Read Online Written in the Scars (The Estate Series Book 4) by Mel Sherratt - Free Book Online Page B

off it. The kitchen and bedroom were to her left, the living room and bathroom to her right. Each room was decorated to a high standard and Donna hadn’t let it slip. Unlike some of the other families, she wanted her mum to live in cleanliness.
    In the living room, Mary was sitting in the armchair watching the television. Donna never knew from one visit to the next if Mum would recognise her but she lived in hope. Some days, Mary would smile up at her and Donna’s heart would lift. But then she would call her by a different name or ask her to change her bedcovers, or ask when her dinner would be ready, thinking Donna was one of the carers. Other times, Mum would start talking about days gone past and when Donna joined in she would laugh for a while. Then there would be days where she hadn’t got a clue who Donna was, and it felt like a slap in the face because she was a stranger to her own mother.
    ‘Hi, Mum, it’s only me,’ she smiled, bending to kiss her on the forehead.
    Mary looked up at Donna, a blank look in her eyes, a faint smile on her thin lips. She was a small woman in her late sixties, yet even though she looked frail, she was extremely strong when challenged.
    Mary used to have the same colouring as Donna and Keera, but her hair was white now, her skin almost transparent. Sometimes she had a sparkle in what Donna could see of her eyes beneath the hooded lids, but most of the time she looked as she did now. Just lately, Donna had seen her lose more and more of her fighting spirit. It was as if the dementia was taking every last bit of her mum.
    Donna perched on the arm of the chair. ‘How are you today, Mum?’ she asked. When there was no reply, she sat for a moment, staring at the television screen but not really watching it.
    A head popped around the doorframe. ‘Oh, hi, Donna,’ a young woman said. ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’
    ‘Hi, Megan. I’ve only been here for a few minutes.’ Donna glanced at the clock on the wall. It had been from her childhood home and she remembered it fondly through the years. The times she’d cursed at it when she’d been late. The times she’d sat watching it, waiting for someone to ring her when she was a teenager with a crush on a boy from school. She was surprised it was still working, and Donna knew even though it was old-fashioned, when Mary did eventually leave them, it would be the one thing she would treasure. Time stood still for no one.
    ‘I saw Sam this morning,’ Megan added. ‘Sorry to hear he’s had an accident.’
    Donna frowned. How did she...?
    ‘I clean at the hospital, too,’ Megan explained.
    ‘Blimey, you’re a worker.’ Donna was impressed.
    ‘I do a few hours there in the mornings and then come here for a few hours most afternoons. My mum has osteoarthritis and is barely mobile, so it suits us both. It gives her independence because I can pop home at lunchtime to see if she needs anything.’
    ‘Ah, yes, I remember you telling me that,’ Donna nodded, instantly feeling sorry for the young woman. Megan didn’t look a day over twenty and had a lot of responsibility already. A bit like herself, she surmised. Yet, for her young age, Megan seemed to have a sensible head on her shoulders. Donna had known her for around six months, since she’d managed to get extra help in for Mum from social services. Denise Barker, the warden at Poplar Court, had assigned Megan to help out more regularly. She wished Keera would share the burden more too, with a little less attitude.
    ‘How is he?’ Megan continued. ‘He seemed in a lot of pain when I saw him.’
    ‘He’s coping, I suppose.’ Donna sighed. ‘I feel like all I do is visit people and go to work in between at the moment.’
    ‘It will get better once Sam leaves the hospital.’ There was a slight pause from Megan. ‘Won’t his girlfriend help him out too?’
    ‘He’s single at the moment. He shares a flat –’ Donna stopped herself from saying with another layabout