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CHAPTER SIX

At the hospital

‘Go on. We’ll wait here for you,’ said Shauna.

‘But what if they come back?’

‘You saw that accident. We’ll be alright for a couple of hours,’ insisted Vanessa.

Harminda looked nervously at the hospital. She took a deep breath and got out of the car. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can, but this is my mobile number, if you need me.’

She quickly wrote it down and gave it to Shauna.

Inside the hospital, Harminda took the lift to the ninth floor.

When the doors opened, her little brother was waiting for her. But he wasn’t so little any more. The last time she saw him he was nine years old, a child. Now he was thirteen and he was a lot taller than Harminda. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but she could only say his name: ‘Parindra?’

‘What is she doing here?’ her father’s voice interrupted them. He was seriously ill but his voice was still strong.

‘Meena? Did you ask her to come here?’

Meena, Harminda’s mother, looked elegant in a red silk sari. When she saw her daughter there were tears of happiness in her eyes.

‘Dad? Oh Dad, I’ve missed you so much!’ Harminda ran towards him. His face was grey, his hair was thinner than she remembered, and he looked old and weak. But his eyes were angry. Just like they were four years ago.

‘I don’t want you here. You made your decision. Please leave!’

Harminda touched his hand but he closed his eyes and turned away from her.

‘But I’ve come from Ireland! Dad, please listen to me. Dad!’ she shouted as they took him into the operating room on a trolley, Meena and Parindra next to him.

‘I love you, Dad,’ she said, but he was gone.

She was alone in the long, white corridor.

She sat down, put her head in her hands and cried. All her hopes of a happy reunion were gone.

It was not going to be easy for him to meet her again. Harminda knew that. But she didn’t think it was going to be this difficult.

Why didn’t he understand that she never wanted to choose? Why couldn’t he see that she was still his daughter, still his little girl? Why couldn’t he see that she still needed her Dad? Even if she loved Declan.

When she couldn’t cry any more, she stood up and decided to go with Shauna and Vanessa to the police station.

‘Later on, I’ll come back And I won’t leave until he understands,’ she thought as she went outside.

When she got to the car park the car was there, but there was no Shauna and Vanessa. And there was no briefcase full of money.