Nagging by Ella Stewart

Getting up from the couch he passed through the hall and bent to pick up the paper feeling the muscles in his back contract and his head pounded from lack of sleep.

That bloody old couch, the one she had nagged him for years to replace. Why should he waste his money, after all she was always telling him that he was a tight old git.

She would probably tell him that he deserved to feel like shit this morning and nag him yet again about last night.

He glanced at the headlines

‘EGYPT PROTESTERS UNMOVED BY TALKS’

Wrinkling his nose at the smell of burnt toast, he braved himself to enter the kitchen and sat at the table raising his paper like a shield against the barrage of words he expected. She poured his tea and pushed the cup towards him. He glanced under his paper at the burnt offerings, curled and crisp on the plate and pushed it away.

‘ASBO REPLACEMENT UNVEILED’

As he read the article the silence was broken by her whine “I don’t feel well, I think you should call the doctor”

He lowered the paper and stared at her grey features, her arms clutching her dressing gown to her chest as she lowered herself to the floor.

He smiled, a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, and picked up his tea, slurping loudly and then looked at her face for a reaction. She hated slurping.

She stared imploringly at him

Scratching his crotch, that always annoyed, he raised his paper turning the pages noisily.

‘AUSTRALIAN FIRES RAGE NEAR PERTH’

He barely heard her slide to the ground, just the sound of her nylon dressing gown slipping on the cupboard door. But he did hear her breath, rasping, silence.

‘CHURCH DEBATES WEDDINGS DECLINE’

Stifling a giggle, he thought back to his classes last week ‘First Aid At Home’. She had nagged him about going “what do you want to do that for?” “You’re too old and stupid to learn anything new!”

She had stuff she wanted him to do at home. But he went anyway, anything to get out of the house. He had learnt something; he knew the signs of a heart attack very well.

He turned to the sports page.

‘ENGLAND SQUAD HIT BY WITHDRAWALS’

He would give it half an hour before he rang the ambulance, just to make sure.