Two minutes, Maria thought. She pushed the privacy lock, sat down, closed her eyes. The noise was numbing.
A cistern released above her. A truck mashed gears in the street. The broken foyer door banged, twice. She heard the Sesame Street theme and forced her breathing into a rhythm.
A beheaded Hot Wheels car appeared, then a tiny purple dragon.
‘Mummy?’ he asked. Maria inhaled deeply, breathed out.
‘Mummy,’ he said. ‘Mummy?’ A sheet of paper was posted, a lopsided pink heart drawn carefully on it.
The handle resisted, so he knocked lightly.
‘Mummy, okay? Mummy!’
She freed the lock.
A cistern released above her. A truck mashed gears in the street. The broken foyer door banged, twice. She heard the Sesame Street theme and forced her breathing into a rhythm.
A beheaded Hot Wheels car appeared, then a tiny purple dragon.
‘Mummy?’ he asked. Maria inhaled deeply, breathed out.
‘Mummy,’ he said. ‘Mummy?’ A sheet of paper was posted, a lopsided pink heart drawn carefully on it.
The handle resisted, so he knocked lightly.
‘Mummy, okay? Mummy!’
She freed the lock.
