Chapter 37
Lily was in the solitude of Pippin Cottage, her shaky fingers hovering over her phone, and the last curtain call of My Fair Lady had finally faded.
She had been avoiding what she was about to do.
Most people would have been on the phone the next day but Lily couldn’t do it.
She knew she had to but couldn’t make the call.
Finally, she took three deep breaths, straightening her shoulders, then dialled Paul Meadows’s number.
‘Paul Meadows,’ she heard him answer.
‘It’s Lily Baxter,’ she said.
‘Oh how wonderful, I’m so glad you called. I thought we might have lost you to the am dram world.’ He laughed, somewhat meanly she thought, but maybe she was imagining it. ‘Now tell me you are heading to London.’
Lily looked at Mr Mistoffelees sitting on the windowsill. ‘Yes, I would like to audition. If that’s okay?’
She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous but she was.
‘Oh that’s the best news I’ve had since Nicole Scherzinger pivoted and took on Sunset Boulevard .
’ He laughed loudly. ‘Although that’s gone a bit south now.
I will be truthful with you and tell you I already have Phantom pencilled in for you.
Still, listen; while I have you, we should investigate a few more possibilities. How’s your belt? Any issues?’
Her brain whirled by the time Lily hung up. Apart from Phantom of the Opera , she now had scheduled auditions for Les Misérables , An American in Paris , and a workshop for a fresh musical creating buzz on the West End.
‘Right,’ she said to herself, ‘then no pressure.’
She would have to be in London for a week and she still had subletters in the flat.
Nigel’s things hadn’t been cleaned out and Lily would have to deal with that also when the tenants left.
She felt like her head was spinning when she heard a soft knock at the door and Nick, in his work uniform, peered around the corner with a bag of pastries.
‘Sweet treats and a cup of tea?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes please. I just got off the phone with Paul. It’s too much to take in,’ she said.
‘Let me make some tea and then tell me everything,’ he said.
Soon Lily was sitting with a mug of tea and she inhaled the reassuring scent of Earl Grey. ‘I have to go to London next week.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘That’s great.’
‘And not only am I auditioning for Phantom , but I’m also trying out for three other shows.’
Nick’s eyebrows shot higher. ‘That’s amazing, four auditions in a week. You will get something for sure, probably all of them and then you’ll have to choose. What will you sing?’
‘Well, naturally, there is Phantom . For that “Think of Me” and “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”. Les Mis then is searching for a new éponine, hence “On My Own” is good. Oh, and “The Man I Love” for An American in Paris , but I don’t think that one is really me, as Lise is supposed to be able to do ballet and I am not really ballet trained. ’
Nick whistled. ‘That’s a lot to prepare for in a week,’ he said.
‘I know,’ she said and sighed.
Her phone buzzed with a flurry of alerts before Lily could reply. She looked down to watch the am dram society WhatsApp group come alive.
‘Oh no. How do they already know?’ she let out.
Nick made a face. ‘I might have told Sheila about it when I hurried out for the pastries. In my defence, I wouldn’t have expected her to tell the whole village.’
‘You might as well have given her a bell and asked her to roam the village and say “Hear Ye, Hear Ye” to all and sunder,’ she snapped at him.
She stood up and went into the kitchen and started to read the messages and then smiled.
‘I’m sorry. I was rude then – these messages are so sweet,’ she said to Nick.
‘What do they say?’
‘Sheila has offered to care for Mr Mistoffelees while I’m away, and David has said he’s happy to do anything around the cottage before Gran comes home, and Jasper has offered me his “lucky audition cufflinks”.’ She looked up and laughed. ‘Bless them all.’
‘Everyone just wants you to be happy and share your talent with the world,’ Nick said.
His work phone buzzed. ‘Sorry, let me get this quickly,’ he said and answered. Lily rinsed out her cup and then glanced at him.
‘Hi? Sure, yes, I’m here now,’ he said and as he listened, Lily noticed his face become serious. A frown covered his brow and he ran his hand through his hair.
‘Okay, yes, thanks, I see. I’ll let her know.’
His voice faded off, the final note hanging in the air. ‘What is it?’ she asked, but somehow she knew the answer.
‘It’s Gran. She’s had a heart attack,’ he said. ‘That was the ward. I asked the nurse to let me know any change.’
‘I’ll lock up,’ she said. ‘Call Dad from my phone. Can you drive?’
Just as she said it, her phone rang and she saw it was her father.
‘I know, I’m on my way,’ she said, as she put out food for the cat and locked the house.
‘Let’s go,’ she said to Nick and suddenly London didn’t seem so important anymore.
The trip to the hospital was silent as Lily’s head spun with options, each one less appealing than the next. Nick stretched across and gently squeezed her hand.
‘Don’t try and solve everything right now. One moment at a time,’ he said to her and she nodded.
‘You’re right, you know. I am trying to solve everything. I’m going from London to Gran to the village, to the school, to Mum and Dad and the flat. It’s all too much,’ she admitted.
As they pulled up to the hospital, Nick stopped the car out the front.
‘You go up and I’ll find a park,’ he said.
Lily leaned over and kissed his cheek.
‘Thank you,’ she said and then she was out of the car and running inside and up to the ward where her parents were in the hallway with a doctor.
‘Hi, what did I miss?’ asked Lily, breathless from running.
The doctor looked at her. ‘I was just explaining that Mrs Baxter has had a significant heart attack,’ he said. ‘Although her situation is critical, we have stabilised her for now. The next twenty-four hours will be absolutely vital.’
Lily felt as though her world was slipping away from her and she couldn’t hang on for much longer. ‘Can we see her?’
Nodding, the doctor said, ‘Yes, but she’s sedated and in ICU. She’s in and out of consciousness. I would try and keep it calm. She can’t be stressed at this point.’
A nurse came to them and gave them a sad smile, and Lily wanted to scream at her that this was all a huge mistake, but the nurse kept walking and then went through large glass doors that made a hissing sound as they opened and then through to a small room to the side.
They went silently into the room. Gran reclined in the bed, smaller and more fragile than Lily had ever seen her. She had wires and drips hooked up to her and the heart rate monitor was ticking over in the background. Her eyes, when they opened, were as keen as they had always been.
Gran spoke. ‘There you are,’ her voice soft yet kind. ‘I started to think you would have forgotten about your old gran.’
Lily hurried forward to grab her hand. ‘Never.’
Her father came to the other side of Gran and held her other hand, as Denise stood to the side.
‘You know I’m going soon,’ said Gran, her pupils dilated and her words slurred.
‘Where’s that, Mum?’ asked Peter.
‘Home,’ said Violet with a smile.
Lily nodded. ‘Yes, home again, Gran – the cottage is waiting for you.’
Violet smiled and for a moment, she looked like a little girl.
‘Sing for me, Lily, one more time.’
‘Oh, Gran, there will be plenty of singing in the cottage when you’re home. I’ve been playing the piano again,’ she said to her but Gran shook her head.
‘Sing Cole Porter, one more time,’ she said, almost fervently.
Lily felt her voice tighten in her throat but then she took a deep breath and started to sing ‘Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye’, softly, the rhythm of the heart monitor being her only accompaniment.
The old woman closed her eyes and nodded, in time to the song, and gave a deep sigh, a smile on her face.
As Lily came to the end of the song, she felt Nick’s hand on her shoulder.
‘She’s gone, Lil,’ she heard him say and she looked at Gran, so still, with the smile on her face, her features softened, without pain or worry. And the heart monitor was still, a single line, sounding like an oboe note playing in the background.
She looked to her father who was hugging Denise and crying.
‘Gran? Gran?’ she said. She looked at Nick. ‘Do something. Can’t you restart her heart, do CPR, something?’
Nick shook his head. ‘No, she signed an order, no heroic measures, Lily. She was tired; she was ready to go.’
Lily put her head on Gran’s hand.
‘I love you so much,’ she said to her grandmother for the last time in her presence.