He gave scant details, but it sounded like a gruelling schedule. “I get ten days off in just over a week,” he said, “to spend time with Mum and Dad.”
Hana cringed hearing Mark call Aunty Elaine ‘Mum’ and she concentrated on putting his drink into his hand without getting eye contact. But Mark saw her grief. “Sorry, I forget I’ve had years to get used to it, but you’ve had only days. Do you realise our mother’s been dead for twenty-six years soon?” His voice sounded soft and wistful and Hana nodded.
“I can tell you how many years, days, hours, minutes and seconds if you like. I to work it out daily at the moment,” Hana sighed. “I missed her with my older children but it seems worse now. I’m not sure why.”
Hana fetched a glass of water and sat on the sofa perpendicular to her brother’s. S
