“No one can say”
My Policeman“No one can say” is the refrain that meets the narrator’s questions about Patrick Hazlewood’s future after his stroke. Repeated by the doctors and nurses, it names what they cannot predict; repeated in the account, it becomes a measure of how little certainty or communication the household can rely on.
Medical uncertainty
The phrase answers a sequence of urgent questions: when Patrick Hazlewood might stand, whether he will speak again, whether he will suffer another stroke, and whether he will recover fully. The staff can describe possible next steps, including physiotherapy, speech therapy and counselling, but will not forecast whether any will work. The expression therefore marks a boundary between available care and unknowable outcomes.
Repetition and response
The narrator calls the phrase detestable. Its repetition gives the account a weary, accumulating rhythm: each answer closes off a different possibility without resolving the uncertainty. The narrator also notes that no one has discussed how long Patrick Hazlewood can endure understanding other people while unable to speak, despite his excellent hearing. Against that silence, the narrator’s own belief is that his greatest hope lies in being at home, under the same roof. The refrain offers no assurance; the account answers it with a decision to remain present.
