Chapter 18 #2
‘Dad!’ cried Hannah as soon as she laid eyes on Charles.
The stricken look from her daughter tore at Tess’s heart, before Hannah dropped her hand and rushed to his side.
The sight of him beneath the white sheets, his cheeks sunken and his skin grey, made them both gasp for breath.
He had an oxygen mask over his face and tubes coming out of his arm.
While it was obviously Charles lying there in the sterile hospital environment, he was unrecognisable as the successful, smooth lawyer he was known to be.
Instead, he looked like a poorly, vulnerable, ageing man.
Melody stood up from the seat by the bed to greet them.
‘Hello.’ She gave a tight smile. In jeans and a black hoody, with a face bare of make-up and her blonde hair scraped back from her face, she looked even younger than her photos had portrayed. ‘Sorry that we’re meeting in such difficult circumstances.’
‘Yes, how is he?’ Tess managed.
For a time, Tess had imagined meeting Melody and had rehearsed the words she would say, delivering them coolly and succinctly, before walking away, her head held high, with a sense of satisfaction and superiority, but she could never have imagined meeting her like this.
‘He’s very ill. It’s pneumonia. They’ve just started him on the antibiotics,’ she said, glancing at the drip. ‘Hopefully, they’ll do the trick. I was going to get a coffee and some fresh air, so I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Please don’t go on our account,’ said Tess.
‘No, it’s fine; I could probably do with some time.’
Left alone with Charles, Tess joined him at the other side of the bed to Hannah. His eyes were half-open, an air of complete exhaustion emanating from his body. He turned his head slowly to look at her.
‘You came. I wasn’t sure that you would.’
‘Of course. We were worried about you when we heard.’ Emotion caught in her throat, a wave of feelings washing over her body.
‘Thank you,’ he said with all the energy he could muster, the effort seemingly overwhelming. He took Hannah’s proffered hand and smiled, emotion filling his eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek.
They didn’t stay long, only until Melody returned.
Charles wasn’t up to conversation; he was totally spent, his eyes closing involuntarily, barely aware of the voices around him.
The best thing he could do was sleep and allow the medicines to do their work.
Melody promised to keep in touch and let them know of any developments.
‘I feel terrible, Mum,’ Hannah confessed once they were in the car. She dropped her head into her hands.
‘I know.’ Tess sighed. ‘It was difficult to see your father like that, but we have to stay positive and hope for the best. Antibiotics are a wonderful thing and hopefully, they will start to work quickly.’
‘Yes, but what if they don’t work?’ Hannah gave into the tears she’d been suppressing all the time they were at Charles’s bedside, and once she started, she couldn’t stop, the emotion erupting in deep sobs.
Tess leaned over and took her daughter in her arms, soothing her with a hand as she rubbed her back.
‘Pneumonia is serious. Every time Grandma tells us about someone dying at the home, it’s usually pneumonia that’s finished them off. ’
‘Yes, but they’re much older and more vulnerable than your dad. He’s always enjoyed good health. He still plays his tennis regularly and he told me that Melody put him on a healthy eating regime a couple of months ago, so that will probably stand him in good stead.’
‘That’s probably what’s done it,’ said Hannah bitterly, through her tears. ‘It’ll be all those lentils and protein drinks. This might never have happened if he hadn’t had a midlife crisis and gone off with Melody.’
‘You can’t say that, Hannah. These things can happen at any point in life. It’s a good reminder that we shouldn’t take anything for granted.’
Tess felt powerless to help Hannah as her tears kept coming, the sounds of her sobs wrenching at Tess’s heart as she tried not to lose her concentration on the road.
‘Our relationship hasn’t been the same since he left home.
He always used to say that I was his favourite girl, his princess, but clearly, he didn’t mean it.
’ She exhaled a heavy sigh, her whole body shuddering.
‘But what if… you know… something were to happen to him?’ Hannah couldn’t bear to say the words aloud, but Tess knew exactly what she meant.
‘And we haven’t had the chance to make it up properly?
And all I remember was how we argued and were estranged from each other. ’
‘Well, first off, we have no reason to believe that’s going to happen.
Your dad is very poorly, but there’s every chance that he will get better.
And you’ve got the opportunity to rebuild your relationship with your father, if that’s what you want.
’ Tess knew better than to tell Hannah what she should do.
Instead, she needed to put the suggestion out there so that Hannah could come to her own conclusions.
‘I know you’ve always idolised your dad, but you have to remember that he is only human, he makes mistakes like everyone else, life decisions that you might not agree with, but he’s still your dad.
One thing I do know is that he loves you very much, as much as he’s ever done, and that will never change.
I could tell by looking at him today how happy he was that you were there.
You are still the centre of his world, even if that world landscape has changed a bit. ’
‘Yeah, I really hope so, Mum.’ Hannah sniffed, drying her tears on the arm of her hoody, her face a blotchy, red mess, as they pulled into the gates of Hollyhocks. ‘I’ll go and see Dad again tomorrow, after work. That will be okay, won’t it? I don’t need to run it past Melody first?’
‘No. I’m sure that’ll be fine.’ Tess felt certain that Melody would gladly accept all the support and help that she and Hannah were willing to provide.