‘The doctor has been, and he has left us a bottle of tonic and a prescription, but Teddy will probably have to head into Clonteer for that.’
‘The doctor?’ Patricia rasped, the words like knives against her throat. ‘When?’
‘This morning,’ explained Mrs Foley. ‘You were very groggy, but you were a good patient. You sat up and let him listen to your chest and your back.’
Patricia lay down on her pillow and shut her eyes. Was Edward’s mother telling the truth? Should she take the medicine? She felt so tired …
‘What do you want, Mrs Foley?’
‘What’s that, pet? What do I want?’
Patricia searched her face for some clue to her intentions.
‘Do you want me to die?’
The old lady recoiled. She looked truly wounded by Patricia’s question, as if such a suggestion was unthinkable.
‘How could you ask such a … no, I … I only want …’ She bowed her head and rubbed her eyes before abruptly turning and leaving the room. Patricia didn’t hear the sound of the key turning in the lock.
A flurry of thoughts filled her head. Why had that question thrown the old woman? Was she planning to kill her? If she was, why hadn’t she already done it? Had she reacted in the way she had because she had killed before? No, she was being ridiculous. She was just an old crazy lady who had lost her mind. Edward had helped her escape once. She was sure he would again.
Later, there was a gentle knock on the door, and then before she could answer, Edward stuck his head into the room. Without thinking, Patricia smiled, and he stepped forward.
‘How are you?’ he whispered.
‘All right. Sore throat. Headache.’
Edward nodded.
‘Thanks for rescuing me,’ she continued weakly.
‘I’m sorry, I’m just so happy I found you in time.’ His dark eyes held her gaze and for a moment neither of them spoke.
‘Did a doctor really come?’
‘Yes. Yes, he did. That’s why she moved you in here.’
Patricia screwed her face up to indicate that she didn’t follow his logic.
‘The double bed,’ Edward said, pointing at it. ‘We’re married.’ He held out his hands helplessly.
Patricia stared at him, unsure what to say. Being reminded of her circumstances, and how out of control they had become, made her almost dizzy. Her sense of panic began to resurface. She took some deep breaths. She didn’t feel able to scream or shout. What did she need to understand? She licked her dry cracked lips.
‘Why won’t your mother let me leave?’
Edward squirmed, pulling at the bottom of his jumper, and turned away.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know. She’s not a bad person.’
‘What does she want?’
Edward turned back towards her. ‘She wants us to be happy.’
‘Happy? Oh, my God. Was this the plan all along? Those letters, Edward, those letters!’ She threw herself back on the mattress; the effort of speaking was agony.
Edward knelt by the bed and took her hand. ‘This should never have happened. My mother was just helping me.’ He paused and looked up at the ceiling as if asking a higher power what he should say to this woman lying before him. ‘We needed you, she said so, and she was right. My mother writing the letters seemed simple, it was only after we met that I realised how wrong the whole thing was. I liked you and those letters, they made you like me.’
Patricia turned away from him and groaned.
Edward squeezed her hand tighter. ‘I can’t. You know I don’t have the words. I can’t explain. I don’t know how to tell you.’
‘How did you manage to never learn to read or write? You weren’t a child when you left school, were you?’
Edward pulled at his collar. ‘I just … when they were teaching it back in infants and first class, I just didn’t get the hang of it and then the teacher, old Mrs Cassidy, gave up on me. She knew I was only going to work on the farm, so what did it matter? When I got to secondary there was talk of getting me special help but then, well, then I had to leave.’
Patricia looked at him. His face crumpled by frustration at his own shortcomings. This man wished her no harm. She trusted him.
‘Edward, you can put an end to all of this. You can make this stop.’ She leaned forward so that their faces were almost touching. She hoped he could see the desperation in her eyes.
‘I can’t!’ Edward spat the words at her as if it was her own stupidity that prevented her from understanding why he couldn’t help her. He pulled himself to his feet, unnerved by his own outburst.