They dashed up the path to see an ambulance man knocking at the door. ‘We had a call,’ he said. ‘A little boy said his gran was poorly but we can’t get in. My mate’s just gone round to the back.’
‘My God, Beatrice!’ said Joshua as Sam quickly opened the door and they all went inside.
Russell rushed to meet them. ‘Grandma poorly,’ he said. ‘I rang nine-nine-nine but I can’t open the door.’
Val hugged him. ‘Never mind, Russell. The men are here now. You’re a very clever boy.’
Joshua hurried over to his wife. He knelt at her side and held her hand. ‘Beattie,’ he said. ‘Come on, Beattie, speak to me.’
‘Just a minute, sir,’ said the ambulance man. He took hold of her wrist. ‘There’s a pulse,’ he said as her eyelids started to flutter. ‘Looks like a heart attack. Come on, Bill. Let’s get moving.’
Beatrice was barely conscious as she was lifted on to a stretcher, an oxygen mask fitted on her face, then the ambulance men carried her out.
‘I’ll go with her, of course,’ said Joshua, ‘and I’ll let you know when there’s any news … Say a little prayer for her, won’t you? I don’t know if it does any good, but we have to trust that He’s listening.’
‘Grandma poorly,’ said Russell, sounding a little frightened.
‘She’ll soon be better,’ said Joshua, giving the little boy a hug. ‘And what a clever boy you were, ringing for an ambulance.’ He ruffled his hair. ‘You’re a grand little lad.’
The ambulance drove away and Val and Sam looked at one another.
‘What a shock,’ said Val. ‘Perhaps we shouldn’t have gone and left her. She was complaining of a pain.’
Sam shook his head. ‘I was sure it was indigestion like she said. She’s been having twinges for a while but it always goes off. And Mother loves her food, you know. She certainly enjoyed the dinner you made.’
‘I hope it wasn’t the pork that caused it.’
‘Not if it’s a heart attack, and I rather think it is. We have our little boy to thank that they got here in time.’
Russell was looking a little woebegone. ‘Grandma get better?’ he asked.
‘Yes, of course she will,’ said Sam. ‘Now, Mummy and I are going to do the washing up … it’ll take our minds off it all,’ he said to Val. ‘You play with your farm set and we’ll see if there’s a nice programme for you to watch before you have your tea.’
Russell rubbed his tummy. ‘Full up,’ he said.
Val laughed. ‘Well, perhaps you’ll be able to eat some ice cream; you deserve it for helping Grandma.’
Lucy was staring around wide-eyed, wondering what was going on. ‘And I’m sure Lucy’s ready for a nap,’ said Val. ‘Come along, little lady; it’s all very confusing, isn’t it?’
They did not speak much as they washed and put away the mountain of pots. Val could tell that Sam was very concerned.
‘Your mother’s a strong lady,’ she said, ‘in every way. A strong personality …’
‘That we know only too well!’ said Sam with a wry smile.
‘That’s true,’ agreed Val, ‘but she has a strong constitution as well; she’s not always complaining of feeling ill as some women do. I’m sure she’ll be all right.’
Joshua rang from the hospital a few hours later. ‘Your mother’s fully conscious now,’ he said to Sam.
‘Thank God!’ breathed Sam.
‘Yes, it was a heart attack but luckily only a minor one. That’s what the pains were that she was having but we never suspected that it was her heart. Anyway, she’ll be OK as far as they can tell, but she’ll have to stay in hospital for a day or two. There’s just one problem, Sam. She’s in Harrogate, not in Halifax, and they don’t want to move her. Can you put me up – or, I should say put up with me! – for a day or two?’
‘Of course we can, Dad, for as long as you like, although I hope for Mother’s sake that it won’t be too long. When are visiting hours?’
‘Two till four, then six till eight in the evening. Don’t come today, though, Sam; I don’t want her to get too excited. But perhaps you could all go tomorrow afternoon; I know she’s anxious to see Russell.’
‘Yes, we’ll be there,’ said Sam. ‘Will you be coming back here tonight?’
‘Yes, I’ll stay for visiting hours then I’ll get a taxi back. So I’ll see you later. You’ve got a grand little family there, you know.’
Val was relieved at the news. She hadn’t realized she had become so fond of her mother-in-law.
‘Grandma’s getting better,’ she told Russell, ‘and we’ll be going to see her tomorrow.’
It had been an exhausting day, and it was an early bedtime for all of them when Joshua had returned from the hospital.
Fortunately the store was closed the following day. Sam and Colin had agreed to have a two-day break before the New Year sales commenced. They had a quick lunch then set off in Sam’s car for the hospital.
‘What shall we take for Grandma?’ Val had asked Joshua.
‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘Just ourselves. She has everything she needs and she’s in very good hands.’
‘We must take her nightdress, though, and her slippers and dressing gown,’ said Val. ‘She was taken off in a hurry and I know she won’t like those awful hospital gowns. And there’s that bed jacket we bought for her at Christmas. That’s turned out to be a useful present, hasn’t it?’
Beatrice was sitting up in bed, propped up by two pillows. She was in a private room. Joshua had known that this was what she would prefer and had made the necessary arrangements. Understandably, she looked a little pale and her eyes looked tired, but Val had never seen her smile so radiantly or sincerely.
They all kissed her and she said how pleased she was to see them, but it was Russell she really wanted to see.
‘Where’s my grand little boy?’ she said as he stood back rather unsurely.
He was aware that this grandma was not always as friendly towards him as his other gran was. He went and stood closer to her. ‘Are you better now, Grandma?’ he asked.
‘Much better, dear,’ she said, ‘and that’s because you were such a clever boy, phoning for an ambulance.’
Val lifted him up and sat him on the bed, then Beatrice hugged him and kissed his cheek. Everybody kept saying he was a clever boy. He had remembered what they did at playgroup when they were playing at doctors, only this time it was a real doctor and ambulance, not a pretend one.
‘We are all very proud of you,’ said his gran, ‘and somebody is coming to take your photograph. I’ve told the nurses all about you.’
Val and Sam looked surprised. Then Joshua said, ‘Yes, that’s right. I didn’t tell you last night because it wasn’t certain then. There’s someone coming from the local newspaper. The doctor and nurses thought it was such a lovely story about a little boy saving his grandma’s life … She wouldn’t have died,’ he added quietly, ‘at least, we hope not, but they’ll make a good story of it, you can be sure.’
In a few moments, sure enough, a photographer and a reporter came. First of all a photo was taken of Beatrice and Russell, her arm around him as she looked at him affectionately. Then a photo of the whole family, the six of them grouped closely around the bed. Val had made sure that Beatrice was wearing her new fleecy bed jacket to cover the austere hospital nightdress.
The story made headlines in the local paper the following day. Little Boy Saves Grandma’s Life.
Russell was thrilled to see his photo, and Lucy’s as well, and all of them. But he wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. It was just something they had been told about at playgroup and he had remembered what to do.
The story told how three-year-old Russell Walker had had the presence of mind to dial 999 when his grandma became ill. There was some family information as well; that Joshua, Beatrice’s husband, was the owner of Walker’s mill in Halifax, and their son, Samuel, was co-owner of a sports shop in Harrogate.
‘We are very pr
oud of our little Russell,’ said Beatrice in the report. ‘He’s a clever boy and a great blessing to our family. He’s a little champion!’
‘What a lovely thing your mother said, about Russell being a blessing to all our family,’ Val commented as she and Sam reread the report in the newspaper later that evening, The children were in bed and Joshua was visiting his wife again. Val’s eyes were moist with tears. ‘She didn’t always think like that, did she?’
‘No, she certainly didn’t,’ agreed Sam. ‘She thought we were making a big mistake in adopting him. But it was our decision and there was no way she was going to dissuade us.’
‘No …’ said Val, ‘… but I must admit that I wondered at first if we might have been too hasty. Russell was such a difficult child, so naughty and disobedient and … I don’t like saying this, but I sometimes felt that I couldn’t love him the way that I knew I should. And I wondered if it might have been different if I’d actually given birth to him. There had never been that … bonding, you know, that you get with your own child. I felt that with Lucy straight away.’
‘Yes, and I know it was more difficult with Russell when Lucy arrived, and so unexpectedly, too,’ said Sam. ‘But she was a different kettle of fish right from the start, wasn’t she? Such a good little child. I’m not surprised you felt that way about Russell. But don’t feel guilty about it now, darling. I had my moments, too, of wondering if we’d done the right thing. But he’s turned out to be a grand little lad. You don’t have any doubts now, do you?’
‘No, of course not! I can’t imagine life without our Russell. As your mother says, he’s a little champion!’
Pastures New Page 27