Chapter Twenty-one
The next days passed in a flurry of preparation for the Christmas party that was turning out to be bigger than any Oakley had ever seen. Most of the neighbours from both villages had accepted the invitation, and Dennis had received a flurry of offers to help out, from catering to decorations. Which was great, and very kind, except they all had to be co-ordinated so that it would come together on the twenty-third of December without a hitch. Robyn had been dusting and polishing like the King was coming to tea, roping in Jenna and Sorcha to help out before their rehearsals in the pub, whilst Matt had ordered in a lot more booze, not wanting to run out on the big day, and had tasked himself with cleaning all the old upholstery with a heavy carpet cleaning machine.
All this to say, they had all been preoccupied with event planning and neither of them had noticed that Dennis had become a lot quieter in the past few days, had retired to his room more often, and had stopped eating altogether.
“Dad, Joy is here to talk about the holly wreath for the main door and a garland for the mantel over the big fire in the main bar, but Robyn is out collecting the paper plates and napkins and I’m up to my eyeballs ticking off these invoices… Dad?”
When shouting up the stairs a couple of times garnered him no reply, Matt took them three at a time, racing up to his Dad’s room which was next door to his own.
“Dad?” He shook Dennis’s shoulder gently, to no avail.
Increasingly panicked, Matt spoke more loudly, grabbing both shoulders and becoming desperate when the older man’s head simply lolled back.
Quick, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs as Joy came hurrying up, alerted by the repetition of the landlord’s name.
“Matt? I heard you trying to wake your dad and I hope you don’t mind me coming up to help…”
“No, Joy, thanks. I think, I mean I don’t know why exactly, but he must be unconscious. What should I do?”
“Stay with him, try to bring him round, I’ll call an ambulance.”
Although she must only be in her late forties, Joy had a very maternal air about her which Matt wholeheartedly appreciated in that moment. As he felt himself falling apart, he was grateful to have another adult to take charge.
“On its way, I’ll go and wait in the car park to direct them,” Joy didn’t say anything more, but her understanding expression made Matt think she’d guessed that the Christmas party was not simply to celebrate his Dad’s return.
“He’s dying. I should probably have told them that,” Matt blurted.
“It’s okay, I said he was unconscious and potentially critical, so you can go from there when they get here. Don’t worry, I can stay as long as you need me.”
“That’s really kind Joy, thank you. Would you mind phoning Robyn and asking her to come back? I can text you her number.”
“Of course. Now, keep talking to him, he might be able to hear you,” and then she was gone, back down the stairs leaving Matt alone with his only remaining parent.
“Dad, will you wake up? It’s too soon. There should be loads of life left in you yet, we’ve got that game of darts still to play. I’ve got five quid riding on that, and you need to show me, ah,” Matt’s words caught in his throat and he tried to swallow down the huge lump there, determined not to cry. “Ah, you need to show me how to get the muck out of the rug by the front door. I’ve only made a muddy mess with that blasted machine so far, and I haven’t even started on the built-in seating. Dad… Dad…”
“Matty?” It was barely a whisper, but Matt heard it, putting his ear near to his father’s lips to catch any further words.
“The ambulance is on its way, Dad, almost here I reckon. Stay awake and help me listen out for the sirens.”
“You’re… a… good… lad, Matthew.”
“I’ve not grown up enough, I’m nowhere near mature enough to handle everything without you, Dad. Me and Robyn, we still need you, so you have to stay, okay?” Matt tried but failed to keep the panic from his voice.
“You’re… very… capable, Son,” he squeezed Matt’s hand weakly as they heard the faint sound of sirens in the distance.
“Thank the Lord,” Matt said, even knowing this was a very quick response considering the hospital was so far away. The paramedics must’ve been in the area, which was a huge blessing right now.
It was all a bit of a blur, following after Matt and Dennis who were in the ambulance, in Joy’s black Mini which she lovingly called Trinity after the character in ‘The Matrix.’ At any other time, Robyn would have enjoyed chatting about their shared love of movies, but right now she could barely form a sentence. Her whole world was in that van ahead of them, and all she could do was hope for the best, whilst worrying that they may be about to face the worst.
“Can you, ah, come into the hospital with me?” Robyn asked, even though she barely knew their lovely neighbour.
“Of course, petal, then we can phone anyone else you want to be there. He’s in the right hands now.”
Robyn nodded and tried to stop picking at her fingernails – a bad habit she only did in times of extreme stress. She felt terrible for missing any signs of Dennis’s quick decline, and even worse that she hadn’t been home when it had happened. But none of that could be helped now. The main thing was that she gave both men all the support she could.
“You know, I had this uncle, Uncle Trevor he was, and he was once so poorly in hospital that they asked all his family to gather around,” Robyn knew that Joy was simply trying to distract her, but she nodded along, nonetheless. “Well, they all had a sleepless night, camped out in that hospital room, my Auntie saying her final goodbyes and lo and behold the next morning he got straight out of bed and asked why no breakfast had been ordered! Was nicknamed Lazarus after that!”
Robyn didn’t really get the reference, but she smiled at the happy outcome and hoped they’d all be making their own jokes very soon.
Even though she suspected it would have to be a Christmas miracle for that to happen.