Christmas Delights 3 (23 page)

The snow began to fall again as I watched the ambulance pull
away. Tiredness suddenly washed over me. The adrenaline had drained from my
system and the realisation of what had just happened hit home. I exhaled and
watched as my warm breath mixed with the cold air, creating a fog that drifted
up and then got lost in the flurry of flakes.

I dropped my head and pulled on my hat when a noise caught
my attention. I turned towards the trees that were close and looked up. Sitting
on one of the lower branches of a giant chestnut tree was an Ivy owl.

We stood and held each other’s gaze. The owl was a beautiful
creature. Its feathers were a mixture of brown, cream and buff, but unlike the
other owls I had seen in the park, this one’s feathers from the neck up were a
rich burnt orange colour. Two white streaks ran from just above the owl’s eyes
and continued up and over its head. Slowly, as if it was acknowledging my
presence, the owl tilted its head to one side, gave a hoot and then took off
into the snow-filled sky.

The time was after seven pm when I finally managed to get
home. The drama of this morning had set me back a good thirty to forty minutes
on my calls. Together with the usual everyday hiccups and delays, my so-called
carefully planned out time sheet given to me at the beginning of the week had
now been thrown out the window.

Thankfully all my clients were pretty good and understood
when I had told them what had happened. I did, however, expect to get a
complaint from the family of one of my ladies, Mrs Rose. The lady herself was a
complete joy to look after. She was one of the tiniest people I had ever met,
but she also had one of the biggest hearts. I held a lot of affection for her.
It’s a shame I can’t say the same for her daughter, who, of course, had decided
to make a rare visit to her mother on today of all days.

Her daughter was one of those people for whom no matter what
you did it was never right. The complaints varied from dressing her mother in
the wrong clothes to making her mother’s tea in the
wrong
cup. She insisted her mother drink from a tiny bone china tea cup. It didn’t
matter that with swollen arthritic hands her mother can’t grip the wafer thin
handle, and I concede that the cup I used may not be as pretty as the bone
china one, but at least the poor lady can actually drink from it.

Anyway, let’s just say she wasn’t too pleased with my
lateness. Even after I apologised and explained what had happened, she still
told me it wasn’t good enough and that she was going to put in a complaint.
Giving me a lecture on responsibility and priories, she then literally dropped
a Christmas present on the coffee table and told her mother she would see her
after Christmas, adding, if she had time she would call on Christmas day. She
wouldn’t be calling on Christmas day. I knew that, and unfortunately, so did
Mrs Rose. The elderly woman never let on. We both knew the visit after
Christmas wouldn’t be until well into the New Year. Mrs Rose's daughter made my
skin crawl.

I turned the oven on before I rifled through my freezer. A
quick effortless meal was in order tonight. I pulled out a pizza and left it on
the side while the over preheated. With a sigh, I collected my mobile phone
from my bag. It had gone off a few times during the day. Looking through my
missed calls, it seemed most of them were from Andy.

Andy and I had known each other for about five years. We met
while I was caring for his mum and had stayed good friends ever since. In fact,
he and his wife Kate were more like family and had asked me to be godfather to
their now three-year-old daughter, Ellie.

I highlighted Andy’s number and pressed the call button.
Wedging the phone between my ear and shoulder, I walked back over to where I
had left the pizza sitting on the kitchen counter.

Andy answered on the third ring with his always cheery
voice. “Hey, Marky. How are you doing?”

“Marvellous,” I deadpanned as I tore open the pizza box and
slid my dinner out onto an oven tray. “I’ve had a long day.”

“So I hear,” he replied. “Actually that’s why I’m calling.”

“Ah, and I thought it was because you missed the sound of my
voice.” Honestly, I knew it wouldn’t be long before Andy called me. He was the
local bobby for the area, and I suspected he'd end up being involved in my
morning adventure.

“Well, yeah, that as well,” he said. “Listen, would you be
able to come down to the hospital?”

“Yeah,” I said as I slid the pizza into the oven. “I'm free
in the morning if that’s okay?”

There was a slight hesitation before I heard his phone being
moved from one ear to the other. “Would you be able to come down tonight?” he
finally asked.

I couldn’t help but let out a small groan as I kneeled down
and watched my tea through the glass door of the oven.

“Is it that urgent?” I asked, more a plea than a question.

“Yeah it kind of is,” Andy replied. I heard the reluctance
in his voice and knew he wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important.

“Okay, I’m on my way,” I said. Turning the oven off, I
watched not only my meal but the idea of a relaxing evening plunge into
darkness.

“Thank you.” He then added, “I'll owe you.”

“You can buy me a sandwich as a way of showing your
gratitude." I grabbed my coat and keys. “Where can I find you?”

Chapter 3

Fifteen minutes later and I was walking through the hospital
corridors, desperately trying to find the ward Andy had told me he'd meet me
on.

I clicked my tongue as I stared at a sign. Hospital signing
and directions always seemed to leave a lot to be desired. Finding the correct
ward was often an adventure that started off full of promise when you walked in
but left you spinning on the spot like a dog who’d just found its tail, trying
to figure out which way to go. You'd walk in and where you wanted to go would
be clearly marked on a sign. You'd head off in that direction to the next
crossroads when you'd discover the ward you were looking for had disappeared
completely!

Fortunately for my sanity, I managed to find Andy quite
quickly. He waved at me as I walked up the corridor towards him.

Andy Parker was a big man. I don’t mean in an overweight
kind of way. I mean in a six-two built like a brick shithouse kind of way. If
there was ever anyone causing a fuss in one of the cells down at the station,
the lads normally sent Andy down to sort them out. All he had to do was open
the door and give the mouthy lout a glare and there would be silence for the
rest of the night. But those who knew him as a friend knew he was one of the
kindest people you'd ever wish to meet.

I walked my five-ten, slim frame up to meet Andy, and as
always he greeted me in his own special Andy way by pulling me into a crushing
hug. Andy had never been afraid to show his affection for his friends or for
me. I'd have received the same greeting if I had run into him in the street. At
first people used to give us looks; knowing I was gay and he was married, they
obviously thought scandal. But I guess that’s what you get when you live in a
small town. It never seemed to bother Andy or his wife. In fact, it was Kate
who started referring to me as
“
Andy’s Husband,
”
and once that
got around the lads at the station that was it. I was then, and still am, known
officially as Sergeant Andy Parker’s husband.

“I’m sorry for calling you out so late, Marky,” Andy said as
I stepped out of his hug.

“It’s okay,” I replied. “I hadn’t really been home long
enough to be called out.”

Andy smiled as he pushed open the door to a waiting room and
ushered me in. “Come on. I got you some sandwiches and a tea.”

“Thank you, hubby,” I said with a wink and walked into the
small room.

Andy stayed uncharacteristically quiet while I ate the
sandwiches he had gotten me. His silence unnerved me a little. Andy was never
quiet. An unsettling feeling swirled in my stomach. Something wasn’t right. Why
was I here? He’d indicated on the phone it had something to do with this
morning and the man in the river, but why he needed me to come to the hospital
was still a mystery to me.

Then it hit me. The man in the water must have died. The
thought sent a chill down my spine. I lowered the sandwich and reached for my
drink. I took a sip of tea, needing the warm, sweet taste to chase away the
chill in me.

I kept my fingers wrapped around the warm plastic cup and
looked at Andy. “So, what’s going on?” I squeezed the flimsy cup in
anticipation of what he was about to say.

“Well, it’s about the man you pulled from the river,” Andy
started. He sat back in his chair, clasped his fingers together and rested his
hands on the top of the table. “He’s awake.”

“Awake?” I stuttered. My feeling of complete shock must have
shown across my face as Andy stared back at me with a look of confusion.

“Yes, awake. He came to earlier this afternoon,” he said.
“You seem surprised.”

“No, no,” I said. “Well, yes, a little. I thought you had
brought me down here to tell me he had died.”

“Mark, why would I have brought you down here just to tell
you he had died?”

He had a point. The tension in my body started to fade a
little at knowing that the man I had rescued was alive and presumably well. If
I wasn’t here to be told the man had died, the question still remained...

“Why am I here, Andy?” I asked, leaning forward on the
table.

Andy crossed his arm over his broad chest. “I have a favour
to ask you.”

“A favour?” I repeated, frowning. Now I was confused. Why
had Andy brought me all the way to the hospital just to ask me a favour?
Something was really wrong, and I started thinking that it had nothing to do
with the man in the river. My mind started racing through the different
scenarios. Was there trouble at home with Kate? No, that wouldn’t be it. He
could talk to me about that anywhere. It had to be something else. That’s when
my stomach turned over itself and my sandwich threatened to come back up. We
were in a hospital. We were in a bloody hospital. It's Andy. There's something
wrong with Andy.

Clearly knowing already where my mind was going, Andy
reached out and covered my hand with his. “Marky, stop thinking, okay? Whatever
idea you have in your head, it’s wrong.”

“You’re okay, right? There isn’t anything wrong with you is
there?” My heart pounded in my chest.

“No, there isn’t anything wrong with me.” His voice was
filled with reassurance. “I’m fine, I swear.”

“Thank God for that,” I said, pulling my hand from under
his. I slid down in my chair. “Please just tell me what this is all about. I
don’t think I can take much more.”

“It’s about the man from the river,” he said.

“What about him?” I replied. Exhaustion crept into my voice.
“I thought you said he was awake. Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. The doctors say he must have only been in
the river for a short period of time. There's no sign of any serious damage to
him inside or out.”

“That’s good,” I said with a smile, “So, where do I come
into all of this?”

Andy took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “I was wondering
if you would be able to….To take him in. Just over Christmas,” he quickly
added.

I heard his words but they didn’t really click. “Take him
in? As in house him? He's a stranger who we know nothing about apart from he
likes to take early morning dips in freezing rivers.”

“I didn’t know who else to ask,” Andy said. “The doctors are
saying there's nothing wrong with him. They don’t want him taking up a bed. You
know what they’re like. They don’t want anyone in over the holidays.”

“Hasn’t he got any family or friends?” I was still trying to
get my head around Andy’s request.

“None he's willing to give names or contact details for,”
Andy replied.

“Have you run his name through the system?”

Andy answered my question with an amused look and raised
eyebrows.

“Sorry,” I said. "I wasn’t telling you how to do your
job or anything.”

“I should hope not.” Andy grinned. “The lads at the station
think I wear the trousers in this relationship.”

“I think someone should go down there and set them
straight,” I said, returning his grin. “And why did you think I was the only
person you could ask?”

“Well, you're a carer. You care for people.” He stated like
it was obvious, but unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as simple as that.

“Andy, I care for people with specific care plans. They are
known to the authorities, and they live in their own homes.”

“Well, I thought it might be a change from the norm. Plus,
you know, you'll have some company.” He tagged on a knowing smile.

Great, I thought, my friends think I'm so lonely that
they're willing to fix me up with a roommate who no one knows anything about.
It was nice to feel loved.

“Okay let me level with you,” Andy said, leaning forward on
his elbows. “If he leaves here with nowhere to go, then he will end up on the
street.”

Even better, not only are my friends willing to shack me up
with God knows who, some man who may have done God knows what, but they're also
willing to use emotional blackmail to get me to agree to it.

“What happens after Christmas?” I asked, trying not to give
away that I was considering his request.

“After Christmas, we can put him in contact with the right
people to help him get on his feet if he chooses to stay here. But three days
before Christmas, Marky, with the best will in the world, I am limited to what
I can do.”

I slumped forward and rested my arms and head against the table
and let out a slow groan. “Fine, okay, I’ll help,” I mumbled.

“You will?” Even without looking, I knew he had a big smile
on his face. I lifted my head reluctantly. “You bloody well knew I would,” I
shot back.