One Plus One: A Novel

The family resumes their drive. Ed plans to drive all the way through to Newcastle; he hopes that from there, it would take another day’s driving to get them to Aberdeen. The day stretches on, and it begins to rain. In the evening, they stop for food, and Jess buys discounted ingredients at a supermarket and makes sandwiches for her children. Ed refuses to eat this and instead buys a kebab from a small restaurant nearby. Soon after, he becomes violently ill from food poisoning, pulling over to be sick before speeding to a pub to use the bathroom.

He is unable to continue driving, so the group stops at an RV park. Since dogs aren’t allowed there, Jess lies that their dog, Norman, is a guide dog to Tanzie, who pretends to be blind. Once inside the RV, Ed collapses from illness. Jess then receives a call from her boss at the pub back home, who fires her for missing her shifts.

Jess stays up all night caring for Ed, who is very ill. She washes his clothes and finds him collapsed on the shower floor, too weak to stand. She helps him into bed and sleeps on the sofa.