慡hall I get you some water??says Judy. Cathbad doesn抰 answer so she goes into the bathroom, pours a toothmug full of water and looks in the cabinet. Surely there抯 some cough mixture here? Eventually she finds an old and sticky bottle. Best before Jan 2018. Can linctus go off? Judy is bad with illness. Cathbad, as the parent at home, is the one who has had to cope with coughs, colds, ear infections, Michael抯 occasional bouts of asthma.
She slides the bottle onto the bedside table on her side, without coming closer to Cathbad who is hunched on the other side of the bed, breathing heavily.
慔ave you called the doctor??she says.
慛o,?says Cathbad, 慴ut I think it抯 Covid. I抳e lost my sense of smell and I keep coughing.?
慖抣l call them,?says Judy.
Maddie, Michael and Miranda are all standing in the hall. Judy composes her face into reassuring lines.
慖 think he抯 OK. Maybe it抯 just a cold. I抦 going to ring the doctor just to be on the safe side.?
The surgery has a separate number for 憄atients who think they have symptoms of Covid-19? Judy speaks to a sympathetic-sounding nurse called Zoe.
慖t抯 best to avoid hospital if you can,?she says. 慣ell him to take paracetamol and keep his fluids up. Ring again if you抮e worried.?
Judy finds some paracetamol and takes them up to Cathbad with a large glass of orange juice.
慥itamin C,?she says.
慣hanks.?Cathbad is lying down, which looks so strange in the middle of the day that Judy feels quite sick.
慣he nurse said to take paracetamol.?
慖 will.?
慪ou抣l be OK.?Judy stands awkwardly in the doorway. She wants Cathbad to tell her that everything will be all right, but he has his eyes shut and seems to be concentrating on breathing.
慘nock on the floor if you need anything,?she says.
慪ou should keep away,?says Cathbad. 慘eep the children away.?
Cathbad always wants the children with him. It抯 as if his body has been invaded which, in a way, Judy supposes, it has.
Nelson can抰 quite believe it either. If anyone could sail through the Covid crisis, he would have put money on it being Cathbad. He has an irritatingly healthy lifestyle, for one thing. Plus, he抯 probably protected by hordes of pagan gods and goddesses and all the saints of the Catholic church thrown in for good measure. Nelson thinks of his mother, who took a great fancy to Cathbad when they first met. Maureen is praying daily to St Carlo Borromeo, who was said to offer protection against the plague and so may well perform the same trick for Covid-19. He must ring his mother tonight.
Nelson sends everyone home early. Tanya is still checking CCTV for any sightings around Avril Flowers?bungalow. Nelson also catches her looking on Rightmove a few times. Leah is reorganising the filing system. Nelson tells her that she can work from home, but she seems keen to stay. 慖抣l go mad at home.?But, by five o抍lock, they are all on their way out of the building.
Nelson hardly recognises his house. Laura has been to the shops and has even bought flowers. There抯 a delicious cooking smell emanating from the kitchen and Radio 1 is playing upstairs.
慔i, Laura,?he shouts. 慖抦 home.?
Laura appears at the top of the stairs. 慖抦 just doing some marking and I抣l be right down.?
慛o rush,?says Nelson. He wonders what Ruth is doing. Now that he knows their routine it抯 easier to imagine her and Katie in the cottage. Ruth will be at her laptop and Katie will be building something from Lego or writing her story about a cat. He wishes that he could ring them but doesn抰 want Laura to come in halfway through. Instead, he calls Judy.
慔ow抯 Cathbad??
慛ot too good. He抯 still coughing and I think he抯 got a fever.?
慞aracetamol,?says Nelson, drawing on his scant medical knowledge. 慉nd lots of water.?