‘Would you like anything else to drink? As you didn’t like the tea.’
He looked up. ‘My last drink, eh?’
That certainty, it was unnerving.
‘Have you got any proper coffee? The real stuff, not bloody instant.’
She could do that. She found Jo in the café, told her a patient wanted a cafetière. While Jo was getting it ready, Mary found a tray and spotted a cup with a matching saucer.
‘Fussy bugger, is he?’
‘How do you know it’s a man, Jo?’
‘Feminine intuition.’
They both laughed.
Mary reached for the little sachets of sugar, but Jo stopped her.
‘No, no… I’ve got the proper stuff here.’
There was a jar of dark muscovado sugar. Jo carefully spooned some into a little bowl, then placed the spoon by it.
‘And don’t give ‘im any of those little cartons of milk.’
Jo found a jug, poured some fresh milk into it. Then she placed the cafetière on the tray.
‘He thinks he’s going to die this morning, so I…’ Mary waved at the tray and its content.
Jo rolled her eyes. ‘If it makes ‘im ‘appy…’
Mary delivered the tray to Mr Hanley and was glad to see his eyes light up.
‘That’s better,’ he said. He reached for the plunger of the cafetière. The smell of the coffee filled his room.
Mary wanted to stay a little longer, but she needed to see Mrs Khan. Searching for something to say, all she could think of was:
‘See you at lunchtime.’
As she left, she heard him mutter: ‘No you won’t.’
Mrs Khan wanted Mary to phone her many relatives and update them on her condition. Mary briefed each one in turn and answered their questions. She didn’t keep an eye on the time. All at once, it was 11:20. She cut short her conversation with the second aunty, smiled at Mrs Khan, wished her well and walked back down the corridor. She had to see Mr Hanley, had to prove him wrong. She imagined laughing at him, just a little, then—better still—laughing with him, telling him that the worst was over, he was getting better. She knew where Mr Hanley was heading. He wasn’t dying, she’d seen plenty die. She turned a corner and—
Oh. In Mr Hanley’s room. Dr Patterson, Judy and another nurse. She recognised the look on their faces.