Read Online Dancing With Mortality by Mark McKay - Free Book Online Page B

witticism, and reached for the whiskey.
    ‘Pour me one while you’re at it,’ said Harry.
     
    Michael stamped his feet, warding
off the cold. He stood by a bus stop about fifty yards from the hospital
entrance, waiting. He’d worked as a hospital porter one summer before he
finished secondary school, and he remembered the shift pattern. Either on at
7am and off at 3pm, or on at 2pm and off at 10pm. So he figured if he was in
the vicinity at the right time, he’d catch Sabine on her way out.
    He’d seen plenty of women exiting the reception area around
3.30pm, some in uniform and some not, but she wasn’t among them, so he’d
retreated to the hotel. Now at 10pm he’d returned and had been watching for her
for ten minutes or so. He had good sight of the reception area from the bus
stop, and it gave him a reason to be standing around.
    Five minutes later he spotted her. She was out of uniform,
in jeans and an overcoat, and her hair was loose. But it was unmistakeably her.
She was carrying a case that he realised contained some sort of musical instrument.
And he wouldn’t need to chase her, because it looked like she was heading right
towards the bus stop.
    He stood back in the shadows, letting her get closer. When
she still had ten yards left to cover he stepped forward into the light of the
shelter. He saw the brief hesitation when she realised who he was, then she was
in front of him.
    ‘I wondered if I would see you again,’ she said. No smile
this time.
    ‘Can we talk for a minute?’
    ‘Yes, if you want, I...’ she looked behind her at an
approaching bus. ‘I must catch this bus. Coming?’
    They boarded the bus and took the wide back seat. She lay
the case next to her.
    ‘Sit there please,’ she said, pointing to the space adjacent
the case.
    He did as instructed. ‘I’m not here to hurt you.’
    ‘If you try, you will regret it. You want to know about
Siobhan? There is no change from yesterday. She is conscious some of the time,
but because of the drugs she isn’t speaking clearly. Actually, there is
something you can tell me.’
    ‘What’s that?’ He rested his hand on the barrier between
them, and tried to ignore her look of disapproval.
    ‘We have no details for next of kin. You are not suitable
exactly. Where are your parents?’
    He looked away from her, directing his gaze at his
reflection in the side window. ‘I phoned them this afternoon. They will be here
tomorrow.’
    The tone of his voice had not gone unnoticed.
    ‘So, it was not an easy conversation then?’
    ‘It wasn’t. They blame me for going to see her in the first
place. I couldn’t really disagree with that.’
    Sabine’s mood changed to one of concern and she reached
across, covering his hand with hers. ‘What will you do?’
    He tried to hide his surprise at her sudden gesture. ‘Can’t
stay in Dublin much longer. In fact, I’m not sure what the next move is. Now
that my parents know about Siobhan...’
    They sat in silence. She made no effort to remove her hand.
For him, it was simply good to be touched.
    ‘What’s in the case?’
    ‘Oh, it’s a saxophone.’
    ‘Doesn’t look very big.’
    ‘It’s an alto sax. I have a tenor too, but I didn’t bring it
with me from Germany.’
    ‘And where are you going with this alto sax?’
    She finally lifted her hand. She seemed more relaxed now.
‘There is a bar I go to some nights. I sit in with a trio, on the last set of
the evening.’
    ‘I see. Are you good?’
    She smiled then. ‘Good enough. Come and listen if you like.
I can hardly stop you. It’s a free country.’
    He found himself grinning. ‘I’m afraid you were misinformed
about that. But yes, I’ll listen for a while.’
     
    She was good. Not that he was a
connoisseur of jazz by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d heard a bit.
The trio consisted of piano, bass, and drums. The only thing he recognised was
‘Take Five’, by Dave Brubeck. She played the sax part very well he thought,