‘Oh Lord, what can we do?’ Grandma said the moment Grandpa had shut himself into the bathroom. In a small voice she said, ‘You don’t think I’m bad for not taking him home?’ Without waiting for a reply, she answered: ‘I just can’t look after him! I can’t even look after myself!’

A squall of tears came and went. Ben gave her another ice cube.

‘Thank you, my darling.’ She looked at Gordon as if noticing him for the first time. ‘And you: what hope do you and Kelly have if that awful Carl moves in? Oh, that Leonie, I could wring her neck!’

‘Kelly’s not going to cop it,’ Gordon said. ‘She’ll be working on a plan.’

‘I hope it involves all three of you.’

‘She can make her own decisions, Mum.’

Norma’s eyebrows congregated in thought.

‘I never liked the idea of you marrying into the Chidgeys,’ she said. ‘But now I find I want nothing more than the two of you to be back together.’

Ben watched his father’s face for the effect of this comment. But Gordon was tapping his watch as if to check why it wasn’t moving faster.

‘And what are you going to do about money?’ Norma demanded.

Ben’s grandparents had never let go of the belief that Gordon’s finances were their concern. They always wanted to know how he was paying his bills. No reassurances could stop them. They never offered to help. They just wanted to know. Ben felt a rush of unhappiness flare across his chest.

‘I’ll work something out,’ Gordon said.

‘No, you won’t!’ Norma declared. ‘You have no hope! No wonder Kelly won’t come back to you!’

‘Shall I check on Grandpa?’ Ben asked, reminding them that this was a conversation he shouldn’t have to hear.

‘Grab your grandmother another cold washer, would you, my love?’

‘I’ll do it.’ Gordon got up and listened at the bathroom door. Silence.

‘If he’s waiting for me to clean him up, tell him he’ll be waiting a long time!’ Norma said.

‘Dad?’

No answer. Gordon cracked the door.

‘Dad? Oh bugger.’

Gordon turned to Ben.

‘Mate, you stay with Gran. He’s done a runner.’

A runner was a relative term for Ronald Grimes. Gordon found him in the lobby being helped into a wheelchair by a staff member who said he had fallen while making for the exit.

‘He’s okay?’ Gordon said.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Ron interjected. ‘I’m like a cat, I always fall on my feet. It’s one of my many gifts.’

Gordon wheeled him back towards Norma’s room.

‘So have you contacted the JPA?’