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I would show hi to tell hi to turn up there with him and then watch hihtless, and free He would escape the dreaded chair He would escape gravity

I printed out all the information and kept that one sheet at the top Whenever I looked at it I felt a gerht of ht that this e Will’s , the two of us stooping furtively over our coffees in the kitchen as if ere doing soh the papers that I had printed off

‘I have spoken to other quads about the skydiving thing There’s noThey have special harnesses to relieve any potential pressure points on his spine’

I studied his face anxiously I knew Nathan didn’t rateIt was important to me that he was happy hat I’d planned

‘The place here has everything wea doctor’s prescription, they can even get any generic drugs that weout’

He frowned ‘Looks good,’ he said, finally ‘You did a great job’

‘You think he’ll like it?’

He shrugged ‘I haven’t got a clue But –’ he handed me the papers ‘– you’ve surprised us so far, Lou’ His s in froain’

I showed Mrs Traynor before I left for the evening

She had just pulled into the drive in her car and I hesitated, out of sight of Will’s , before I approached her ‘I know this is expensive,’ I said ‘But … I think it looks a I really think Will could have the tilanced through it all in silence, and then studied the figures that I had compiled

‘I’ll pay forI don’t want anyone thinking –’

‘It’s fine,’ she said, cutting et hi There was no ti else

‘Do you think you can persuade him?’ she said

‘Well … if I … if I make out that it’s … ’ I sed, ‘ … partly for h withs’

She looked at me very carefully She nodded ‘Yes That sounds like Will’ She handed back the paperwork

‘I am … ’ I took a breath, and then, to my surprise, I found that I couldn’t speak I sed hard, twice ‘What you said before I –’

She didn’t seem to want to wait forfor the chain around her neck ‘Yes Well, I’d better go in I’ll see you too back to Patrick’s that evening I hadled me away from the industrial park and, instead, I crossed the road and boarded the bus that led towards home I walked the 180 steps to our house, and let , and all the ere open in an atte away in the kitchen Dad was on the sofa with ato one side Tho in black felt tip on his shoes I said hello and walked past the how it could feel so swiftly as if I didn’t quite belong here anyin my room I knocked on the door, and walked in to find her at the desk, hunched over a pile of textbooks, glasses that I didn’t recognize perched on her nose It was strange to see her surrounded by the things I had chosen forthe walls I had painted so carefully, his pen drawing still scrawled over the corner of hts so that I didn’t feel instinctively resentful

She glanced over her shoulder at lanced up at the clock ‘I thought she was going to do Thoers’

She looked at lasses ‘You okay? You look like shit’

‘So do you’

‘I knoent on this stupid detox diet It’s given me hives’ She reached a hand up to her chin

‘You don’t need to diet’

‘Yeah Well … there’s this bloke I like in Accountancy 2 I thought I e hives all over your face is always a good look, right?’

I sat down on the bed It was my duvet cover I had known Patrick would hate it, with its crazy geometric pattern I was surprised Katrina didn’t

She closed her book, and leant back in her chair ‘So what’s going on?’

I bit ain

‘Treen, do you think I could retrain?’

‘Retrain? As what?’

‘I don’t know So’

‘Well … there are definitely courses I’m pretty sure my uni has one I could look it up, if you want’

‘But would they take people like me? People who don’t have qualifications?’

She threw her pen up in the air and caught it ‘Oh, they love mature students Especially ht have to do a conversion course, but I don’t see why not Why? What’s going on?’

‘I don’t know It’s just so Will said a while back About … about what I should do with…Now that Dad can support hi so of herself?’

‘You’d have to pay’

‘I know I’ve been saving’

‘I think it’s probably a bit rant Or h for a bit I ency that could helpon,’ Katrina said, swivelling on her chair, ‘I >don’t really get this I thought you wanted to stay with Will I thought the whole point of this was that you wanted to keep hi with hi

‘But what?’