Free The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin

Jay said. ‘Pox bottles the lot of them.’
    Johnny didn’t care. He just jumped into the back of the van and the lads bundled in after him. Uncle Terry climbed into the front seat. Davey was last in, running out of the house shouting, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming!’ Johnny beat the side of the van with his hand as Jack shut the doors and Uncle Terry took off down the road.
    Grace and Emily were already in Jack’s car, giggling and talking excitedly. Jack looked at his youngest daughter. ‘Your day will come, Rabbit, and way sooner than you think.’
    ‘Not sooner,’ she said. ‘Sooner would be yesterday.’
    ‘We’ll have a party on the night it’s shown on the telly,’ Jack promised.
    ‘Yeah?’ Rabbit jumped up and down. ‘Can Marjorie come?’
    ‘Of course she can.’
    ‘Thanks, Da.’
    ‘Who loves ya?’ Jack said.
    ‘Me da does,’ she replied, and hugged him.
And I love Johnny Faye
.
Jack
    Jack arrived alone. He met Fiona in Reception and she pointed him in his daughter’s direction, although she did mention politely that Rabbit already had a lot of people with her.
    Michelle was passing at the time. ‘Jack Hayes?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Good to see you. I’m Michelle. Why don’t you follow me?’ she said, then turned to Fiona. ‘I’ll take it from here.’ Fiona nodded and Jack went with Michelle down the hallway.
    ‘She’s doing well. She’ll be happy to see you.’
    Jack remained silent. Michelle opened the door, revealing Rabbit, Juliet, Grace, Davey and Molly.
    ‘Hi, Da,’ Rabbit said, smiling.
    He could see that she was anxious he might cry in front of Juliet so the ‘hi’ sounded extra-buoyant and her eyes pleaded with him to stay strong. He read his daughter’s mind and body language.
I’m not going to cry, Rabbit. I promise. I’ll be stronger for you. I won’t let you down. Not today.
‘Hi, yourself,’ he said, matching her tone.
    ‘Grace, Davey, Molly, could I see you for a minute?’ Michelle said, and suddenly they were gone, leaving Rabbit with her dad and her daughter.
    Jack sat on the sofa and picked up Davey’s newspaper. ‘Depressing,’ he said. ‘If it’s not about the shite we’re in, it’s about that bloody politician’s death. I’ve seen more programming about that woman in the past two days than I saw through her entire time in government. Hated her back then but in the end . . .’ He trailed off, realizing he’d stumbled on a difficult topic.
    ‘Who was she?’ Juliet asked.
    ‘She was a very important figure when we were growing up,’ Rabbit said.
    ‘It was all doom and gloom back then,’ Jack said.
    ‘Kinda like now,’ Juliet said.
    ‘Exactly, Bunny,’ Jack agreed.
    ‘Ma.’
    ‘Yes, love?’
    ‘When you’re better, let’s go away,’ Juliet said.
    Jack’s eyes widened and bulged.
    ‘Where do you want to go?’ Rabbit asked.
    ‘Let’s go to Clare.’
    ‘Back to that little cottage by the sea, the one we went to when you were eight?’ Rabbit said.
    ‘We could go when I finish school in June,’ Juliet said.
    ‘You spent all day every day in the sea. I had eye strain from watching the water.’ Rabbit chuckled. ‘What was the name of that boy you played with?’
    ‘Bob.’
    ‘Poor Bob followed Juliet wherever she went,’ Rabbit explained to Jack. ‘He loved her.’
    ‘Ma!’ Juliet said, feigning embarrassment, then breaking into a smile. ‘He spent that whole summer standing in the water with his teeth chattering and asking can we go in yet.’
    ‘He was sweet,’ Rabbit said.
    ‘He’s a really good golfer now,’ Juliet said.
    ‘How do you know?’
    ‘Facebook.’
    ‘Oh. That’s nice.’
    ‘So? Can we go back?’ Juliet asked.
    ‘We’ll see.’ Rabbit took her daughter’s hand, squeezed it, then put it to her lips and kissed it.
    Jack stood and made an excuse about needing water. His body and mind were colluding: tears were brewing and threatening to spill. He wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to will them