The Quarantine Station by Michelle Montebello

Author:Michelle Montebello [Montebello, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B07P45B8CF
Published: 2019-02-18T13:00:00+00:00

Matt found Emma sitting out the front on a garden bench. He lowered himself beside her and reached for her hand. ‘You’re trembling.’

‘I’m so bloody angry!’

‘I can tell.’

She looked at him and despite how furious she was, they burst out laughing. ‘I’m sorry you had to see that.’

‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘She needed to hear it.’

Emma let out a breath. ‘She is just so frustrating to deal with. For years my grandmother has been wandering and for years I’ve let that wretched woman blame her for it. Gran doesn’t hatch escape plans. She wanders because her mind is failing.’

‘Are you really going to move Gwendoline from here?’ He hadn’t let go of her hand and Emma didn’t want him to.

‘I’d prefer not to. She’s settled and a big move like that could be disruptive. But if this facility can’t find a way to keep one elderly lady from going on midnight walks, then I’ll have to. I don’t even know if she’ll come home tonight.’ The words caught in her throat.

Matt squeezed her hand. ‘She’ll come home.’

‘I thought telling her about Rose and her life on the station was helping. And maybe it was for a while. She seemed to settle, she wasn’t wandering. I’m not sure what went wrong.’

‘She has dementia, Em. Like you said, her mind is failing. The diaries were never going to be the one thing that stopped her. This place needs to do their part too. It won’t be the last time Gwendoline chases her memories.’

Despite all that had happened between them, Emma was grateful he was there. She leant her head against his shoulder, exhausted and worried. He stroked her hair with his free hand.

They stayed like that for a while, enough time for Emma’s tears to come and go, for her to doze briefly and wake again, for dawn to kiss the sky and for Matt to tell her that he was glad he’d come.

At five am, Anastasia came out to tell them they could sit in her office but Matt declined and Emma was so overcome with anxiety she couldn’t speak. There was still no word from the police and at seven am, with the sun winking over Sydney, Emma went in search of a bathroom.

She was at the front doors when Anastasia came hurrying out. ‘They’ve found her!’

Emma’s knees went weak. ‘Where?’

‘Port Botany. She must have walked over an hour to get there. They found her sitting on the edge of the wharf at Bumbora Point, just staring out. She told them she was waiting for the boat.’

Emma and Matt exchanged a glance.

‘The ambulance is with her now. Soon they’ll transport her to Prince of Wales Hospital.’

‘Is she injured?’

‘I don’t believe so. Just some mild hypothermia and dehydration.’

Emma clutched her chest. ‘Thank God.’

‘I’ll call the hospital and get the details of your grandmother’s arrival.’

Emma, still furious with the facility, gave her a cold, curt nod. It didn’t go unnoticed, for Anastasia Thornbury seemed to shrink a little before scurrying back inside.

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