Amber by Heather Burnside (great novels of all time .TXT) 📗

As it bounced back, she let out a murmur and claret-stained spittle trickled from the corner of her mouth. Amy took in her drooping mouth and sagging eyelids. Then she noticed something else. The pills!

An opened packet was on the coffee table next to an empty bottle of wine. The blister packs had all been emptied and a few of the pills were stacked next to the packet. But most of them had gone.

Amy couldn’t put into words what had happened. She was only eleven. But she instinctively knew something was wrong and a feeling of dread clutched at her insides, making her feel as though she wanted to vomit. She swallowed down the bile that had risen to her throat and found her voice.

‘Oh my God! Nathan! I think she’s… I think she’s… dead. Oh my God. What should we do?’

She stared at her brother who was just as alarmed as she was. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, his lips trembling.

Then Amy seemed to snap to, and she rushed towards the phone, her hands shaking as she dialled 999 and waited for the line to connect.

‘What service do you require?’ asked the operator.

‘I don’t know. It’s my mum. I think she’s dead.’

The operator’s tone switched from officious to coaxing and she talked Amy through procedure while Amy stood by the phone with trembling knees and hands, her shock now reducing her to tears. The operator tried to keep her on the line while she sent an ambulance, but Amy was desperate. Once she was assured that an ambulance was on its way her thoughts turned to what she could do in the meantime. With her mind in turmoil, she ran into the street screaming for help.

The next-door neighbour, Mrs Wiley, ran out of her house and Amy tried to tell her what was wrong. But she rushed her words and they came out fragmented. ‘Mum. I think… she’s… she’s… come and look.’ Then she grabbed Mrs Wiley’s hand and led her to the house where Nathan was standing in the hallway. He was dumbstruck, with the colour drained from his face and his mouth hanging loose.

Mrs Wiley rushed inside ahead of her. ‘Where is she?’ she asked.

‘Th-the living room,’ said Amy.

‘OK, you wait here,’ she instructed, ‘while I see what the problem is.’

Amy stood in the hallway with her brother, sobbing while he remained silent and numb with shock.

‘Go and get Mrs Griffiths from over the road,’ shouted Mrs Wiley. Amy could sense the panic in her voice even before she added, ‘Tell her it’s urgent. I think it’s an overdose. And tell her to come straight through to the living room. You children can stay in the hall.’

Amy did as she was ordered, bringing back Mrs Griffiths who rushed into the living room. She wasn’t in there long before Mrs Wiley dashed out following a harried conversation. ‘Come on, come through to the kitchen,’ she said, taking hold of each of the children in her big comforting arms. ‘Mrs Griffiths is a nurse. She’ll look after your mother while you wait with me for the ambulance.’

‘Will she be alright?’ sobbed Amy.

‘Hopefully. Those ambulance people know what they’re doing, love, so don’t worry.’

Amy looked into Mrs Wiley’s face, expectantly, but she could see that her expression belied her comforting words. And she knew that there was nothing they could do except wait for the ambulance and hope to God that everything would be alright.

23

October 2015

When Amber walked into the Rose and Crown for a pre-work drink, she noticed straightaway that it was a quiet night. She glanced around and could see that old Angie was the only one of the girls in, so she grabbed a drink and went over. Angie’s eyes lit up as she joined her at the table then dulled again in disappointment.

‘Have you not got me one then?’

‘No. I thought you already had one.’

‘It’s finished.’ Angie quickly lifted the glass and drained the remains. ‘Pity,’ she said. ‘I’m a bit skint and I could do with another to ease my chest.’ She put her hand up to cover her chest and coughed dramatically as she finished her words.

Amber obliged her with a concerned response. ‘Yeah, I noticed it’s bad again, isn’t it?’

‘It’s always bloody bad lately.’

Amber was about to lecture her on how she could help herself by cutting down on the cigarettes and booze when a man called Tom joined them. He was well known in the Rose and Crown as a hardened boozer and most of the girls avoided him. Apart from being a heavy drinker, he was lecherous and prone to making inappropriate comments.

She noticed he was carrying a spirit of some sort in a glass as well as a pint. He passed the short to Angie. ‘There you go. I noticed your cough was bad. That’ll help your chest, girl. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll rub summat on it for you.’

He grinned lasciviously, displaying rotten teeth. Angie smiled back at him and Amber felt sickened. Angie had obviously sunk to a new low if she was now entertaining the likes of old Tom for the sake of a few drinks.

Once she had the drink in front of her, Angie continued speaking. ‘I could do without going out tonight but what can you do? I need the money.’

Amber didn’t respond and Tom seemed to be in a world of his own.

‘I got a really bad one last night, y’know,’ said Angie.

‘We all get bad clients. It’s just something we have to put up with,’ said Amber.

‘Not like this one though.’

Amber rolled her eyes in irritation. The last thing she needed now was to have to listen to Angie’s self-pity. She knew Angie was wanting to sponge some money from her, but she wasn’t in the mood for it tonight. She had enough problems of her own and couldn’t spare the cash now that Kev Pike was taking a cut of her earnings.

Amber was saved from making a sharp retort