The Corridor

Daniel drove the N7 up the hill to the hospital as if it were an ambulance, which, Ana thought afterwards, it more or less was. He did not stop at a single bus stop. A man in a reflective jacket waved at him from the shelter outside the swimming baths and watched, open-mouthed, as the big green bus thundered past with its interior lights blazing and only two passengers on board.

Daniel mengemudikan bus N7 mendaki bukit menuju rumah sakit seolah-olah itu adalah ambulans, yang kemudian dipikirkan Ana, memang kurang lebih seperti itu fungsinya saat itu. Ia tidak berhenti di satu halte bus pun. Seorang pria berjaket pemantul cahaya melambai ke arahnya dari halte di luar kolam renang umum dan menyaksikan, ternganga, saat bus hijau besar itu melaju kencang melewatinya dengan lampu interior menyala terang dan hanya dua penumpang di dalamnya.

Jess sat in the front seat with her knees drawn up and her grandfather’s folded pages held flat against her chest, as though someone might try to take them from her. She had not looked at them. She had not said a word since Bridge Street. Ana sat beside her and watched the town slide past in the grey half-light: the market square, the dark town hall, the poster in the newsagent’s window with its green door and its warm square of light. KEEP THE LIGHT ON.

Jess duduk di kursi depan dengan lutut terangkat dan lembaran-lembaran kertas terlipat milik kakeknya didekap rapat di dadanya, seolah-olah seseorang mungkin mencoba merebutnya darinya. Ia belum melihat lembaran-lembaran itu sama sekali. Ia tidak mengucapkan sepatah kata pun sejak dari Bridge Street. Ana duduk di sampingnya dan memperhatikan kota meluncur lewat dalam temaram kelabu: alun-alun pasar, balai kota yang gelap, poster di jendela toko koran dengan pintunya yang hijau dan segi empat cahayanya yang hangat. BIARKAN LAMPU TETAP MENYALA.

At the hospital entrance Daniel opened the doors before the bus had properly stopped. “Go,” he said. “I’ll take the bus back to the depot and come straight here in the car. Phone me. Whatever it is, phone me.” He looked at Jess, and for once there was no joke anywhere in his face. “He’s a tough old man, Jess. The toughest I know.”

Di pintu masuk rumah sakit, Daniel membuka pintu-pintu bus sebelum kendaraannya benar-benar berhenti. “Pergilah,” katanya. “Aku akan mengembalikan bus ini ke depo dan langsung ke sini naik mobil. Hubungi aku. Apa pun kabarnya, hubungi aku.” Ia memandang Jess, dan untuk sekali ini tidak ada kelakar sedikit pun di wajahnya. “Kakekmu orang tua yang tangguh, Jess. Orang paling tangguh yang kukenal.”