Chapter 28
The children’s voices soared for the crescendo of ‘Silent Night’ before lowering for the final notes.
The acoustics of the high-ceilinged drawing room added to the poignancy of their sweet voices, and Faith found herself wiping away a tear.
She was clapping enthusiastically after the children had finished when she felt something collide hard with her leg.
She looked down and saw Lucy slumped on the ground by her feet.
‘Oh my God, Lucy!’ she called out, then dropped to her knees beside her.
‘Someone call an ambulance,’ Madeleine shouted as soon as she saw what was after happening.
A few heads turned to see what the commotion was all about. Grace, who had been standing to the side, hurried over and crouched down beside Faith.
‘Hugh!’ Grace called out to her boyfriend, who was the village GP, her voice stricken with panic. Hugh Kerridge had recently moved to Inishbeg Cove and had taken over the practice from Dr Fitzmaurice. ‘Come here, quickly.’
The children stopped singing and murmurs of concern broke out across the room.
Dr Kerridge hurried over and checked Lucy’s pulse.
‘Is she okay?’ Madeleine begged. She searched around the room desperately. ‘Has someone called an ambulance?’
‘It’s on its way,’ a woman they didn’t know replied.
‘Lucy, can you hear me?’ Faith cried, gently patting her sister’s face in a bid to wake her.
She watched her sister’s eyelids flutter open and look around in confusion. She made an effort to get up but she wasn’t able.
‘Lucy?’ Dr Kerridge spoke calmly but authoritatively. ‘I don’t want you to move. You’ve fainted. You’ll be okay, but we’ll need to get you checked over just in case. So just stay where you are now. The ambulance is on its way.’
‘An amb…? I’m o—’ she tried to say, but she couldn’t get the words out, it was like they were getting stuck between her brain and her mouth.
Soon they could hear the distant wail of sirens, and it wasn’t long before paramedics hurried into the drawing room. They spoke briefly with Dr Kerridge before checking her out.
‘Her blood pressure is quite low, so we’d like to bring her to the hospital as a precaution,’ one of the paramedics said.
‘We’ll follow you,’ Faith called out as Lucy was transferred to a stretcher and wheeled out of Cavendish Hall to the waiting ambulance.
Faith helped Madeleine down the front steps then hurried across the gravel towards her car as fast she could, with Madeleine trying to keep up on her crutches. Thankfully Faith had only had a few sips of the mulled wine so was okay to drive.
‘I hope she’s okay…’ Madeleine was full of concern as they followed the ambulance down the avenue. ‘She seemed fine this evening. Did she mention anything to you about feeling unwell?’
Faith shook her head. ‘One minute she was standing there beside me watching the carol singers and the next she was on the floor. I know this whole situation with Kyle is taking its toll on her – maybe it’s the worry of that?’
‘It could be the stress catching up with her,’ Madeleine agreed. ‘We can react in unpredictable ways. We may think we’re handling a situation well but sometimes our body tells us differently. I guess that’s why I ended up on the ground outside the church during Elizabeth’s funeral.’
Faith nodded. ‘I know Lucy is trying to be brave, but it’s tough for her.
’ Faith thought about her sister and how Lucy had always tried to be the strong one.
It was as though Lucy felt she had to hold it together for everyone.
She found it difficult to ask for help or admit when she was struggling, and Faith felt guilty for not doing more for her.
She should have realised how much her marriage break-up was upsetting her sister.
‘Well, I hope it’s nothing more sinister than that,’ Madeleine said, concerned.
‘Let’s hope so,’ Faith agreed grimly, as she clenched her fingers around the steering wheel.
They soon lost sight of the ambulance as it sped up, blue-lighting Lucy to hospital.
They criss-crossed narrow mountain roads with only the headlights of the car to guide them through the black December night.
The car lurched over a hill. Whether it was from the motion or anxiety about her sister, Faith thought she might be sick.
She gripped the steering wheel tightly as they hugged the narrow, winding roads, feeling as though one wrong move would send them over the side.
Eventually they were relieved when they finally saw the bright lights of the Limerick suburbs in the distance.
It was a relief to get onto proper roads that didn’t twist down the side of a mountain.
When they arrived at the hospital, they parked and hurried inside, heading straight for the reception desk. A breathless Madeleine explained why they were there and they were shown into a waiting room.
‘The doctors are with her now. Someone will update you shortly,’ a nurse explained before leaving them alone to maraud their worries.
They sat in the quiet waiting room beneath harsh strip-lighting, each consumed with fear for Lucy. Eventually a nurse entered and came over to them. ‘Are you Lucy’s family?’ she asked.
They nodded.
‘I can take you to see her now if you’d like to follow me.’
They hurried after the nurse, following her soft-soled shoes as they moved over the vinyl floor. They took a lift and walked down another corridor before they were shown into a cubicle where a wan Lucy lay in bed, covered by starched white sheets and wearing a periwinkle-blue hospital gown.
‘Hey, darling, how are you doing?’ Madeleine asked, reaching out to her daughter and stroking her forehead tenderly.
‘I’m okay, I’m a little shaken. Mainly I feel really embarrassed about it all.’
‘You’ve nothing to be embarrassed about,’ Faith jumped in.
‘But I ruined the evening for everyone,’ Lucy said desperately.
‘I caused a fuss in front of the whole village. The children spent so long preparing. Grace and Patrick had spent months organising it and put so much effort into hosting what should have been an enjoyable evening for the villagers, not to mention the proud parents who had gathered to hear their children sing,’
‘Don’t worry about that – people just want to know that you’re okay.’
‘Well, I’m mortified,’ Lucy went on. ‘I won’t be able to show my face in the village for a while.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ Faith said briskly. ‘The most important thing in all of this is that you’re okay.’
‘Do they know why you collapsed?’ Madeleine asked.
Lucy shook her head. ‘It was probably low blood sugar or something.’
‘But you’d just wolfed down a mince pie,’ Faith reminded her. ‘It couldn’t have been low blood sugar.’
‘Well, I’m sorry for causing a commotion and dragging the two of you all the way into Limerick. I’m sure they’ll let me out of here soon and we can all go home.’
‘I’m just glad you’re okay,’ Madeleine said. ‘You gave us all a fright.’
Just then a doctor entered the room. ‘I’m Dr Bronagh Cauldwell,’ she began.
‘Thank you for looking after my daughter,’ Madeleine said. ‘Do you know why she collapsed?’
‘I was wondering if I could have a few minutes with Lucy alone,’ Dr Cauldwell asked.
‘Er, okay…’ Lucy sounded panicked.
‘Sure,’ Madeleine said, getting up and steadying herself on her crutches. She was moving around a lot faster on them these days compared to when she first got them.
‘We’ll be right outside if you need us.’ Faith forced a smile to reassure her sister before following her mother.
‘I wonder what that was all about?’ Faith asked as soon as they were in the corridor together. ‘Why did the doctor need to talk to Lucy alone? I have a bad feeling about this…’
‘I didn’t like it either.’ Madeleine grimaced. ‘Why would she ask us to leave unless it was something serious?’
‘Try not to worry, Mum,’ Faith said, even though her own brain was doing a loop of all the worst-case scenarios.