The Girl Who Didn't Know What To Believe

as she did, he took a breath and said in a slightly strange
voice, “Oops, had a bit of a turn there, maybe I should go
and lie down for a little.” Her Mother knelt down and held
his hands and looked into his eyes, and said firmly, “No, off
to the hospital with you!”, and ignored his protests as she
started to gather some things together.
“Meri,” Grandpa leaned over and whispered conspiratorially,
”it looks like I don’t have a choice. I am absolutely
fine, a lie-down is all I need, so this trip is just to make your
Mother happy. She does fuss sometimes!” And Meritxell
stopped worrying, and put her arms round his neck and
gave him a big hug. If he said there wasn’t a problem, then
she believed him, and she smiled inside at how silly her Mother
could be sometimes. So they all bundled into their little
car, with Mother driving, Grandpa next to her, and Meritxell
sat in the back with her arm round Hume, as he poked
his nose out of the window and loudly sniffed the air.
The hospital was a big white building with lots of signs
everywhere in case you wanted your eyes or ears or feet or
practically any part of you looked at. They left Hume in
the car, as he wasn’t allowed inside, and he watched them
walk through the main door before settling down for a nap.
Inside the hospital, Mother walked briskly up to the main
desk, where a nurse sat in a pale blue uniform, and Grandpa
followed a little behind, holding Meritxell’s hand, and
walking more carefully than usual. When they reached the
desk, Mother was already explaining the situation. The
nurse asked a few questions, wrote some notes, tapped on
her computer keyboard, and told them to take a seat.
“Everything’s fine, Meri”, Grandpa said as they sat and
waited, and Meritxell looked at her Mother, who had cal-
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