At Death's Door: The Shires Mysteries 2: A twisty and gripping cosy mystery by Legat Anna

Author:Legat, Anna [Legat, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2022-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

I had a dread-imbued sense of déjà vu: here we were again, at the airport, watching Andrea emerge through the sliding doors of the Arrivals Hall. She was wearing the same clothes as last time and pulling behind her the same check suitcase. She looked as tired and as thin as before, unsure of herself and scared. And as she had done in November, again today she did not recognise us at first, sweeping her eyes past us. Will took the initiative to go to her. He waved. She saw him and her face cracked into a smile.

We were all there, plus Samuel who had insisted on driving me to the airport for some reason.

But less Dad, of course.

I say less Dad but this only applies until the point of Andrea’s arrival. Because Dad was tagging along with her. There he was, clinging to her in the crowd of passengers, not letting her out of his sight for one second, passing through other people and their luggage as if they were wide-open doors. He was in his prime, the age he had been when I was about seven or eight. That was when Dad had been at his best, his strongest, invincible and absolutely indispensable to the two of us.

‘So that’s where you’ve been,’ I whispered to him, but he didn’t say anything back to me to either confirm or deny it.

I felt a little dejected, I must admit. I know it’s selfish to think of myself first, and I know if anyone needs looking after it is my trouble-plagued sister, but I felt abandoned and unloved.

Dad had not waited for me.

By the time I had made it to his hospital bed, he was gone – in every possible way. His spirit had not bothered to linger around for one minute longer to say goodbye to me. I had spent the entire night wide awake, waiting for him to pay me a visit, just to sit on the edge of my bed and keep me company until I got my head around him dying so suddenly and without any warning. I had only wanted to know that he was still around. But he wasn’t.

At last I knew why he had been in so much of a hurry to leave. He had gone to be by Andrea’s side. That tiny niggle of jealousy was chewing away at the corners of my mind as I watched Andrea – with Dad glued to her side – run to me with tears streaming out of her eyes. When her face was only inches away from mine, I discovered how ravaged she actually looked.

It wasn’t just because of the jetlag. It was something deeper and more permanent than that: her eyes had sunk and lost their spark, and black circles had formed below them like old bruises. Andrea looked wretched and ill. I could tell now why Dad had to run to be by her side.

‘Oh, Andrea!’ I pulled her into my arms. She was skin and bone.

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