Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘Will has barely left this house in two years, apart from hospital
appointments.’
‘Well, yes … I thought I’d try and persuade him otherwise.’
‘And you would, of course, go on all these adventures with him,’ Georgina
Traynor said.
‘Look. It’s nothing extraordinary. I’m really talking about just getting him out
of the house, to start with. A walk around the castle, or a visit to the pub. If we
end up swimming with dolphins in Florida, then that’s lovely. But really I just
wanted to get him out of the house and thinking about something else.’ I didn’t
add that the mere thought of driving to the hospital in sole charge of Will was
still enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. The thought of taking him abroad
felt as likely as me running a marathon.
‘I think it’s a splendid idea,’ Mr Traynor said. ‘I think it would be marvellous
to get Will out and about. You know it can’t have been good for him staring at
the four walls day in and day out.’
‘We have tried to get him out, Steven,’ Mrs Traynor said. ‘It’s not as if we’ve
left him in there to rot. I’ve tried again and again.’
‘I know that, darling, but we haven’t been terribly successful, have we? If
Louisa here can think up things that Will is prepared to try, then that can only be
a good thing, surely?’
‘Yes, well, “prepared to try” being the operative phrase.’
‘It’s just an idea,’ I said. I felt suddenly irritated. I could see what she was
thinking. ‘If you don’t want me to do it … ’
‘ … you’ll leave?’ She looked straight at me.
I didn’t look away. She didn’t frighten me any more. Because I knew now she
was no better than me. She was a woman who could sit back and let her son die
right in front of her.
‘Yes, I probably will.’
‘So it’s blackmail.’
‘Georgina!’
‘Well, let’s not beat around the bush here, Daddy.’
I sat up a little straighter. ‘No. Not blackmail. It’s about what I’m prepared to
be part of. I can’t sit by and just quietly wait out the time
until … Will … well … ’ My voice tailed off.