Jenny Downham

home?
38
ll sit here and read my book.
She nods. m right outside. You know what to look for when you get
He reels it off like a professional. Chill, fever, stiff neck or headache.
Drainage or bleeding, any numbness or loss of strength below the puncture
site.
eh?
The nurse is impressed. Youre good!
When she goes out, Dad smiles at me. Well done, Tess. All over now,
Unless the lab results are bad.
They wont be.
ll be back to having lumbar punctures every week.
Shush! Try and sleep now, baby. Itll make the time go more quickly.
He picks up his book, settles back in his chair.
Pinpricks of light like fireflies bat against my eyelids. I can hear my
own blood coursing, like hooves pounding the street. The grey light outside
the hospital window thickens.
He turns a page.
Behind his shoulder, in the painting, smoke innocently rises from a
farmhouse chimney and a woman runs – her face tilted upwards in terror.