renovation, there were higher priorities. The kitchen functioned without it.
The time she had now with Sean and Zac and Oscar had been paid for by putting one foot in front of the other when her feet were as far as she could see. She had done what was required of her, been through all the hard stuff. She should get to sit this one out, right here, with her family. Other peoplecould deal with this virus, other people could get sickâshe had paid already.
Sean offered to do bedtime but that meant giving up the last moments with Oscar before sleep claimed him. The day had worn Hannah out, so she chose a short book and by the time she kissed him goodnight, his eyes were nearly closed.
She sneaked into their bedroom. Sean had already told her once tonight not to bother, but it was Wednesday and Zac hadnât rung. Independence was important but all she had to do was press the dial button.
âHi.â He sounded bright and alert.
âHi Zac, itâs me.â She spoke softly, so as not to wake Oscar in the next room. âHowâs Canberra?â
âOh, hi Mum.â
âWere you expecting someone else?â She was mortified to hear something that sounded so much like a mother slip out of her mouth.
âWell, we had to go into a room for four so Daniel and Ben ended up in a room with two other kids, and weâre not allowed to walk around the corridors unless weâre going to the activity room, and their roomâs the other way, so we canât go there and they canât come here. And they want us to go to the activity room, but Jamie wonât go so they keep ringing us. They rang everybody elseâs phone.â
âSo are you having fun?â
âSure.â
âIs Canberra interesting?â
âI guess.â
âIs everybody well?â
âMum,â she could hear the sigh, âno one is sick here, what do you think?â
She waited for him to say something more. âWell, stay safe. Have a good time.â
ââKay. Bye.â And he was gone to more immediate things.
She opened the living room door quietly, trying not to break Oscarâs sleep spell. Sean was halfway between standing and sitting on the edge of the sofa, his face screwed up and red. He started to speak but she put her finger to her lips. She softly closed the door behind her but he had already slipped out the other way. She followed his shadow though the unlit kitchen and found him silhouetted by the moon and the fairy lights from the garden.
Hannah tried to read his face in the gloom. âAre you okay?â
âItâs an island. Itâs an island. How hard can it be to keep something off an island. Germs canât swim. Sick people canât swim. You shut the fucking airport and weâre all okay.â
âSo we shut our door, and weâre okay.â
âPeople are dead. There are people dead. Thatâs not okay. One or two dead people,â his figure shrugged with contempt, âwell, that just happens sometimes, doesnât it. Nothing anyone can do about that. Ten people all at once, thatâs a disaster. Enact a law, rebuild the highway.â Sean punctuated his anger by pummelling the darkness in front of him. âBut if you space them out, ten dead people just not all at once, that doesnât require any new laws.â
âTen. I didnât know it was ten.â
âNot yet but it will be. Neatly spaced out, but each one sooner than the last until it explodes.â
âItâs not like this wasnât coming. I said this was coming.â
âSo are you happy about this, are you happy that youâre right?â His raised arms shook slightly.
âWhy would I be happy? My being right doesnât change the way things are.â Hannah took a deep breath to try to slow herself down. âI donât want there to be an epidemic, but since there will be, and since we both should have seen it comingbut