Three-And-A-Half Heartbeats (31 page)
‘I’ve had an idea!’ Pete shouted up the stairs. ‘What about the Leaning Tower of Pisa? I can do that with four beer cans and an empty Cornetto.’
‘I don’t want to do a tower! That’s rubbish. It’s just beer cans!’ Jonty replied. ‘Mu-um? Mum? Tell Dad I can’t just do a tower, that’s just rubbish!’
‘It’s supposed to be rubbish, you wally.’ Martha laughed.
‘Just one second, Mum.’ Jacks pulled the blankets and bedspread over Ida’s semi-naked form. She thrust the soiled nappy into an empty carrier bag and tied it with a double knot. Popping her head out on to the landing, she spoke quietly but firmly.
‘Martha, don’t call your brother a wally. And Jonty, you don’t have much choice at this stage in the game, love. Dad is doing his best to find stuff for you to take in at very short notice. Now go and eat your breakfast, both of you.’ She smiled at her little boy, who stood with his arms folded across his chest.
‘But I don’t want to do a tower, it’ll be pants.’ His eyes brimmed with tears.
‘What do you want to do then?’ Jacks spoke quickly, encouraging her son to match her pace. She had her mum to see to, the breakfast things to tidy away and only sixteen, no, fifteen minutes in which to get both kids in the car.
‘I want to make the Clifton Suspension Bridge.’ He rallied, eyes bright at the idea.
‘Clifton Suspension Bridge?’ Pete guffawed. ‘You’ll be lucky, son. I’m afraid it’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or the Angel of the North if you bend these three coat hangers.’ He held them up.
‘The Angel of the North isn’t even a building!’ Martha shouted as she bolted down the stairs with her jacket and bag over her shoulder.
‘Well, excuse me! We can’t all be clever, can we, Jacks?’ He winked at his wife from the bottom of the stairs.
Jacks bent low and mussed her son’s hair. ‘Your tower will be fine, Jonty. You can paint it and cover it with foil and bits and bobs. It’ll look lovely. And I think it’s your best bet in the circumstances.’
‘Okaaay,’ he mumbled, finally heading downstairs for his breakfast.
Jacks straightened up and returned to her mum’s room. As she opened the door, the smell of faeces hit her in the face, offending her nose and making her retch. ‘Oh God!’ she whispered as she placed her hand over her nose and mouth.
‘I have passed water,’ Ida stated nonchalantly, as if she was announcing the day of the week.
Jacks nodded and drew back the covers, trying not to inhale through her nose. ‘That’s okay, Mum. Quick change of plan: we need to get you into the shower for a quick once-over before I take the kids to school. Okay?’ Pulling the sheet from the bed, she wrapped it around her mum and manoeuvred her into a sitting position.
‘I’m expecting a letter.’
‘Yes.’ Jacks nodded as she helped her mum to stand, supporting her feather-like weight as she leant against her. ‘When it comes, I’ll bring it up to you, don’t worry.’
With the bathroom now thankfully empty, she used her elbow to open the door, then switched on the shower and removed the sheet and her mother’s nightie, bed socks and vest, rolling them into a ball in the corner of the room. ‘Here we go.’ She guided her mum under the deluge.
‘Oooooooh! It’s too hot! You are burning me! Help! Someone help me!’ Ida shrieked.
Jacks smiled and thrust her own hands into the running water. ‘Look, Mum! Look! If it was too hot, it would be burning me too and it’s not. It’s fine. I checked it. I promise you it’s not too hot.’ She reached for the shower gel that hung from its natty little plastic hook on the shower bar. ‘It’s fine, Mum, just the right temperature. See? It’s fine.’
She no longer panicked when her mother yelled that she was getting scalded, even though her heart still leapt at the tone of Ida’s shrieks. She was used to it, even expected it. And now that she’d explained to their next-door neighbours Angela and Ivor that they might hear this on a regular basis, she no longer felt the lurch of fear that she might get into trouble. She tried not to look at the dark clots of waste that gathered in the plughole of the shower cubicle where her children stood. Instead, she concentrated on building a lather between her palms and covering every inch of her mother’s skin as quickly as possible.
With four minutes to spare, her mum was returned to a clean bed, smelling of talc and wrapped in her fleecy bed jacket with Radio 4 on for company.
Pete knocked and entered, carrying a tray with a cup of tea and three Rich Tea biscuits on a saucer. ‘Morning, Ida. Here we go, a nice cuppa for you.’ He placed the tray on the bedside cabinet.
‘Thank you, Toto. So very good to me.’ Ida patted her thin hair into place.
‘Thanks, love.’ Jacks smiled at her husband, whose small acts of kindness when time was at a premium made all the difference.
‘Toto?’ Ida called from the nest of pillows on which she was propped.
‘Yes?’ Pete stopped in the doorway and turned. He didn’t mind being confused with Ida’s long-dead brother. Toto had been in the RAF and, truth be told, Pete quite liked her thinking he had a more dashing career than laying patios up on the new estates that were springing up all over the place.
‘I need to see that letter.’ She looked at him, concerned.
‘Ah, don’t you worry. If it turns up today, we’ll be sure to run it straight up to you.’
‘Mu-um?’ Jonty shouted.
‘Yes, love, coming! I’ll be back in a little while, Mum, to get your breakfast. Okay?’
Ida reached for her tea, made with chilled milk, and ignored her daughter.
It was a day like any other.
Grace and Tom Penderford had a strong marriage, a comfortable home in the Hertfordshire countryside, and a healthy baby girl. They were happy. They were normal.
But soon after Chloe turns three, tragedy strikes. A disease called Sepsis claims the life of their daughter, devastating their little family. The Penderfords had never heard of Sepsis - a cruel, indiscriminate disease that claims a life somewhere in the world every three and a half seconds. Now, with their world crumbling, they must mend each others broken hearts... and try to save their marriage if they can.
To find out more about this tragic disease, please visit
www.sepsistrust.org
. All the proceeds from this novel will go straight to the Sepsis Trust. By buying it, you will help in their battle to save lives. Thank you for making a difference.
“A powerful and emotional work of fiction with a unique twist - a practical lesson in how to spot a fatal, but often treatable disease.”
Piers Morgan, CNN Presenter
“A truly amazing piece of drama about a condition that could affect any one of us in a heartbeat. Every mother should read this book.”
Danielle Lineker, Actor
“A powerful and emotional page turner that teaches people with no medical training how to recognise sepsis and save lives.”
Dr Ranj Singh, Paediatric Doctor and BBC Presenter
“A powerful and moving story with a real purpose.It brings home the dreadful nature of this deadly condition.”
Mark Austin, ITN Presenter
“This is such a powerful story - and a book that every parent should read. Sadly this is something that affects families every day, but by buying this book you are able to help as the money raised will go towards vital funds for The Sepsis Trust.”
Charlotte Hawkins, ITV Presenter
A
MANDA
P
ROWSE
has always loved crafting short stories and scribbling notes for potential books. Her ambition is to create stories that stop people turning off the bedside light, with characters that stay with you long after the last page is turned.
Amanda’s first novel,
Poppy Day
, was self-published in October 2011 and achieved a #1 spot in the eBook charts. She was then signed up by publishers Head of Zeus and her second novel,
What Have I Done?,
became a #1 bestseller in 2013, and gained rave reviews from readers.
Amanda lives in the West Country with her husband Simeon, a soldier, and their two sons Ben and Josh. She has now published five novels and four short stories, which share a common theme of ordinary women doing extraordinary things for love. After many years, she finally has her dream job – a full-time writer.
You can follow Amanda on Twitter
@MrsAmandaProwse
, become friends with her on
Facebook
, or you can visit her website and sign up for her newsletter
www.amandaprowse.org
Amanda Prowse’s
No Greater Love
sequence is a series of contemporary stories with love at their core. They feature characters whose histories interweave through the generations: ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things for love. They are stories to keep you from switching off the bedside lamp at night, stories to remember long after the final page is turned...
