Isla locked the café door behind her and looked up at the newly darkened sky. It was filled with stars and the promise of a sunny day to follow the night. The familiar outline of the Pit twinkled down at her, and she blinked back tears as a silver star streaked across the vast inkiness. She recalled wishing on a shooting star as a child, with her nose pressed to the window. She’d wished with all her heart that when she grew up, she would marry Prince Charming, like Cinderella. Well, she’d blown that, she thought crossing the road and clambering into Delilah.
Chapter 36
Bridget had woken early and was sitting at her kitchen table with her morning cup of tea in front of her. Coal was chomping his breakfast down, and as soon as he’d finished he’d want out, she thought, watching the black bundle fondly. He was a creature of habit just like she was. Isla wasn’t home, and Bridget wondered if she’d spent the night at Ben’s. She frowned. Given their history, it was safe to say Isla hadn’t slept with him on their first date. The seven o’clock news had just finished on the radio when she registered a banging on the front door. Thinking perhaps Isla had forgotten her key she got up, tying the cord of her dressing gown tightly just in case it wasn’t her. She didn’t want to give the postman or whoever else it could be a fright. She made her way down the hall and opening the door.
‘Ben, what is it?’ She felt her legs wobble, she could tell by the look on his face he was not the bearer of good news.
‘Bridget, listen she’s okay, but Isla’s been – oh shit, Bridget, there’s been an accident, and it’s all my fault.’ He reached out to steady her. ‘We had a stupid fight, I left her at the café, and she must’ve got it in her head to go for a drive. Shit. I assumed she’d lock up and come back here.’ Seeing Bridget’s stricken face, he hastily continued. ‘When the call came in to tow her car, I rang Joe, she’s going to be okay. She’s at Christchurch Hospital, Mary and Joe are both with her, and they asked me to come and pick you up.’
Bridget just stared at him, trying to comprehend what she’d just been told before galvanizing herself. ‘I’d better get dressed, can you give me a minute?’
Ben nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check if he’d had any messages updating him on how Isla was doing while Bridget went back in the house. On automatic pilot, she threw on the first top she could lay her hands on along with a pair of cotton slacks. Not bothering with her morning ablutions she headed out the door to where Ben had the truck idling. They built those bloody wagons with high jumpers in mind, she thought as he helped her up into the passenger seat.
They didn’t talk much on the journey, and it seemed interminable. Ben didn’t know what had happened exactly or why she’d wound up in Christchurch hospital and not Grey Base on the Coast. The only thing that made any sense was that she’d decided to head into the city for the night after their row, maybe she’d been heading for Carl’s. Oh God, he thought gripping the steering wheel, if he could turn back time, he would. He’d never have said the things he’d said. Isla only wanted what was best for Bridget, he knew that, and all that other stuff he’d gone on about – well, it was ancient history. Dredging up past hurts had only resulted in more hurt.
Joe had said something about a ditch and the car being upside down when it was found, but that, and the fact that she was at Christchurch Public and wasn’t critical, was all he’d gleaned. At last, they reached the suburbs of Christchurch, and as they slowed to a virtual standstill in the rush hour traffic, Ben cursed, tapping the steering wheel as he willed the lights ahead to turn green.
‘I’d better let Annie know what’s happening.’ He dug out his phone and made the call. She answered after a few short rings, and he filled her in, reassuring her that her friend was going to be okay. ‘Yeah, I will do, and I’ll let you know as soon as I know more. Hang on I’ll pass you over to Bridget.’
Bridget pressed the phone to her ear. She hated the silly things as a rule, but at times like this, the cell phone was a blessing. Annie’s worried voice asked her if she was doing okay, and she assured her that she was, but she’d be doing a whole lot better once she’d seen Isla with her own eyes. She said goodbye, promising as Ben had to let her know how Isla was once they’d seen her. ‘How do I hang this thing up?’ She asked thrusting the phone back to Ben. He switched it off and breathed a sigh of relief, as the leafy arbour that surrounded Hagley Park came into sight.
‘We’re nearly there, Bridget.’
Ben stopped outside the hospital’s main doors and getting out of the truck he went round to the passenger side to help Bridget down. ‘You go on in Bridget, and I’ll send Joe a text to tell him to meet you inside.’
Bridget nodded and headed through the automatic doors leaving Ben to park his truck.
She’d only just got her bearings when he burst through the doors behind her.
‘The Wilson’s carpark is just across the road,’ he said breathing heavily as though he’d been running. He was about to ask the woman at the front desk where Isla was when Joe appeared.
He looked understandably crumpled, Bridget thought, as he strode towards them.
‘She’s going to be fine Bridget, Ben. She’ll be sore for a while, but she’ll be fine.’
‘I was so worried.’ Ben rubbed at the stubble on his chin.
His agitation was apparent, and Bridget patted his arm, knowing the poor lad was still blaming himself and that she would be wasting her breath telling him again that it was an accident, no more, no less.
‘Come on I’ll take you both up to see her and Mary. She’s in a right state,’ Joe said putting his arm around his mother-in-law’s shoulder. ‘She needs her mum to sort her out.’
They walked past the café and pharmacy to the lifts, and Joe filled in the blanks for them as they went.
The town’s local policeman Tep, had knocked on Mary’s and Joe’s door shortly after five o’clock this morning to tell them that Isla’s car had been found upside down in a ditch near the town of Springfield. The accident, it had been ascertained, had happened shortly after 11pm. No one else was involved, she’d taken the corner too fast and lost control of the car. She’d drifted in and out of consciousness until a farmer had spotted Delilah as he set off on his early morning rounds. He’d stayed with her, talking to her and holding her hand until the Westpac chopper arrived to airlift her here, to the hospital. Joe listed off her injuries; slight concussion, three cracked ribs, and extensive bruising. ‘She’s going to be in pain with those ribs, but she’ll mend.’
That she was alive was a blessing in itself. Despite having very good reason not to be religious in her opinion, this was an occasion when Bridget felt it appropriate to raise her eyes heavenward and send up a small thank you. They exited the lift and Mary made her way down the corridor towards them. She was, Bridget noticed as she stepped forward to hug her daughter, pale for the first time in months. She dissolved into tears as she felt her mother’s arms enfold her and Bridget rubbed her back. Your children were always your babies, she thought, desperately wanting to comfort her. ‘She’s alright, Mary, it’s the shock, that’s all. It’s been a terrible, terrible shock but she’s going to be fine. There, there.’
Joe came over and kissed his wife’s hair. ‘I’ll go and find you a cup of tea, love.’ He disappeared back down the corridor.
Mary sat down on one of the seats and gestured to the room across the way. ‘She’s at the far end by the window, in the bed on the right. She’s a bit out of it on the pain medication, but you can go and see her. It has to be one at a time for now though, the nurse said.’
‘You go in first, Bridget, I don’t know if she’ll even want to see me after last night,’ Ben said sitting down next Mary.
Bridget felt a rush of warmth for him; she knew how desperate he was to get in there himself. ‘She’ll want to see you love. I won’t be long.’ She patted Mary on her shoulder. ‘Keep an eye on this one for me will you, Ben?’
He nodded and asked Mary if she’d rung the pharmacy and tol
d them what had happened.
Bridget left them talking and walked quietly into the room trying not to stare at all the other patients as she walked to the last bed where Mary had told her she’d find Isla.
She inhaled sharply to stop the sob from escaping at the sight of her poor battered granddaughter lying on her bed in a hospital gown, with a sheet covering her legs. ‘Hello Isla, my lovely,’ she said sitting down in the chair by the bed and picking up her hand. She held it tightly. ‘You’ve given us such a fright my girl.’
‘Sorry Gran,’ Isla croaked her eyes drifting towards the table.
Bridget followed their direction, ‘Would you like a drink sweetheart?’
Isla managed a small nod and Bridget let go of her hand to pick up the plastic cup. She held it to her mouth and placed the straw between her lips to have a sip. When she’d finished, she put it back on the tray table and stroked her granddaughter’s forehead gently. ‘You’ve been in the wars.’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t know what possessed you to go driving off like you did. Ben said you’d had a row. He’s blaming himself for you winding up in here you know.’
Isla shook her head. ‘Not his fault.’ Her voice was slurred.
‘Well, you be sure and tell him this isn’t his fault and whatever it was the two of you fell out about put it behind you. He’s a very special young man who loves you very much, he always has Isla Brookes. Don’t make the same mistake twice and let that love slip from your grasp.’
Isla could sense the stern urgency in her gran’s tone despite her befuddled state and she knew she needed to tell her what she and Ben had fought about but she was so tired.
‘Gran, ask Ben, he’ll tell you,’ she rasped before her eyes fluttered shut.
Perplexed, Bridget kissed Isla on the cheek and got up to fetch Ben. Whatever it was she’d been talking about could wait.
Ben, sat down and picked up Isla’s hand. His eyes smarted but he wouldn’t let the sight of her bring him to tears, she needed him to be strong. ‘I’m sorry I behaved like an arse,’ he said quietly, and he knew even though her eyes were closed, she’d heard him by the way she gave his hand the gentlest of squeezes back.
Chapter 37
‘Isla, my love, just look at the state of you.’ Carl appeared from behind the ginormous colourful bouquet he was clutching.
It was Isla’s third day in the hospital, and although she was still in a fair bit of discomfort, she was feeling much more with it. ‘You didn’t have to do that Carl,’ she said her eyes flickering to the flowers. ‘But I’m glad you did, they’re gorgeous.’
‘They’re from David and me. He’s in Sydney until Friday and sends his love. He says to get better soon. Oh, and he also said to tell you he’ll give you a big hug at the festival – never mind the cracked ribs! Do you know when they’re letting you go home?’
‘Yes, the doctor came and saw me this morning, and they’re discharging me tomorrow. I can’t wait to get home. Not that the staff hasn’t been wonderful.’ Isla rustled up a smile mostly for the benefit of the nurse who was hovering over the patient in the bed next door.
‘I hope Annie told you that I’d have been here yesterday, but I’ve been island hopping for Her magazine. Raro, Samoa, and Fiji. The weather was against us, so the shoot took twice as long as planned and I tell you, Isla if I see another coconut with a straw in it I will scream.’ He drew breath long enough to bat his eyelashes at the nurse who’d finished with the woman in the next bed and was now checking Isla’s clipboard. ‘You’ve got fabulous cheekbones,’ he said before asking her what he could put the flowers in.
Won over, the nurse retrieved the empty plastic jug sitting on the tray table next to Isla’s bed and obligingly filled it up with water from the sink at the entrance to the room. She left him to arrange the stems, while continuing her rounds with a wiggle in her walk.
‘They’re stunning thank you.’ Isla watched with as much amusement as she could muster given her current position, as he titivated them. ‘So even if I’d made it to your place, you wouldn’t have been there,’ she said.
Carl shook his head. ‘Nope, and promise me there’ll be no more midnight flits from lover boy on the open road.’
‘I promise, and he’s not my lover boy.’
‘Whatever you say, sweetheart. Have you spoken to Annie?’
Isla nodded, she felt so bad about having worried everyone half to death. ‘Yes, she rang first thing this morning wanting to come in, and offered to bring Gran with her, but I told her not to worry.’ She’d told her parents not to haul all the way in to see her today as well, telling them it was too far to come for the sake of one day. She was doing fine, and she’d be home tomorrow. ‘I’m being discharged tomorrow, and besides, I need her to hold the fort at Nectar.’ Annie had gotten Marie’s oldest daughter, who was studying via the Open Polytechnic, in to help out while Isla was incapacitated. Isla had ended the call by asking her to pop around to Gran’s to check she was doing okay and to cuddle Coal for her. She’d wished he was curled up with at the end of her bed. Annie had called her a big softie but promised she’d call in on Bridget and Coal.
Isla knew she’d be lost without her friend, without all of them. It wouldn’t have looked good shutting the café this early in the piece, and once Annie knew Carl was popping up to see her, she’d been appeased, not wanting her friend to be on her own all day. The day had been stretching long, with only a green jelly, clear soup, and a sandwich to break it up. Still, what did she expect? She was in the hospital, not a five-star hotel, but then she’d heard Carl’s breezy tones echoing through the ward and her spirits lifted.
Now, satisfied he had the arrangement just so, Carl placed the flowers on the deep window sill beside her bed. They brightened her little corner of the room up. He stood there leaning his back up against the sill.
‘Gran knows about my call to Charlie,’ Isla said plucking at the bedsheet.
‘Oh, did you come clean?’
‘Kind of … I got Ben to tell her, or at least I think I did. That’s part of what we fought about actually; he thought I’d overstepped the mark contacting Charlie when Gran told me she didn’t want to see him and it just escalated from there. All this old crap got brought up. He’s been to see me, and he apologized. Well, I’m pretty sure he did, but I was a bit out of it at the time. Besides it’s me who owes him an apology for the way I behaved all those years ago.’
Carl shook his head, what was with those two? That they belonged together was obvious to everyone but themselves. Still, he shouldn’t have stuck his big oar in where Bridget was concerned. He’d meddled there, or at least aided and abetted Isla. He would not make the same mistake twice. ‘You were following my advice. I’m sorry if Char-Bridge is turning into a big mess.’
‘I have a mind of my own, and I stand by what I did. I just hope it doesn’t blow up in my face. I haven’t seen Gran, but I’m hoping my being injured means she’ll go easy on me. You know the way when something bad happens it puts other stuff into perspective?’
Carl nodded. ‘I know what you mean. It’s like when you’re moaning about having to shave, and then you see an old woman in a terrible frock with whiskers and a mustache and think, what have I got to complain about?’
Isla wasn’t sure if he was taking the mickey or not, his deadpan expression wasn’t giving anything away.
‘I’m joking, sweet! Trying to put a smile on your dial. Poor Bridget probably hasn’t got the energy to work herself up into a state about seeing her man again after all these years, not after the shock of you winding up in here.’ He came around the other side of her bed and sat down in the chair there.
‘I know, I feel awful putting everybody through this especially given it’s my stupid fault, I was driving too fast and then I swerved to avoid a pothole and I couldn’t get the wheel under control. That’s all I remember. Thank God I didn’t hurt anyone else.’ Tears pricked her eyes. They didn’t escape Carl, and he launched into nurse mode.
‘Right Miss, sit forward.’
She obliged carefully, easing herself forward to avoid jarring her ribs, and he plumped her pillow, settling her back against it.
‘There you look more comfortable now, a sip of water?’ He was already filling the plastic cup on the tray next to her bed with the water left in the jug. He held it to her lips, and Isla took a small sip.
‘I would have made a good nurse you know, the only thing that’d let me down would be having to deal with bedpans and the like.’ He shuddered. ‘I couldn’t be doing with that.’
Isla couldn’t help but smile.
‘Accidents happen, alright? The main thing is you’re still with us.’
She nodded.
‘Good, now how’s Delilah doing?’
‘She’s at the panel beaters. Ben asked Annie to pass on that she’ll be as good as new.’
‘Well now, that is a relief.’
Isla giggled, he was such a tonic.
‘You’re lucky you’ve got a view of sorts, and a degree of privacy. Look at the poor sod down the end there,’ he said turning and pointing.
Isla craned forward to see an older man, his mouth wide open as he snored for all and sundry to see.
She hadn’t felt lucky when she’d woken that morning, she’d felt sore. The day had not got off to a good start when the woman in the bed next door to hers had gotten up to go to the toilet as Isla had been about to attempt breakfast. She’d had no knickers on, and the back of her gown was flapping open for all to see. Now though, as she relayed the tale to Carl in a whisper she could see the funny side of it.
Later that night lying in her bed with the curtain around her, she repeated the affirmation she’d found in Rita’s book. Loving myself heals my life, I nourish my mind, body, and soul. Perhaps if she repeated it enough times, it would distract her from the breathtaking pain of her ribs every time she shifted to get comfortable and speed up her recovery. Mind over matter and all that, she thought. Isla was on her third repetition when she lost her train of thought thanks to the sound of her roomie next door breaking wind. Bugger mind over matter, roll on tomorrow and getting home to Gran’s.
Sweet Home Summer Page 28