Biting my tongue, I let out a long, deep breath. “Our circumstances are the same.”
Zoe nodded, one hand raised. “That’s fine, I’m just obliged to ask. Sometimes people find the funds later – inheritances, family assistance, that sort of thing – and decide that letting us take over maintenance is the easiest option. Out of sight, out of mind, and all of that. And the option is always there for you, in case anything changes.”
“That’s fine.”
Giving the paperwork a quick scan, I could see that most of it was a record of Nut’s vital statistics; weight, length, blood type. The last page was all bullet points, each one a short line or two of instruction. Zoe tapped her fingers on the paper.
“You’ll have to keep a closer eye on your ovum organi for a couple of weeks. I understand it has the run of your roof space at the moment? It’s too much. It needs to be in more confined quarters, still with space to pace of course. Maintenance will be far easier this way. Do you have another secluded space or annex that you can doctor?”
I shot my answer at her like an arrow. “Yes, we’ve a room that’ll be perfect.”
“Excellent,” said Zoe. “Keep the house heated between twenty-four and twenty-six degrees, too. It’ll be a bit uncomfortable but it’s only temporary. If only this had happened at Christmas!” Her laugh was shrill and shot through my head. God, the room was bright. Zoe pulled a white plastic bottle from the top drawer of her desk and checked the label. “These are for you too. It might be unenthusiastic about swallowing them. Grind them into its food, or if that doesn’t work you may have to tag team. Arthur, you could hold the body down while Norah – you’ll press one of these down its throat with your finger. Twelve hours apart. That’s two a day, for the next ten days.”
“What are they?” Art took the bottle, peering in close to read the tiny type. I could just about see mine and Art’s names there and a barcode.
“Mainly a multivitamin and a dose of lysine. It’ll help with any stress from the move between locations. Nothing to worry about, really. But what we do need to do is arrange a home visit for a few weeks’ time. Evenings best for you?”
Art stared at the pill bottle and fiddled with his ear. I nodded and smiled, nodded and smiled, determined to push any issues I had with this to the back of my head for now. Definitely problems for later. Not today. Today was a good day. Nut was coming home.
Zoe brightened, and began typing into her laptop. “Excellent. We’ll send you an appointment letter once we find a slot.”
The door to the consultation room opened and Nut was brought in in a grey carry case with a netted fabric front. A clump of grey fur stuck through the mesh as if she was crushed inside. The relief I felt at seeing her, packed and ready to go, flooded up from my diaphragm. All was well. All would be well. We’d be back to the status quo soon enough.
But there were things we were going to have to deal with, and the drive back wasn’t one of our best journeys. We were both tense, though I don’t know if my reasons were the same as Art’s. If we were meant to be of one mind, the mind was splitting and hiding its parts around corners. I sank into the passenger seat and shielded my eyes from the shocking flashes between trees.
“Why did you lie to them?”
I didn’t know how to answer. I knew the answer, but it wasn’t what he’d want to hear.
“I just wanted to get back to normal. We can make a room for Nut somewhere, it’ll be fine.”
“They know where we live, Norah. They’ll know when they do a home visit that we don’t have a spare room for her. What’s it going to look like if you start lying to them?”
“I didn’t lie. I said I had a room in mind, that’s all.”
“Fuck’s sake, Norah.” Art gripped the steering wheel. “We’re on the same side here, you know. That’s what we’re paying for.”
“I didn’t like the assumption that we’re not good enough because we don’t have money for another custom annex. She has our files, she knows we don’t have the big house, the cash to flash like the others. It was inappropriate. The same with asking us about inpatient residency for Nut. Where did that come from?”
“She’s just doing her job, Norah.”
“It’s something we’re never going to do. So why bring it up?”
“Hey, you never know what’ll happen with us, we might get a windfall at some point. My book might make a mint, or you could scale the ranks at Stokers. Anything’s possible. Everything we’ve got gunning for us now, it’s a positive thing.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore and was frustrated that Art had chosen the wrong side. Easton Grove had done all they could for Nut, I’d give them that, but they were teasing us – holding us close then pushing us away. Why would they do that when they’re supposed to be looking out for us? I didn’t speak to Art again, and Nut stayed perfectly silent in her carry case on the back seat. The stalemate wasn’t broken until we were only ten or so minutes from home.
“So where are we going to put her then?” Art asked. “Maybe we’ll have to cordon off a bit of the loft.”
“No, Zoe said we need to keep a close eye on her. It needs to be somewhere we can sit with her.”
My idea involved using our bedroom for the next two weeks. It was a small and safe space, we could close the curtains and turn up the dial on the radiator, she’d have the run of it during the day, and she’d hopefully be asleep at night anyway. It
