Please Release Me Read Online Free PDF

see the despair in his features. But she couldn’t understand why it frightened her.

Chapter Four
    Peter woke up when a nurse shook him gently by the shoulder. ‘Peter, it’s nearly 9.30. Would you like us to make up a camp bed for you?’
    He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had been watching Sally. He couldn’t believe he’d nodded off. What if Sally had whispered something? He’d have missed it. ‘No. I’ll be off in a minute.’ The book had fallen on the floor. He retrieved it. Sally lay in exactly the same position as before, her chest rising and falling peacefully. ‘Did she say anything while I was asleep?’
    There were CCTV cameras in all the rooms and Sally was hooked up to so many monitors that something would have gone off.
    The nurse shook her head. ‘I’m sorry.’ She put her head to one side in a concerned manner. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to me to set up the bed for you?’
    Peter covered up a yawn and stretched. ‘No. You will call me though, won’t you? If she says or does anything.’
    ‘Of course.’ She turned back to look at Sally for a moment, before giving Peter a smile. ‘I’ll leave you to it, then. I’m sorry to have woken you.’
    ‘No, no. That’s fine. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. It defeats the object of my being here.’
    ‘I’m sure Sally was grateful for the company,’ said the nurse.
    Peter thought that was a ridiculous thing to say, but didn’t respond. What was the point? People needed to say something.
    He pulled on his coat and tucked the book back into his pocket. ‘Bye, bye darling. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.’ He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. ‘Maybe tomorrow you’ll talk to me.’ Another kiss. He turned back at the door to look at her lying there like a rag doll. ‘Night.’ He left the room, closing the door carefully behind him.
    Someone was walking past and he almost walked into them when he started towards the lift. ‘Oh.’ It was the woman from earlier. They walked along the corridor, both heading for the same place, but not wanting to talk to each other. Peter looked at the ground as he walked. Well, this was awkward.
    When the lift arrived, he let her go in first. She cleared her throat. ‘I was just at a meeting with the fundraising committee. We’re redecorating the common room on this floor this weekend. Would you like to help?’
    Peter blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Fundraising? Whatever for? This is a private hospice, surely the extortionate fees cover everything.’ Oh bugger. That made him sound tight. The place was expensive. He didn’t mind. He wanted his Sally to have the best care and comfort available.
    She smiled. She was tall and had smooth skin the colour of latte. Her features were a delicate mix of Asian and Caucasian – high cheekbones, big eyes, wide mouth, sharp chin. It was her hair that caught his attention. It gleamed.
    It occurred to him that she was quite beautiful, if a little grave. He wondered where that thought had come from.
    ‘Actually, it’s a social enterprise,’ she said. ‘The fee paying part of the hospital subsidises the West Wing.’
    ‘West wing?’ He was aware that there was another wing to the place. He had assumed it was more of the same.
    ‘Hedgehog House. Children’s Palliative and Respite care. It’s funded by the charity. The hospice donates all profits.’
    Peter ran the words past his internal dictionary. Children. Palliative. Respite. ‘Oh.’ More of the same, yes, but sadder, somehow. ‘I hadn’t realised.’
    ‘I didn’t either when I started coming here. I used to wheel Mum out into the garden sometimes when the weather was nice, just so that she got to see the sun. We used to meet the families then.’
    There was an awkward silence.
    ‘I’m Grace, by the way,’ she said
    ‘Peter.’
    The lift door opened and they stepped out into the lobby. They walked out to the door together, Grace giving the security guard a wave as they