I look to the voice, which came from the living room to my right, and I walk a few steps forward. My mother is sitting on the sofa with Thea, who’s crying. When she looks up and sees me, Thea gets up, runs up to me, and throws her arms around my waist. She’s obviously not the one who’s hurt.
“What’s happened?” I ask Mum, trembling.
“It’s Mark,” Mum says. “He took an overdose.”
My jaw drops. “On purpose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he…” I swallow hard.
“He’s alive,” Mum says, “but unconscious.” She meets my eyes, and then she bursts into tears, covering her face with her hands.
“Oh, Mum…” I bite my lip hard so I don’t start crying as well. That’s not what she and Thea need right now. “Where’s Dad?”
“In with the paramedics,” she says in between sobs. “They’re putting Mark on a stretcher.”
“Okay.” I rub Thea’s back. “All right, sweetie, everything’s going to be okay.”
I look over as I see movement in the bedroom doorway and see a paramedic backing out, guiding one end of a stretcher. Mark is strapped to it, and he has a drip in his arm. They get him through the doorway, then stop in the hall. My father comes out, his arm around Nina, whose face is white as a sheet.
I go to move Thea to my mother, but she won’t release her tight hold around me, so in the end I take a few steps toward the paramedics with her still attached. “How is he?” I ask. “I’m his sister.”
“Hello,” the first paramedic says with a warm smile as he sees Thea looking, “he’s okay, we’re going to take him to hospital and try to make him better.”
My mother stands. “Did he do it? Did he take the overdose on purpose?”
The second paramedic, a woman, also looks at Thea and says brightly, “Let’s get him to hospital, and then we can work out what happened, okay?”
I look at my father, though, and he meets my eyes and gives a faint nod. Mark tried to kill himself. Oh God.
The first paramedic says, “We’ve also taken a look at your father’s surgical wound, and we’re a bit concerned about the fact that the infection isn’t better, so we’re going to take him in as well to get him checked out.”
I’m not surprised; my father looks gray again, although that’s probably as much from the shock as from the infection. But I’m glad they’re taking it seriously.
“What should we do?” I ask. “Should we come too? What about Thea?”
Nina comes over and gives her daughter a hug. “It’s all right,” she says, “he’s going to be okay. But I need to go to the hospital with him, and I don’t want you to come.” She looks up at us pleadingly.
“Why don’t I drive you there,” Mum says immediately. “And Chessie, you can look after Thea.”
I open my mouth to object, feeling as if I should be the one doing the driving, because they’re both going to be out of their minds with worry. For the past few months I’ve been the oneorganizing everyone, and it feels natural for me to take charge now.
But to my surprise Mum says firmly, “It’s okay, love, I’ve got this. You’ve done enough. Nina needs to concentrate on Mark, and Thea loves being with you.” She strokes Thea’s hair. “Is that okay, sweetheart? You go and stay with Chessie for a bit?”
Thea looks up at me. “Can I?”
“Of course. Don’t worry about her,” I say to Nina. “You can call me if you want to talk to her at all. I’ll make sure she’s all right.”
“Thank you.” Nina hugs me. Then she says to her daughter, “Come on, let’s quickly pack you a bag.” The two of them go off to Thea’s room, while the paramedics continue taking Mark out on the stretcher to the ambulance.
“Are you going to be all right?” I say to Mum as she gathers her things.
“I’ll be fine.” There’s a flinty hardness to her gaze. “I can’t believe he tried to take his own life,” she says quietly. “With a young daughter. What was he thinking?” She’s not just upset. She’s furious. “I’ve had enough of this,” she snaps. “We’re going to get this sorted once and for all.”
Dad comes up, and I give him a hug too. “Are you okay?” I ask, concerned about his color. “You don’t look well.”
“It doesn’t seem right to complain when there’s all this happening,” he says, “but I feel a bit rough, I have to admit.”