Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

sure that I didn’t lose sight of the rest of me.
I began to feel guilty about the conversation I had had earlier with my sister.
Patrick wouldn’t let me get up, not even to help him clear the dishes. At a
quarter past eleven he rose and moved the plates and bowls to the kitchenette
and began to load the dishwasher. I sat, listening to him as he talked to me
through the little doorway. I was rubbing at the point where my neck met my
shoulder, trying to release some of the knots that seemed to be firmly embedded
there. I closed my eyes, trying to relax into it, so that it was a few minutes before
I realized the conversation had stopped.
I opened my eyes. Patrick was standing in the doorway, holding my holiday
folder. He held up several pieces of paper. ‘What’s all this?’
‘It’s … the trip. The one I told you about.’
I watched him flick through the paperwork I had shown my sister, taking in
the itinerary, the pictures, the Californian beach.
‘I thought … ’ His voice, when it emerged, sounded strangely strangled. ‘I
thought you were talking about Lourdes.’
‘What?’
‘Or … I don’t know … Stoke Mandeville … or somewhere. I thought, when
you said you couldn’t come because you had to help him, it was actual work.
Physio, or faith healing, or something. This looks like … ’ He shook his head
disbelievingly. ‘This looks like the holiday of a lifetime.’
‘Well … it kind of is. But not for me. For him.’
Patrick grimaced. ‘No … ’ he said, shaking his head. ‘You wouldn’t enjoy this
at all. Hot tubs under the stars, swimming with dolphins … Oh, look, “five-star
luxury” and “twenty-four-hour room service”.’ He looked up at me. ‘This isn’t a
work trip. This is a bloody honeymoon.’
‘That’s not fair!’
‘But this is? You … you really expect me to just sit here while you swan off
with another man on a holiday like this?’
‘His carer is coming too.’
‘Oh. Oh yes, Nathan. That makes it all right, then.’
‘Patrick, come on – it’s complicated.’
‘So explain it to me.’ He thrust the papers towards me. ‘Explain this to me,
Lou. Explain it in a way that I can possibly understand.’