The Last Days of Us by Caroline Finnerty

Author:Caroline Finnerty [FINNERTY, CAROLINE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

22

Streaks of red met circles of green and vivid smudges of blue. Robyn was using her fingers to paint a picture of a garden. She dipped her index finger into the yellow paint and circled it around the page to make a sun as bright as the May sunlight streaming in through the patio glass. Every piece of artwork she did was cherished; whereas before after a brief stint of being displayed on the fridge I might have chucked some of it in the recycling bin, now I treasured everything. She enjoyed doing arts and crafts, and although her left hand was losing power, I knew it was important to let her do those things while she still could.

My phone rang, I checked and saw it was Fiona. I dipped my fingers into the muddy water to wash off the paint and lifted the phone.

‘Hi, Fi,’ I answered.

‘Eh, Sarah, are you at home?’

‘Yeah, why?’

‘Put on Good Morning Ireland.’

‘Why?’ I said, going into the living room and searching for the remote.

‘Because JP is on it.’

‘What?’

I located the remote underneath a cushion and quickly flicked on the TV to hear the presenter saying, ‘Up next we have a dad who is desperate to save his terminally ill daughter, you won’t want to miss his heartbreaking story.’ Then an image of Robyn wearing a straw sun hat and a blue dress that had been taken on holiday last year flashed up on the screen. What the hell? I felt anger charge around my body. How dare he? How dare he do this to Robyn? This wasn’t his story to tell.

I watched as the glossy blonde presenter leaned forward in her chair towards JP, her brows creased in concern. ‘JP, tell us about your four-year-old daughter, Robyn.’

I listened as he described our daughter, full of fun and mischief, and then recalled the awful day of Robyn’s diagnosis and the prognosis given to us by the hospital. He explained that her only hope of survival was an experimental treatment offered in the US and how he was fundraising to pay for it. As I heard him tell Robyn’s story, I could feel my anger grow with every word that left his mouth. The way he was telling it made it sound as though this treatment was going to cure her, but he wasn’t telling the full story.

‘If she doesn’t get this treatment she will die,’ he said before an image of a JustGiving page flashed up on the screen, and I suddenly realised this was JP’s method of fundraising. A banner ran along the bottom showing messages being sent into the show from viewers watching at home. They were streaming in from all around the country, congratulating him on his courage and wishing him and Robyn well.

‘Thank you for coming and telling your story here today, JP,’ the presenter said as she wrapped up the interview. ‘I think I can speak for everyone when I say you have the whole country behind you, and we wish you and Robyn all the best with her treatment.

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