With or Without You: A poignant, heart-warming and heartbreaking page-turner by Drew Davies

Author:Drew Davies [Davies, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838881337
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-07-30T18:30:00+00:00

For a long time, Mrs Dixit was silent.

‘It seems risky,’ she said at last. ‘He could be hurt.’

‘Riskier than doing nothing?’ Mrs Rampersad drove forward; there was one car ahead of them, giving their order of Big Macs, no lettuce over the loudspeaker. ‘Riskier than sitting in a car, day in day out, hoping we’re not arrested?’

Mrs Dixit covered her mouth with her hand, considering.

A voice in her ear – so close it tickled the canal – made her jump.

‘I was saying good morning!’ Magnus shouted over the wind and noisy aircraft.

‘You shouldn’t sneak up on people!’ Mrs Dixit yelled back, clutching her chest.

‘Nerves are a sign of a guilty conscience,’ he hollered over the engines, wagging a finger, ‘which is why you can never surprise a cat.’

This made no sense to Mrs Dixit; she was pretty sure you could sneak up on cats, but there was too much noise to argue. The aircraft beside them roared, and they watched as the plane sped down the runway and took off, rocketing up, tilting from side to side as it found purchase. Mrs Dixit revelled in the engulfing sound; the sky yielding to the explosive power.

‘I didn’t see you yesterday,’ Magnus said, once it had gained altitude. ‘You were up to mischief, no doubt?’

‘Nothing of the sort,’ she scoffed, which was true… yesterday. Tomorrow or the next day, she couldn’t be so sure – especially if she agreed to Mrs Rampersad’s crazy new plan.

‘How’s your wife?’ she asked to change the subject. It was such a banal question: how’s the wife? Mrs Dixit wondered what response Naveem had given to it.

‘Noella,’ Magnus nodded sadly. Today, it was Noella. ‘As well as one can expect. Completely catatonic, poor thing.’

‘Isn’t it strange we both have sick spouses?’

‘Not strange at all. Nothing’s an accident, really. I’d say us meeting was highly orchestrated.’ He smiled roguishly. ‘And there are countless helpless people in this world, but they’re locked away in hospitals and bedrooms. Not even physically destitute most of them – the mind is a cage too…’ He looked at the cars nervously. The blue one was there again, Mrs Dixit noticed.

‘I keep going round and round in circles…’ started Mrs Dixit.

‘Like a tiger,’ interrupted Magnus, ‘at the zoo.’

‘I suppose. I keep trying to make changes, but I always end up in the same place.’

‘Inertia,’ he shook his head.

‘I’m never sure if Naveem would…’ … approve, she thought, blinking to let the cold air dry her eyes. ‘How do you know? – if your wife would agree you’re doing the right thing?’

‘That’s an enormous question,’ Magnus said with a puff of air. ‘Did they approve of everything when they were with us? Hardly. You can only imagine what they’d do in the same boat.’

Mrs Dixit considered this. Would Naveem dote on her, like he did with his trains? Sending away for more effective equipment. Medication all in a row. Systems, charts? Would he scour chat rooms for experimental treatments? Attend international conferences. Have weekly calls with health pioneers.

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