Read Online The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin - Free Book Online

threatening to slip under the water, Michelle lifted her out, wrapped her in warm towels and wheeled her into her bedroom. She dressed her in clean, soft, fragrant pyjamas and helped her into bed. Once she’d given Rabbit her pain meds, she tucked her in.
    ‘Ma will be here soon,’ Rabbit said.
    ‘What about your dad?’ Michelle asked.
    ‘I think he’s afraid to come here.’
    ‘I understand that,’ Michelle said, but Rabbit didn’t respond.
    ‘And Juliet.’
    ‘Who’s that?’
    ‘She’s my little girl.’
    ‘What age is she?’
    ‘Twelve.’
    ‘And her dad?’
    ‘A fling I had with an Australian guy who doesn’t even know she’s alive.’
    ‘You’re a dark horse,’ Michelle said.
    ‘I tried to track him down on Facebook once, but he’s either dead or living in a cave. That’s why it’s so important I don’t leave her, not yet.’
    Rabbit’s eyes were closing and she was fighting hard to stay awake to make her point. ‘I’m staying right here. You’re not getting your room back any time soon.’ She was so tired her words were slurring a little.
    ‘I’ll hold you to that,’ Michelle said. ‘Now get some sleep. You’ll need your strength when your family arrives.’
    Rabbit was asleep before Michelle made it to the door of the room.
    Later she woke to find a hairdresser, a tall girl called Lena, from Russia, putting highlights in Molly’s hair. Michelle propped her up so that she could watch. Davey read the newspaper out loud and grumbled that the only article Molly and Rabbit were interested in was about a heartbroken novelist whose husband had left her for her sister.
    ‘You couldn’t make it up,’ Molly said, and the Russian agreed.
    ‘They should be shot,’ she declared. ‘Two bullets, one for each of them.’
    ‘I read two of her novels,’ Rabbit said. ‘She’s good.’
    ‘Well, at least she got another book out of it,’ Molly said.
    ‘Bestseller,’ Lena said.
    ‘Every cloud,’ Rabbit said.
    It was nice, Davey reading the newspaper and grumbling, Molly getting her hair done, the hairdresser telling them about her holiday in Spain. It felt normal for a while, as if things could actually go back to the way they once were. Rabbit would recover and leave. She’d go back to work and raising Juliet.
It can still work out.
    Molly looked much better with her hair done. Lena even inspired her to put on some makeup, telling her that darker eyes and a nude lip would suit her best. Molly applied it in the mirror while Lena massaged Rabbit’s head and Davey moved on to articles about the economy.
    ‘OK, what do we want? “Government hopeful of bank deal” or “Policy of extend and pretend can’t go on indefinitely” or “Tacit admission that austerity isn’t working”?’
    ‘I still don’t know what a promissory note is,’ Rabbit admitted.
    ‘IMF, ESM, promissory notes, austerity all mean two things: the death of Irish democracy and the middle classes,’ Molly said, ‘and those fuckers in government are too stupid, too frightened or too corrupt to do anything about it. We need to bring back hanging.’
    ‘Jaysus, Ma, don’t hold back,’ Davey said, and Rabbit and Lena laughed.
    Grace arrived with Juliet in her school uniform just after five o’clock. She was hassled and Juliet was anxious.
    ‘You look good, Ma,’ Juliet said. Her voice was a little shaky but she kept a smile firmly plastered across her face.
    Rabbit hugged her daughter for a long time. She kissed the top of Juliet’s head and whispered three words in her daughter’s ear. Grace remained silent during their exchange. When Juliet finally let go, Rabbit turned to Grace. She needed to lighten the mood before somebody cried. ‘Go on, bitch about the traffic. You know you want to.’
    Grace dutifully obliged. ‘Over an hour to drop Jeffrey off to the clinic for bloods. We could have walked there quicker, and don’t talk to me about crossing the river to this place.’
    Juliet laughed. ‘Grace