The Sister(143)

‘Why I worked really late and I just overslept, that’s all!’ He hacked up a cough. ‘I’ll be fine, just give me a few minutes.’

‘You rest, I’ll come back later.’

‘You can’t, what I mean to say is...’ Ryan looked distant. ‘I’m running out of time, Miller. Now will you both leave the room so I can get dressed?’





‘What was he whispering about?’ Stella eyed him with curiosity.

‘Nothing much, I’ll tell you later.’

‘What do you mean later? I want you to tell me now!’

Miller raised an eyebrow, unsure if she were joking. She locked her crystal blue eyes onto his and did not waiver. He lowered his eyes. Her mouth was small, but her lips were full, pursed in petulance, rising luxuriant from the creaminess of her face.

‘Why are you looking at me like that, have I got something round my mouth?’ She wiped her lips. ‘Why were you looking at me like that?’ she said, inquisitively.

He decided to keep his thoughts to himself. ‘I was just thinking how funny it was – me giving you instructions again.’

‘If you want to start bossing me around, you'd better give me my old job back,’ she said, her face turning a shade of rosy pink.

Miller laughed. ‘Come on, get that water sorted out, we haven’t got all day.’

She returned with a full glass.

‘Stella, wait here while I take this up to him. I need to speak with him in private.’

‘Miller, I want to be sure he’s all right after that scare he gave me. Shouldn’t we call a doctor?’

‘He’s just tired and old. Once he’s had more of a rest, he’ll be fine.’

Miller returned upstairs. Stella followed him.

He hadn’t made it off the bed. Dressed and propped up on the pillows, he struggled to put his watch on.

‘I’m so tired I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m sorry. I just need more sleep, but no time now, I’ll catch up tonight.’ He rested his wrist against his knee to hold the timepiece in place while he threaded the strap through the buckle. Seeing Stella’s eyes on him, he waved her away impatiently, afraid she might offer to help.

‘Would you mind leaving us alone, Stella? Miller has to get going, and I’ve things to tell him in confidence.’

She looked disappointed as she closed the door behind her.





He beckoned Miller to come closer, his voice diminished to little more than a whisper. Does he think Stella is listening at the door? Then he realised that wasn’t the reason at all; the old man was merely conserving the precious energy even the smallest effort seemed to consume.

‘Bruce, I have to know. What really led you to contact me after all these years, you could have phoned anybody. Can you tell me why you chose me?’

‘Sure, but something’s bothering me from yesterday ... How did you know it was me on the phone? When I said my name was Miller, you replied with no hesitation whatsoever: Bruce?’

Ryan avoided his gaze.

‘I never told you I got nicknamed Miller. That came after our sessions were over. Have you been watching me?’

Pushing the tips of his index fingers into the corners of his eyes, he rubbed them vigorously. ‘Of course I haven’t, what a ridiculous thing to suggest.’

‘Is it?’

The two men looked at each other, both seeking answers that wouldn’t come easily.

Ryan sipped at his water.

‘My question, Miller, you haven’t answered.’

‘Why choose you? I don’t know. I kept an old business card of yours for years. It made me feel better knowing I could talk to you again if I needed to. When I first came to see you, I held back on you. I should have told you more, but I was just a kid, and to me you were a just a shrink.’

Ryan winced as if stung by the word. ‘Oh, please.’

‘Sorry, like I was saying, I was just a kid. I didn’t want you to think I was crazy. Do you remember me telling you about the shadows I saw the day of the accident?’

Ryan’s eyes widened. He licked his parched lips and said, ‘Go on.’

‘What I didn’t tell you is they'd started to become more than just shadows. I didn’t understand it then, and I still don’t. They’re with me everywhere, like the little floaters you see when you look up at the ceiling staring at nothing in particular. You know they’re there. At first you’re fascinated, but after a while you don’t take any notice.’

Ryan ritualised with his pencil, apparently not listening.

Miller continued, ‘Well that’s how it used to be. Until recently, if I'd looked at them directly, they'd have disappeared, but when I see them now, I think they’re becoming bolder.’

Light gleamed along the shaft of the pencil and the psychiatrist stared at him with such intensity it made his eyes water.

‘Are you following me, Doctor?’

‘You have my undivided attention. Oh, how I wish you'd told me this before. Please go on, I’m fascinated.’ The colour and vigour seemed to have returned to his complexion.

Miller took a deep breath and resumed. ‘Well, one evening, and it wasn’t dark – I think it was around Easter time – I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eye. It was no big thing as I was telling you before, but this time when I looked at it directly, I realised it wasn’t a shadow at all. It was someone. Fully formed and in glorious Technicolour, staring right at me.’