The Broken Man (40 page)

Sally smiled up at him. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t give you children.’ Her smile brightened. ‘But you now have a son …
we
have a son, and I so hope he’ll accept us, because from what we’ve been told, he’s had a bad time of it.’

‘Yes, he has, but if we’re given the chance to make it up to him, we’ll turn all that around, won’t we?’

‘Yes, God willing.’ She gave a private little smile, ‘Oh, Mick … just imagine … a son, to love and care for. We’ll help him forget the bad times, and look forward with him to a better future. Oh, Mick! With us, he’ll have so much love.’

Mick was filled with emotion by Sally’s enthusiasm. ‘You do realise that if he accepts us—’

‘Yes … what?’

He gave a happy smile. ‘There might come a day when we’ll be granddad and grandma. What do you think to that?’

Her smile said it all. ‘Babies … oh, how wonderful!’ She clung to him. ‘First, though, we need to be thankful for Adam. Like you say, if he accepts us, all the lovely things will follow. And I for one won’t mind having grey hair, with a bouncing grandchild in my arms.’

Falling silent, they walked on, growing more excited, more nervous. This was a major day in both their lives. Miss Martin would be waiting for them at a café near to the hospital, where Adam was recovering, along with Adam’s foster parents, Liz and Jim. Also, they would finally meet Phil. According to Miss Martin, it was that dear man who had kept Adam under his wing, and never once faltered in his loyalty to the boy.

Deep in thought, Mick remained anxious. Meeting up with all these fine people was a daunting prospect. Suppose they took against him and Sally? Suppose they were able to persuade Adam against accepting them?

When he voiced his concerns to Sally, she told him in no uncertain manner, ‘Stop worrying. Adam will see how genuine you are, and I just know he will love you.’ Looking up at him with adoring eyes, she squeezed his arm. ‘I mean … who wouldn’t?’

Meeting up with the others in a café near the hospital, Mick saw them all as having Adam’s welfare at heart. He confessed his anxieties.

‘I’m just a stranger to him. I’m concerned that he might not give me a chance to explain. He could even reject me out of hand.’

Phil assured him, ‘In spite of his bad experiences, Adam is a good and balanced young man, without an ounce of spite in him.’

‘He might think I abandoned his mother, but I didn’t know she was with child. She never told me.’

Phil put his mind at rest: ‘Miss Martin and I have already spoken to him, and though he was deeply shocked, I think he’s had time enough to mull it over in his mind. I’m sure he’ll listen when you put your case. Like us, he’ll see you both as good people, and to tell you the truth, although all of us sitting round this table have done our best for Adam, we are not his parents, and that’s what the boy needs, more than anything.’

He smiled at Mick. ‘Don’t be nervous, either of you. I’m sure Adam will like you both straight off. Trust me.’

Adam had been in hospital for two long months.

His broken bones were mending, and the deepest scars he carried from that terrifying ordeal were the memories of it. There was a faint scar along his cheekbone, but apart from that his face had escaped unscathed.

Today, the nurse would take him for final X-rays and a check-up. If everything was headed in the right direction, he would go home this afternoon. Phil was due to arrive before too long. And if all went as planned, maybe Liz and Jim would be with him.

‘Excited, are you?’ the nurse asked.

Adam told her he was grateful for the care he’d had there, but that he would be pleased to leave now. ‘I can’t wait to see Phil and the others,’ he said.

‘Well, I’m sure they’ll all be excited to get you home again. You’re a very lucky boy to have such good friends.’

Adam smiled. ‘I know that.’

‘And that little Amy is lovely. I know I shouldn’t ask, but I’m naturally nosy. Is it serious between you and her?’

Adam blushed. ‘I don’t know yet.’ For him, it was.

The check-ups all showed that Adam was well on the mend. The doctor was delighted with his progress.

‘I’d feel comfortable if you use the wheelchair for at least another two weeks or so, and then you can progress onto crutches. Within a month or so after that, you should be strong and able enough to climb Mount Everest.’

Adam was slightly disappointed that he needed the wheelchair for a while yet, but at least he was mending, and that was the most important thing.

As the nurse wheeled him back, she suggested, ‘You should get a couple of hours’ sleep before your folks start arriving. It will stand you in good stead for the travelling.’

In the ward she tucked him up in bed and left him drinking a glass of orange juice. ‘Miss Martin brought your clothes in yesterday. They’re hanging in the wardrobe to loosen the creases. Oh, and I’ll have the medication waiting for you by the time you’re ready to leave. Meantime, you get some rest.’

After finishing his orange juice, that’s exactly what Adam did.

First, though, he checked the clock: half-past one … another hour and they would be there. He was disappointed that Liz had not offered to take him back, but he accepted it because he thought maybe Alice was uncomfortable with the idea of him living there again.

Still, he comforted himself with the knowledge that it would not be too long before his sixteenth birthday, when he could choose where he might live.

He thought of Amy, and his heart melted. Wherever in the world he went from now on, he would not want to be far away from her.

Seated in the nearby café with Phil, and Liz and Jim, Sally and Mick grew increasingly nervous. ‘I’m worried that Adam might be upset when we tell him the truth,’ Mick said. ‘Maybe he won’t even like us.’

He was highly nervous of speaking with the son he had not even known he had. He spoke to Liz on that point. ‘It’s thanks to Miss Martin’s valiant efforts to track me down that I found out I had a son. But that was months ago. I should have talked to him about it long before now. He won’t forgive me, will he?’

‘There is nothing to forgive,’ Liz promised him. ‘You couldn’t tell him when he was lying at death’s door, and you certainly couldn’t tell him while he was recovering. But you came here every day to see him, while he was unconscious and such dedication tells its own story. Adam will see that, and of course he won’t be upset. One thing I would say, though: when you do tell him the truth, do it gently. Think of how the truth came as a shock to you. And as you’re well aware, he’s already been through a lot these past months.’

Phil endorsed that. ‘Adam is a surprisingly mature boy for his age. He has a depth of understanding. I know, when you tell him, he’ll be shocked at first, yes, but I can assure you, Adam will be greatly relieved to know that the monster who raised him was not his blood father.’

Sally had a different concern. ‘What if he doesn’t want to come home with us? We can’t force him, and neither would we. So, what do we do?’

‘I think we should leave it to Adam,’ Mick decided. ‘One thing we are sure of, he won’t have to go back to the children’s home, not now he’s got me and Sally. And don’t forget, I’m his father – named and verified by his own mother – and I think that means I can say whether or not Adam can stay with friends if he wants to.’

Sally agreed. ‘But we would love him to be part of our family. To call us Mum and Dad would mean so very much to us.’

She smiled shyly. ‘I’ll admit, it was a shock when I first found out that Mick had fathered a child. When Miss Martin traced us and showed us the locket and the note Adam’s mother had written, I was truly shaken. I didn’t know what it might mean to us. But now, after being by Adam’s bedside for hours on end when he didn’t even know we were there, I’ve grown to love him as a person in his own right, and as a son. And I really would love him to come home with us.’

Phil ended the conversation, with wise words: ‘Trust me to let the boy know the truth, and we’ll go from there.’

Adam was surprised to see Phil on his own. ‘I thought you were bringing Liz and Jim with you?’ he asked. ‘Or did they not want to see me?’ He was disappointed.

‘I came alone because I have something to show you.’ He took the locket from his pocket, and pressed it into Adam’s hand. ‘This belongs to you.’

Adam was amazed and confused. ‘Oh! It’s my mother’s locket! But it was in my bag. Someone stole it … However did you find it, Phil?’ Holding the locket in his hand again brought tears to Adam’s eyes. ‘Oh, Phil, I don’t know how you found it, but I’ll never be able to thank you enough. Where was it? Did the thief try to sell it, or what? I don’t understand.’

‘The locket was not in your bag when you left Liz and Jim’s house,’ Phil carefully explained. ‘Alice took it from the box. She hid it and told Liz about it later. Now then, I have something here that will change you life for ever, Adam. Something very precious. Liz found it when she took the locket from Alice.’

Intrigued and somewhat afraid, Adam held out his hand. ‘What is it, Phil?’

Phil laid the folded note into Adam’s palm. ‘This was inside the locket. It’s a beautiful thing,’ he said, ‘and it’s in your mother’s hand.’

With great trepidation, Adam unfolded the tiny piece paper and read what his mother had written for him.

When he had read every word, Adam looked up at Phil, his eyes filled with tears. ‘I never knew,’ he said, ‘I never knew.’ He put his face in his hands and he closed his eyes. His mother was strong in his mind. He was sad for her, for the way she had lived with Edward Carter all those years, not because she loved him, but to give her child a father.

He looked up at Phil. ‘She made a terrible sacrifice, Phil … for me. She lived with that man for all those years, and she probably never even loved him.’ The tears ran down his face. ‘She did that, for me, Phil. For me!’

Phil warned him against feeling guilty. ‘Your mother was a very strong woman, Adam. She had a choice and she took it. It was what she wanted. And as long as she had you, she was a happy, contented woman. You must never, ever forget that.’

Adam nodded. ‘And this man … my father. Does he know about me now?’

‘Yes. He’s a good man, Adam. I can see why your mother fell in love with him. But he never knew she was pregnant with you. She never told him. He’s married now but, ironically, Mick and his wife, Sally, can never have children. Miss Martin told them about the letter, and they have been at your side from when you were first brought in to when you began to open your eyes. That’s when they decided not to come any more, until you knew the truth. And you could make up your mind as to whether or not you want him in your life … him and Sally.’

Adam shook his head. ‘I don’t know, Phil. I’m confused at the minute. I need to think about it. Are they here now?’ he asked suddenly.

Phil nodded. ‘They’re waiting, but they will go away and come back again to see you … if that’s what you want?’

Adam was about to answer when both he and Phil became aware of someone bearing down on them.

Mick had decided he needed to know what his son thought of him.

Phil stood up. ‘Adam … this is Mick, your father.’

For the longest moment neither of them spoke. Instead they looked at each other and the moment was heavy with emotion. Then Adam opened his arms and Mick went to him. ‘I’m sorry, Son,’ he whispered. ‘If I’d only known, I would never have let your mother go. She was so very special. But I have a wonderful wife now, and in many small ways she’s very much like your mother. She’s kind and loving, and she so wants you to be with us … if it’s what you want too.’