by Cate Kendall
‘Maybe,’ Tori said softly.
Jessica got up to make more drinks and grabbed a box of tissues, which she handed to Tori. ‘Let’s think about some options,’ she said, draping her arm around her friend.
41
The relaxed tones of Chris de Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red’ flooded the Mercedes. Richard sang along joyfully. He looked at the duck-egg blue ring box sitting on the passenger seat. He couldn’t wait to slip the one-point-five-carat solitaire diamond ring onto Genevieve’s finger.
Christ, he was lucky, he thought, swinging onto Punt Road. He had it all. He had his Peninsula estate, his family and now Genevieve would be his wife. He adored her and was pleased at how well she was fitting into his family and even acting as surrogate mother to Jessica.
He knew his girlfriend wasn’t perfect. He knew she had her little secrets and schemes, but it made the relationship all the more invigorating. He laughed to himself. Genevieve thought she could keep things from him, but he was way ahead of her. She’d even hinted about ideas for the Springforth property and he’d let her have her fun; she’d soon be surprised to find out just what he had planned for the estate, and he looked forward to her being a part of that.
The trip down Punt Road was surprisingly clear tonight, and the Yarra River twinkled as reflected lights from the nearby buildings danced on the water.
He pulled up at the Domain Road intersection lights, indica ting left. Suddenly his body was forced to the right of the car. He thought he must have been hit by another vehicle, but he was on the inside lane, it was impossible. When he tried to look to the left to see what was there, he couldn’t move his head. His right arm was paralysed, his head leaned against the window. What’s happening to me? he thought in terror. Am I having a heart attack?
The driver behind gave up his impatient tooting and came to tap on his window. Richard struggled to move his head slightly but couldn’t look right either. He started to panic. This couldn’t be real.
The other driver rushed around to the passenger door. He pulled it open. ‘You’ll be right, mate,’ he said reassuringly, and quickly dialled triple zero while Richard remained frozen, staring terrified out through the windscreen.
Jessica wasn’t thinking; she was just moving. She needed to see her dad, to see that he was okay, that her life hadn’t just come crashing down around her. She rushed down Epworth Ho spital’s busy halls, her coat flying as she searched frantically for the Casualty waiting room. In her haste she ran right past and had to double back, breathless with anxiety. Then she had to wait, stamping her feet impatiently, while the triage nurse dealt with a severed digit. Finally it was her turn.
‘Richard Wainwright, he’s my father, I’m Jessica Wainwright, I’m his daughter,’ she stammered, and the nurse pushed a button to admit her into the Casualty ward.
It was controlled chaos: a maze of the sick, injured and frail, with a soundtrack of moans of pain and the wails of frightened children. Jess looked from face to face, searching for her father.
She peered around a curtained-off cubicle at the end of the room. The breath was stolen from her lungs and she felt as if she had been slammed bodily against one of the nondescript walls.
Her dynamic, athletic dad appeared to have aged twenty years. His skin hung from his face, yellow and lifeless beneath the ruthless fluorescents. His lines and wrinkles were deepened and doubled. His usually busy, muscular arms seemed frail, flaccid and elderly.
Genevieve stood to hug Jess. Although she seemed calm and serene, Jess could see the concern etched onto her face.
‘How is he?’ Jessica said. ‘Is he unconscious?’
‘No, he’s just sleeping, it’s okay,’ Genevieve reassured her.
‘Oh, thank God. Caro rang me about twenty minutes ago with the news. She’s such a drama queen that I didn’t know what to expect.’
‘The doctor thinks he’s had a stroke. They’ve just done an MRI and we will know more when the doctor has looked at the results.’
‘Oh, Genevieve,’ Jessica burst into tears. Genevieve’s arms went around her as she sobbed into the older woman’s cashmere-clad shoulder.
‘There, there,’ Genevieve said calmly. ‘It’ll be okay.’
‘How do you know?’ Jessica asked, looking up.
‘The doctor is fairly confident. Given the symptoms Richard displayed and the excellent results from the initial examination, the doctor said that it looks like a stroke with a good chance of recovery. However...’
‘What, Genevieve, what is it?’ Jessica felt like an elastic band stretched to snapping point.
‘It’s likely he will need an operation. They have a surgeon and an anesthetist on stand-by. Although there is definitely hope, you need to know it’s quite serious, Jessica.’
Hearing Genevieve’s words, Jessica’s terror and panic dissipated like sugar in water. That was it. She needed to be strong. There was no time to be flapping about panic-stricken. Jessica put her chin up high. ‘Tell me absolutely everything you know, Genevieve.’
42
The pyrolysis process – and its resultant energy creation– continued to be a success on the hippies’ farmlet. Songbird and Rainbow were in the full swing of energy production. Their potential investor had been down and seen their plant in operation and was duly impressed – especially with the octagonal metal container the women had fashioned from scrap. He had told them that barring any unforeseen circumstances, the deal would go ahead and his solicitor would contact them the following week.
Their spring onions, spinach and broad beans in the first pit were lush and tall – way beyond their usual growth.
Songbird was at the kitchen sink washing the dirt from under her nails. Rainbow was making chamomile tea. They were thawing out from early morning weeding in the harsh June chill.
The children also understood the importance of the vegetable pits and were fantastic little gardeners; identifying and removing weeds and keeping the precious plants watered. ‘The ground is so black, Mum,’ Taylor had said with wide eyes. ‘It must be really, really good for the plants.’ Songbird had smiled and tousled his dreads with pride at his understanding of the process. ‘It does stink, but,’ he added, and scampered off with the other children.
She had to admit, the compost storage did get a bit on the nose. They needed a lot of organic material to make each terra preta pit and as they collected it in an old mini-skip, it went quite putrid, especially in the sun. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad now that the weather was a lot colder. For a while there, though, their backyard made everyone’s eyes water.
The children were off in the yard playing Pin the Tail on Eugene, and the two mums sat down to discuss the energy plant. ‘Beetroot loaf?’ Rainbow offered her partner.
‘Mmmm, yes please. Imagine how good it will taste with our first terra preta vegies.’
‘Exactly,’ Rainbow nodded, her dreads bouncing up and down.
The women were discussing the move to the one hundred hectares the investor was giving them rent-free, when the phone rang.
‘Hello?’ Songbird said.
Rainbow watched her, concerned about the look on her face.
‘What do you mean?’ Songbird said, then listened. ‘But you can’t be serious. It’s my land.’ She looked at Rainbow aghast. ‘But it’s zoned semi-rural, which means we’re allowed to produce anything of a rural nature.’ She listened to the voice on the other end of the phone.
Rainbow could see she was distressed and stood up to hold her partner’s arm in support.
‘Yes, we are producing electricity ... What do you mean a semi-rural farmlet isn’t allowed to produce electricity? I know we’re not a power plant. It’s not like we’re mining uranium, we’re just making compost basically ... Well it doesn’t smell today, not that badly ... What if we start a different system to store the compost? Surely there’s something ... Okay ... Yes ... Goodbye.’ She hung up the phone.
‘What is it?’ Rainbow asked, panic-stricken.
&nb
sp; ‘We’ve been shut down, babe, as of now. No more power plant. No more bio-char, no more pyrolysis.’
‘What? But they can’t do that,’ Rainbow screeched in outrage.
‘They can. There’s been a complaint from someone in town, which is what brought it to the council’s attention.’
‘Well stuff them. Let’s just ignore them.’
‘We can’t, babe, the fine’s enormous. Which, by the way, he said we’re lucky that he’s going to waive.’
‘Oh my God, Songbird.’ Rainbow slumped heavily into her chair.
‘I know, it’s all over. We’re going to lose our investor. He won’t want to invest in a business that isn’t allowed to operate.’
Rainbow looked up. ‘Who complained? Who’s whingeing? Maybe we can just get them to change their mind.’
Songbird looked, with pursed lips, at her partner. ‘Yeah, you might be right. And you know who’d know?’
‘Who?’
‘Who knows absolutely everybody in this entire town, both tourists and locals.’
‘Jessica.’
43
The next morning the atmosphere in Richard’s private hospital room was much more optimistic. A burst of sunshine streamed in through his window.
‘How are you?’ Caro asked in a hushed voice, dropping a ludicrously large chocolate bouquet on the end of the bed.
Richard smiled wanly and patted her hand in response. Angus did his best to wrap his frail father in a bear hug.
Jess and Genevieve moved over to make room for the new arrivals.
Richard gave them all a lopsided grin. He had those he cared for most around him, and it helped him face the cold knot of fear that had enveloped him.
Jess grimaced. She was shocked by the force of terror and horror she felt at seeing her father this way; so reduced and feeble. But she forced a smile back onto her face and looked at him encouragingly. After all, there was good news: a CT scan had shown a bleed but its origin hadn’t been identified so Richard didn’t have to face brain surgery.
And his recovery was promising to be swift. The medical staff was encouraged by his early progress. There were still a few small residual effects – the left side of his face was a bit slack, which slurred his speech, and his right arm simply refused to cooperate – but his neurologist had told them that this was all normal, and in many similar cases a full recovery could be expected.
Caro, who hadn’t left Richard’s side, was squeezing his hand. ‘Oh Richard, I just can’t believe it.’
Richard smiled at his daughter-in-law.
‘These things happen,’ Genevieve said, briskly plumping his pillow. ‘No use whining over spilt milk.’
‘I was hardly whining, Genevieve,’ Caro snapped, dropping her hospital voice for a minute.
Angus grabbed Caro’s hand. ‘Darling,’ he said, barely disguising the threat in his voice. Caro turned her face into her husband’s shoulder as he pulled her out of Richard’s earshot.
‘I hardly think it’s accurate to compare a brain haemorrhage with spilt milk,’ Jess heard Caro whisper angrily.
‘She’s being efficient, don’t be narky,’ Angus hissed back. ‘Behave.’
‘All right,’ she snarled and turned back to Richard with a smile. ‘Richard,’ she said. ‘I’m just curious, have you got your affairs in order?’
Jess, Angus and Genevieve gasped as one.
‘Caro!’ Angus said.
‘Oh, so she can be efficient and I can’t?’ Caro asked.
‘I give up,’ Angus said and crossed his arms in resignation.
Caro smiled sweetly and topped up her father-in-law’s water. ‘It’s just that there’s no time like the present and I was offering to help, that’s all. I’d hate to see you inundated with paperwork during your convalescence.’
‘You’re unbelievable,’ Jess hissed at her sister-in-law across the bed. There had been a time Jess would have never spoken up. She would have kept quiet to keep the peace. Perhaps her city experience had toughened her up, she thought.
‘Oh stop it, someone has to be practical here,’ Caro returned with equal venom.
Richard held up his good hand. ‘Caro is right. I do need to be sure everything is in order. Especially now there has been a development.’ He struggled to push himself into a more upright sitting position. ‘Gen and I are getting married.’
There was a moment of silent shock.
‘Oh Dad, Genevieve, that’s so wonderful. I’m delighted for you.’ Jess felt all sense of doom evaporate from the room and instead it was filled with possibility and thoughts of the future.
‘Well done, Dad. Welcome to the family, Genevieve,’ Angus said, smiling broadly.
The siblings looked pointedly at Caro, whose face had turned an interesting shade of puce.
‘Ah, yes, good...’ was all she could manage.
‘The will,’ Richard went on, ‘is about to be changed to reflect my wife’s entitlements. There are other business developments, so the will has to be updated anyway.’
Jess looked across the room and giggled inwardly at Caro’s obvious fury. Angus had a firm grip on his wife’s white-knuckled hand.
‘But Richard, this is all a bit sudden. Surely you need to think about this massive decision,’ Caro said.
‘For God’s sake, woman, he knows what he’s doing!’
Genevieve looked up from tucking in Richard’s sheets and was surprised to discover the brusque voice had come from Jess.
Richard interrupted. ‘Caro, darling, you don’t need to worry. You’ll be well looked after.’
‘Richard, it’s not me I’m worried about – it’s the children. I just hope your grandchildren will be looked after.’
‘They will be; have no fear.’ He patted the back of her hand.
Jessica had had enough emotional stress for one day. She kissed Richard goodbye, hugged Genevieve, slipped out of the room and got into the closest lift.
‘Hold it,’ an unseen voice called.
Jess instinctively thrust her arm into the red eye’s sensor. Caro got in and punched B2. Jess stared at the overhead LED display, praying Caro would just stay quiet.
‘Look, I know that sounded bad,’ Caro tried to explain, ‘and I know I come off as hard as nails sometimes. But I love this family so much, I really do. It’s the only family I have, and I hate to see it threatened by an upstart like Genevieve.’
‘What is with you?’ Jess turned to face Caro, her hands on her hips. ‘You’re so jealous and so bloody greedy. I wish you’d back off.’
‘Jessica, I am so sorry you feel that way, I really am.’ Caro turned away. The lift arrived at the basement level.
Jess stepped out. She turned back to face Caro, who said, ‘Just be very careful, Jess, I don’t trust her.’
44
Jess balanced her Nokia against the steering wheel, hardly seeing the roads and traffic around her.
‘Tori,’ she told the speaker-phone, ‘it’s been horrendous. I just can’t believe that Dad could look so old and so weak. I was so scared.’
‘Oh, Jessica, darling. You poor thing. Do you want me to come to town? I can be there in an hour.’
‘No, no, I’ll be fine. Thanks anyway.’ She dropped the phone into her lap. ‘Can you still hear me Tori? My loudspeaker isn’t very good.’ She grabbed a styrofoam cup from the cup holder and gulped down some bitter, lukewarm coffee.
‘Yes, I can hear you fine, sweetie. What does the doctor say?’
Jessica filled her in and vented some steam about Caro’s insane behaviour at the hospital.
‘That woman is so full-on,’ Tori said. ‘When will you know more about your dad?’
‘In the morning, I guess. I hope so. I have no idea how to keep myself busy until then.’ Jess came to a stop at the busy Toorak Road intersection, and looked incredulously at the usual Saturday crowds who sat sipping lattes at sidewalk cafes and casually browsed the stylish shops. Life seemed so normal. It didn’t seem right when her dad was ly
ing in a hospital bed.
‘What can I do to help, Jess?’ Tori asked, pulling Jess from her reverie.
‘Could you ring Nick and Rainbow and Songbird and let them know what’s happening?’
‘Of course,’ Tori assured her.
The traffic finally started to move. ‘Now tell me,’ said Jess. ‘How are you doing? How’s it going with your therapist?’
‘It’s going well,’ Tori said cautiously. ‘I’m scared most of the time and still just want to go shopping and forget everything, but I’m getting there. I’ve learned that I’ve been using shopping as a coping strategy and it’s actually quite destructive.’
‘That sounds like positive progress.’ Jessica pulled up to the lights next to a pimped-up Monaro and tapped her speaker volume up to hear over the roaring engine. ‘So what’s the next step?’ she asked.
‘I have to cut up all my credit cards.’ Tori’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet, but I’m working on trying to find more effective ways to get through when I feel bad; it’s just at the moment I can’t think of any...’
‘Maybe you could give me a call and we could talk things through?’ Jess suggested.
‘Thanks love, you’re a good friend. I promise to try that next time,’ Tori said, and Jess could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Anyway enough about all that, you have plenty of your own worries,’ Tori said. ‘Will you tell the boys what’s happened?’
Jess slammed her foot on the brake as the car in front of her stopped suddenly. ‘You moron, bloody moron,’ she shouted. ‘Sorry, Tori, just a crazy driver. I’m not going to say anything to the boys yet. I’ll wait till things are a bit more stable, then I’ll sneak them away from Graham so they can visit their pop.’
Jess pulled into her apartment building’s car park and turned off the engine.
‘How has that been going?’ Tori asked.
‘Not bad since I got all bolshie, actually,’ Jess laughed. ‘The new wife Karen’s okay. I feel quite sorry for her. She’s doing her best to let me sneak the occasional quick hello when they go to the park, so I feel much more connected to them.’