Page 10 of Lora

Chapter Seven

Lora

I meet Noah at mums, both of us arriving at the same time. Panic is etched in the lines of his face and the set of his jaw.

‘What are we going to do Lora?’ he asks. I shrug. I don’t know what we can do.

‘Maybe the doctor can look at her medication,’ I say as we enter the door to find the manager of the home care company we use, arms crossed, foot tapping as she waits for us.

Without even a hello, she says, ‘Unfortunately we’re going to have to terminate our contract.’

My heart sinks, there’s nowhere for mum to go unless we move her to the mainland and I can’t bear the thought of not seeing her every day. Of her being in a strange place, scared and alone.

‘Fair enough,’ I sigh, Noah spinning to face me. ‘It’s not like I can force them to stay, No.’ Sighing, I stretch my neck, not liking the tension that has tightened in my muscles. ‘I’ll do it.’

‘She will be violent with you too,’ the manager says, ‘it’s the way of the disease.’ Her voice softens a bit. ‘There’s no shame in putting her in a specialised home.’

‘We know,’ Noah says because we do know. But our mum has lived on this island all her life. How could we possibly shift her off to a strange place in her final years?

The manager and care assistant leave once mum has calmed down and settled with her breakfast sitting cold in front of her. My heart breaks at the vacant look in her eyes. She used to be so full of life.

Noah and I sit in the living room and watch her for a short time. Neither of us knowing what to say.

‘When was the last time she was lucid?’ Noah asks me. I shrug. I can’t remember the last time she knew who I was or even what day it was.

‘I’ll move in. I’ll have to quit my job…’ a pain I don’t recognise throbs through my chest. ‘She needs one to one care and I’m the only option for that.’

‘I’ll help as much as I can,’ Noah says, but being the only police officer on the island means he is permanently on call as it is.

‘Do you think they would send another officer to help you out?’

‘They’ve never been willing before, but now the island has grown in population and popularity, it’s worth asking again.’

I nod, wondering how I’m going to tell Justin that I need to quit. The pain of knowing that we won’t be able to continue whatever it is we started last night tightens my chest. It feels so cruel that I could finally know my feelings for Justin are reciprocated but circumstances beyond my control won’t let me pursue a relationship with him.

By the time I make it back to the clinic, I feel entirely exhausted thinking about it all and devastated that our relationship is over before it’s even had time to properly begin.

Justin

Kali does a brilliant job with the animals, finishing before twelve and allowing me to focus on patients. When Lora arrives back, relief washes over me, easing the tension in my shoulders. Not having her here is strange and I’m sure I don’t like it.

‘Justin, can we make a time to talk please?’ she asks and the look in her eyes makes me nervous.

‘Yes, I’m free now if you like?’

‘Great,’ she says, but her face looks like the talk isn’t going to be great. We go into the office, a room that mostly only gets used at the end of each month for payroll purposes.

‘Unfortunately, I need to leave my job here,’ she says, her jaw tightening as her mouth turns down at the corners. She is trying not to cry and my heart breaks.

‘What’s happened?’ I ask. ‘Is it because…’

‘It’s nothing to do with last night. Although I am confused about that.’ She shakes her head, but I can’t read her expression. ‘It’s my mum. The Alzheimers is quite progressed, and she has become violent towards the care staff. I’m going to have to take over her care full time.’

‘Lora, are you sure that’s what you want?’ I want to tell her it won’t work, that her mum needs specialist care in a dementia facility with trained nurses to take care of her. But I know Lora well enough to know that she is so full of care and empathy, she won’t let her mother be forced from her home into a strange place on the mainland.

‘It’s what I have to do for mum,’ she says as a tear slides over her cheek. I smudge it away with my thumb and lift her face, stepping towards her so I can feel her warmth, so she can find comfort in mine.

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