“Does the light hurt your eyes? Let me put up one of the blinds for a moment, because I want you to see these flowers. I’ve brought you my first sweet peas.”
Claude blinked at the bunch of bright colours she held out before him. She put them up to his face and asked him if he could smell them through his medicines. In a moment he ceased to feel embarrassed. His mother brought a glass bowl, and Enid arranged the flowers on the little table beside him.
“Now, do you want me to darken the room again?”
“Not yet. Sit down for a minute and talk to me. I can’t say much because my face is stiff.”
“I should think it would be! I met Leonard Dawson on the road yesterday, and he told me how you worked in the field after you were cut. I would like to scold you hard, Claude.”
“Do. It might make me f
