‘Ellie, I’m back early,’ I called as I flung open the door. I tensed up immediately. Oliver was screaming his head off upstairs. I wasn’t as good as Ellie at recognising his cries, but that wasn’t an I’m hungry scream, that was an I’m in pain and seriously pissed off scream. ‘Ellie, what the hell’s going on?’ I called, as I dropped the bags and ran up to her office. Oliver was in his playpen near her desk, her laptop screensaver glowing.
‘Dada,’ screamed Oliver as he saw me. I gulped as I took in the state of him. He was bright red and had vomit all down his front.
‘Hey, hey big boy, it’s ok. Mummy’s gone to get some fresh clothes for you as you’ve made such a mess of these,’ I reassured him, as I picked him up and sat him on the floor at my feet. I crouched down and used some of the wet wipes lying at his side to try and clean him up. ‘Fuck, you’re seriously hot,’ I swore, as he looked at me with big round tearful eyes, as his little chest shook between each sob. I should have listened to her, she was right, I shouldn’t have gone out. I wondered why she hadn’t already taken him to the doctor. ‘Ellie?’ I yelled, as I lifted him up and tried to calm him down. I picked up the phone and dialled Dean.
‘Afternoon, Sir. How are you?’
‘How fast can you get here? Oliver’s really sick, I need to get him to the hospital.’
‘Twenty minutes, Sir. Be ready.’ He put the phone down immediately, and I blew out a deep breath. So much for staying calm and not letting Oliver sense my fear. He was still crying, though he’d calmed down a little bit. What the bloody hell was taking Ellie so long? I dialled the McAdams number.
‘Hello Daniel,’ came Mrs. McAdams voice. ‘Is that Oliver I can hear crying in the background?’
‘Yes, Dean’s flying over now, I’m taking him to the hospital. Is Ellie up there with you?’
‘Ellie? Of course not, she’d never go anywhere without him.’
‘That’s what I thought, but I have no idea where she is, I’ve been calling for her and she’s not answering.’
‘Maybe she needed a sleep, it’s very tiring being pregnant.’
‘Yes, but she’d have taken Oliver to our bedroom with her, not left him alone in her office.’
‘Maybe she’s not well either and she’s in one of the hundred bathrooms you have in that house. I’ll come down right away.’
‘Thanks,’ I sighed I put the phone down. ‘Sssshhhh baby, it’s ok, we’re going to take you to see a doctor who’ll make you better, ok? Let’s go and find mummy and make sure she’s ok, she’s probably got your bug too.’ I checked the upstairs en-suites first and cursed the fact that we’d decided not to knock a door through to our master bedroom up here. I padded down and called for her again as I checked the cinema room, then the utility. My heart was starting to beat faster and my palms felt clammy. Something felt off, she’d never leave him, unless he was tucked up in bed, or with me, or someone else. I walked through to the playroom and checked Oliver’s bedroom and en-suite, panic starting to rise when I didn’t find her in either. I walked through to the other bedroom, which would be our baby’s new room when he or she arrived. ‘Ellie?’ I yelled, then winced as Oliver started crying again.
‘Dada,’ he sobbed.
‘I know baby, I know, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,’ I whispered, as I kissed his hot forehead and walked out. I froze in my tracks, as my heart moved up into my mouth and threatened to explode. She was lying face down at the foot of the stairs with blood matted through her blonde hair, blood that was all over the oak floor like a dark red halo around her head. ‘No, no, no,’ I groaned, as I fought the urge to be sick myself. ‘Not you too, not you.’
‘Daniel, what’s going on?’ asked Mrs. McAdams, as she ran in and looked at my face and Oliver crying on my shoulder. I couldn’t move, I wanted to run to Ellie, to pull her into my arms and tell her she was going to be fine, but there was so much blood I couldn’t. The minute I touched her and had the worst confirmed it would kill me too.
‘O sweet Jesus,’ Mrs. McAdams cried. I couldn’t look at her, I couldn’t take my eyes of Ellie crumpled on the floor, off the sight of my world falling apart at the seams. ‘Ellie?’
‘Dada,’ Oliver moaned as he tried to get out of my grasp, but no way was I letting him go, he might be all I had left. I stayed rooted to the spot, tightly clutching Oliver, as Mrs. McAdams ran over to Ellie, knelt on the floor and put her fingers on her neck. Those seconds waiting for her to speak were the longest of my life, the sound of my heart beating crazily was deafening.
‘O thank God, she’s alive, she’s alive,’ nodded Mrs. McAdams. I blinked back tears, backed up into the wall and slid down it until I was sitting on the floor, relief coursing through my veins as the shock started to hit me. ‘Right, pull it together, they both need medical attention so you don’t have time for a melt-down right now,’ she scolded. ‘You’re Oliver Daniel Davenport, CEO and bossy control freak. You’ll get up and pull yourself together. They both need you.’
‘She’s alive?’ I whispered, needing reassurance. She nodded and I felt the pain in my heart lessen slightly.
‘Her pulse is really weak and I’m too scared to move her in case I cause more damage.’
‘Dean’s on his way,’ I nodded, as I found the strength to get back up. ‘He’s a trained paramedic.’
‘Grab me that blanket to keep her warm,’ she ordered as she pointed at the sofa and I did as I was told, handing it to her, barely able to look down at the state my Ellie was in as she carefully covered her. ‘Ring Fred and tell him to get his arse down here to pack Oliver’s bag, you go upstairs and pack a bag for Ellie. Nightie, some t-shirts, a clean pair of jeans or whatever and fresh underwear.’
‘Ok,’ I nodded. I rang Mr. McAdams from the kitchen and gave him a summary of the situation. Like Dean he put the phone down without any pleasantries. That was men for you, see a problem, fix it. Except I seemed to have turned into a woman, an emotional bloody wreck, I could barely think straight. I was petrified of losing her. I reluctantly took Oliver to his room and sat him in his cot, trying to breathe deeply to calm myself as I tried to tempt him with one of his favourite toys. All I could hear was his cries, all I could see was my Ellie lying there motionless. All because I’d ignored her concerns this morning, all because I’d bloody left them alone. My past wasn’t just affecting me, it was affecting my whole family, my present and now my future. I couldn’t bear leaving Oliver alone, so I lifted him up, settled him against me, and headed back out, feeling my stomach turn again as I saw her lying there with Mrs. McAdams stroking her hair. I should be the one helping her, she was my responsibility, my woman. I felt so damn helpless.
‘If you’re up to it and you promise not to move her, you sit here with her, talk to her in case she can hear you. Her head wound has stopped bleeding, I think. I’ll pack her bags, men are hopeless at packing.’ She sounded so calm it only served to highlight my panicked terror. I watched as she stood up and carefully made her way up the stairs bending over to pick up the thermometer and a face cloth lying halfway up the stairs and I silently cursed. I bet Ellie had been rushing down with those to head back to Oliver and wasn’t looking where she was going. I wondered how long she’d been lying there, how long Oliver had been screaming while I was sitting with Moira, who probably didn’t even know I was there. I carefully sat down next to her, trying not to sit in, or put my hand in, her congealed blood on the floor, as bile rose in my throat.
‘Baby, please wake up. We need you, I need you. I thought I knew how much, but seeing you like this just multiples that. Don’t you dare leave me, if you think you’ve seen me pissed off before, you’ll need to revise that assessment if you even think about not coming back to us.’ I kissed Oliver’s head, hoping I wasn’t giving him some kind of childhood trauma that would stay with him for life seeing his mum like this. I reached out with a shaking hand and lay it over one of hers, she barely felt warm. ‘Come back to me, Ellie. Please,’ I begged, as I fought the urge
to break down and sob.
‘O my God,’ came a voice. I looked up to see Mr. McAdams. I just swallowed and nodded. ‘Don’t move her. Where’s Mary?’
‘Getting a bag together for, Ellie.’
‘I’ll sort one for Oliver, don’t look so surprised, I’ve had six children. I do know what to do, I just never told the Mrs or she’d have me doing it all the time,’ he winked, trying to lighten the mood. I attempted a half-smile before I turned my head to watch the clock on the wall, the seconds ticking away agonisingly slowly. Anything to not look down and see her lying like that, in a pool of her own blood. Oliver had finally stopped sobbing and now just let out the odd wobbly lipped gasp. I lay my head on top of his wondering what I’d done in life to deserve such bad luck. I suddenly took a pained gasp, the baby, I hadn’t even thought about our new baby in my state of panic. If I lost both of them now, that would surely finish me off. Only the sound of the helicopter blades slicing through the air above us cheered me up.
‘Hold on baby, Dean’s here, he’ll know what to do. Just hold on for me.’
‘Ok, the baby bag’s good to go. Why don’t you give me Oliver to look after? Dean’s going to need to bring the stretcher, go and meet him, I’ll stay with them both.’
I nodded and kissed my fingers before putting them on Ellie’s head. After blinking back my tears I got up, handed Oliver over and finally a surge of adrenaline kicked it. I was no longer helpless, I could do something now. I started running, out of the house and up the path to the helicopter clearing on top of the hill, ignoring the burning in my lungs. I was so out of shape since they’d moved in, too much time spent playing with Oliver, eating Ellie’s home cooked meals, in bed having sex. I made it to the top to find Dean patiently waiting with the blades still turning. I yelled at him and indicated to cut the engine and he looked at me surprised, before removing his headphones and jumping out.
‘Where’s Oliver?’ he shouted.
‘The house. Ellie’s in really bad shape as well, she’s unconscious, she fell down the stairs. Grab the stretcher,’ I yelled. He nodded and slid the passenger door back, pulled it out and slung a red medics bag over his shoulder.
‘Have you moved her?’ he asked as he ran towards me.
‘No just covered her with a blanket, her pulse is really weak. Oliver’s bad too with a high temperature, diarrhoea and vomiting and he won’t stop crying,’ I advised, as we started to run back down the hill.
‘I need to look at Ellie first, if Oliver’s crying he’s not in as much danger as she is.’
I swallowed hard as I heard the word danger, took my focus off my footing and fell, sliding down the rock pathway. ‘Go,’ I yelled as Dean slowed and looked back at me. ‘I’m fine, don’t stop.’ I took a moment to catch my breath as he hared off in front of me. ‘Get up Oliver Davenport, she needs you.’ I grimaced as I stood up, I had a deep cut down the side of my leg where some granite had sliced through my jeans which were also stained with my blood, my hand was bleeding too, but I could worry about my minor injuries later, all that mattered was my family. I charged into the house to find Mrs. McAdams holding Oliver, with one of our medium sized suitcases by her side, she looked at me and shook her head as she saw the state of me. I skidded on my knees across the floor to where Dean had put Ellie’s neck in some kind of brace and Mr. McAdams was helping him turn her over onto the stretcher.
‘Stay back, Sir,’ Dean warned. ‘You’re upset and your hands are shaking, you’re no use to me or her like this.’
‘I need to do something,’ I yelled, as I punched the wall in frustration and Oliver started crying again. I was right back there at Rebecca’s bedside, feeling totally fucking helpless again.
‘Oliver?’ My mother’s voice echoed in the private room I’d secured and I raised my head from my forearms, which were balanced on the railings on the side of Oliver’s hospital bed. The look on her face said everything and I felt tears start to roll down my face. She shoved her bag in my father’s hands and ran to fling her arms around me and clutch my head to her stomach, as I started to sob. ‘It’s ok, we’re here now. I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve this,’ she whispered as she kissed the top of my head.
‘How’s little Oliver doing?’ asked my father. He was never overly emotional, not that I’d ever seen anyway, he was always so in control. He must be so disappointed to see me sobbing like a girl in my mother’s arms.
‘Dehydrated,’ I replied, as I quickly pulled myself together and wiped my eyes on my sleeve as mother released me and ran her hand up and down my back. ‘He has this sickness bug that laid me out, so they’ve put him on a drip and given him some medication to help bring his temperature down. He’s only just fallen asleep. He knew something was wrong with everyone being so upset and just kept crying for Ellie.’
‘What’s the news on her?’ Mother asked softly. ‘Dean filled us in on her injuries when he picked us up. She has a broken wrist and concussion?’
‘We’re waiting for the results of a CT scan, she hasn’t … she hasn’t come around yet. They’re setting her wrist while we wait and she’s really badly bruised from the fall,’ I nodded as my voice wavered.
‘You’re not here on your own are you?’ she asked.
‘No. Mr. and Mrs. McAdams went to get me some coffee, to give me a minute with Oliver.’
‘What happened?’ she sighed as she took a seat next to me and took my hand in hers.
‘I’m not sure, I wasn’t there,’ I laughed. My parents looked at me shocked. ‘Ironic isn’t it? Sitting at the bed of my comatose wife, while my girlfriend’s lying unconscious in our own house as my son screams for her.’
‘You’re doing the best you can under less than ideal circumstances, son,’ nodded my father. ‘You couldn’t have done anymore. You got them both here as fast as you could. You just have to be patient now.’
‘The baby?’ Mother whispered. I gulped and nodded.
‘As far as we’re aware from the scan it’s fine, they’ll be monitoring them both closely.’
‘O, baby,’ she sighed making me smile. Only she could get away with calling me baby, at the age of thirty-five as well. We all whipped our heads around as the door was opened, to see it was Mr. and Mrs McAdams with my coffee and a couple of sandwiches. I gladly accepted the coffee, but I couldn’t eat, not while I didn’t know what was happening to Ellie. I zoned out again as they all started talking and picked up Oliver’s tiny hand and kissed it. He was still hot, but much better than when we’d brought him in. Seeing him with an IV in his other hand hurt me, you always imagined adults getting sick, never children. I gave a lot of money each year to charity, but now I saw him lying here, I was going to set aside a big chunk of it for sick children’s foundations.
‘Ok there’s too many people in here,’ called a nurse.
‘We’ll get Dean to take us back to the house and we can clean up for you,’ advised Mrs. McAdams as she put a hand on my shoulder. ‘You be sure to ring us the minute there’s any change.’
‘I will. Thank you, for everything,’ I smiled.
‘I’ll make up the guest room for your parents as well, I doubt they’ll be able to stay the night here too. I’ll send Dean back for them when visiting hours are over.’ I nodded and she kissed the top of my head. I exchanged a nod and a smile with Mr. McAdams as they said their goodbyes and left, as the nurse checked Oliver’s temperature and switched out his IV bag.
‘He’s doing better, he won’t have to stay with us too long, don’t worry.’
‘What about … about …’
‘Your wife? The doctor will be down to talk to you shortly.’
‘She’s not … she’s ok?’ I asked, stopping myself from correcting her. Why wouldn’t people think she was my wife? We had a child and another one on the way.
‘The doctor will be down shortly,’ she smiled, evading my question. ‘Can I recheck your stitches.’
‘Stitches?’ My mother gasped.
‘It’s nothing, just
a cut,’ I muttered, embarrassed at the fuss.
‘I still need to see,’ ordered the nurse as she pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. I rolled my eyes and twisted in the chair to let her see through the gap in my ripped jeans. ‘Do I look like Superman? I don’t have the ability to see through walls or material. Drop them please.’
‘Be thankful you didn’t break your penis,’ Mother nodded as I glared at the nurse, stood and did as I was told.
‘Luiza,’ warned my father.
‘Well, it is a serious situation, I don’t cope well with serious. A little humour is what is needed. We should have picked up Brooke, she would have got my humour.’
‘Damn it,’ I groaned. ‘Brooke and Molly. I didn’t think. Has anyone spoken to them?’
‘No,’ came the chorus from my parents.
‘Shit, I’d better ring Phillip to fuel the plane and fly them up from London. Are we done here?’ I asked the nurse crouching at my feet examining my leg, as I pulled my phone out.
‘This is a hospital, not your private office,’ she chastised, as she stood up and grabbed my hand that had some stitches as well. ‘Make your calls outside or I’ll confiscate your phone.’
‘Give it to me son, I’ll go and call her.’ I threw it over and shook my head, as my hand was inspected as if I’d just lost some fingers to frost bite and had major reattachment surgery.
‘Is this fuss necessary? I’m fine, I’m more interested in knowing what’s happened to Ellie.’
‘Patience is a virtue, Mr. Davenport, one I get the feeling you don’t have much of. I understand that this is a trying and stressful time for you, but your son and wife need you to be at full fitness to look after them. I’m only doing my job.’
‘I’m sorry, I’m more than a little stressed.’
‘Apology accepted, now I’ll see if I can chase up the doctor with some news for you.’
I paced the room as I waited for an update, biting my thumb nail. What the hell was taking so long? Surely it couldn’t be Moira all over again? I wasn’t sure how I’d cope with that, I’d want to give up, but Oliver still needed me. I looked over at him, dwarfed in the big single bed, protected by the rails on each side and pillows around him, his favourite teddy by his side. He may be a big boy for his age, but right now he looked so tiny and defenceless, he needed me, even more if we lost Ellie. I’d have to go on, to be everything he needed. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to do it.
31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) Page 40