I knew we’d be going soon so I tried again.

“Mummy?” I whispered, as she lay on the hospital bed. It was the third time I’d seen here this week and she still hadn’t woken up.

I could feel grandma watching from the corner of the room even thought she was facing the other way. She was rearranging the flowers we brought; yellow narcissi’s and blue hyacinths that were sat in a pale green vase.  I picked them because yellow was my favourite colour and blue was mummy’s and Grandma said she liked both. We’d bought the same combination when we came to see her the first time but they’d withered before mummy had got to see them.

The machine with the green lines kept beeping gently.

“Mummy… I miss you.” I leaned forward and lay my head beside her arm looking up at her, careful not to touch the pile of plastic at the top of her fore arm. Each time I saw it I wanted to pull it out. There was a clear thick tube going into her arm which had a pink cap on it. It was held in place with lots of white plasters. From each side of that main tube were smaller windy tubes, delivering something honey coloured from bags on stands to the side of her bed.

“I missed you all week mummy.”

        I gently held the top of her fingers and squeezed.

“Misha…” Gradma said warning me.

       I turned to look at her and pulled my hand away. She said it because she felt she had to. She’d been quiet all week. Normally when she was on her own around the house she would sing and hum to herself, but this week she’d only really tried to be happy around me.

Mummy hadn’t moved at all and was wearing the same pale dressing gown and had the same orange blanket over her. The metal bars on the head board made me want to take her home to her own bed. I knew I had to wait until she got better but she hadn’t gotten any better at all. I just hoped she wasn’t getting worse. And this time I felt I could do something.

“…shall we go now?” Grandma asked. I’d been there for an hour but didn’t want to leave. I walked over to where she was stood and she offered me some green grapes from a bunch on the side table but I shook my head. There were dozens of get well soon cards on the table, which Grandma had placed around the one I’d drawn.

I looked back at all the electronics around mummy. Not just the things to make her better like the wires and the little machine, but the television on the stand and the phone by her bed. David had put lots of money on both so she could watch old films on one of the classic movie channels and talk to me when I wasn’t there, but she hadn’t had a chance to use either of them yet. Grandma held my hand and started walking towards the door, but I stopped.

“Can I just have a minute Nana.”

“You can come and see her another time.”

     I crossed my fingers behind my back.

“But I want to read her a prayer.”

“Well, you can read one to her while I’m here.”

“It won’t be the same.”

    Grandma tightened the knot in her head scarf and sighed.

“Ok, I’ll wait outside.”

As soon as she left it was just me and sleeping mummy. I edged over and hugged her other side which was wire free.

“Mummy, I listened a lot to what ever one’s been saying and I think I understand. I don’t know if you’re under a spell, or if you’re just too sad to wake up but I think I know what’ll make you better.”

          I leaned over to her ear and whispered and repeated, whispered and repeated, whispered and repeated.

The machine with the green lines started to beep louder and faster so I stopped, but it didn’t stop beeping. A number on the side of the screen was rising fast and into the triple figures and something was flashing from on top of the machine.

        Two nurses ran into the room and so Grandma rushed in too and pulled me outside. From the hall she looked in on the commotion through the window as nurses spoke urgently to one another then knelt down in front of me and grabbed me with both hands.

          “What have you done Misha?”

She looked angry and terrified and then hugged me tight. I looked into mums private room and saw more nurses pile in. The alarm hadn’t stopped. One of the nurses saw me looking and quickly walked over to the window. Her hand reached around the corner where I couldn’t see and suddenly the curtains came down.