    Faith says, ‘Ha! That won’t take long.’
    ‘I know loads of stuff. Lifesaving, for example.’
    Kat says, ‘Ed’s been talking about doing a lifesaving class ever since he met you, Milo. He wants me to do it with him.’
    ‘Have you ever done lifesaving before?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I bet they have lifesaving-for-beginners classes in Ireland. They do in Brighton.’
    Kat smiles. ‘I’ll Google it when I get home. Although I’d feel a bit old, doing a beginners’ class. I’m nearly forty, you know.’
    ‘You don’t look that old.’
    ‘Well, I am.’
    ‘Coach always says it’s never too late.’
    ‘That’s what Thomas says too.’
    Faith says, ‘Is Thomas your boyfriend?’ Girls always want to know about boyfriends and kissing and stuff.
    Kat shakes her head. ‘He was. For a long time. We were pretty close, actually. He even asked me to marry him. After the accident.’
    She looks at Faith then. ‘I’m so sorry, Faith. About your mother.’
    Faith nods. ‘So am I.’
    I say, ‘Ed said you were in the same accident. The same one as my mam.’
    ‘Yes. I was.’
    ‘How come you didn’t die?’
    ‘I don’t know. Thomas said it was a miracle.’
    Faith says, ‘Thomas sounds lovely.’
    ‘He is.’
    I say, ‘Then why didn’t you marry him? After the accident. When he asked you.’
    Faith says, ‘Milo!’
    ‘What?’ I ask, even though you’re supposed to say ‘pardon’.
    Kat says, ‘I don’t really know, Milo. I was worried.’
    I don’t ask her what she was worried about. But I know that it’s a horrible feeling. Being worried. Nobody says anything for a while. Kat’s only eaten half of her chocolate muffin. The rest of it is on a napkin on her lap. I don’t ask if she’s going to finish it. I think Faith would kill me if I asked her that.
    When Kat stands up, the rest of her muffin falls on the floor, which means that Faith definitely won’t let me eat it now. I pick it up and put it in the bin. It nearly kills me. Kat says, ‘Thanks, Milo.’
    ‘You’re welcome.’ I try not to think about the chocolate muffin in the bin but it’s hard.
    Kat says, ‘I should be going.’
    Faith doesn’t say anything.
    Kat says, ‘Do you want me to drop you home first? I could ask the taxi driver to drop you and Milo off at the house on the way to the airport.’
    Faith shakes her head. ‘We’ll wait for Dad.’
    Kat picks up her handbag. Unzips it. Then zips it again. She looks like she’s looking for something but she can’t remember what it is. Then she says, ‘I’d love you to come to Dublin