Blood Water Read Free

the room was right – the position of
the door, windows and bed – but the bed seemed bigger,
the duvet was completely foreign to him, as were his
chest of drawers and alarm clock. He sighed, rubbed his
damp brown hair, then turned onto his side and closed
his eyes again. Maybe things would be better in the
morning.

CHAPTER 3
    Monday morning came and went, and Sean was
surprised when he opened his groggy eyes to find it was
already five past twelve.
    'Bloody hell,' he said, rising onto one elbow; then, at
a loss for anything more intelligent to say: 'Shit.'
    He got out of bed, went to the bathroom, then stood
on the landing, listening for any sign of Mum downstairs.
She didn't work at the hospital on Mondays. Sean
waited a moment or two, until he heard a cough and the
sound of a newspaper being shuffled.
    'Mum?'
    There was a brief pause before: 'Yes?'
    'I'm supposed to be at school.'
    'I know but I didn't want you going in today,' Mum
said, turning a page of the paper. 'Graham said you'd be
better off resting for a day or two before going back. You
need to take it easy. You gave your dad and me quite a
scare yesterday.'
    He thought about it and decided that he didn't
particularly want to argue with his mum's decision.
    'Go back to bed. I'll bring you up some lunch in
a bit.'
    'Haven't had breakfast yet.'
    'All right, I'll bring that up too,' she replied, joking.
    'OK,' Sean smiled. 'Who's Graham?'
    'He's the man from St John's Ambulance who looked
after you yesterday. I know his wife, Jean.'
    'Oh yeah.' He turned and went back into his bedroom,
wondering why nearly everyone Mum knew seemed to
be called Jean.
    'And I don't want you out of that bed today, you
understand? You nearly ended up in hospital yesterday.'
    'Yeah, I know,' he replied. He knew only too well. He
closed his door before picking up his copy of Northern
Lights and getting back into bed. Pulling the covers
over him and pushing the pillows up behind his head,
he glanced at the image on the front cover. He didn't
recognize it at all – it seemed different. He stared at it
for a whole minute, trying to force himself to remember
it, but it was no use. Why didn't he recognize it? Why
was he still having problems with his brain? He tried
reading, but he couldn't get into the book any more.
Besides which, he was now developing a headache. He
decided that since he was confined to his bed, he might
as well sleep. So he did.
    He awoke again at around one thirty, to an awful din
outside. It sounded like rain, but if it was, it was really
hammering down. He got out of bed, went over to his
window and opened the curtains to reveal a furious
downpour outside. The density of the rain was incredible;
the ground was already covered in water, tiny explosions
from the raindrops making it look almost alive.
    Sean heard his mum's voice from downstairs. She was
talking to someone, on the telephone. When he turned
back to the window he was shocked to see his dad
below him, hands raised to the sky, smiling as though
he was enjoying the deluge. But he should be at work
now, Sean thought.
    'What the hell . . . ?' he mouthed. He turned and ran
downstairs to find Mum in the living room, staring out
of the large bay window at the front of the house, the
phone held to her ear.
    'I know . . . I know, it's ridiculous. They said it would
be big, but this . . . I know—'
    'Mum,' Sean said, interrupting. 'Mum, what's Dad
doing in the back garden?'
    'Hang on a second, Barbara. What do you mean
"What's he doing in the back garden"? Your dad's at
work.'
    'He isn't. I just saw him out the window. He's
standing in the rain in the back garden.'
    'What?' Mum just stared at him for a second before:
'Barbara? I'll call you back in a few minutes – is that
all right? . . . OK. Don't you leave the house again.' She
hung up and headed for the kitchen, Sean following
close behind.
    It was hard to see through the window. First Mum
peered out