Chapter 16
The room fell silent as Adam rushed through the kitchen door to take the call in private. No one wanted to listen to his conversation, but no one wanted to say anything either, and so they sat, rigid, scarcely breathing while the seconds ticked agonisingly by.
A loud ‘Oh, thank God,’ broke the silence, and the tension, so that by the time Adam returned to the table, all six of them were looking expectantly at him with smiles on their faces.
Adam almost stumbled across the threshold. ‘Dad’s awake,’ he said. ‘Properly awake. They’ve said we can go and see him. He’s asking for us, apparently.’
‘Oh, Adam… that’s the best news.’ Blanche drew him into a hug that surprised both of them by its ferocity and for a moment they stayed that way, locked tight in a release of emotion. It was only broken by Sofia’s joining them, whereupon two became three as they repeated the action all over again.
‘Have they said how things are?’ asked Sofia, pulling away. ‘I mean, he’s okay? Really okay?’
Adam nodded, blinking hard. ‘Yes, and that’s about as much as I know. The nurse said they could give us more details when we get there, but he’s conscious and they’re happy with the way things are looking.’
Sofia spun around. ‘I’m not sure where I left my bag…’ She stopped, looking at the pile of dishes by the sink. ‘Oh, but… and we haven’t even had pudding.’
Peg unhooked Sofia’s bag from the back of her chair and passed it across. ‘Don’t worry about anything here, just get going. And please, send him my best wishes, won’t you?’
‘No, Peg, you have to come with us,’ said Adam. ‘Dad’s been asking for all of us, and that includes you.’
Peg got to her feet. ‘I shouldn’t really, this is a time for family. I can see him soon enough, now that I know he’s going to be okay.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Sofia. ‘We’d like you to come, wouldn’t we?’ She looked to her husband for confirmation.
‘Of course we would,’ replied Adam. ‘We can’t just eat all your food and then leave you here and rush off. Dad would obviously like to see you.’
‘We’ll wash up,’ said Blanche. ‘And I’ll make sure no one eats the pudding. Yes, Mim, I’m looking at you…’ She gave Peg a huge smile. ‘Don’t you worry about anything here.’
‘Yeah, Mum,’ chimed in Izzy. ‘Honestly, we’ll be fine. Just go.’
It didn’t look as if Peg would be able to refuse, but she still wasn’t sure why they were all so keen to include her.
Surely this was the perfect time for her to bow out of proceedings?
Somewhere along the line they’d all been given the wrong idea about her and Henry, and although she knew it probably wasn’t the time to do so, she’d have to explain the situation soon.
She had a horrible feeling things would run away from her otherwise.
As it was, Peg insisted that Adam and Sofia go in to see Henry first. A handy sign asking that visitors be restricted to two to a bed added extra weight to her argument, and she was quite happy sitting in the little waiting area opposite the ward.
Besides, Henry would probably be very tired, and having three people claiming his attention would be too much too soon.
Part of her was relieved that he was going to be okay, of course it was.
Henry had appeared to be a lovely man, and for everyone’s sake, especially his, she was glad that he had pulled through.
But one, albeit fairly lengthy conversation, didn’t make them anything other than acquaintances, and now that the initial fear that he might die had seemingly passed, she was beginning to feel quite awkward.
She liked Blanche, and despite Henry’s evident difficulties in his relationship with them, even Sofia and Adam had grown on her.
She was pleased that she’d been able to help them, had provided some support and perhaps even a respite from the horrible events of the last day or so, but that probably ought to be where her involvement with the family ended.
They’d been thrown together by events, more so because it was Christmas, but very soon they’d get back to their own lives, and so would she.
But she’d scarcely even got settled before Sofia appeared beside her.
‘I thought I might give Adam a minute or two on his own,’ she said. ‘But then you should absolutely go in.’
‘How is Henry?’ asked Peg, remaining non-committal.
‘Tired,’ said Sofia. ‘And a bit confused, but that’s to be expected, apparently.
Otherwise, he looks… quite well, all things considered.
’ She fanned her face. ‘Well, that’s a Christmas we won’t forget in a hurry, isn’t it?
And I have some serious making up to do with our friends.
We’ve cancelled so many arrangements.’ She pulled a face.
‘We’re supposed to be going out to the theatre this evening.
’ She checked the time on her phone as if she was considering whether that might still be an option.
Peg was astounded that she could even think such a thing.
‘I’m sure your friends understand,’ replied Peg. ‘At least, I would hope they do. It’s not as if something like this happens often, is it?’
‘No, I guess not.’ Sofia stared at the wall opposite, her face suddenly brightening. ‘I’ll buy Ninette some flowers to say sorry,’ she said, as if that settled things.
Peg raised her eyebrows, turning away so that Sofia wouldn’t see them.
If Sofia needed to apologise for her and Adam’s absence from the seasonal social whirl then perhaps it was time to find some different friends.
Ninette should be buying Sofia flowers, not the other way around.
But there was also something else bothering Peg – the assumption that because it appeared likely that Henry would make a full recovery, everything could go back to normal, instantaneously, almost as if his accident had never happened.
Had this whole episode really taught Sofia nothing?
She was still pondering the absurdities of Sofia’s statement when Adam appeared at the door.
‘Your turn, Peg,’ he said, smiling.
Peg got reluctantly to her feet. ‘How is he?’ she asked. ‘I don’t want to tire him out.’
‘Pretty confused… you’ll see what I mean, but I guess that’s understandable. It’s probably the anaesthetic. He’s asking for you, though.’
Peg nodded. ‘I won’t be long then, he’ll need to rest.’
Letting the door close softly behind her, Peg took a deep breath, trying to expel the memories of the last time she had been on this ward – when it had been Julian lying in a bed.
She scanned the small unit for Henry, hating the feeling that she was intruding on the other patients’ privacy just by looking at them, but as her gaze moved on from one to the next, she realised she was looking for Henry’s bright orange scarf.
For heaven’s sake, he wouldn’t still be wearing the navy blue jumper she’d first seen him in, the one he had been wearing inside out.
It was a ridiculous notion, but then, of course, it was the only frame of reference for him she had. So what did that tell you?
And, suddenly, there he was, his face turned towards her, and while his expression was not exactly animated, there was a certain light of welcome there. She hurried towards him, trying to make herself invisible as she walked past the other beds.
‘Hello, Henry,’ she said, hovering beside the chair which had been thoughtfully placed there for visitors.
And she realised that Sofia was right – all things considered, Henry did look surprisingly well.
A small dressing had been fixed to his head, the area surrounding it having been shaved first, and it looked odd among the dark curls on the rest of his scalp.
It made him look like a small boy, vulnerable and easily damaged.
Other than that, his cheeks were pink and he was sitting up in bed.
Still trailing wires attached to a monitor, but… Peg smiled. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like I’ve been hit by a very large truck down a very dark alley.’ The corners of Henry’s mouth twitched upward in what might have been a smile if he’d had more energy.
‘I bet… you gave us all quite a scare.’
‘So I gather.’ He shifted slightly, wincing as he did so. ‘And I’m so sorry I rushed out on you… I…’ He frowned. ‘I really don’t know what happened.’
Peg sat down and leaned forward. ‘Don’t worry about the details now,’ she said gently. ‘You had an accident, in your car.’
‘Which must be true because otherwise I wouldn’t be here, would I? But I can’t see how.’ His eyes flickered away from her face as if he was trying to revisit his memories.
‘There weren’t any other cars involved, just a rather large tree…’ Peg trailed off. ‘But you don’t need to think about that. I imagine the police will work out what happened. Maybe you swerved, or… You don’t remember anything?’
Henry shook his head, a small movement. ‘I wasn’t even driving.’
Peg gave him a perplexed look. ‘You’ve had a bad shake-up and it’s not surprising it’s all a little vague.
It’ll come back to you, in time.’ He obviously couldn’t recall the horrible argument he’d had with Adam, or the fact that he’d rushed out of their house yesterday morning.
But that had to be for the best right now.
It wouldn’t do him any good to fret about it.
Henry stretched out a hand towards her. ‘But that’s just it.
It’s not that I can’t remember, because I can.
I can remember everything in exact detail.
And I wasn’t driving, I’d just settled down to read – Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson.
You told me how good it was. And you were reading too.
We’d not long finished dinner and I said perhaps I ought to be getting back…
’ Henry lifted his hand and then let it fall again.
‘And you said I should at least let my dinner go down, so I sat and… your cat climbed on my lap. I might have fallen asleep, but I was in your chair, sitting beside the fire…’