Peony Practice by Christie Barlow

Author:Christie Barlow [Barlow, Christie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008413149
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Katie only arrived a couple of minutes after Ben. The atmosphere was unsettling as she walked into the Grouse and Haggis pub. With a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Stuart looked visibly upset, sitting at the bar with a whisky in his hand. Ben was sitting next to him and Katie pulled up a stool on the other side. She placed a supportive hand on his back.

‘Stuart, what’s been happening?’ she asked tentatively.

‘It’s been a terrible twenty-four hours,’ admitted Stuart. The tears were welling up in his eyes and Ben passed him a tissue. ‘Since the fire, things have escalated. It’s affected Alana so much not being in her actual home. She can’t settle and keeps saying they want her dead.’

‘Who’s they?’ asked Ben.

Katie cut in softly and held Ben’s gaze. ‘They…may not even be a real thing. Unfortunately, the disease seems to be completely taking over Alana.’

Stuart nodded. ‘I knew this time would come and I’m trying to be positive…for better or worse,’ he said, quoting his wedding vows. ‘But this isn’t my Alana.’

Katie grabbed onto his hand. ‘It’s hard. I can feel your pain, and what we have to do is be there for each other no matter what.’

For a second, Ben watched them. Katie’s words weren’t just comforting words. The way she expressed them suggested that maybe she had first-hand experience of this, which took him completely by surprise.

‘Each person is unique in the way this terrible disease affects them,’ said Katie.

‘She woke up in the night and began screaming. She wanted to know what I was doing in her bed. She thought I was trying to kidnap her. I explained I was Stuart, the man she married and loved. I wasn’t a stranger and I had been by her side for a lifetime. I told her I’d make her a cup of tea just the way she likes it, with a little dash of milk and half a teaspoon of sugar. It was only then she began to settle. I tucked her back into bed and returned with a drink. I only make her half a cup so she doesn’t spill it and scold herself. She smiled at me when I placed the cup of tea next to her. She recognised her favourite mug and then I gave her a hand massage, and I know it sounds daft, but I sprayed her favourite perfume in the room.’

‘It doesn’t sound daft at all,’ reassured Katie. ‘Stimulating their senses helps so much. You are doing all the right things.’

Stuart nodded. ‘I’m trying my best, but I don’t think my best is good enough now.’

Katie squeezed his hand. ‘We can help to get Alana settled in a home with around-the-clock care. I know it’s difficult to even think about, but we have a duty to look after your well-being too. Don’t we, Ben?’

‘Absolutely we do,’ replied Ben, impressed by Katie’s caring nature.

‘We need to find Alana,’ replied Stuart. ‘But yes, I think that time is fast approaching. I feel like I’ve failed.

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