Six days later Lucky returned from overseas, cutting short his trip. He’d thought of Valia more than ever before: on this, his second visit to Greece, he couldn’t enjoy himself. The good food was wasted on him. When he opened the window of his room in Ithaka and saw the harbour, the water as smooth as hotel sheets, the little homes of Vathi like Venetian toys, he still wished he’d never come; when he shut the room for his afternoon nap he knew that someone was missing, that he’d made a great mistake and should return immediately to Australia.

In Sydney he found that her condition had worsened, and Sophia had moved in to care for her mother. Lucky wanted to see Valia every day; he hoped to continue what they’d started.

‘Let’s not plan anything yet,’ said Valia. ‘I’ll call in a few days and you can come visit.’

Valia did call and ask Lucky to come over, and that day she looked emaciated, as though she hadn’t eaten since they last saw each other. Her olive skin now yellow, her lips pale. They sat on the couch watching Wheel of Fortune and the news bulletins, switching channels in the ad breaks. Valia found it hard to speak: mucus seemed to simmer up her throat and she spat it into a bucket at her feet. Sophia came in and out, emptying the bucket. The kettle whispered in the kitchen. The windows were open. When she fell asleep on the couch, Lucky carried her to bed and she woke up as he lowered her onto the mattress.

‘You understand, Lucky, I am dying now.’

At the front door, Lucky said to Sophia: ‘Valia needs some sustenance. Later tonight you could wake her up and somehow get her to eat.’

‘Mum can barely swallow food,’ said Sophia. ‘And even when she does, she can’t keep anything down.’

‘Then she needs to be fed through a tube in her stomach.’

‘I’ve asked and the doctor said no hospital in the city will do that for us.’

‘If we arrange a feeding tube, somehow, Valia will regain some strength, and then, who knows? Maybe we can restart the chemo. If we sort out the problem with food, we can turn it all around.’

Two days later, Sophia called the restaurant in Stanmore to say her mother had died. At the time Lucky had stepped out to find change for the cash register. Sophia asked the waiter to give him the message.

Chapter 23: 2002

2002

1.