‘My baby’s been … been bitten by a Redback,’ the tears were streaming down her face, Blake put his arms around her. A couple in the waiting room turned to look at them. The nurse took Katie’s name and then buzzed the door. ‘Go straight through to paediatric casualty. This is an emergency. A doctor will meet you.’
The doctor took them into a small room at the side, with bright fluorescent lights. Rory’s cheeks were puce with pain.
‘OK, I’m Dr Mitchel. I’ve radioed to Mona Vale hospital that we need the anti-venom asap. First, we need to keep where he was bitten very, very still and put a tourniquet round it.’ He took a closer look at the welt and then at Rory’s face and turned to Katie. ‘It looks to me he’s had an allergic reaction as well,’ he said frowning.
Katie watched as Blake held down her precious baby, as the doctor loosened his Tellytubby pyjama top, soaked in sweat. There, on the top of his chubby leg was a huge red welt. Katie was rigid, terrified. Please don’t let my baby die. A nurse came into the room. This would never have happened in England. Don’t worry, she said, it will be alright. How can it be alright, thought Katie furiously.
‘Where’s the antidote?’ screamed Katie, trying to choke back the tears. ‘Surely we need to hurry!’ There and then, she made a deal with God: don’t let Rory die, don’t let him die … as she watched the doctor place the bandages around Rory’s creamy white flesh.
Another nurse appeared. ‘The courier has just arrived with the antidote, it will be here in a minute.’
‘Sit in that chair, Katie, try to give Rory a bottle, to calm him,’ the doctor carried on.
Katie stared at the doctor for a minute. ‘I don’t like the way he looks, he’s sweating too much. Nurse? Please rush through the antivenom straight away.’
He turned to look at Katie. ‘We are going to have to get this into his system immediately, I’ll need to stick a pretty large needle into his thigh, ok, with some anti-histamine as well?’ The doctor held her gaze. She nodded. Blake squeezed Katie’s shoulder as she clutched Rory, then he ushered James and Andy to a corner. Katie could smell latex rubber gloves, looked at the needle and felt sick.
Rory’s little cheeks were puce, tears streaming down his face. He was taking, short, panicky breaths, whimpering. ‘There, Rory, there …’ Katie took the bottle from the nurse, slowly coaxed Rory into having some, stroked his hair. His breathing suddenly calmed and he started to suck rhythmically. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the doctor fill up a huge needle. My poor darling. Just as Rory had calmed down, Katie watched as the doctor held both his feet in one hand, then injected his tiny thigh with the other.
Rory’s eyes widened, his mouth came off the teat, his little jaw opened and there was silence – a silent scream as if Katie was watching a horror movie … and then he yelled like she’d never in her life heard him before.
*
Katie could just make out the glow of her diving watch: 1.30am. The power was still not on. Blake appeared with a torch in his hand and something in a bag. ‘Got it,’ he said, then flopped onto the sofa next to her. She poured them both a glass of wine. Her hands were shaking and she spilt some over the sofa. ‘Damn,’ she let out a sigh. Blake put his hand over hers on the wine bottle and took it from her. She felt her shoulders relax. ‘Thanks Blake.’
‘No worries. I’ve tucked up James and Andy – they wanted the light left on in the hall,’ he took a gulp of wine. ‘So I rigged up two torches to shine into their room.’
‘Thanks – for everything.’ Katie smiled at him.
‘That was a bit full-on,’ he smiled, leant back on the sofa. ‘Don’t much like spiders!’
She looked over at him, could just make out his features outlined in the candle light of the room. The jaw jutting out, the lovely mess of brown hair, thought Katie, closing her eyes. When she opened them she wondered if this is what had happened with Tom. Wondered if he and Ann found themselves in a moment like this. If she had poured her heart out, and Tom had been there, instead of Paul. But why didn’t Paul listen to her more? Why did she choose my husband?
‘Hey pretty lady, whatcha thinking?’
Pretty Lady … Tom calls me that …
‘Oh, too much – and too little!’ she tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. ‘Sorry I called you, didn’t - you know-’ she shrugged her shoulders and let them slump down, ‘have anyone else.’
‘No worries. Listen, you should get some help – Naomi used to have an au pair when Ed was young. What do you think? You could do with another pair of hands.’ She could see him smiling at her in the glow of the candle. ‘Look, I have to go. Teaching a bunch of 10 year olds tomorrow, surfing. Will you be OK?’
She nodded and took a gulp of wine. ‘Yes, fine, fine.’ She didn’t recognise the voice - it sounded very shaky.
‘Call me if you need me,’ he reached for her hand, held it to his mouth and gave it a kiss. She stood up slowly. What a lovely, old-fashioned thing to do. Her legs were stiff. Her back ached. ‘Thanks,’ she said quietly, walking to the door with him. She closed it gently behind her and watched the shadowy figure go down the drive from the window. She stood alone in the darkness for quite a while. Part of her was disappointed, but the other was relieved to be left alone, to figure out what she felt.
As she sat on her bed, she stared at the Moses basket next to her. She had moved it back into her room for the night. She had to listen to him breathe next to her. She gazed at Rory, grabbed two of her Prozac tables from the bedside table, then put them down again. Who was more exhausted, she wondered, as she kissed him softly on the forehead, then fell backwards into the pillows and passed out in a blur of confused dreams.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The employment agency were very helpful. They told Katie they had a Spanish girl who wanted to work two mornings a week as a mother’s help. They had assured her that they interviewed the candidates personally. Katie looked at her watch: 2pm, they should be back by now, she frowned.
She had agreed to a two week trial. Maybe Blake was right, maybe she did need some help. She had asked the new nanny, Maria, to take Andy to the park that morning.
She could just hear them coming in. Andy came bouncing past her from the park. Maria came in behind him and told her they had a lovleee morning, shockolate biscuits from shop. Chocolate biscuits? I specifically said to her no chocolate.
‘Mum?’
‘Yes darling.’
‘Can I have a Space Ship Intergalactic Ben 10 Cake for my birthday?’
No, I want you to have a ready-made orange poppy seed one I can buy at the mall because I feel exhausted all the time and the doctor wanted to up my dosage of Prozac last week. ‘Of course you can darling.’
She was only too aware that precious times like these would soon be gone. You can’t bottle being nearly-five can you, she mused, wearily hauling a recipe book from the shelf? You can’t help it if your father has been unfaithful and you’re now living alone with a mother who can’t be bothered to cook much of the time, can you? I wish I could nail down my children, right now, thought Katie, like butterflies, frame them and write the date under them, come back to them when I’m feeling better, feeling like being part of life again … but I can’t, I have to get on with it. You can’t store the smell of a child’s skin after a day in the sun, the cheeky grin. You can’t fold in tissue paper the look on his face on Christmas morning when he gets his first bicycle.
‘Who wants to make a Space Ship Cake?’ Katie said, coming out of her thoughts and smiled at Maria who was standing at the kitchen counter folding a yellow sleepsuit with teddies on it. It made her think of Lucy, the domestic goddess and she gathered strength. I’m sure I can do this without opening a packet.
‘Space Sheep?’ Maria asked, screwing up her eyes.
‘Space SHIP cake, you know like into space,’ Katie pointed up high.
She looked slightly less puzzled, then smiled and started tickling Andy who dissolved into giggles. I thought her English w
ould be better than that, sighed Katie to herself. As long as she can look after the kids, she thought, snapping the book shut firmly.
‘Your boobs – um, sorry,’ she turned bright red, ‘your boys are adorable.’
Katie shot her a look and started laying all the ingredients on the kitchen table. Eggs, sugar, flour, margarine, mixing bowl and beaters. Sprinkles (of course) and Betty Crocker ready-made icing - an excellent innovation for any recently cuckolded wife, Katie decided.
*
‘Katie!’ Naomi hollered at Katie as she marched down the pavement. Her red shorts were like a beacon, her long tanned legs striding purposefully towards her target. Crumbs, she reminds me of Victoria Beckham, but even skinnier, thought Katie, as she tried to smile for her friend.
‘How are you?’
‘Hot,’ Katie replied. She managed a simultaneous smile and eyebrow lift as she hauled rucksacks, hats, water bottles out of the car and quickly smeared sun cream on James at the kerb. Must appear jolly to all observing school mums, thought Katie with a tight smile. As If I’m Giving Australia A Go. As if I’m Surviving My Husband’s Affair.
‘What you doing after the school run?’
‘Mummy!’ It was Andy tugging on her leg.
‘Shh Andy, wait a minute.’
Katie shrugged. ‘Not much.’
‘Then you’re coming with me,’ said Naomi shoving a leaflet into her hand. ‘You need to relax after that nasty spider shock! Blake told me all about it. Poor Rory. Anyway, Maria can look after him while we go have some fun – what do you say?’
Katie looked down at the leaflet. Indulgent Spa Experience. ‘Take yourself away from it all, to another world.’ That would be nice, thought Katie.
‘Mummy!’
‘What is it darling?’
‘You were too late Mummy! Needed the toilet,’ he shouted. Then his voice turned to a whisper as she knelt down next to him. ‘Poo came too quickly …’
*
There was a muffled giggle. Katie looked around at her surroundings and swivelled her eyes to the left. Naomi was lying on a therapist’s chair, while a woman in what looked like a white karate outfit, applied something resembling mud to her face; she had a lavender mask covering her eyes, but rather than exude an aura of calm, was giggling like a schoolgirl after matron had told her off.
‘Ooh! That tickles!’
Her therapist remained professional, asked Naomi if there was anything she could do to make her experience more relaxing.
There was a snort. It was Katie. Turning away she was shaking with laughter. But as she looked down at her own feet, encased in a sort of shopping bag – an ‘aroma hydrotherapy capsule’, the giggles erupted again. Katie’s therapist told her she must concentrate on her energy zones, told her to release some chi. Thinking the woman had said ‘pee’ Katie then nearly choked on her elderflower water.
The Vietnamese therapist appeared again, this time she gave Katie a deeply relaxing foot massage. Next, whore-red polish completed the transformation of her feet.
An hour later, Naomi and Katie were sitting by the pool in the spa, in velvety white robes, sipping herbal tea and staring at a plate of tiny salmon sandwiches, surrounded by watercress. Katie’s stomach was rumbling, she was desperate to ask the staff if they served chips - cooked in duck fat, to be precise - the best ones.
There was a hush. In a place like that you didn’t eat chips and you didn’t snort when you laughed. From out of nowhere, came the sound of passing wind. Naomi turned bright red. Katie and Naomi hid under their magazines from the other clients, silently shaking with laughter as the front covers of their glossy mags vibrated in front of them.
‘Hey, when do you think we’ll grow up?’ asked Naomi, reaching for a tiny sandwich.
‘Never!’ said, Katie, wiping away her tears, and wondering when she’d last laughed like that. She felt much better.
After a while, Naomi fell asleep. Katie studied her face. My good friend, she thought. And not so new anymore, she sighed. She has been here for me amid all this, thought Katie, shown me to the zoo on a lonely Sunday, stood with me in cinema queues; we’ve both taken home sand, seashells and memories from the beach. She is slowly spinning a piece of twine to my heart which will be hard to break, thought Katie, closing her eyes. Thank God for Naomi.
Suddenly, Naomi stretched. ‘C’mon, I’m bored. Why don’t I get your kids and take them back to my place for a swim, you have a rest at home – what do you think?’
Don’t panic. Act natural. Suddenly the fear was back. Katie had heard all the stories about the Silent Killer– you can’t hear when a little kid slides under the water, mouth open, eyes wide with terror, unable to breathe, then lies on the bottom of the pool, can you, she thought, panicking.
‘Katie?’
‘Um, I’ll just pop along, if that’s ok, you’ll find it hard to look after all those boys.’ How deep is her pool? She felt ridiculously terrified for some reason. Felt like she had to be with them all the time, she mused, staring at her red toenails. Naomi looked at her sideways with a concerned look. ‘Sure honey.’
Just then Katie’s phone went. The school number flashed up. Her heart was in her mouth. Why were they calling? All her panicking instincts kicked in again.
‘Oh Mrs Parkes, we’ve just been trying to get hold of you.’ It was Miss Robins, the school nurse. ‘James is unwell.’ Katie’s heart lurched. Naomi put a hand on her arm, mouthed ‘What’s up?’
‘What sort of unwell? Katie asked, trying not to let her voice get out of control. ‘Has he been bitten by a spider?’ she said, her voice rising.
‘No, no spider bites. I’ve looked him all over. He’s just come back from morning tea and his teacher says he’s acting very strangely. We’ve put him in the first aid room. I think you need to come and take him home. Probably a virus.’
Walking to the sick room she heard the tune. It was familiar. James was singing Flower of Scotland (taught to him by Gramps). She looked at him - he didn’t look unwell. In fact he looked rather jolly, thought Katie. She felt feel his forehead; a bit hot, but not burning. He looked up and giggled. His water bottle was next to the bed. Katie stared at it. Saw the colour of the liquid, took a sip. Oh Christ. My seven year old is off his face on cranberry and vodka which Maria has put in his Ice Age 3 drink bottle.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
An hour later, Katie was in the pool being sprayed with water guns – she had made James drink a large glass of water and then tucked him up in Naomi’s spare room. Naomi was standing by the edge of the pool dangling two glasses in her hand. ‘Want a drink to calm your nerves after all that? I just checked on James, he’s fine,’ she nodded towards the room upstairs.
Why not, thought Katie, what else can happen today, she sighed, closing her eyes, exhausted. She watched Naomi’s slim silhouette sweep back around the path, the sequins in her T-shirt glinting in the sun. Katie breathed in the sweet honey fragrance of the frangipani trees surrounding the pool.
‘I’m going to kill Maria!’ said Katie, as Naomi handed her a glass.
‘How did it happen?’
‘I asked James on the way home and he said he’d told Maria he wanted a drink ‘like Mummy has’. She’s obviously seen me mix up a vodka and cranberry and decided to give it to him! Can you believe it? Naomi shook her head, stared at Katie as she clambered out the pool. ‘Hey, you’ve lost weight, you know sweetie, you look good.’
‘Have I? Wasn’t really a plan. Been on the Best-Friend-Shagged-Husband diet – must’ve worked,’ she smiled ruefully and winked at Naomi. Despite the hoo-ha of the last few days she felt stronger, felt like she was living again.
‘I’ve got some clothes in the hall, take them on your way out, they’re too big for me – no offence? But I think they’ll suit you.’
‘Thanks,’ smiled Katie taking the glass from Naomi who smiled sympathetically at her and squeezed her arm. Tom had been putting some money into her account, but with the extra rent from the Brisba
ne flat, things were tight. It would be nice to have some new clothes.
She looked around to re-check her children. Andy was wearing every floatation devise she could find, and was playing with some wind-up toys by the steps; Rory was asleep in the shade in his buggy. ‘Cheers,’ said Katie, finally relaxing, lying back on the sun lounger and enjoying the intense rays of the sun on her body.
An hour later, Katie went upstairs with Andy to check James and to get some more towels. “Mummy look! Daddy’s shirt!’ shouted Andy and ran into Naomi’s bedroom.
Katie felt her heart stop. She quietly padded over the soft peach carpet to take a closer look. She studied the shirt, and let out a sigh. It was very similar to Tom’s. His shirt had wider blue stripes, and buttonholes, this one had buttons. She held the shirt to her face, breathed deeply, willing it to have a familiar smell. How long since I have smelt Imperial Leather, she thought? How long since I have rolled over and been held at night? What’s it been, she thought. Three months? She suddenly felt such an intense sense of longing coupled with real, physical pain, she let out a small cry.
‘Mummy?’
‘Sorry, darling, let’s go. She ushered him into the guest bathroom to grab some towels. As he scampered back downstairs, she heard a noise. At first she didn’t recognise it. It was coming from Naomi’s bathroom door. Leaning on the door gently, Katie realised it was unlocked. She pushed it open. There, in front of her was Naomi with her fingers down her throat, over the sink.
‘Oh Christ, Katie,’ she gasped, clutching the basin. Sweat covered her forehead. ‘I didn’t want you to see this-’
‘What are you doing?’
She lifted her head and stared at Katie in the mirror. Her mascara had run down her face, her hair was stuck to her forehead and in the sink lay the remains of her regurgitated lunch. It was pretty obvious what she was doing.
Tears trickled down Naomi’s face, and then she was sobbing. Katie held her in her arms and she leant into her, then kneeled on the floor. Sitting down beside her, Katie stared at a pubic hair beside the toilet.
Jacaranda Wife Page 19