Please Release Me by Rhoda Baxter Read Free Book Online

Peter.’
    ‘Val’s baby?’ He’d sent a card and a present. He intended to go and visit. Soon. Sometime soon.
    ‘Jacob. He’s six months old.’ His mother fetched her handbag and dug around. Pulling out her phone, she tapped through and turned it to face him. There was a photo of his nephews with a chubby, smiling baby nestled between them. ‘There. That’s him.’
    Six months? No, it couldn’t have been. He’d got the text only a few weeks … he frowned. Maybe it had been more than a few weeks. But six months? Christ. Where had the time gone? He reached out for the phone and studied the picture. ‘The boys look so big.’
    ‘Yes. Having a baby brother meant they grew up a lot. Terry’s a bit jealous about not being the baby of the family any more, but he loves his baby brother.’ His mother’s eyes glowed with grandmotherly pride.
    He looked back at the photo. His nephews who had got bigger without him noticing and a baby he’d never met. Maybe his father had a point. He looked up and caught his father’s eye. Understanding dawned, unwelcome. He had been so busy feeling sorry for himself and worrying about Sally that he’d forgotten the rest of the world carried on.
    Peter opened his mouth to speak, but his mother held up a hand. ‘I know what you’re going to say, and I do understand. It’s been a really horrible year. You’ve had unrelenting stress and worry. But darling, you need to think of yourself too. If you carry on like this, you’re going to find that if Sally dies, you won’t have anyone to support you.’
    A moment of silence followed. His parents watched him, cautiously, as though they were bracing themselves. His mother was standing next his father. Peter could see her hand gripping Frank’s shoulder. He looked up to her face, and felt as though he were seeing her for the first time in ages. She looked tired and ragged with worry. Her eyes were trained on his face, as though waiting to see if her words would make him crumble. His father seemed outwardly calm, but Peter could see the tension in his shoulders and in the pinched brows. It had taken a lot for his parents to say that to him. They must have worried for ages.
    ‘Oh, just leave me alone.’ He abandoned his coffee and stalked out of the room.
    ‘Where are you going?’
    ‘To have a shower and shave. Or would you rather I didn’t go near a razor?’ He heard the intake of breath behind him. He got as far as the bottom of the stairs before his conscience kicked him. He shouldn’t have said that. They meant well. They worried about him. It’s what they always did. He sighed and leaned his head against the wall. He should go back and apologise, but he didn’t want to move. It was all so … difficult.
    He wasn’t sure how long he stood there. He started when his heard his mother say ‘Peter?’
    He pushed himself away from the wall. ‘I’m sorry Mum. I shouldn’t have said that.’
    She reached up and touched his face. ‘You can’t help it.’
    Peter sank down onto the bottom step and his mother sat next to him.
    ‘I know you’re stressed, sweetheart, and that you’re hurting and missing Sally. But beating yourself up like this isn’t going to help anyone. You need to stay strong and healthy. If Sally wakes up, she’ll need you.’
    ‘If Sally wakes up … and I want her to wake up, Mum. So desperately. But what if …’ he couldn’t say it. ‘If …’
    ‘If she’s damaged?’ See. She couldn’t say it either. It was too horrible to contemplate. Sally without the ability to walk. Or speak. Or bowel control or whatever. He would have to look after her like she was a child. He’d do it, but she would hate that. Or what if she didn’t remember him when she woke up? Or her personality had changed? The thing he loved most about Sally was her enthusiasm for life. It was her energy that dragged him out of his dull grey comfort zone and showed him this wonderful future where they brought the best out of