Part 6 (2/2)

The shock was beginning to take a grip on Lucy, who, like her dad, could not stop trembling, while her anxious gaze was fixed constantly on her mum's bloodied face.

It looked bad to Lucy. The deep gashes and bruises ran from beneath the bandages to her jaw and chin. The wider bandages and dressing over the upper part of her face and head were soaked with blood.

Lucy was relieved when her mother began to breathe more easily, although there was still the occasional shuddering breath that she seemed to hold for ever.

As they rushed through the night with sirens screaming, Lucy's mother grew increasingly agitated. Sliding back the cabin window, the ambulance man yelled to the driver to call ahead with further medical information.

Able to comfort her mother with words of love and a gentle squeeze of the hand, Lucy constantly rea.s.sured her.

When the ambulance turned onto the highway, she caught a pa.s.sing glimpse of what looked like Martin's van. It was going at speed in the opposite direction, towards her parents' house. 'Thank G.o.d!' she murmured, 'They'll take care of Dad now.'

The journey to hospital seemed endless, but soon they were turning in through the gates. 'We're at the hospital, Mum. You'll be all right now,' Lucy told her mother but there was no response.

When they arrived at the emergency department doors, Lucy quickly scrambled out of the ambulance, and the driver and attendant lifted out the stretcher with her mother still unconscious. Keeping her safe between the two of them, they hastened across the tarmac and in through the emergency entrance, where the trauma team was waiting.

Lucy followed. Her voice trembling, she glanced up to the skies and prayed, 'Please, Lord, don't let her die. Don't take her away from us.'

A world without her mother in it would be a bleak prospect indeed.

Inside the hospital, Lucy's mother was rushed away. From the corridor, as the door swung shut behind the stretcher, Lucy caught a glimpse of her mother, white as chalk, the medical staff already closing in around her.

A minute later, the ambulance crew reappeared. One of them paused to rea.s.sure Lucy, and when she asked if her mother was going to be all right, his answer was gentle, but evasive. 'I'm sure the doctor will be out to see you as soon as your mother is stabilised. I can a.s.sure you, though, she is in the best of hands.' That said, he hurried on his way.

A few minutes later, Lucy was relieved to see a nurse approaching. 'How is she?' She clambered to her feet. 'Please ... will she be all right?'

The nurse had a gentle manner. 'Your mother is not yet conscious, but she is stabilised,' she said kindly. 'The doctors are now a.s.sessing the full extent of her injuries. Meantime, it will help us if you could explain how exactly she sustained those injuries.'

'I'm not altogether sure,' Lucy explained. 'Dad said she stumbled and hit her head on the fender. She hasn't been too steady recently. Only a short time back, she had a nasty fall in the street. It shook her confidence, and left her frail and nervous. She's been unusually quiet of late ... not at all like her old self.' The tears she had tried so hard to keep back now ran down her face. 'Please, Nurse, she will be all right, won't she?'

'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 cafe 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 cafe 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 a.s.sessment. Meantime, there was little more she could tell Lucy. 'Look, instead of sitting here in this draughty walkway, let's go to the cafe. 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 cafe 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 a.s.sured 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. 'n.o.body 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 n.o.body 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 rea.s.sured 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 circ.u.mstances, 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.

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