Love's Dilemma (Sixty Minute Romance) (7 page)

Chapter Ten – The Second Week

Saturday should have been a day of celebration. To some
degree it was. Clair woke up after sleeping for a good eight hours. Her mum
knocked on her bedroom door and brought her a light breakfast on a tray. Cora
had obviously been crying in the night. It had become her new way of living in
the last week. She had cried more than Clair although she couldn’t explain to
Aaron the reason why.

“Max opened his eyes last night; he did wake up didn’t
he?” Clair was unsure.

“He did kiddo. The hospital have phoned this morning to
say that Max has started saying a few words including ‘Sandy’ and ‘Clair’ They don’t
want you to visit until after six this evening because they are going to try to
change some of his drugs today. But you and Sandy might be allowed to stay
longer if you want to and if Max is strong enough for it.”

Clair’s mobile phone rang, it was Sandy. She had also
had the same phone call from the hospital. They made arrangements to meet at
the hospital at six on the dot. Sandy had asked Anne to cancel all the band’s gigs
that they were booked for. Somehow singing and playing gigs didn’t seem
important right now.

This left Clair with a whole Saturday and nothing to
do. She looked at her emails and gave up on it after reading the first ten
messages. None of her online circle of friends knew about Max so their light
hearted banter was too bland and irritating to read. She checked out her
Facebook page and lasted about thirty seconds before slamming down the screen
of her laptop. Her eyes were watering for what seemed like the hundredth time
this week.

Sandy, Clair and Jo had become very close in the last
week. They supported each other and kept saying that things would be alright to
each other. Clair had moments when she felt very uncertain about her
relationship with Max. When they had said goodbye last week her heart seemed
like it was rushing headlong towards loving Max. She remembered her feelings of
passion and devotion on that day.

They had been on one date. Just one date. Admittedly it
had been an extremely good date and they had got on like a house on fire. Her
heart had been broken by the crash and she still was waiting for her deep
feelings to return. Clair knew that the feelings were there, she just couldn’t
feel them at the moment.

Max had a four year old memory of Clair and a love for her looks and
her singing. All Clair had was an attraction to an out of control guy who was
highly original and slightly dangerous. You never knew what was going to happen
next with Max. She remembered saying to Max ‘Don’t rush me’. She didn’t know
where to go now.

Clair was washed and dressed and hung around the
kitchen all morning. She tried to talk to her dad but he was way behind at work,
and was planning to go into the office later. Her mum was getting things
together for a fruit cake. Clair was at a complete loose end and started making
a nuisance of herself. She started by spinning two teaspoons in opposite
directions on the work surface. They would spin for more than two minutes
before stopping. Then when spinning spoons got boring, she started opening the
cupboards and seeing what was inside them. The cupboards made a satisfying
‘Clunk’ when she closed them.

The last straw for Cora was the spice rack. Clair
started to arrange the spice bottles in alphabetical order like they have them
in the shops. She was just sorting Cumin, Coriander and Cinnamon, but not in
that order, when Cora snapped.

“Peace Girl.” She handed her the house phone across the
kitchen surface.

“Call Jo and see if she is working today. That is an
order! With the mercy of God with us, she will have a day off and you can go
and see her for the afternoon.”

Clair snatched the phone off Cora and pressed memory
one.

Mercifully, Jo answered immediately. Clair asked if she
could come round as she needed to get out of the house. Clair had already been
round to see Jo in the week and she had proved to be a real friend.

Jo had lived through her own share of tragedy in her
young life. Her younger sister, Ruby, had died in unexplained circumstances when
she was five. That was fifteen years ago.

As a result Jo had spent four years in a care home
until her mum was cleared of responsibility for Ruby’s death. Jo never knew who
her father was. She was now the head of her house and looked after her ailing
mother who was house bound with multiple sclerosis. She worked, Monday to
Friday running the HR department of an international software company. For
three evenings a week and every other Saturday she worked as a waitress in a
fried chicken restaurant.

Clair walked the mile and a half to Jo’s house and
knocked on the door. The walk was bracing and helpful. It cleared Clair’s head
of a lot of rubbish ideas that were festering in there. Jo opened the door and
they hugged for a few seconds.

“Hiya kiddo.” Jo and Cora were the only two people who
were allowed to call her kiddo.

“Where is she? I want to see her!” A voice rang through
from the back of the house.

“She’s alive and well today!” Jo whispered to Clair as
they went through to the back room.

“Hi Mrs Garner, how are you keeping?” She went over and
kissed Jo’s mum.

“Say nothing about me, how are you baring up, your poor
girl?” Mrs Garner spent her days in a huge armchair, with everything she needed
for life and living within easy reach, on a selection of side tables and
surfaces. Those items that were out of reach could be fetched with a special
grabber she had been supplied with from the social services department.

“I’m doing a lot better now that Max has woken up. Thanks.”
Clair replied.

“It’s wonderful news. You will have to bring him round
when he is up and running again.” Mrs Garner had mentioned this many times when
Clair had visited last Wednesday. The three of them had a coffee together
before Jo and Clair disappeared upstairs to Jo’s room. This little oasis was
Jo’s escape. Her room was plastered with posters of rap musicians and movie
stars. Her wages allowed her the luxury of a fifty inch screen television with
full surround sound. It was fitted to the wall and permanently tuned to MTV
Dance channel. It was far too big for her nine foot by nine foot bedroom but Jo
didn’t worry about that. There were times when she needed to get away, and this
was her main escape.

“You’ve tidied up!” Clair said accusingly.

“I tidy up once a year, you struck lucky.” Jo smiled
quietly. She had drifted through her life, with nothing to do for eight days
since the accident. So she had tidied her room. For today they stepped back in
time and danced and sang around Jo’s room for two hours. MTV Dance was playing
‘100
hits from the seventies and eighties’
, which as everyone knows were the
best decades for dance music. They finally stopped dancing as the number one
tune of Le Freak was played.

Jo muted the TV and looked at Clair.

“So what are you going to do?” She asked Clair, she
already knew the answer.

“I have no idea. I do not know what to do. I want to
think that I love Max, I think that I do love him, but I didn’t have long
enough to find out for certain. It is very difficult. I’ll say one thing. He is
a good kisser!”

“Stop saying that, it sounds disgusting!” Jo pleaded.
Clair had talked long about this aspect of their day out last Wednesday.

“Well I am just saying. Even his kissing is a bit
wild.” Clair remembered their moment of passion in the pub car park.

“End of subject! No more!” Jo demanded.

“Jealous!” replied Clair, pushing Jo onto her bed.

“Maybe a little.” Admitted Jo.

Clair left Jo’s at about half past four and arrived at
the hospital an hour later. The good thing about spending time with Jo was that
Clair felt herself returning to normal. This meant that her feelings for Max
were returning to normal. She liked what she was feeling.

Sandy was already outside the hospital waiting. They
had half an hour before they could see Max. Sandy had an overnight bag with
her.

“What have you got there?” Clair asked.

“Oh, the hospital said Max needed some pyjamas. Max
doesn’t wear pyjamas. So I’ve got some T-shirts and jogging bottoms. I hope
that they will do.” Clair had suspected that Max didn’t wear pyjamas. How could
she be so sure of such things when she hardly knew him, she puzzled? She gave
herself a mental shake before responding to Sandy.

“Oh right.” She said. The half an hour of waiting dragged
on a bit and Sandy and Clair ran out of conversation. There are only so many
ways you can voice your hopes and dreams, for someone you love dearly who is
broken. What they left unsaid was probably more important anyway.

At six minutes to six they entered Max’s side room to find
it empty. There was a bed there, but no Max. Panic struck them like a sword in
the heart as the girls both assimilated the scene. Sandy let out a high pitched
yelp. This was not part of the plan. Where was he? They looked at each other in
fear and rushed up towards reception. Dr Rashid Mehta spotted them and
intervened before they got there. He could see what they were thinking.

“Ladies, you are a little early, don’t you think?” He
stood between them and took them both by the arm, one on each side. They had
almost become friends with this excellent and attentive consultant in the last
week. They all went into a lift and down one floor. Out of the lift they turned
right and entered the fifth door on the right.

“Is this who you were looking for?” Max was in another
private room but there were a lot fewer machines and gadgets in this one. He
was still wired up but you could see him much better.

“Thank you Doctor.” Sandy kissed him on the cheeks and
Clair decided that it was OK to hug a consultant.

“My pleasure. A few instructions, if you please. Max is
being a little bit naughty and you must tell him to be good and stay in bed.
You can stay for an hour only as he will tire quickly. He needs to build up his
strength as he needs at least one more operation to straighten out his right
leg. That will happen on Tuesday, all being well.” Clair and Sandy took this
all in very seriously while staring at Max lying on the bed. His eyes were
closed.

They sat down next to Max. One on each side of the bed.
His lovely crazy hair had been shaved off completely. He looked like the lead
singer for the group
‘Right Said Fred’.

“Has he gone yet?” A whispery voice came from the bed.
Max’s eyes were open again.

“Yes we are all on our own.” Clair replied in a
whisper. She wasn’t sure why she whispered back.

“Who is we?” Max asked.

“Me and Sandy are here” Clair said.

“My eyes are not seeing clearly yet. But they are
getting better. That Doctor Rashid says I have to stay in bed. I don’t like
him, he is a bully.” Max was obviously thinking and talking with some sense, so
that was good.

“He is not a bully, he is looking after you. You can’t
walk anyway Max.” Sandy said. She urgently moved around to Clair’s side of the
bed as Clair was getting all the attention from Max.

“What happened to your hair?” Asked Sandy.

“They told me it had to come off in case they needed to
drain something from my brain.” Max was thoughtful.

“Hey Clair, did we have a good time on our date? I
can’t remember. I sort of remember riding to Bognor Regis with you. Then I am
blank.” Max was confident but could only talk quietly.

“We had a great time. When you are feeling better I’ll
tell you all about it.” Clair said. She suddenly looked away in a pang of angst
and couldn’t stay in the room anymore. She put her left hand over her face and
held onto Sandy for a few seconds.

Max closed his eyes. Clair stood up and told Sandy she
would go for a walk to give them time together. Clair made off out of the room.

“Hey where are you going?” Clair heard Max say as she
closed the door. Sandy was talking to Max to confirm that Clair would come back
later. Clair realised what she had been denying to herself for the last week.
This was going to take a long time and the process would not be easy. The worst
thing was that the free spirited and crazy Max had not returned as yet. He
wasn’t the same person as before.

Sandy came looking for Clair about ten minutes later.
She had been crying. They held each other tightly. Max had fallen asleep while
Sandy had been talking to him.

“I thought he was back, but he isn’t. Not properly
anyway.” Sandy said.

“He will come back, this is only day one.” Clair hoped
with all her heart that this would be true. She realised that she loved Max,
nothing had changed inside her.

Max’s leg operation took place on the Tuesday as Dr
Mehta promised. No one could visit him as he was so heavily sedated. Sandy and
Clair had both gone back to work on the Monday. This was more to keep their
minds occupied than anything else. Sandy was a software designer so there was
no way she could concentrate on that. She made the coffees for everyone and sat
at her desk pretending to be busy.