‘No, he doesn’t, but he did telephone me earlier and asked me to see how you are, so when Liam told me the news, I wondered should I pop by and see how you were for myself? I live in Galway now for half of the time, with the wayward younger daughter. She’s not married, you know, lives a shocking existence, goes out to pubs and dancing and all the rest of it and doesn’t care who knows it. The rest of the year I live in Ballynevin with the sensible daughter, the older one. The wayward one tells me that everyone who lives in Galway is wayward and I’m thinking, from what I’ve seen so far, she’s right.’ She smiled at Maura. ‘She does it to tease me. She’s a nurse here in the hospital.’

Maura laughed, but felt anxious; she didn’t want sister to think she had invited someone and get herself into trouble, or have her visits curtailed. ‘Did the staff nurse—’

Mrs Cole interrupted her. ‘Did she say I was allowed? Oh, aye, she did. Brendan did some of his training here and my daughter is one of the staff nurse’s friends so they all know the Coles here. Your lovely young nurse, now, I don’t know her, but she said she’s fetching us both a nice cuppa.’

There was a second chair by the side of Maura. ‘Sit down, would you?’ Maura said, with as much breath as she had left. Her mind was working overtime. Dr Cole had phoned his mammy to ask how she was? It didn’t make any sense to her at all.

‘Have they told you when he will be home?’ Mrs Cole asked as she studied Harry’s face.

‘Aye, if his temperature stays down, today we can go back home soon.’

Mrs Cole studied Maura whilst she spoke. ‘And where would that be then, home?’

Maura made to answer, ‘The Talk of the Town,’ but the words stuck in her throat and she swallowed hard. Her son had been at death’s door and God had given him back to her. She would not thank him with a lie from her son’s sick bed. Mrs Cole appeared not to notice.

‘Isn’t that just the thing? Brendan is always trying to get me to move to Liverpool – and God knows, I would like to, it has that many shops I’d never be out of them, for I love the shops, so I do. It’s the reason why I love to spend half of my time here in Galway, but our Brendan, he’s there, in Liverpool, and well… It would be an obvious choice, wouldn’t it? So many things there to make me happy. Have you ever been in Blacklers?’

Maura smiled. ‘I have, many a time. I couldn’t afford anything like, but I love to look.’