Chapter 41
Briony walked along the corridor, taking deep breaths. When she’d parked in the hospital car park, she’d spotted her mum’s car. She was there too. Briony was aware that she could have waited at The Beach House for her return, but she had a feeling she should see her grandmother straight away, because she imagined that once Emily had picked up the pets that afternoon, she wouldn’t be able to bear spending a second longer in The Beach House. And she’d be so tearful that she really wouldn’t be in any fit state to pay her grandmother a visit.
As Briony approached the nursing station, she saw a lot of nurses moving to and fro. She was just thinking that there was a lot more activity than usual, when a nurse spotted her. ‘Briony!’
That was when she knew. It was her grandmother. She swallowed. Something had happened. She felt her knees go weak.
As the nurse approached, Briony said, ‘I’m too late – aren’t I?’
The nurse put an arm around her shoulders.
Briony was about to burst into tears when the most beautiful singing voice, a man’s voice, almost operatic, stopped her.
The nurse said, ‘It’s a miracle.’
Briony looked at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Oh, you haven’t heard the news – she’s awake! Your grandmother has awoken from her coma. And apart from some weakness down her left side, she’s doing fine.’
The news was so unexpected, when Briony had been starting to prepare herself for the worst, that she was having a hard time taking it in. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Oh, yes. It’s a blooming miracle – that’s what it is!’
Briony frowned. It wasn’t a miracle. Briony had already guessed how it had come about.
‘It’s my mum, isn’t it? Lorna. The sound of her voice woke her up.’ She knew she should have contacted her mum sooner.
‘No, it was some guy.’
‘Some guy?’
‘That guy – listen.’
Briony looked towards the ward. ‘The person singing?’
‘Yes, to your grandmother. He said he was an old, dear friend. He has the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. I asked him if he was a professional singer. You’d think so, with that voice. Brought me to tears, and a lot of the staff and patients too.’
Briony swallowed. ‘Who is he?’
‘Said his name is Frank.’
As the singing stopped, Briony found a tissue and wiped her cheeks, which were wet with tears. ‘It’s Frank!’ She took the nurse’s hands in hers and did a little happy dance right there in the middle of the hospital corridor. ‘I don’t believe it – he came back!’ Briony hugged the nurse and ran into the ward, heading for her grandmother’s private room. She couldn’t wait to meet him, along with her grandmother.
She was about to step into the room when her phone buzzed with a text. Briony wanted to ignore it. But what if it was Troy? She paused and reached for her phone. It wasn’t Troy, but Clarissa. She was about to put her phone away, and read it later, when a word in text caught her eye – Frank.
Briony stepped to one side of the door. She could hear two voices she didn’t recognise; it was Frank and her grandmother, talking, saying how much they’d missed one another. She knew her mum was there too; she’d caught a fleeting glimpse of her, sitting by Blythe’s bedside, holding her hand, although her mum hadn’t caught sight of her as she’d looked in.
Briony also caught a fleeting glance of the tall, slim, older gentleman standing by her grandmother’s bedside, dressed in a pale cream linen suit. He had his back to the door, so Briony could only see him from behind.
Briony stood on the other side of the door, out of sight, and read the text just as she heard Frank say, ‘Well, I’ll leave you for now, so you can talk with your daughter. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.’
‘As have you and I. You’ll come back – won’t you, Frank?’
‘Of course I will, Blythe. But in the meantime, I have your letters to keep me company.’
Briony put her hand to her mouth in shock when she read Clarissa’s text about Frank.