A Daughter's Courage
Page 33
A nurse approached, wearing a stiffly starched uniform and an equally stiff expression on her face.
‘I take it this is Robert Ferguson?’ she asked the ambulance man.
‘Yes, this is him. It’s all in the file here. The police managed to trace his brother but the brother reckons Robert is a danger so he wants nothing to do with him. By all accounts, he was in a state of hysteria at the station. They called in the doctor, who sedated him. The doctor’s authorised sectioning him. His initial diagnosis is paranoid disorder, but this will need confirming.’
‘Right, you can leave him with me. Thank you, gentlemen,’ the nurse said, and signalled to two orderlies to approach.
‘He’s all yours,’ the ambulanceman said to the orderlies and left.
Robbie’s thoughts were very muddled, yet even in his confusion he knew he didn’t belong here.
‘Wait, nurse, there’s been a terrible mistake …’ he said weakly.
‘We’ll see about that,’ the nurse replied, then said to the orderlies, ‘Take him through.’
Robbie wanted to protest further, but was struggling to focus. He felt dizzy and his vision was distorted. It must be the drugs, thought Robbie, remembering the injection.
One of the orderlies took a key from a large bunch chained to a belt around his waist and opened a door. Immediately Robbie could hear a cacophony of cries, moans and wailing. He wanted to fight and to scream out his sanity, but his subdued body wouldn’t respond.
As the orderly pushed him through the doorway, Robbie noticed a young man in tatty pyjamas edging along the corridor wall towards them. The man was repeatedly punching the side of his own head and had dried vomit spilt on his top.
‘Get back, Terry. You know what’ll happen if you don’t,’ the orderly warned.
Terry dropped to his knees and hunched down, covering his head with his arms.
‘NOOOOOOOO … No stick! No stick!’ he screamed.
‘Do as you’re told and I’ll spare you the stick,’ the orderly said.
Robbie looked again at the orderly and noticed the man had a truncheon attached to his belt next to the chain of keys. Terry scuttled along the corridor and disappeared into a side room.
The wailing continued to echo through the corridor. Robbie covered his ears in an attempt to block out the awful noise and concentrate his muddled thoughts. They passed a door. It was open. He glanced inside and what he saw chilled him to the bone. A bed with restraints and wires and a machine with lots of knobs. Oh, God, he thought, please don’t let them do that to me. He’d heard about electroshock treatment for the mad and the thought of it scared the life out of him.
A little further down the corridor, they came to a stop and the orderly unlocked another door.
‘Welcome to your new home for the next few years,’ he said, then wheeled Robbie into the stinking room.
Robbie slowly turned his head from left to right as he scanned the large ward. There were rows of beds along each side of the room with little more than standing space between them. At a glance, he guessed there must be at least seventy beds, if not more. He saw some men tied to the beds with bandages, others sitting and rocking with blank expressions. One man was running around and dancing like a ballerina; another appeared to be arguing with a wall.
An old man limped towards him. ‘Have you seen my Betty?’ the man asked.
Robbie shook his head.
‘Have you seen my Betty?’ the old man asked again.
‘No,’ Robbie managed to answer.
‘Have you seen my Betty?’
‘Betty’s dead. She’s been dead ten years. Get back to your bed,’ the orderly said.
‘Have you seen my Betty?’ the old man asked over and over as he wandered off.
Robbie looked around again, trying to take it all in, but it was almost surreal and for a moment he wondered if he was asleep and having some strange nightmare. He noticed the windows were barred and none of the residents were wearing shoes. He saw a man lying under one of the beds, drooling and touching himself inappropriately, and another with blood oozing from his arm where he was incessantly scratching it. A deathly pale-faced, extremely thin man leaped onto a bed and began loudly shouting to everyone to repent their sins. This seemed to upset people. Some appeared scared and began screaming or crying, others became excited and jumped around howling.
The orderly blew a whistle, and its piercing screech seemed to calm the men. Then he held his truncheon up menacingly and waved it in the air.
‘Any more of this and you’ll all get it! Now shut up and get back to bed.’
Most of the residents did as instructed, apart from those who looked too out of it to understand.
The orderly wheeled Robbie further up the ward and then stopped at a vacant bare bed.
‘This is your place. You’ll be issued with a set of pyjamas, one blanket, one flannel, a bar of soap and a toothbrush. We’ll be back to collect you tomorrow to see the doctor. Enjoy your stay.’
Robbie felt himself falling forward as the orderly tipped up his chair and he landed in a heap face-down on the bed. He immediately noticed it stank of urine and turned his head in disgust. To his horror, he watched as the two orderlies left the ward and took his wheelchair with them.
As the sedative he’d been given earlier was wearing off, his mind began to clear and the horror of his situation started to sink in.
The overwhelming noise in the ward drowned out his own as he lay back on the stinking bed and screamed until his throat hurt. Bereft, Robbie wept and thought to himself, if hell really exists, then this is it.
Dorothy had been shocked when the police had called to talk to Adrian about Robbie, but after what he’d done to Yvonne and in trying to kidnap Rosie, she agreed that he was dangerous. Adrian had disowned him, wanting nothing more to do with his brother, and she felt the same; any feelings she had felt for Robbie were well and truly dead. He was in custody now so at last she could relax, safe in the knowledge that there was no danger of him trying to kidnap Rosie again. That evening, Dorothy dished up two more dinners as Adrian came through the door. She had already taken a tray to her father and now decided that she and Adrian would eat off their laps today as Rosie seemed to be content kicking her legs out on a blanket in the middle of the lounge.
‘Hello, love,’ Adrian said, kissing his wife on the cheek.
‘Sit yourself down in the living room. Rosie will be pleased to see you and I’ll bring your dinner through.’
‘It looks lovely,’ Adrian said as he watched her spoon dollops of creamy mashed potatoes onto his plate.
‘Did you have a good day?’ Dorothy asked soon after, as they tucked into their meal.
‘Much the same as usual. Nelly seems a bit distracted at times and complaining that her clothes are getting a bit tight. Still, at least she doesn’t seem to suffer from morning sickness, or if she does it’s over with before she comes to work.’
Dorothy held her knife and fork still and gazed across the room as she thought about what he had just said. ‘I’m so excited about Nelly’s baby. I hope she has a girl.’
Adrian finished chewing his sausage before asking, ‘Why a girl?’
Dorothy thought for a minute, then said, ‘I just think it would be lovely. Rosie and Nelly’s baby would grow up together and be the best of friends.’
Adrian put his plate on the side table.
‘I agree, but it would be equally nice if she had a boy,’ he said.
‘I suppose so,’ Dorothy said. ‘He would be like a brother to Rosie and look out for her. I’ve almost given up believing that we’ll ever be able to give her a brother or sister.’
‘Maybe, but we have Rosie, and whether Nelly’s baby is a boy or a girl, one thing’s for sure – I won’t allow our Rosie to go dating with boys, not until she’s at least twenty-one.’
‘Oh, Adrian, you are funny! You talk about Rosie as if she’s your real daughter. It’s so nice to hear you being all fatherly and protective.�
��
‘She is my real daughter, and yours. We’re her parents now.’
Dorothy stood up from the sofa and sat on the arm of Adrian’s armchair. ‘I never thought this would happen … I can’t believe it. Adrian, we really do have a baby!’ she squealed ecstatically. ‘I think it’s only just sinking in. Rosie is our daughter!’
Adrian stood up to join his wife and gathered her in his arms.
‘Yes, she certainly is, and I couldn’t be happier.’
As Dottie looked up into Adrian’s eyes and held his gaze, she suddenly realised that she loved him. What an idiot she’d been. She’d wasted so much time lavishing her affections on the wrong brother, but now she whispered the words she knew her husband had been longing to hear. ‘Adrian, I love you.’
He looked ecstatic for a moment, but then his eyes clouded with doubt. ‘Do you, Dottie? Do you really love me?’
‘Yes … yes, I do. I love you so much, Adrian, and I think I have for a long time. It’s just taken me until now to realise it.’
‘Oh, darling, I love you too,’ Adrian said, holding her tightly to him.
As their lips met, Dottie knew that Robbie would become nothing more than a distant memory. What she felt for Adrian was real love, lasting love, and she felt truly blessed. They had a child to love and nurture, and as Adrian stood back to look at Rosie with a look of wonderment on his face, she knew that this was a moment she would cherish for ever.
The End
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About the Author
Kitty Neale was raised in South London and this workingclass area became the inspiration for her novels. In the 1980s she moved to Surrey with her husband and two children, but in 1998 there was a catalyst in her life when her son died, aged just 27. After joining other bereaved parents in a support group, Kitty was inspired to take up writing and her books have been Sunday Times bestsellers. Kitty now lives in Spain with her husband.
To find out more about Kitty go to www.kittyneale.co.uk.
By the same author:
Nobody’s Girl
Sins of the Father
Family Betrayal
Desperate Measures
Lost and Found
Forgotten Child
Lost Angel
Mother’s Ruin
A Father’s Revenge
A Broken Family
Abandoned Child
A Daughter’s Disgrace
A Family Scandal
A Mother’s Sacrifice
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HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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