Free All of Me by Kim Noble Page A

said that was the only reason the driver stopped, because he couldn’t see anything with Mum filling the windshield.
    I didn’t know any of this as I tore along the pavement. All I knew from Lorraine’s message was that things were bad. Terrible even. But nothing prepared me for the sight of dozens of flashing blue lights dominating the night sky. Police cars and ambulances were completely blocking the road. Vehicles were backed up in both directions as cops tried to keep the traffic flowing. A small crowd of people had gathered around the scene. As I fought my way through, I saw Lorraine sitting with a blanket round her. A policeman was talking to her. But where was Mum?
    Then I saw her and my heart sank.
    She was lying in the road, exactly as she’d landed. Two medics were checking her. They were talking anxiously. But worst of all, I could see a policeman crouching down, shuffling around her like a crab. He was marking her outline on the road.
    I thought they only did that for dead bodies.
    Then the other shoe dropped.
    Oh God!
    Lorraine saw me, then we forced our way over to Mum. She was out of it, completely unconscious.
    She’s not going to make it.
    We shoved past the medics and I sighed with relief when I saw Mum’s eyes flicker open. When she saw us she said, ‘My pilot light is going out.’
    What a time to be thinking about the cooker, I thought. But at least she was alive.
    She said it again. ‘My pilot light is going out.’
    ‘Don’t worry, Mum,’ Lorraine assured her. ‘I’ll light it when I get home.’
    But Mum wouldn’t stop. That’s all she could manage to say in her weak, pathetic little voice. ‘My pilot light is going out. My pilot light is going out.’
    Then she passed out again and I thought we’d lost her for good.
    I stared at Lorraine. What do we do now?
    Suddenly, there was a twitch and Mum came back. And what did she say?
    ‘My pilot light is going out.’
    As petrified as I was, I struggled to keep a straight face. It was so bizarre. Mum was flitting in and out of consciousness and all she could think about was that.
    It was only afterwards we worked out what she meant. Mum was dying. She could see that. Death was claiming her and in her mind she could see her life force being snuffed out. She wasn’t worried about the cooker at all. She was talking about herself, about her own pilot light.
    It seemed to take an age to move Mum into the ambulance. Seeing that police outline made me feel sick. They obviously thought her pilot light was going out for good. Lorraine went to the hospital but I went back home. The next thing I remember is Lorraine coming home the next morning, ashen.
    ‘Mum’s serious but stable,’ she explained, tears flowing. ‘They don’t know if she’ll make it.’
    It was a horrible time. We had to tell Nan of course and she was devastated. You feel so helpless when someone is in hospital.
    Life had to go on as much as possible. Dad made me go to school. Afterwards I set off to visit Mum in hospital. On the way I saw our neighbour. Her face fell when she spotted me.
    ‘Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your mum.’
    I nodded. ‘Thanks.’ What else was there to say?
    ‘You must let me know when the funeral is.’
    Funeral?
    ‘Mum’s not dead.’
    The neighbour was shocked.
    ‘But …’
    ‘What have you heard?’ I demanded. But the woman clammed up.
    I ran off, distraught. Had something happened to Mum while I was at school? Or had she died and I’d just not remembered? That could happen. That would be normal for me. Why hadn’t they told me?
    By the time I reached the hospital I was a wreck. I felt the nurses’ eyes burning into me as I ran up the corridor and braced myself for the worst. Any minute now one of them would take me aside.
    But there was Mum. There’d been no change. The neighbour had been wrong.
    I’ve never been so relieved.
    It turned out the whole neighbourhood was buzzing with the news that Dorothy Noble had been killed that