Chapter Thirty-Four
Monday, 8 th January
Spa course here she came. Stacy had to fight to stop her jaw dropping when she walked out of the main station in St Gallen on Monday morning. She’d thought there was a lot of snow in Grimsbach, but it was nothing compared to this. The snowploughs had left a huge mountain of the stuff outside the post office, and there was another further along by the town hall. Hard to imagine what on earth they did with it all.
And thank heavens Rico had gone to Lugano by train yesterday. St Gallen was higher than Grimsbach, but the San Bernardino was higher still, and at least in the train, Rico wouldn’t get stuck in a traffic jam and freeze. Or worse. She pictured him driving through the snow last time, not knowing he was minutes from such a terrible accident, and shivered. She hadn’t seen much of him since her return – he’d gone to help his elderly cousins with their boiler on Saturday, and on Sunday he’d left for the Ticino straight after breakfast, but the time they’d had together had been – comfortable. Certainly nothing intense like her last evening here before the Christmas hols. Maybe now they’d stay on this kind of footing with each other, as friends and co-workers. She could do with another ‘just a friend’ here.
And now, where was the minibus that should be waiting for her and the other spa course participants? It was too cold to hang around outside. The course was being held in a factory outside town, but they were sending a minibus to meet people here. Stacy looked around, and spotted a bloke standing beside a small blue bus holding a sign with Spa Kurs/Spa Course in thick black letters. She hurried over, glad to get into the relative warmth of the minibus. The last course attendee arrived shortly after her, and they started out for the factory.
The twenty or so participants made for a real mixed gathering. Several Swiss people were here, plus a couple of men with Asian features, and – to Stacy’s relief – an American woman, who was as pleased to see Stacy as Stacy was to see her.
They were taken on a tour of the showroom first, then shown a film about spas.
‘This is one big advertisement so far,’ whispered Carmen, the American, and Stacy nodded.
By the end of the day, however, she felt she’d learned enough about the workings of the tubs to be confident using them, and made a new friend, too. Carmen was from New York, working in a hotel in St Gallen, and was very funny in a sarcastic way. She gripped Stacy’s arm when the minibus dropped them back at the main station at five o’clock.
‘Let’s stay in touch – shall we go for a pizza sometime?’
Stacy was pleased. ‘I’d love to. Why don’t you give me a call soon and we’ll arrange something?’ She waved as the other woman sped off to catch her bus, then walked on to catch the train down to the lake.
Her phone pinged when she was halfway home. Martin.
Drinks at mine tonight?
Stacy sat still, staring into space. A couple of dinners. A shedload of texts. A bunch of flowers or two and a kiss on the doorstep. Okay. But Drinks at mine ? That sounded as if more than her company over a glass of whatever might be expected, and more than a kiss on the doorstep, too. Was that what she wanted? Those texts had tailed off a lot over the past week or two. And – why today? Spontaneity was well and good, but Monday wasn’t the usual kind of day for a date. She’d been here all weekend, and Martin had known it. She’d messaged her thanks for the latest flowers when she arrived, but his answer had been a photo of Zurich and a brief
You’re welcome! xxx
Obviously, he’d had better things to do at the weekend.
Stacy lowered her phone, remembering the way Martin and his aftershave had huddled up to her at her first project meeting, and sudden certainty filled her head. No. This wasn’t what she wanted, not at all. For a moment she hesitated, then put her phone away. She wasn’t about to dump anyone by text, and a crowded train carriage wasn’t the place to call him, either.
As soon as she reached Lakeside, Stacy flopped down on the sofa and connected to Martin’s mobile. She wasn’t really dumping him, because a couple of dates and a few texts didn’t constitute a relationship, but this still might not be easy. Better than doing it immediately before a business meeting, though.
‘Martin, hi. Thanks for the invitation, but – I’ve been thinking. Us seeing each other isn’t going anywhere, really, so it might be best if we keep to a purely business relationship? And friends, of course. We’ll be working together for a long time, I hope.’
He paused for half a beat, then spoke stiffly. ‘You’re right. No problem. See you at the next meeting, then.’
Stacy was left with a buzz in her ear. She put her phone down, and stuck out her tongue at it. Poor Martin – but a good decision, definitely. She was sorting through her course notes when her phone rang again. Rico – had he forgotten something?
‘Hi, I need a favour. We’re minus internet at Dad’s. Can you go into my email and see if my hospital appointment for tomorrow has come? I did try to call them, but the chest clinic people seem to have gone home for the day.’
Stacy opened her laptop. ‘Password?’
He reeled off a long series of numbers and letters and Stacy gasped, only just keeping up on the keyboard.
‘How on earth do you keep all that in your head?’
‘It’s an old IT trick. Think of a sentence – mine is ‘She negotiated a five per cent discount on the purchase of the 800K house in Berne’. Then you take the first letter of each word, or the number or symbol, and there’s your password. Are you in?’
‘Yup. The email’s here. I’ll open it now.’ Stacy scanned the short email, glad her German was up to understanding this much, at least. ‘Your appointment’s at eleven tomorrow morning. Wow, just as well you called.’
‘Thanks, Stace. Dad’s waiting to take me for dinner so I can’t chat, but I’ll see you soon.’
Stacy disconnected and stared at the screen. He’d never called her Stace before.
She gathered her course notes and the brochure, and went downstairs to peer at the tubs, her footsteps echoing on the tiled floor in the spa. She was bending over the largest tub when Karen’s voice came through from reception.
‘Be careful with those until you know what you’re doing!’
Startled, Stacy jerked upright. ‘I’ve spent all day learning to know what I’m doing. You’re late going home – is everything okay?’
Karen sniffed. ‘There was another mix up with the towels delivery and I was here alone, you know. It’s taken me all afternoon to get it sorted. I’ll take an hour off on Thursday to make up for it.’
‘Fine,’ said Stacy shortly, and the older woman stomped off. Stacy shook her head. Her daughter being better hadn’t improved Karen’s mood. You’d think she and Rico had been away sunning themselves on a beach, leaving Karen to do all the work. What a pain the woman could be.
She was on the way back upstairs when realisation struck, and she stood still. I was here alone, you know. That was it. Karen was a hard worker and a good receptionist, but she liked someone else to be in charge. Rico’s mother had run a tight ship, but Ralph had failed to take responsibility when she died, and now Rico was the boss, someone Karen had seen grow from a very small child. She must feel as if she was hurtling down a mountain with the brakes off. But what could they do about it? Nothing, decided Stacy, going back into the flat. The situation would right itself when Karen saw that Lakeside under new management was every bit as successful as the previous version. Fingers crossed.
***
Rico’s train arrived in Chur ten minutes late, and he jogged through the crowds in the station and grabbed the nearest taxi. It wasn’t far to the hospital, but he didn’t want to run all the way there and arrive hot and sweating for his tests. By five to eleven he was standing in a short queue at the clinic, and yes, he was sweating, but that was down to nerves, not running around. The smell of this place was reminding him all too vividly of his stay here and all the pain and discomfort. No way did he want to go back to those days.
As usual at a hospital appointment, he spent most of his time waiting. Waiting for his turn with the doctor, waiting for an X-ray, waiting for the doctor to give him the all-clear and send him on his way.
That didn’t happen. Doctor Moser came into the consulting room with his tablet computer, and put it down on the desk where Rico could see it.
‘Slight problem, I’m afraid. Most of your lungs look fine, but there’s this little area here…’ He circled a part of the X-ray picture that was a different colour to the rest. ‘We’ll send you off for a scan, then we’ll see better what we’re dealing with. It’s most likely to be a pocket of infection, or an abscess. I’ll see you after the scan.’
Rico trailed along to the scan room, dread spiralling around in his head. Hell, oh hell. This was how Mum’s story had begun – something odd on an X-ray. Should he – yes, he would ask Stacy. She was a nurse, she’d know if there was anything to worry about, wouldn’t she? He’d have to let her know he’d be home later, anyway.
He pulled out his phone and connected.
‘Rico? On your way home?’
He had to clear his throat before he could speak. ‘No. I’m going to be late. They did an X-ray, and there’s something in my chest, in my left lung. I’m waiting for a scan.’
She was silent for a second, then: ‘They get a better image from the scan. It’s probably a little abscess. Try not to worry.’
‘That’s what the doctor said.’ His voice was trembling now. ‘What if it’s not, though? You know Mum…’
Another beat of silence. ‘Rico. Listen. I can’t say it’s nothing because I don’t know, and neither does your doctor, that’s why they’re doing a scan. But very few tummy-aches are appendicitis, and very few lung conditions are cancer. Hang on in there.’
A voice called from the desk. ‘Rico Weber?’
Rico stood up. ‘I have to go. I’ll call again later.’ He switched off his phone and followed the nurse into the scan room. The next half hour could change his life.
Scan completed, he went back to the clinic for yet more waiting. Deep breaths, Rico, that was the way. He was too young to have cancer. Oh no, you’re not. The mean little voice that usually waited until three a.m. to whisper in his ear when he was worried about something.
‘You can come in now, Rico.’
Breathe, breathe. Rico took the chair he’d had before and leaned forward to see the new image the doctor was peering at.
‘It looks like a spot of infection, possibly from the chest drain you had. We’ll start you on a course of antibiotics, and get you back in a few weeks for another scan.’
A smile, a handshake, and he was out in the corridor again clutching a packet of pills.
Rico wiped the sweat from his brow. Infection. That wasn’t too bad, was it? But – ‘it looks like a spot of infection’ – did that mean they weren’t sure? He fumbled to switch his phone on again. Try to sound calm, man.
‘Hi, Rico – what’s the news?’
‘He said it was probably an infection. I’m leaving now, so I’ll see you in a couple of hours.’
‘Ah – okay. Good.’
She sounded doubtful. But he should go, or he’d miss the next train. Rico ended the call without speaking.
Back in Grimsbach, he strode along to the hotel. He’d been daft, panicking like that and calling Stacy, but no one had given him one hundred per cent reassurance that the spot on his X-ray was harmless. And if they were doing another scan, didn’t that mean they were still worried? Or was he overthinking this?
Inside, one look at Stacy confirmed that he wasn’t out of the woods. She was smiling, but there was a guarded, nursey expression about her eyes as she came out of the spa. Hell. She was worried too.
She gave him a professional-nurse kind of smile. ‘Okay?’
‘I’ll be happier after the next scan.’ He smiled back to show he was unconcerned – fib of the century – and headed for the lift.
She walked after him. ‘I get that, but it’ll be okay. It’s just the uncertainty, isn’t it?’
He pressed the button for the top floor and the lift moved up. ‘Yep. Which is why I don’t want anyone else knowing – especially Dad. Okay?’
She frowned. ‘Don’t you think your dad–?’
‘He’d worry himself sick. Remember what happened to Mum.’ Nausea was rising at the mere thought of it, but he made himself speak calmly, coldly, even. This was deadly – oh God – serious. ‘Not one word. Promise, please.’
She met his eyes. ‘Promise.’
‘Good. Meantime, we carry on with the opening as if everything’s normal. As you said yourself, chances are it’s nothing. Now let’s grab a coffee and have a look at the Open Day plans.’
Ignoring the confusion on her face, he marched past her into the flat, sick dread pulling at his stomach all the time.
The new scan was on the twenty-third of January. It wasn’t too long to wait – was it?
***
Stacy swung into the kitchen while Rico took his bag to his room. She switched the coffee machine on to heat, then went to stand at the window, ice-cold dread gripping her middle. He was doing his best to be cheerful, but… something in his lung. That could be a number of things, and a pocket of infection was by far the most likely. But he didn’t have a cough, and she didn’t remember him being breathless at the weekend. His mother had died of cancer. Dear God.
Funny how something like this created clarity in your life. A sudden shock, an OMG moment that really helped you work out what was important and what you wanted – and needed – to do. What she was feeling now was exactly like last January, after Emily’s accident. For two never-ending hours Stacy hadn’t known if her friend would keep her leg. Now it was Rico, and any doubts she’d had about his importance in her life were gone. He was as important as Emily.
And what she was going to do about it, she had no idea.