Out of the Sun Read Online Free PDF

when it was first diagnosed. Now this. It makes you think."
    "You know that's ridiculous."
    "Yes." She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and blew her nose. "Of course I do. Like hoping he'll recover. Ridiculous. But I can't help doing it."
    "Neither can I."
    The remark, with its hint of intimacy, seemed suddenly too much for Iris. "Why should you care?" she snapped. "He's nothing to you."
    "Perhaps because I have no-one else to care about."
    "Exactly." There was harshness in her expression, honed by the anguish she had endured. "If you had a family of your own, you wouldn't be interested, would you? You wouldn't want to know."
    "It's easy for you to say that, knowing I can't disprove it."
    "That's not good enough." She glanced at her watch. "I really must be going. Blanche will be wondering what's become of me." Rising hurriedly, she took a ten-pound note from her handbag and dropped it onto Harry's side of the table. "Would you mind paying the bill for me? That should cover it."
    "There's no need But catching her eye as he stood up, Harry realized there was a compelling need from her point of view. She did not want to owe him any kind of debt, however trivial. Lest it remind her and him of what they could not help owing each other.
    "Goodbye, Harry," she said with cool finality.
    SIX
    Room E318 at the National Neurological Hospital seemed as warm and muffled as a womb next morning. The ventilator pumped out its measured maternal breaths and a vase of fresh irises spread its symbolic cheer; while the distant sounds of calm voices and familiar movements compressed themselves into an institutional universe of care and compassion. It surrounded Harry on all sides, enclosing him and his silent son, encompassing their pasts and however much of a future either of them had.
    "Your mother's lifted her ban on me," Harry remarked, trying another gambit in his one-way bedside conversation. "So you'll be seeing quite a bit more of me. As long as you don't mind, that is. Say if you do. We've got a lot of catching up to do, of course. I'll tell you about myself, if you like. There's nothing remarkable to say. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not like you. I mean, mathematics? I wouldn't know where to begin. The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. I know a joke about that, involving squaws and hippopotamuses. Or is it hippopotami? Well, I don't suppose you want to hear it anyway. What would you like to hear? My life story? That can be arranged. I'd like to hear yours. As well as your thoughts on one or two things that have been troubling me. The message I received. If it wasn't from your mother, who was it from? And what was it supposed to make me do? Ask how you ended up like this, perhaps? An accident's out of the question, apparently. And attempted suicide? I can't see it. Not for a son of mine. The Barnetts are often unlucky. But never self-destructive. What, then? What happened in that hotel room? I'd try to find out I promise I really would if you'd just tell me where to begin."
    But David could tell Harry nothing. And Iris, even if she could, had made it clear she did not intend to. Which left Harry to interrogate Shafiq about the person who had left the message for him at Mitre Bridge to no avail. Shafiq remained uncertain about the sex of the caller. Nor could he remember any particular accent.
    "Didn't you think to ask for their name?"
    "Of course I did, Harry. Do you take me for a fool?"
    "Well, what did they say?"
    "Nothing. That was when they rang off."
    "Oh, marvelous."
    "Well, I'm sorry. Would you have done any better?"
    "Maybe. For a start, I might have recognized them."
    "If they'd known that was likely, they would not have called while you were here, would they?"
    "No. No, they wouldn't."
    "In which case .. ."
    "They must have been studying my movements. They must have been watching me."
    It was a disturbing possibility. So much so that Harry decided to unburden himself to