No Way to Say Goodbye - Anna McPartlin [57]
Sam looked up from the floor. “Are you OK?” he asked, concerned.
“Just a headache, that’s all,” she said, passing into the kitchen.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he remarked.
She returned with a glass of water and a pill that she popped into her mouth and swallowed.
“Stay!” he called.
She stopped.
“After all, we’re both awake,” he added.
She nodded, knowing that sleep would not come easy. She sat on the sofa and he lowered the TV volume.
“Are you getting a migraine?” he asked, as though he’d seen her medical file.
“I think I’ve caught it in time.”
“You’re shaking,” he pointed out. “What’s wrong?” Clearly it was more than a headache.
“Just a nightmare.” Without warning her eyes filled with fat tears that threatened to tumble. Oh, my God, I’m mortified. Do not cry! she warned herself but a rogue tear rolled towards her chin. Knickers!
“It must have been a bad one,” he commented, evidently surprised by the tear.
“It was.”
“You want to share it?”
“No,” she said, wiping her eye.
“I have nightmares too,” he said, with unexpected honesty, “a lot. I guess that’s why I have trouble sleeping. It’s hard to sleep when you’re scared to.”
Mary was as taken aback by his candour as he had been by her tear. “It seemed so real,” she said.
“Like one of your visions?” he asked, and she eyed him, suspicious. “Ivan told me.”
“No – usually they’re pretty surreal.”
“Like the cat on the flying mat?” he said, with a smile.
“Yeah.” She laughed, then became serious. “This was like a movie and somehow I found myself in the frame.” She rubbed her forehead.
“But it’s just a nightmare, right?”
“I don’t know. I’ve had it before. It was exactly the same except this time I got to see a little more. It’s never happened like that before. Maybe it was a dream but something’s not right.” He was silent and she watched him from the corner of her eye. “You don’t believe it could be anything more than a dream, do you?”
“It’s nothing personal but I don’t believe in much,” he admitted.
“That’s OK. Penny thinks I’m a basket case – maybe she’s right.”
She warmed some milk for them both and they chatted freely. Sam admired her diamond necklace and she told him about her day spent remembering her mother. She shared some of the tales her father had told her and he talked about his grandmother. In the telling, he inadvertently revealed his nerdy origins.
“I can’t see it.” She laughed.
“Well, trust me. My teenage years were a nightmare.”
“You’re not alone.”
“Oh, shit, sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She smiled. “It was pretty good up to the coma, dead boyfriend and freak pregnancy.”
He laughed and she stood up. “I should get back to bed. I’m in the bar first thing and you have a full day on the floor ahead of you.”
“Actually, I’m booked in with the Bone Man. Ivan set it up earlier.”
“Good for you.”
“You think it’s the right thing?” he asked, betraying a little panic.
“You’ve got nothing to lose.”
“Well, except for the ability to walk.”
“You’ll be fine,” she soothed.
“Thanks for taking care of me.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, with new warmth. She stopped to straighten the picture of Ben and Mr Monkels, then made her way up the stairs and back to her bed.
13. Rear window, hard ground
Although Sam was capable of straightening and, with great difficulty, assuming the seated position, the pain that followed was so excruciating that it brought tears to his eyes. Mary wanted to insist he take his medication but thought better of it.
Ivan tried to take his friend’s mind off his discomfort with what his own mother often described as idle chatter. His description of Sienna’s performance in bed got them to the other side of Killarney. “Jesus, she’s a wonder!”
Sam laughed despite the pain.
“I tell you, my balls could have been on fire and my wife wouldn’t have licked them,” Ivan continued happily.
Sam wondered what woman in her right mind would lick balls that were alight.
Ivan was rubbing