I hung up, hurriedly filling Adam in on the bits he’d not picked up from my side of the conversation even as I yanked the door open and started running towards the main entrance. I hurtled out of the doors, oblivious to the freezing air biting at my bare skin as I skidded through the slush.

23

Nana Joy was on the kitchen floor, a tiny lump under a blanket, a thin cushion from one of the dining chairs propped underneath her head.

She looked dead.

Henry placed one arm around me as I knelt beside her, cradling her icy hand in mine.

‘You’re freezing.’

I barely noticed the jacket being draped around my shoulders, all of my attention fixed on willing my nana to stay with us.

‘The paramedics are here,’ Henry said, gently moving me back. ‘Let’s give them some room.’

‘I want to hold her hand,’ I insisted, gripping on tighter. ‘I’m not leaving her.’

‘You need to let them take a proper look.’

‘They can do that with me holding her hand!’ One part of my brain could hear my half-demented shriek. The other part had decided that holding her hand was keeping my nana alive, and I’d be damned if anyone was going to prise me off her.

I was vaguely aware of hushed voices behind me, and then a paramedic appeared on Nana Joy’s other side. ‘Hello, Bea, I’m Danny. We really need you to move away from your grandmother so we can help her.’

‘No. No. You can help her from there. I can’t let her go! Please don’t make me!’

Ignoring my protests, Henry wrapped one arm around my waist and used the other to peel my fingers off Nana Joy’s. Even as I cursed him, he simply held on, firmly moving me into the far corner of the room.

‘Please don’t let her die,’ I gasped through heaving sobs. ‘Not yet. Not now. Please.’

Dad took one look at my face and said that I could ride in the ambulance. When he arrived at the hospital with Jed and Henry I was still loitering in the corner of an emergency bay, watching the doctors prod and peer at and stick tubes into my precious nana.

‘Why don’t you find a seat in the relatives’ room?’ a nurse suggested, squeezing past us with a clear bag of liquid. ‘Just while we get Joy comfortable.’

‘I’d like to stay with her, if that’s okay.’ I took a step closer to the bed. The nurse did the double-take that I’d grown used to, taking a second or two to place me before breaking into a sympathetic smile. Before I had a chance to capitalise on my celebrity, a doctor turned and blocked me from moving any closer.

‘You need to give us some space.’

‘I’m scared she’ll die by herself, without knowing we’re here.’