The Aftermath by Gail Schimmel

Author:Gail Schimmel [Schimmel, Gail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2021-05-01T05:00:00+00:00

Helen

I had no intention of seeing Mike today. I saw him on Monday, and that had me staring into space thinking my own thoughts. I couldn’t take off another afternoon anyway, and I promised myself I would see him on Thursday evening. It’s tough knowing he’s awake inside, and that he waits for me and misses me, and I can’t always get there. I used to go every evening – even if it was sometimes only for a few minutes when Julia was little – but over the years that has lessened. But if I’m honest with myself, with all these worries about Julia, I’ve seen Mike less in the last few months than I ever have before.

But I know he understands. Even though we haven’t talked about it, he must know that I’m preparing for us to leave the world together. And to do that, I need to make sure that Julia is okay.

I was thinking these thoughts when Ewan came out of the consulting rooms mid-morning.

‘Wednesday, Helen,’ he said. ‘Off to see Mike this afternoon?’

‘Not today,’ I answered. ‘I took my half day on Monday so I’ll miss today.’

I must have sounded upset about it. Or maybe Ewan Marigold is just the sort of man who is always looking to help people.

‘Okkie and I are going out for lunch,’ he said. ‘Do you want to join us?’

‘Won’t I be intruding?’ I said. ‘Third wheel?’ I feel like this a lot – like I would be more socially acceptable if I had Mike alongside. I even spoke about it with Okkie and Ewan that night at their place. And Ewan obviously remembered, because the next thing he said was, ‘I have the best idea. Let’s visit Mike. We need to meet him, and what better time?’ And then before I could even answer, he disappeared.

After his next consultation, he stopped by my desk.

‘So,’ he said. ‘Dr Vermeulen’s daughter is coming in for an hour, so we can take a long lunch and she’ll man the desk. And Okkie’s bringing a picnic we can take to Mike.’

I don’t know how he organised all that and saw a patient in the space of one consultation, but it was too late for me to voice any objections. I’d never done anything like this before, so I had no idea what Mike would think. But, I reasoned, maybe it would startle him out of his coma. Maybe this was the kind of thing that I’d missed. Mike was a social guy when he was awake, so why would that have changed? And suddenly I remembered how much Mike loved surprising me with picnics. It was his thing. I haven’t thought about it for years. It seemed so obvious suddenly, so I smiled warmly at Ewan. ‘That’ll be great,’ I said.

And it was great. Mike didn’t wake up, but Ewan and Okkie are so easy and fun that I relaxed. And then Julia arrived and I felt almost like part of a normal family, introducing people, and when Edward popped in it was complete.

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