The Runaway Woman (11 page)

‘That’s not for me to say. She does have serious
injuries, but like I say, she is much calmer now.’ The nurse was sympathetic, but she had no way of knowing the full extent of the injuries. ‘We’ll know what to expect after the doctors have concluded their examination. It will be some time yet, before they can talk to you, so I wonder, rather than sitting here worrying, how about I take you for a cup of tea?’

‘No!’ Lucy was adamant. ‘Thank you,
but I need to speak with the doctors.’

The nurse was patient. She had been through similar situations many times, and she knew how frantic the relatives could be while they waited for news of their loved ones. ‘Please, will you come away for a few minutes? Worrying, won’t help your mother. I’ll let them know where we’ll be, and in any case, we won’t be gone too long. Just long enough for you
to take a breath and talk to me about your mother.’

She pointed to the door behind Lucy. ‘You’re badly shaken up, and I do understand why you don’t want to move from here. But just a few steps away, through that door, is a little café where we can sit and wait and it’s more comfortable than here. The doctors will be a while yet, so how about the two of us go through to the café and find ourselves
a pot of tea? Then you can tell me what happened to your mother after she had that first fall. It’s important that the doctors know the full history.’

‘I’m frightened to leave her,’ Lucy murmured, wiping the tears from her face with her hands. ‘I need to stay here.’

The nurse laid her hand over Lucy’s. ‘It’s Lucy, isn’t it?’ She had gathered that information from the ambulance men.

‘Yes.’

‘Right then. I promise you there is nothing you can do just now. The doctors will be with your mother for some while yet, Lucy. They will also need to take X-rays, and that will add a few more minutes. So, like I say, we have time for a chat and that hot cuppa you look like you desperately need. Just a few minutes, then we’ll come back.’

Lucy thought of her mother, hurt and in trouble, without
family near. ‘Are you sure they’ll know where we are if they need me?’

‘You have my word.’

‘They will let me see her soon, won’t they?’

‘That is for the doctors to decide, but I hope it won’t be too long now.’ The nurse hesitated. She knew how very serious the injuries were but, like Lucy, she had to wait for the doctors to conclude their assessment. Meantime, there was little more she could
tell Lucy. ‘Look, instead of sitting here in this draughty walkway, let’s go to the café. It really is just a few steps away. When we get back, we might know more.’

‘My family are on their way. They won’t know where to find me!’ Lucy began to panic.

‘Yes they will. I’ll contact the front desk, and let them know.’

Talking constantly, she led Lucy through the door and along the empty corridor.
‘The café is open all night,’ she informed Lucy. ‘The two of us can enjoy a hot cuppa in warmer surroundings, while you tell me all about your mother.’

When Lucy made no response, except to turn and look back towards the door, the nurse drew her attention. ‘I know it’s difficult,’ she said gently, ‘but try not to worry, eh?’

Lucy merely nodded.

The corridor was long and curving, with not a
soul in sight. All Lucy could see in her mind’s eye was her mother, frail and broken.

Now, with the overhead lights turned low, it seemed gloomy along the corridor, and eerily empty. The only real sound Lucy could hear echoing in her tortured mind was the impact of their heels as they walked along … like two soldiers on parade … left-right, left-right, left-right. It was a haunting rhythm like
no other.

Just minutes away from the hospital, Martin grew increasingly anxious. ‘We’re nearly there.’ He glanced at the old man seated beside him. ‘Just a few more minutes, Dad, and you’ll see her.’

Lucy’s dad, though, was not aware of Martin’s encouraging words. Lost in thought, he was angrily muttering to himself, ‘I should’ve kept a closer eye on her. After that fall in
town, she was really shaken up. She was unsteady on her feet, and sometimes she was lost in a little world of her own. I let her down, Martin. I should have made her go back to the doctor. But she didn’t want to, and nothing I said could make her change her mind.’

‘She always had a strong mind, Dad,’ Martin assured him. ‘If she decided not to see the doctor, wild horses would not drag her there.’

‘I let her down, and that’s an end to it!’ the old man continued muttering to himself. ‘It’s my fault she’s in hospital. My fault, and no one else’s.’

‘Granddad! It’s
not
your fault.’ Sam leaned forward from the back of the van. ‘Nobody could have known she would fall down again. You can’t blame yourself, Granddad.’

‘All I want is to see your grandma on the mend again,’ he said.

‘We all want
the same.’ Sam placed a comforting hand on the old man’s shoulder. ‘Take it easy. Like Dad says, we’re only minutes away now.’

‘Hey! Where’s Paula?’ The old man suddenly realised his second daughter was not in the van. ‘Has nobody told her that her mother is lying in the hospital? Why isn’t she here?’

‘She’s on her way,’ Martin explained. ‘I needed to get you to the hospital, so I asked Anne
if she would collect Paula. They’re following on … not far behind us, I shouldn’t wonder.’

‘How far is it now?’ the old man asked for the umpteenth time. ‘Are we nearly there?’

‘It’s not far now. Try not to worry,’ Martin constantly reassured him.

In truth, he also was sick with worry, and not just about his parents-in-law. The prospect of Paula and Lucy face to face at the hospital made him
increasingly nervous. For everyone’s sake, and his in particular, he was desperately hoping that common sense and concern about their mother would prevent Lucy and Paula from raising the issue of what had happened back at Paula’s house.

He suspected that neither sister would make a scene in the current, sorry circumstances, although he had no doubt that there would be a showdown between himself
and the two sisters at some point soon. He had to be sure that Paula meant it when she said she wanted them to be together permanently. He should talk to her about that, and make it a priority. If Paula really meant what she had said about their setting up house together, then he would need to tell Lucy the truth, whatever the consequences.

For now, though, he reassured himself, both Paula and
Lucy would be concentrating on the wellbeing of their parents.

Reflecting on Lucy having seen them together, he blamed himself for not locking the back door. But he did not regret being with Paula. His only regret was that Lucy had discovered the truth before he could tell her that he and Paula were hoping to make a life together.

Telling Lucy of his and Paula’s long-term plans was not something
he looked forward to, although, to give Lucy her due, she was not a spiteful, excitable woman and would probably deal with it in her own sensible, quiet manner.

When they arrived at the hospital, the receptionist directed them to Lucy, who was anxiously waiting in a separate room for the doctor to arrive.

While Sam walked with his grandfather along the corridor, Martin went
ahead.

Lucy was greatly relieved to see her family arrive, but when Martin stepped forward she quickly side-stepped him and went straight to her father, who looked sad and worn, and older than she could ever have imagined.

‘Come and sit down, Dad.’ Wrapping her arms round him, she walked him to the seat next to where she had been sitting. Sam followed and sat the other side of his grandfather.

Understanding Lucy’s obvious snub, Martin sat opposite. ‘What did the doctor say?’ he asked Lucy. ‘I expect your mum has to stay in for a while, does she? I mean, they’ll need to give her a thorough checkup, especially as she’s fallen twice now. Try not to worry, though. I’m sure she’ll be all right.’

Lucy was shocked that he could be so natural after what she had witnessed between him and Paula.
Nevertheless she acknowledged his reassurance with a curt nod of the head, before turning to her father.

‘A few minutes before you arrived, the nurse went to have a word with the doctor. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before he comes to give us a progress report.’

‘So you don’t know how she is then?’

‘No, Dad. Not yet.’

‘Ah, well, they do say as no news is good news … so if that’s the case,
we might be taking her home yet, eh?’

‘Well, we won’t know until he comes out, so don’t get your hopes up. Like Martin said, they should keep her in and check her thoroughly. I mean, she hasn’t been at all well lately, has she?’

‘No.’ The old man’s face crumpled in disappointment. ‘Lucy! Did you tell them about her fall some weeks back, when she was in town … how she’s never been the same since
then? Did you tell them that she refused to see a doctor?’

‘Yes, Dad, I told the nurse everything.’

‘And did she say whether or not your mother would have to stay in … or can we take her home with us? I’ll look after your mother. I’ll make her a bed in the sitting room; then she won’t have any reason to go up and down the stairs, because I’ll take care of everything.’

‘No, Dad.’ Lucy could
see how upset he was becoming. ‘From what the nurse was saying, Mum’s injuries are very serious. I think they’re too concerned about Mum to let her be looked after by you just yet. But, don’t you worry, I’ll come and stay with you at home while she’s in here, then after she comes home I’ll stay a while longer, help her to settle in … make sure neither of you overdoes it.’ She smiled lovingly. ‘We
don’t want you wearing yourself out, do we, eh? Not when you’ve got me to help you. And don’t concern yourself about my work, because they’ll understand when I explain to them.’

In the light of her mother’s bad fall, and what she had discovered about Paula and Martin, keeping her employers happy was not Lucy’s top priority.

Right now, like this darling old fella, she just wanted her mum to be
all right.

She glanced around. ‘Where’s Anne?’

‘It’s all right, Mum.’ Sam could see the strain on his mother’s face. ‘Anne and Paula are on their way.’

‘That’s good.’ She hoped Paula would have the decency to keep a distance between them.

Five long, anxious minutes passed before the nurse returned. ‘The doctor is on his way,’ she informed them kindly.

The words had hardly left her lips when
the doctor entered the room. ‘Doctor … oh, thank goodness!’ The old man sat up straight. ‘How is she? Has she been asking after me? Can I see her?’

The look on the doctor’s face set Lucy’s hopes plummeting, but his next words broke her heart. ‘I’m so sorry.’ His voice and manner said it all.

With much compassion he explained quietly to Lucy’s father, ‘Your wife suffered serious head injuries.’
When he paused, they suspected the outcome even before he said it. ‘We were not able to save her. I am so very sorry.’

In the wake of the full, devastating truth of his announcement, the silence was palpable; apart from a thin, broken wail of disbelief from the old man. Suddenly, he was shaking uncontrollably, his voice breaking as he called out ‘I need to see her!’

Tears of grief flowed down
his face as he stared at the doctor in disbelief. His voice fell to a whisper, as though he was trying to reason with himself. ‘She was all right. She just fell … that’s all.’ Struggling to stand, he stumbled back into the chair, his voice shaking with anger as he demanded of the doctor, ‘Why couldn’t you help her? You could have done something … you
should
have done something!’

Sam came over
to his grandfather and wrapped his arms round his leathery old neck. ‘Oh, Granddad, what will we do now? What will we do without Grandma?’ His sobs were terrible to hear.

This was his first experience of grief, and it was too much for him to cope with. Being the only grandson, he had always been close to his devoted grandparents.

Shocked to her roots, Lucy bowed her head and quietly sobbed;
a great wave of loneliness consumed her. Her darling mum was gone. How could that be? Her caring, loving mum … was gone. It was too hard, too soon, and her tortured mind refused to accept it.