In Sickness and In Health by Fiona Sussman EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Fiona Sussman
- Language: English
- Genre:Popular
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- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
ELIOT BARD
Eliot stopped, his breath whistle-sucking in his ears, his face thumping hot.
He looked back down the stairs diving through the vegetation. The water
was no longer visible.
‘Hurry, Eliot. Hurry!’ he wheezed, starting up the hill again.
Stumbling, frantic footsteps. Up. Up. All pain in his calves, his chest, his
groin. The staircase seemed so much longer than before.
Then, over the noise of his breath and the pounding in his head,
something else.
He stopped again. Leant forward, hands on his thighs, head tilted. Voices.
And the thud and judder of feet on the pathway.
Glancing up, he saw a streak of black against the sun-bleached green of
bamboo. He cast about in panic, then launched into the undergrowth. The
soil was loose and slippery. He let out a grunting cry as he started to slide.
Shush, Eliot!
He grabbed wildly at branches and plants, and grass, which kept pulling
away in clumps. Then he was on all fours, trying to disentangle himself
from a Morning Glory vine.
The voices were close. Men’s voices.
Scrunching his eyes shut, Eliot rolled himself into a ball.
The pounding on the pathway stopped. Just breathing. Thick, wet
breathing that was outside of Eliot’s head and outside of his chest.
Breathing that belonged to someone else.
He opened an eye.
Two men were standing on the path, their faces shiny with sweat. One
was dressed all in black, his mouth a small rectangle of teeth. The other
wore grey shorts and a yellow sports shirt.
‘You okay there, fella?’
Friend or foe?
Eliot opened both eyes. The man in yellow looked quite a lot like Mr Roy,
his former woodwork teacher – Golden Retriever eyes and ears like big,
kind commas.
Eliot took a gulp of air. Wiped his mouth with his arm. Pointed down the
slope.
‘Down there. She’s down there.’
STAN ANDINO
Three months earlier
‘Tickets for Air Supply go on sale tomorrow,’ Carmen said, scraping up
smudges of the chocolate-chilli fondant she and Stan had shared. ‘You guys
interested?’
They were the last two couples in the restaurant. The waitstaff hovered.
‘Air Supply,’ Stan groaned. ‘You’re not putting me through that again.’
Austin and Tibbie laughed. Neither had ordered dessert. Tibbie was very
careful with her figure.
‘Why does music always have to be your choice?’ Carmen snapped.
Stan sighed. ‘It can’t be more than five years since we saw them. Once a
decade is enough for me.’
Carmen swung around, her face flushed. ‘Not with me you didn’t!’
‘Yes. At The Civic. Remember how we thought they were lip-synching?’
‘I think I’d know if I’d seen my favourite group live in concert. Don’t
know who you went with. It certainly wasn’t me.’
Stan saw Tibbie shoot Austin a wide-eyed glance.
‘No more wine for you, Mrs Andino,’ Stan said quickly, patting Carmen
on the thigh and signalling for the waiter to bring the bill. ‘Better let these
guys clear our table so they can go home.’
Carmen swiped away his hand. ‘Don’t shut me up like that.’
‘Woah, just teasing, love.’
Carmen turned back to their friends. ‘So, do you or don’t you want to join
us?’
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