The Lost Sister, Kathleen McGurl [best desktop ebook reader txt] 📗

think Mummy will see if she or Daddy is able to stay with you. I am not sure what the arrangements are. But there will be nurses that will be your friends, and there will be other children there too.’

‘Can I take Mr Bungle?’ Jerome pulled the bear out from under his blanket and held it tightly to his face.

Harriet smiled. ‘Of course.’

‘How long will it be?’

‘I don’t know exactly. I expect when you get there the doctors will be able to tell you how long.’ Harriet knew that if you didn’t know the answer to a child’s question it was always better to answer honestly than make something up.

Jerome nodded in response. ‘I will ask the doctor. He will know.’ He sounded wise beyond his years, but his next question broke Harriet’s heart. ‘Nanna, if this treatment doesn’t work, what will happen next?’

‘This will work, pet. I’ve looked it up on the internet. It always works.’ OK, so this time she had lied, but the odds were good.

‘Why didn’t they do it first then?’ Jerome turned to look at her, his eyes wide.

‘Because it’s quite difficult to do, so they wanted to try easier treatments first. Sometimes the easier treatments are all that’s needed. But it seems you’re special, and you need the bigger treatment.’

He smiled a little, and then turned his attention back to the Disney film. Harriet kissed his dear little head, fuzzy with the growth of new hair since he ended the last cycle of chemotherapy, and went in search of Sally. The fact Sally had kept out of the sitting room told Harriet her daughter was not composed enough for Jerome to see.

Sally was upstairs, in her bedroom, where she and Charlie were sitting on the bed, arms wrapped around each other. ‘Let me do the first night,’ Charlie was saying. ‘You’re in no fit state. Then I’ll at least be able to tell you what to expect.’

Sally shook her head. ‘It should be me. I’m his mum.’

‘And I’m his dad.’ Charlie looked up at Harriet. ‘What do you think, Harriet? I’m just not sure Sally’s up to staying with Jerome in the hospital. They said one of us can – during the first stage while they prepare him for the transplant.’

‘Ah, good. He was asking about that. I wasn’t sure.’ Harriet glanced at Sally, who was clearly working hard to get a grip on herself. ‘Sally, love, it’s a good thing that’s happening. And the preparatory treatment – it’s chemotherapy, isn’t it? Jerome’s an old hand at that. Then the actual transplant is just done via the central line that they’ll already have put in place for the chemo.’

Sally sniffed and nodded. ‘The main danger is that his immune system will be knocked for six while he’s undergoing the treatment. We can’t stay with him then – he’ll be in isolation. And Charlie – I think I should be the one to stay with him up till that point. I’ll be all right. You can’t do it – you have to work. And better for one person to stay all the time than have us coming and going, risking bringing infections in.’

‘Are you sure – it won’t be easy …’

‘I’ll be all right. Honestly, don’t know why I’ve crumpled this morning. It’s just such a big step – something I’ve been longing for, and here it is. At last.’ She wiped away the last of her tears and went through to the en-suite bathroom. Harriet heard the sound of a tap running – Sally was obviously washing her face.

‘She’ll be OK,’ she said to Charlie, putting out a hand to him. ‘She’s strong. Now, you go and see your son, while I help Sally pack.’

‘Thank you. Best mother-in-law ever,’ Charlie said, smiling at her. He looked more hopeful than he had done for weeks, Harriet thought. It was good to see. They still had tough times ahead, but there was more hope now than there had been for a while.

The morning passed quickly as Harriet helped Sally pack a few things for her and Jerome’s stay in hospital. ‘I’ve been asked not to take too much,’ she said. ‘But Charlie can bring changes of clothes as I need them.’

‘Main things are your Kindle, your phone, charger, purse, toiletries and nightwear. And for Jerome, most important is Mr Bungle and his iPad.’

‘Six-year-old with an iPad,’ Charlie said, shaking his head. He’d originally been against their son having electronics but they’d given in when Jerome’s diagnosis came through, and they realised he was going to spend long periods in hospital or sick at home. ‘But thank goodness he has one. It can keep him occupied for hours.’

Harriet wasn’t needed to take them to the hospital, as Charlie wanted to go, and stay there for the afternoon at least. Harriet promised to visit Jerome the next day. ‘Nanna will bring you a little surprise,’ she promised him, as she helped buckle him into his car booster seat, firmly clutching Mr Bungle. ‘You be good, now.’ She smiled brightly at him, and was pleased to get a little worried smile in return.

She waved the family off, and went back into Sally’s house to wash up their breakfast things, vacuum the sitting room, straighten the beds, and any other little job she could think of. Anything to make it a little easier for Charlie who’d be coming home to an empty house that evening.

Chapter 26

Emma, 1916

They’d crossed the Ionian Sea and were steaming up through the Greek islands. Every now and again land was visible one side or the other. Their destination, Moudros, where thousands of wounded servicemen were waiting for them, was on an island further on, in the Aegean sea. To reach it the ship had to navigate a route past the Greek mainland – almost within sight of Athens! – and between islands.

There was a good atmosphere on board, as they prepared for the wounded. Emma had deep-cleaned endless cabins, made up beds, stocked