It was the same paramedics as the night before—the ones who had come for Lucy—Poppy told Flo just now. She said the whole time they were driving up to Hobart—them in the ambulance, her following in the car—she couldn’t help but worry they hadn’t had any sleep.

‘Drowsy drivers die,’ she’d said, reciting the warning emblazoned on those roadside signs that flashed past her, intermittently, the whole way up to town.

Oh yeah, and speeding shatters lives, Flo thinks to herself, sighing. That’s another one of those signs; that’s the writing that goes with the X-ray image of broken bones. Turns out clearing out the gutters shatters lives too.

What had happened was, Con had fallen off the roof while he was clearing the gutters and he was lucky to only break both of his legs. But because of his age and the nature of the breaks, he’s going to be in plaster for a while, and then rehab for a while longer. While he was in surgery, Poppy dropped by Lucy’s room to see how she was, but she was asleep. She’d try again later, Poppy told Flo. But in the meantime, she’s been talking to her kids about where to now for her and Con, and the plans are already in motion. (It’s quick, but Flo knows that those kids have been plotting something of this nature for their parents—something conventional and old person-y—for some time, and Con’s tumble has given them the perfect excuse.) The plan is: Poppy and Con are going to move into an orderly, one-storey house in a suburb near Hobart, where a layer of bitumen will keep the ground outside level, which will mean that Poppy can wheel Con about. They’ll be able to frequent the Greek Club and catch up with their long-neglected friends and community. They’ll be closer to their children and grandchildren, and everything will be easier. Or that’s what Poppy told Flo.

Flo turns from the view and puts her phone down on the coffee table.

But what about me? she had wanted to ask. But of course, she didn’t.

What would have happened if she had? Flo wonders.

The lonely reality is that it’s likely nothing would have happened if she’d said those words to Poppy—or likely not much at all; Poppy would have just blathered awkwardly into the phone, and her eyes and mouth would have crinkled into a grimace, and that would have been it. She still would have moved, because Con’s her husband, and Flo’s someone she can leave behind.