Chapter 22
‘Gramps!’ Laila sprinted towards him, her hair flying behind her.
Nick shot Gemma a worried look and they started running, too.
‘Oh, my goodness, Timothy!’ Phyllida cried, fast walking.
Laila got there first and flung herself to the ground next to her grandfather.
‘Don’t move him,’ Gemma called out.
Timothy lay face down on the stones, his head to one side and his left leg bent. A few centimetres from one hand was a rusty hook that he must have been reaching for when he fell. He was unconscious and unresponsive when Laila touched him.
Laila was sobbing. ‘Don’t die, Gramps, don’t die.’
‘It’s going to be okay, Laila. Isn’t it, Gemma?’ Phyllida was in such a state she couldn’t stand still. She paced the sand, pulling at her top as if the temperature had suddenly risen.
Gemma kneeled next to Laila. ‘Timothy,’ she said. ‘Timothy, can you hear me?’
He didn’t respond. She put two fingers on his wrist, then held a hand close to his mouth. ‘It’s okay, he’s breathing and has a pulse. I think he fainted.’
‘Should we get his legs in the air?’ Nick asked.
‘Ideally, but I don’t think we should move him,’ Gemma said.
‘Okay, I’m going to call an ambulance.’ Nick got up and pulled his phone from his back pocket.
‘Laila, perhaps you could fan his face to get some cooler air flowing around him.’ Gemma reached in her backpack to find something Laila could use. ‘This will have to do,’ she said, giving her a floppy straw hat that was folded up small and good for travelling.
Laila, her shoulders shaking and eyes red, obeyed, while Nick called the emergency services.
‘Poor Timothy, this is just terrible,’ Phyllida said agitated. ‘I can’t believe it’s happened.’
‘The ambulance is on its way,’ Nick announced.
‘Thanks, Nick,’ Gemma said.
Nick went over to Phyllida and took her hands. ‘Big deep breaths, Phyll.’
‘You’re a honey, Nick, did you know that? How are you staying so calm, both of you?’
‘Gemma’s a nurse so if she wasn’t calm, I’d be kind of worried,’ Nick said. ‘Are you all right, Laila? Is the hat working its magic?’
‘No,’ Laila said in distress. Gemma stroked her back and rubbed Timothy’s back as well. Hopefully, it would make a small difference to one of them, at least.
‘Gramps!’ Laila cried.
Timothy’s eyes had flickered open, but he looked woozy and his face was drained of colour.
‘You’re alive!’ Phyllida shouted. ‘Oh, my goodness, I think I’m going to pass out.’ She bent over and rested her arms on her legs.
‘It’s okay, Phyllida,’ Nick said kindly. ‘There’s no need to panic.’
‘I believe I am alive,’ Timothy mumbled. ‘What happened? It feels like I’ve been hit by a car.’
‘You had a fall,’ Gemma said.
He started to lift his head, but the effort proved too much.
‘Don’t try and get up. Can you tell me if it hurts anywhere?’ Gemma asked.
‘This leg for starters,’ he said, trying to point to his bent left leg.
‘My arm. Both wrists. A hip. And my face. It feels grazed.’ Timothy sighed. ‘All over to be honest. I’m probably just in shock. It’s no good people of my age doing stunts.’
‘What?’ Laila said horrified.
‘Don’t worry, Ley-ley. I think I tripped on a rock.’ He pointed vaguely behind him. ‘Although if I remember correctly, I got dizzy before the rock. Mmm, hard to say the sequence of events.’ He closed his eyes.
‘Do you mind if I take a look at your leg and remove your shoe? I’ll be gentle,’ Gemma said.
Timothy tried to help pull up a trouser leg. He groaned. Gemma gently took off his shoe.
‘Can you wiggle your toes? Move your foot?’
There wasn’t a lot of movement and his lower leg was beginning to swell.
Not only did Gemma not like the look of it, but she was worried he had other injuries that weren’t immediately obvious.
She pulled his trouser leg down and patted his thigh.
Just then, the high-pitched whine of a siren sounded.
‘Excellent, here’s the ambulance,’ Nick said.
Timothy grumbled.
‘It’s all right, mate. If you haven’t been in an ambulance before, it can be quite fun. Think of it like a car chase, fast cars and sirens.’
‘I’d rather be in a Lamborghini,’ Timothy muttered.
‘Now you’re talking.’
Timothy nodded, then closed his eyes in pain.
‘Okay, stay there, I’ll go and flag down the Lambo.’ Nick ran to the access stairs and waved his arms at the ambulance.
‘It’s okay, Gramps. Help is here,’ Laila said, patting his hand.
‘I don’t want to go to hospital,’ Timothy moaned. ‘I really, really don’t like hospitals.’
‘Grandma was in hospital for a long time before she died,’ Laila whispered to Gemma, as they watched Nick direct the paramedics. ‘She never came home.’ Her bottom lip trembled.
‘I see,’ Gemma said. ‘We’ll have to do all we can to appease him then. But hospital is the best place for him right now.’
‘Okay, everyone, help is here,’ Nick said, joining them as the paramedics began assessing Timothy. ‘Is Phyllida all right?’
Gemma nodded and looked over at Phyllida who’d wandered away from them and was muttering to herself. ‘She’s shaken but I think she’ll be okay. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to go to the hospital and wait with Laila.’
‘Absolutely. I will, too,’ Nick said. ‘Is that all right, Laila? We’ll sit with you until we know Timothy’s diagnosis. We can bore you with old-people talk.’
Laila gave a half-smile and nodded.
‘All right, we’re set to go,’ one of the paramedics said. Timothy was now on a stretcher, wrapped in a blanket, his eyes were half-closed.
‘Can I come with you?’ Laila asked.
‘Sure, love.’
Timothy managed a small half-smile for a few seconds before he ran out of energy to do even that.
‘Go on, Laila,’ Gemma said. ‘We’ll meet you at the hospital. Which one are you going to?’ she asked the paramedic.
‘St Thomas’s.’
Gemma nodded.
‘Phyll!’ Nick called out. ‘Timothy’s going now.’
‘Coming,’ Phyllida shouted.
But the paramedics weren’t waiting around. They were already carrying Timothy to the ambulance.
‘What did the paramedics say? Is he going to be okay?’ Phyllida asked. ‘I feel terrible. Like it’s my fault. If I hadn’t invited you to join the club, Gemma, you wouldn’t have invited him and then he wouldn’t have come and—’
‘Don’t be silly, Phyllida, it was an accident,’ Gemma said.
‘Yeah, that’s just nonsense talk, Phyll,’ Nick added. ‘We’re going to meet them at the hospital. We’ll take the Tube from Mansion House. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.’
‘Of course I’m coming,’ Phyllida said, as if horrified they would have thought otherwise. ‘Might need a stiff drink, though.’ She let out a nervous laugh, then noticed something a couple of metres away. She went over to it.
‘Timothy, you’ve forgotten your fishing hook!’ she shouted, waving the rusted implement. ‘I think it’s eighteenth century, too!’
But Timothy, Laila and the paramedics had already reached the pavement and were no longer within earshot.