Life's a Beach and Then... (The Liberty Sands Trilogy Book 1) (22 page)

Before her treatment started at 9.30 a.m. Rosemary had been
called into the office of her consultant. As she entered the room with Robert
at her side, Professor Lang indicated for her to sit down. ‘How are you feeling
today?’ It was the same question he always asked her.

Rosemary’s normal response was, ‘You are the one with my
blood test results, you tell me’. Today, however, she replied, ‘I’m feeling
surprisingly well. Maybe finally we’ve found a treatment that’s working.’

The professor studied her over the top of his rimless
spectacles perched on the end of his aquiline nose. Everything about him was
long and slim, from his legs, which contributed to his towering
six-foot-three-inch height, to his elegant fingers, which he was tapping
thoughtfully on the table.

‘Well it’s good to hear that you are feeling a bit better
although we won’t have the results of the latest tests for a week or so. Today
is your last treatment until we get those results and then we’ll decide when to
bring you back in for the next course of this drug if the response has been
positive.’

‘When would that be do you think?’ asked Robert. ‘Only
Rosemary is quite keen to go away for a few days while she is feeling
brighter.’

‘I’m presuming you are not planning on jetting off to
Mauritius again as I most certainly wouldn’t recommend a long-haul flight, or a
flight of any description for that matter.’

‘No of course not,’ Rosemary said, quickly replying before
Robert could let slip that they were going to Switzerland. ‘We were thinking of
somewhere much closer to home that we can get to by car.’

‘Then I don’t see any problem, provided Robert will be doing
the driving, and so long as you get plenty of rest.’

Rosemary wasn’t sure whether that was Professor Lang’s
attempt at humour but she made no comment as she wanted to get out of the
office without further questioning.

‘Make sure you take the hospital contact numbers with you,
and Rosemary,’ he said as she made for the door. ‘Try to eat a bit more if you
can. Nutrition plays a big part in the body’s ability to recover. I can tell
the pharmacy to give you some liquid meals if that would help?’

The thought of the cartons of thick pink, disgusting-tasting
liquid almost made Rosemary heave, and she had no intention of ever subjecting
her taste buds to them again. ‘Yes of course, if it will help keep my strength
up.’

The professor raised his eyebrows questioningly in Robert’s
direction but Robert just shrugged before shaking Professor Lang’s hand and
following his wife out of the room.

‘You weren’t lying to the professor about feeling better,
were you, Rosie, just so that he would agree to let you go away for a few
days?’

She turned and looked her husband straight in the eye so
that he would know she was telling the truth.

‘This last two days I have felt better than I have in a long
time,’ she said, which was certainly true of her emotional state. Then she
turned away unable to deal with the flicker of hope in her husband’s eyes.
Physically it was a different matter. She didn’t need to wait for the results
of lab-controlled tests to know that she was rapidly deteriorating and may soon
need to be permanently hospitalised. That’s simply not going to happen, she
thought, raising her chin defiantly as she sat down on the edge of the hospital
bed waiting to be connected to the intravenous drip for a final time.

‘Now that we’ve got the all clear from the professor we
might as well bring our Switzerland jaunt forward to this weekend if Holly’s
not doing anything,’ Rosemary said.

‘If she’s feeling well enough. I heard one of them being
sick in the bathroom this morning. I thought it was you so I called out and as
I brought your tray through to you Harry popped his head round his bedroom door
so it must have been Holly. I hope she hasn’t got a bug or something because
the last thing we want is you catching anything while your white cell count is
too low to deal with it. You don’t think it was the lasagne do you?’

‘No I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that or we would all have been
unwell,’ she answered, adding silently to herself, and I don’t think it’s a bug
either.

The tyres crunching on the gravel of the driveway signalled
to Holly and Harry that their hosts had returned. Before Robert and Rosemary
had left for the hospital Holly had said that she would prepare some lunch for
them all, and true to her word she had found enough vegetables to make one of
her famous soups. Harry had walked into the village to buy some fresh bread and
had come back full of praise for Woldingham and the surrounding countryside
which he had only seen in the semi-dark the previous evening.

‘One day, Mum, when I’m a famous architect, I’ll buy us a
plot of land somewhere like this and design us the most beautiful house you
have ever seen,’ he had enthused.

She had no doubt that with his ability and determination to
succeed at his chosen career he would do exactly that and she didn’t burst his
bubble by suggesting that maybe he would want to share his dream home with
someone other than his ageing mother.

Holly was pleased to see that both Robert and Rosemary were
smiling as they slowly descended the sweeping staircase, Rosemary holding the
banister with one hand and supported under her elbow on the other side by her
husband.

‘Judging by your expressions it was a good hospital visit,’
Holly said, taking Rosemary’s other arm as she let go of the banister on
reaching the bottom of the stairs and guiding her towards the table which Harry
had laid ready for lunch.

‘We’ll talk about it after lunch,’ said Rosemary, ‘which
smells delicious, by the way.’

‘It’s only vegetable soup but I thought it would be nice and
light for all of us.’

‘It’s one of my favourite lunches at the moment, particularly
with some crusty fresh bread softened in it. Did you pop into the village for
that?’

‘I went,’ chimed in Harry. ‘It’s a lovely village. How long
have you lived here?’

‘I was brought up here,’ said Rosemary, pride creeping into
her voice. ‘We’ve won best-kept Surrey Downs village many times.’

‘Was this your family home?’

‘No, we had a much smaller house on Station Road but when my
parents died we were able to afford this place, which Robert then set about
rebuilding.’

‘He’s done an awesome job,’ Harry said. ‘Exactly what I
would have done.’

Three pairs of eyes turned in Harry’s direction, each face
registering amusement.

‘What did I say?’ he asked.

‘It just sounded funny,’ Holly said. ‘The apprentice
complimenting the master by saying it is what he would have done.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that, Robert. I hope you don’t think
I’m a smartarse who thinks he knows everything and isn’t willing to listen to
the voice of experience?’

A smile was playing at the corner of Robert’s mouth. ‘I can
see I’m going to have to watch my back with you around, Harry. You’ll be
stealing all my contracts when they see your fresh young ideas.’

Then he started to laugh, a sight which warmed Rosemary to
the core.

Holly was reflecting on Robert’s words: ‘with you around’.
Did that mean he would be willing to give Harry a helping hand to get started?
Despite her own devastation at what she still considered was a betrayal of
trust from Philippe she joined in with the laughter.

The vegetable soup was a success with Robert and Harry having
a second helping. Even Rosemary managed to finish the small bowl Holly had put
in front of her.

Throughout lunch the older trio had been chatting about the
exotic locations they had been fortunate to visit as a result of their
respective occupations.

‘You are making me feel left out,’ said Harry at one point.

‘You’ve got a lifetime ahead of you, Harry,’ said Rosemary.
‘What you do with it is your choice but, whatever you choose, live each day as
if it’s your last and then you will have no regrets. Life is not a race it’s a
journey with all its twists and turns,’ she said, laying her hand gently on
Robert’s. ‘Speaking of journeys, Professor Lang was pleased that I am feeling
better and has given me the all clear to go on our little road trip.’

Holly didn’t want to say too much in front of Harry so she
asked him to clear the table and do the dishes. Robert sensed that the two
women wanted to chat without Harry around so he offered to help and then
whisked him off to his office again to chat about other projects he had in the
pipeline.

Holly helped Rosemary to the sofa and lifted her feet up
onto the footstool and then settled into the depths of an armchair opposite
her.

‘I am so pleased that it was good news at the hospital this
morning,’ Holly said. ‘Does that mean we can postpone the trip to Switzerland
for a while?’

‘On the contrary, I was hoping that maybe we could bring it
forward to this weekend if you’re not doing anything else,’ Rosemary said.

‘But why would you want to bring it forward if the new drugs
seem to be working? Shouldn’t you give them a proper chance?’

‘They’re not working, Holly.’

‘How do you know? You told the professor you were feeling
better.’

‘And that was true in part. I have felt better for having
you here, and better for meeting your lovely boy, but physically it is a battle
to pretend I’m all right so that Robert doesn’t get too upset. My head is
aching for most of my waking hours and my bones hurt. I don’t need the results
of the latest tests to tell me that I am past the point of no return.’

Holly was trembling as she realised the enormous effort
Rosemary was going to each day to protect her husband, an effort that was
fuelled by love.

‘My biggest fear is that once they know the drugs aren’t
working they will incarcerate me in a hospital room and fill me full of
painkillers to die a lingering death possibly all alone. Robert wouldn’t be
able to be with me all day, every day, and I could just slip away while he was
sleeping or taking a loo break. I think it would break him if he wasn’t there
at the end with me. I can’t let that happen, Holly. My father died of a broken
heart. I don’t want that to be Robert’s fate. You do understand don’t you?’

Holly did understand. Night after night, that had turned
into week after week and month after month, she had had nightmares about her
dad dying alone in the wreck of his car. If I could have just held his hand at
the end, she thought. If he had just had someone with him. The pain, anguish,
and of course the terrible guilt, would still have been there but Holly was
sure she would have come to terms with it sooner if she had just been able to
say her goodbyes.

‘Holly?’

‘Yes... I understand. I think you are the most amazing,
courageous woman I have ever met. I wish I could have known you longer.’

She moved from the chair to the sofa and the two women
hugged each other, both battling to keep the tears at bay.

Holly whispered into Rosemary’s shoulder, ‘I love you like I
should have been able to love my mother. Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to know what it feels like.’

‘I love you too, Holly, you’re a very special girl.’

After a few minutes Rosemary pulled away from the embrace.
‘So will this weekend be all right for you to travel?’

Holly nodded. ‘Yes. Harry has to go back to uni first thing
in the morning as he has a lecture tomorrow afternoon. Do you want me to make
the ferry booking?’

‘It would help if you could. I need to ring the clinic to
bring the dates forward by a couple of days and I can do that when Robert goes
out to the shops later but he doesn’t like to be away from me for long.’

‘Do you want Dover to Calais and what time should I book?’

‘The earlier the better for me Holly as I don’t sleep much
anyway, but what about you? Will you be well enough to travel in the early
morning?’

Holly hadn’t been sure if Rosemary knew about her vomiting
episode that morning, but clearly she did. It was still an odd question to ask
though, unless... surely Rosemary wasn’t hinting that she thought Holly may be
pregnant? Suddenly Holly thought back to the nausea she had experienced in
Dubai the previous week. She had thought it was a bug, but what if Rosemary was
right? She tried to remember the last time she had a period but realised it was
months ago as the constant travelling to different time zones seemed to reek
havoc on her body clock.

‘Oh my God, do you think I’m pregnant?’

‘Is it a possibility?’

Holly nodded slowly, the colour draining from her face. Of
course she would have to do a pregnancy test but Holly already felt certain
that she was carrying Philippe’s baby.

‘I don’t suppose Philippe has tried to contact me through
you and Robert, has he?’ she whispered.

‘No, I’m sorry, Holly. We’ve heard nothing from him since we
left Mauritius.’

Philippe was drifting in and out of consciousness,
occasionally hearing voices he thought he recognised and odd words of whispered
conversation. He was aware of people entering and leaving his room but he
couldn’t turn his head to see who it was, and anyway it required a tremendous
effort to open his eyes. He had tried to speak but his mouth was dry and his
mumbling was enclosed by the oxygen mask that covered his mouth and nose.

Someone was speaking his name. It was coming from the end of
a long tunnel. He tried to say ‘Holly’ but drifted back into unconsciousness
with the word still forming on his lips.

Delphine noticed the slight movement of his mouth and leaned
forward to try and catch what he said but she was too late. She crossed to the
door and called to the nurse, ‘I think he was trying to say something.’

The nurse raised her head from the report she was filling in
for the doctor. ‘Did he open his eyes?’ she asked.

‘No, it was just a small movement opening his mouth but now
he seems to be sleeping again.’

‘Why don’t you take a break,’ the nurse said kindly. ‘You’ve
been sitting at his bedside for hours. I’ll stay with him a while if you like.
Has he no other friends or relatives who could share the vigil with you? You
look exhausted.’

Delphine looked over to the still form of Philippe laying on
his hospital bed with tubes and wires connecting him to the life-saving
machines. She had sat with him for the last thirty-six hours, sometimes dozing
in her chair, only leaving him to get herself water or to use the toilet. She
hadn’t eaten, despite encouragement from the various nurses who had come and
gone as their shifts dictated, and she realized that she was now feeling
ravenous.

‘That would be wonderful if you’re not too busy,’ Delphine
said. ‘I’ll just go and get myself a sandwich, stretch my legs and get a breath
of fresh air outside. I shouldn’t be more than an hour.’

She felt guilty at leaving Philippe but knew that a break
from the confines of the stuffy hospital room would do her good. The nurse’s
words were rolling around her mind as she paid for her sandwich at the counter
of the hospital cafeteria and then took it outside to eat, blinking in the
bright morning sunshine.

Denis hadn’t been back to visit since the emergency dash in
the ambulance and Delphine was disappointed that she had heard nothing from
Candice. As she bit into her sandwich a thought occurred to Delphine. Maybe she
should try and contact someone in England. She was sure Mr Robert would want to
know what had happened to his friend, and of course his new girlfriend Holly
would want to be at his side. Philippe’s mobile phone was not among the scant
possessions lying on his bedside cabinet so Delphine presumed it must be at the
house in Tamarina Bay. She didn’t really want to leave him alone for the two
hours it would take to make the round trip to collect the phone but the more
she thought about it the more she knew that it was her responsibility to let
his friends in England know what was happening.

She pulled her own mobile phone out of her bag and was
surprised for a moment to see she had a message, before remembering that the
phone had been on silent inside the hospital. The message was from Candice :

Oh no that is terrible. I feel it is my fault. Can I come and
visit?

Delphine checked the time the message was sent. Yesterday
afternoon! She was annoyed with herself for not checking her phone earlier. She
replied immediately:

Can u come asap?

Less than a minute later she received a reply :

Is he worse? I’m on my way - there in an hour.

Delphine quickly sent a message of reassurance, realising
that she might have panicked Candice unnecessarily :

No still the same but I need someone to sit with him while I go
to his house for his phone. I’ll be as quick as I can.

Delphine went back into the hospital to tell the nurse, who
true to her word was sat at Philippe’s bedside, that someone was coming to
relieve her for a while. Then she headed for the car park, climbed into her
ancient Peugeot and headed south out of Port Louis.

An hour later she was unlocking the front door of Philippe’s
house. It was already losing Philippe’s personality as he had packed away his
pictures from the walls and the knick-knacks he had collected since arriving in
Mauritius. She glanced at the small table near the front door but there was no
sign of his phone. She checked his bedside table and the bathroom before moving
into the kitchen. The remainder of the croissants she had thoughtfully left for
him two days earlier were now hard and stale so she threw them in the bin as
she scanned the kitchen work surfaces. How odd, she thought, if he had stormed
out of the house in a temper he may well have forgotten his mobile but surely
it would be lying in a prominent position. Delphine crossed to his desk,
normally piled high with papers, but now empty apart from his laptop. Nothing.
She was just starting to stick her hand down the side of the sofa, in case it
had slipped down there, when she realised the easiest way to find the missing
phone would be to ring it. She dialled his number and waited. It was ringing on
her handset but there was no sound from within the house.

Damn, she thought, what a wasted journey and then her eyes
rested on the laptop again. The top was not quite closed down and as she opened
it, it sprang into life. Of course, she thought, if I can’t call Philippe’s
friends maybe I can email them. Delphine was not particularly computer literate
but she knew the basics, so how hard could it be to find a couple of email
addresses, she reasoned. She typed the word Holly into the search bar at the
top of the screen and before she had even finished the five letters an address
popped up. She clicked on it and then sat down to compose an email that
wouldn’t alarm Holly but instead would ask her to contact Delphine as soon as
possible. She pressed send and then started to look for Mr Robert. This time
several addresses popped up after typing the first three letters and Delphine
had no way of knowing which was the correct one. Obviously she didn’t want to
send emails to all of the Roberts in Philippe’s address book so how was she
going to find the one she needed. Maybe he had emailed Philippe recently?
Although she didn’t want to pry by reading private emails she figured it was a
necessary evil. She clicked on the inbox and the top message was to say that
her email to Holly had failed to be delivered. What did I do wrong? she
wondered. This was not going too well.

The next message down started with the words, ‘Where the
hell are you?’ It was from someone called Jo, a name Delphine had heard
Philippe speak about in connection with his book. As it was work-related rather
than personal, she didn’t feel too bad reading it:

Where the hell are you? The car I sent to meet you waited at
the airport for two hours before ringing me, waking me up, I might add, to tell
me you hadn’t arrived. I tried to ring you but you didn’t pick up and so I
checked with the airline and you weren’t on the flight. What’s going on, Phil?

Jo

With everything that had happened Delphine had forgotten that
Philippe was supposed to have been on a flight back to the UK the previous
evening. Clearly this Jo had been expecting him and was now concerned as to his
whereabouts. Again Delphine composed an email, but this time she was a little
more specific as Jo was asking a direct question:

I am Mr Philippe’s housekeeper. I am sorry to tell you he has
been involved in an incident and is currently in Intensive Care in the hospital
at Port Louis.

Kind Regards

Delphine Deveraux

Delphine glanced at her watch. It was just past midday which
meant in the UK it would only be 8 a.m. and she couldn’t imagine that this
person would be checking her emails that early, particularly as she had been
disturbed with a late night phone call. Delphine wanted to get back to the
hospital as soon as possible so decided she couldn’t wait for a response from
Jo.

More worrying was that the message she had sent to Holly had
not gone. Perhaps it wasn’t the right address after all, although it had been
the only Holly. She scrolled down the inbox and came to an email from Holly. Perhaps
I can just reply to this thought Delphine as she opened it. She stared at the
contents in disbelief. So that was why her message to Holly hadn’t sent. No
wonder he was so upset on Wednesday at the Dolphin Bar, but what had any of it
to do with her brother Jacques?

In a state of total confusion, Delphine let herself out of
the house and headed back to the hospital.