The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1613 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

In the evening, after an early tea, I took Trish with me to see Julie. I wasn’t sure if it was insurance because I didn’t seem to be able to do anything, or because she genuinely wanted to see her big sister.

Julie looked a bit better when we arrived, she was listening to her music and I brought the charger to go with it. She told us that Mr O’Rourke had packed her vagina with iodine stuff to help heal it. She said it felt really odd but it saved her dilating–she smiled but it was a very weak one.

While we were there the nurse came in and took her blood pressure. “I know you,” she said to me.

“I was here earlier seeing my daughter, perhaps you saw me then.”

“No–I don’t think so–I’ll remember in a minute.” She went off and as soon as she did, Julie said something about Youtube. Trish laughed and an old lady muttered something about children in hospitals.

I noted she didn’t have any visitors so I sent Trish over with some of Julie’s fruit to ask her if she’d like some. Julie and I continued talking with occasional glances to see that Trish was okay. She seemed to be in some earnest conversation with the old lady; they were both nodding and laughing now and again.

Finally she came back with the fruit. “I thought you were going to give it to the old lady?” I said to her.

“She didn’t want it.” I shrugged in response and Julie rolled her eyes. “She used to teach at my school,” announced Trish.

“Who did?”

“Mrs Pennecuik.”

“Is that her name?” I clarified.

“Yeah, she used to teach science–twenty years ago. We were talking about quantum physics. She met Schrodinger when she was in Ireland.”

“Who is Schrodinger when he’s at home?” asked Julie.

“A physicist,” I answered.

“He had a cat, Mummy.”

“The cat thing was a theoretical thing, Trish.”

“Waddya mean, theeretical?”

“Theorertical, it means it was just an idea like doing equations.”

“Woss equations?”

“It’s mathematics.”

“Oh sums,” she said dismissively.

“Ugh,” offered Julie, “I hated maths, was rubbish at it.”

“It’s not my strongest area, either. I tend to use computer programmes to do most of mine these days.”

“That’s cheatin’,” declared Trish.

“No, it’s using my brain–if I had to do the maths to resolve probabilities and so on from our population studies, it would take me hours. Instead, I stick the numbers in a programme one of our maths people devised and it does the number crunching for me.”

“It’s still cheatin’,” declared the brainbox.

“Okay, so it’s cheating, but so is doing the washing in a machine instead of standing at the sink and washing everything by hand. I tell you what, Trish, you can do all your panties by hand next week instead of me putting them in the machine.”

“Um–I don’t know how to do washing, Mummy.”

“I’ll show you, then you can do your own and if you like it you can do Livvie’s as well.”

“I’m not washing her knickers,” she said indignantly.

“But you’re happy to do your own?”

“Why can’t you do them in the machine like you usually do?”

“Because you think using shortcuts is cheating.”

“No it isn’t.”

“So me using one to shortcut my calculations is okay then, is it?”

“That’s different.”

“What’s different?”

“Your calculations aren’t all smelly like Livvie’s knickers.” Trish declared and Julie snorted.

“Livvie’s knickers aren’t all smelly.”

“They are.”

“No more than yours.”

“Mine aren’t smelly.”

“I didn’t say they were, what I said was Livvie’s were no more smelly than yours.”

“Oh,” she put the fruit down and sat on the chair beside me. She then began eating the grapes, so I left her alone and continued talking with Julie.

“I didn’t know Schrodinger went to Ireland,” I remarked unconsciously processing what Trish had said about the old lady.

“That’s what she said,” answered Trish. I handed her my Blackberry, “Have a look on Wiki.”

Two minutes later she showed me the text on my phone. Schrodinger was indeed in Ireland, setting up some university department. He also spent time at Oxford and the States. Strange man, lived with two women, into Eastern philosophies. Mind you Tom and Simon live with a whole tribe of women, Tom is pretty conventional in his beliefs, Simon worships Mammon and the women seem mostly rationalists, except Stella who is only rational when crazy.

“When you go to school tomorrow, tell Sister Maria that Mrs Pennecuik was a teacher there and is now in hospital. Perhaps they’ll send her a card or if someone remembers her, they may come and visit.”

“I’ll tell her, I’ll also tell her she knew Schrodinger–he’s famous.” For good measure she stood up and laid her hand on Julie’s leg, through the bedclothes and I saw a blue light gently work its way up Julie’s body; neither of them seemed aware of it but Trish kept standing and leaning on Julie’s leg. It went on for about ten minutes, then visiting time ended and we had to go.

Before I left I went to speak with the old lady. “I hope my daughter didn’t annoy you?”

“Not at all, she’s a charming child and very bright.”

“Yes, she keeps telling us,” I joked and she smiled.

“So you teach at university?”

“I try to.”

“That’s not what your daughter says, she says you’re very important, that her grandfather is a professor, you make films as well as teach and that she has five siblings. You’re a very busy young woman.”

I shrugged, “When you say it like that, it does sound that way, doesn’t it?”

“She also said one of your children died last year, but she still sees her at times.”

I blushed and thought I’d better laugh it off, “Well you know what children are...”

“The child’s name was Billie and she’s standing with you now looking at you with a great deal of love.” I was totally and utterly flabbergasted. “She says that she hopes one of the others will go cycling with you and that it wasn’t your fault that she died.”

I felt tears begin to form. “Tell her I love her too, please.”

“Oh she knows that, my dear. Oh she’s gone. She died in a motor accident, did she?”

“She crashed her bike while we were out riding, she had a brain aneurysm which no one knew about and died instantly. According to the experts, she could have died at any time. I still miss her.”

“I’m sure you do, anyway, she’s in a better place now.” She smiled at me, “Even if you don’t believe it.” I nodded and thanked her before excusing myself and collecting the chatterbox who was gabbling with Julie.

On the way home, I asked Trish if she’d seen Billie in the hospital. “Oh she’s been watching over Julie, she’s worried.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You’d have spent more time trying to see her than talking with Julie, Mummy, and I needed you there to be able to give Julie healing.”

“Right, glad I was able to help.”