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Back The Falling in Love Montage
Chapters (45)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1.
  4. 2.
  5. 3.
  6. 4.
  7. 5.
  8. 6.
  9. 7.
  10. 8.
  11. 9.
  12. 10.
  13. 11.
  14. 12.
  15. 13.
  16. 14.
  17. 15.
  18. 16.
  19. 17.
  20. 18.
  21. 19.
  22. 20.
  23. 21.
  24. 22.
  25. 23.
  26. 24.
  27. 25.
  28. 26.
  29. 27.
  30. 28.
  31. 29.
  32. 30.
  33. 31.
  34. 32.
  35. 33.
  36. 34.
  37. 35.
  38. 36.
  39. 37.
  40. 38.
  41. Acknowledgments
  42. About the Author
  43. Books by Ciara Smyth
  44. Back Ad
  45. About the Publisher

“That does sound really cool. Everyone thinks I should be a nurse because I have a disabled brother. Like that means I want to be a nurse or a doctor or a medical researcher.” Ruby rolled her eyes. “People always want to limit him and tell him what he can’t do. He doesn’t listen to that and I won’t either. If there’s more to my brother than his disability then there’s more to me too.”

“Is that why you’re still trying to figure it out?” I asked, thinking of the many career options Ruby had pounced on.

“That’s why I’ll consider anything. I don’t want to be pigeonholed into something. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I’ve been able to be there for him. I want to do everything possible to help with his rehab too. But I want to see what else I might be good at if I just get the chance to try it.”

I could understand that. Teachers who knew about my mum would sometimes suggest the same thing to me, social work or nursing. You could help more people like your mum. Even Dad had mentioned it when I was picking my A levels. I looked after Mum because she was my mum, not because I’m some kind of Patron Saint of Dementia. I wanted to tell Ruby this, to let her know I understood her.

“How is Noah?” I asked instead.

“He’s doing really well. Mum called me this morning at like half two. She doesn’t seem to grasp time differences, or more likely she doesn’t even think about it, but I got to talk to him too. He sounded really happy. He said he missed me. I really miss him. I’m used to spending most of my free time with him.”

I squeezed her closer.

“He’ll be back soon. It’ll fly in.”

It occurred to me that if Noah would be back soon, that also meant our time would be over soon. Our eyes met and I wondered if she was thinking the same thing. Then she grinned at me and sucked a handful of Maltesers into her mouth.

“What about you?” she said with a mouth full of chocolate.

“What do you mean? You know how I feel about Oxford.”

“Right, but you’ll still do something. What were you planning to study at Oxford?” She did a fake posh voice when she said Oxford.