It was then she decided that she felt a bit hungry. The girls had insisted she should have a little of the scrambled egg on toast at teatime but she had only picked at it. Now she felt that she might enjoy a bowl of soup. Heinz tomato soup was so comforting with its rich red colour and creamy taste. She opened a small can and poured it into a saucepan. The first gas ring she tried wouldn’t light, so she tried the second one which lit straight away. She poured the warmed soup into a bowl, then sat on the settee, clad only in her nightdress and dressing gown, to enjoy it. It tasted delicious and soothing to her dry throat.
She turned on the television, but found that she was soon bored with the variety show. She didn’t feel in the mood for the noise and laughter and her head was too achy for her to read. She was feeling a little woozy, so she decided that a really early night might be the best plan. She swallowed a Beecham’s powder with a drink of water, and after nipping along to the bathroom she climbed thankfully into bed, snuggling beneath the covers. She was not aware of the faint smell of gas.
She fell asleep quickly, but awoke an hour or so later, disturbed by the sound of loud voices in the street below the window. There was something wrong, too. Her head felt worse than before and her throat was tight. She did not know what made her get out of bed, but she did so, putting on her dressing gown and feeling around with her feet for her slippers by the side of the bed.
She sniffed. Even though her nose was blocked and her sense of smell had diminished, she could sense, just faintly, an odd smell. She sniffed again. It was gas! Oh, whatever had happened? They knew that the gas stove was a little temperamental, but they had always managed alright. Only half conscious, she staggered through the living room to the kitchen alcove, managing to switch on the small light in there. Suddenly, though, her legs felt wobbly and her head was spinning. She tried to grab hold of the edge of the sink as her knees buckled and everything went black. She fell to the floor, banging her head on the corner of the fridge as she landed in a lifeless heap.
Neil put down the book he was reading. It was not holding him, even though it was an adventure story by Wilbur Smith, an author he usually enjoyed. He hadn’t felt like watching TV and had thought it might be a pleasant change to read a book without any interruptions. Alistair and Adam were out for the evening with the girls from upstairs, which was where he and Lisa should have been. It had made good sense, though, for them both to stay in tonight, separately. He would have preferred to keep her company in either her flat or his, but Lisa had convinced him it would be foolish. She really had a shocking cold, the poor love. He knew she must be feeling absolutely wretched. It wasn’t like her to miss lectures and, as she said, he wouldn’t want to catch it when they could avoid that by staying apart. It would only be for a day or two.
But he was missing her so much and was worried about her, too. She looked such a frail little thing, although he knew she had hidden reserves of strength. Look at the way she was facing up to her parents about their opposition to her friendship with him. He glanced at his watch. It was just turned ten o’clock. Although she had told him not to do so, Neil decided he would pay her a visit and see how she was feeling. She may well have gone to bed. If so he would not disturb her. But if she was sitting on her own he could stay with her for a little while, keeping his distance, of course.
He went up the stairs hoping that Lisa had not locked the outer door of the flat. She hadn’t; it was closed but not locked. As soon as he entered the room he was aware of the strong smell of gas. He switched on the light and hurried through to the tiny kitchen. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. Lisa, his lovely Lisa was lying on the floor, clearly unconscious, with her head perilously near to the gas stove. Surely she couldn’t have tried …? No, she wouldn’t have done that. Lisa hadn’t been depressed, just feeling miserable and ill with the cold. The smell was very strong in here and there was an unmistakable hissing sound. He gasped in horror as he realized that one of the gas taps had been turned on and not lit. He quickly turned it off, then knelt down and put his arms around Lisa, trying to rouse her. There was a bruise on her forehead, her eyes were closed and her breathing was very shallow. He left her, just for a moment, while he went to the window. He drew back the curtains, then opened all the windows to let in as much air as possible. Then he hurried back to her, feeling frantically for the pulse in her wrist. He must ring for an ambulance at once, but he didn’t want to leave her. He knew he mustn’t try to move her, but he grabbed a cushion from the settee and placed it beneath her head.
‘I shall have to leave you for a minute, Lisa, love,’ he whispered to her, although she couldn’t hear him, ‘while I ring for an ambulance.’
Just as he was crossing the room he heard the sound of voices on the stairs. The door opened and Debbie and Graham came in.
‘Oh … hello there, Neil,’ said Debbie. ‘I thought you weren’t seeing Lisa tonight …’ She stopped at the look of consternation on his face. ‘What’s the matter? Is she worse?’
‘She’s had an accident,’ he shouted back as he rushed towards the stairs. ‘Gas … in the kitchen. Look after her, will you, while I ring for an ambulance?’
‘Oh goodness! Poor Lisa!’ Debbie crouched on the floor by her friend. ‘Lisa … Lisa, it’s me, Debbie. Can you hear me?’ But the girl made no response.
She turned frantically to Graham. ‘You don’t think she’s … gone, do you? We should never have left her on her own.’
Graham knelt down as well. He took hold of Lisa’s limp wrist and felt for a pulse. ‘She’s alright … just; she’s still with us, but it’s very faint. Try not to worry too much, Debbie. She’ll be in good hands very soon.’
‘I wonder what happened? She’s usually so very careful.’ Debbie looked around the small kitchen. ‘It looks as though she had a tin of soup. Oh dear! We should have made her something, but she said she wasn’t hungry.’
‘I should imagine she left a gas ring on,’ said Graham. ‘Easily done, I suppose, if you’re not feeling well.’
Neil returned at that moment. ‘Yes, that is what happened,’ he said. ‘This one was full on and not lit. It’s a good job I came up when I did, although you were not far behind me, were you?’
‘The film finished quite early,’ said Debbie, ‘so we came back instead of going for a drink. Everywhere was crowded … Oh, I feel so helpless. I hope the ambulance won’t be long.’
‘I’ll go downstairs and wait for it,’ said Graham. ‘If I stand outside they’ll know just where to stop.’
‘Mr Perkins is already waiting,’ said Neil. ‘I told him what had happened.’
‘I’ll go and wait with him,’ said Graham. ‘One feels so inadequate, but all we can do is wait.’
‘I love Lisa very much,’ Neil said quietly to Debbie as they knelt together at her side. ‘I haven’t known her very long, but I know she’s the right girl for me.’
‘And she feels the same way about you, Neil,’ said Debbie. ‘I hope things work out alright for you, with her parents.’
‘It will … It must,’ said Neil.
There was a sound on the stairs, not the ambulance men, though; it was Karen and Adam returning, with Alistair and Fran close on their heels.
‘We’ve just heard,’ said Fran. ‘Poor Lisa!’
‘Oh please, God, let her be alright …’ It was Karen, surprisingly, who uttered the unspoken prayer of them all. Then they waited in silence.
It wasn’t long, although it seemed much longer to them, before the ambulance arrived. Two men came up the stairs and got on efficiently with their task. They lifted Lisa on to the stretcher, covered her with a blanket and placed an oxygen mask over her face.
‘We’ll do our best,’ one of them said. ‘Try not to worry too much. Perhaps one of you would come with her to the hospital? Are any of you relations?’
‘No, just good friends,’ replied Debbie.
‘I’m her boyfriend,’ said Neil, a little diffidently. ‘I’d like to be with her, if that’s
alright?’ They all agreed that it was the best idea.
‘Righty-ho then, young feller,’ said the ambulance man. ‘You come along with us.’
They all went downstairs and watched as their friend was lifted into the ambulance. It drove off swiftly, with the blaring noise of the siren, to the hospital near the city centre.
The six of them sat looking at one another disconsolately for a few moments, not speaking. Then Karen said, ‘I’ll go and make some tea, shall I?’ The others all nodded assent. She laughed a little shakily. ‘It’s what we always do in a crisis, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose it gives us something to do while we’re waiting,’ said Fran. ‘I wonder when we’ll know about Lisa? Do you think we should ring up soon and see how she is?’
‘I think we ought to let her parents know,’ said Debbie. ‘I mean – we hope she’s going to be alright – but if … well, if something was to happen to her – God forbid – it would be a dreadful shock for them if they didn’t even know she’d gone into hospital.’
‘You’re right,’ said Fran. ‘Of course you are. Drink your tea first, Debbie,’ she told her, as Karen returned with the teapot and mugs on a tray, ‘and then go next door and ring. Unless you’d like me to do it? I don’t mind, but you’re the one who knows her best, I would say, with sharing a room, and she confides in you, doesn’t she?’
Debbie nodded. ‘Poor Lisa! She’s such a dear little girl, isn’t she? Well, she’s not a little girl any longer, but I’m sure that’s how her parents still think of her. And she does bring out our protective instincts, doesn’t she? Oh … we must find their telephone number – Lisa’s mum and dad – mustn’t we?’
‘It’ll be in her address book,’ said Karen. ‘I know she’s got one ’cause she writes a lot of letters to friends. I’ll see if I can find it.’
She came back in a few moments with a little red book which she handed to Debbie. ‘You look for it; D for Dobson.’
‘Yes, I do know that …’ Debbie half smiled. ‘Here it is; a Sheffield number. Lucky she’s put the code as well. I’ll go right now.’
Rhoda Perkins waited with her as she dialled the number, and Debbie was glad of that. The woman gave her moral support; it was such a difficult message to give to Lisa’s parents. It was Mr Dobson who answered.
‘Hello, who is that?’ he asked, a trifle gruffly. It was rather late in the evening.
‘Hello, Mr Dobson; it’s Debbie Hargreaves,’ she replied. ‘I’m afraid Lisa has had a slight accident.’ She heard his sharp intake of breath.
‘What? What is it? Is she alright? Where is she?’
‘She had a bad cold, and we think she left a gas tap on by mistake,’ Debbie tried to explain. ‘She was … well, she’d fainted, you see, and when we found her we sent for an ambulance straight away. She’s in the hospital in Leeds. We thought you ought to know.’
‘If there someone with her? You didn’t let her go on her own, did you?’
‘No, of course not. Her friend’s with her … Neil. He wanted to go with her, and the rest of us are waiting in the flat.’
‘Oh yes … I see.’ Debbie heard a muffled conversation and realized that his wife had come to the phone. ‘It’s our Lisa. She’s had a little accident, and she’s in hospital … yes, in Leeds. Now try not to upset yerself, love. We’ll go and find out what’s happening. Yes, we’ll go right now … We’re coming now,’ he said in a louder voice to Debbie. ‘We were just going to bed, but we’ll set off in the car straight away. Which hospital did you say? Where is it?’
Debbie told him as accurately as she could the way to Leeds City Hospital.
‘Thank you, Debbie, for letting us know,’ he said as he rang off.
Alistair and Adam had made no move to go back to the downstairs flat, nor Graham to make his way home. When Debbie returned they decided there was nothing they could do and it was pointless to hang about any longer.
‘Let’s hope there’s some good news by morning,’ said Debbie as they all said their goodbyes. She reflected that at least it would put an end to the friction between Lisa and her parents.
Once again it was Karen who uttered the thought that was in all their minds. ‘God moves in a mysterious way, doesn’t He?’ she said, as the girls made their way to bed.
Fifteen
Debbie slept fitfully, waking up every hour or so with the happenings of the evening before being played over and over in her mind. The time she had spent with Graham, though, had been overshadowed by the later events.
She had felt quite contented and at ease with him as they had walked back home after the visit to the cinema. She had enjoyed the film despite her misgivings, and as far as Graham was concerned she had decided to let matters take their course. She didn’t feel like making any commitments yet with regard to settling down to a steady relationship, either with Graham or with anyone else. She felt, though, that he might be making a tentative move towards a more permanent friendship, inasmuch as he had invited her to visit his home – that was the home of his mother and stepfather – in Manchester during the Christmas period. They had not arranged a definite date, but one suggestion was that she could travel to Manchester for the weekend just before the college term started. It would mean curtailing her stay with her parents whom she had not seen since September, and she was not too happy about that. But she had not liked to turn down Graham’s invitation. All thoughts of this and everything else had vanished, however, on finding Lisa unconscious on the kitchen floor.
Debbie was wide awake at half past seven. She knocked on Fran and Karen’s bedroom door, and on entering she found that they, too, were awake and talking, of course, about Lisa.
‘Do you think it’s too early to ring and find out how she is?’ said Debbie. ‘I won’t be able to eat any breakfast or do anything until we know.’
‘I’ll go and ring now,’ said Karen, jumping out of bed. ‘I’ll just put my dressing gown on seeing as it’s only next door. I dare say Rhoda and Alf’ll be up. Put the kettle on, you two. I’ve got a feeling that Lisa’s going to be OK.’
‘I hope to goodness she’s right,’ murmured Fran as the two of them waited for Karen to return. It’s incredible, isn’t it? The four of us have only known one another a short while. I know it seems longer but it’s less than three months. And yet we care so much, don’t we, about one another? I’ve had girlfriends before, but it’s never been like this. I’d always thought of myself as a rather blasé sort of person. It just goes to show …’
She didn’t say exactly what it showed, but Debbie understood her meaning. She felt touched by Fran’s words. Francesca gave the impression at times that she was uncaring and somewhat self-centred, but now she was as concerned about Lisa as any of them. ‘It’s with us living together,’ Debbie replied. ‘We’ve become responsible for one another … and I think it’s wonderful.’
She glanced at Fran now as she sat smoking a cigarette in a seemingly nonchalant manner, but things were not always as they appeared to be. Debbie was wearing her old fleecy red dressing gown with the cord tied round the waist, the one she had had since she was fourteen or so. Fran’s gown – or housecoat, as she called it – was rather more exotic; midnight blue velvet with a pink rose motif on the collar and pockets, and her feet were shod in wedge-heeled mules adorned with satin bows.
They didn’t have to wait long, and when Karen returned they knew at once that the news was good, or at least promising. ‘Lisa’s OK,’ she shouted even before she entered the room. ‘They don’t give much away, but I was put through to the ward, and the sister – or whoever – said that Miss Dobson was conscious and as well as could be expected.’
‘Oh … thank God for that!’ breathed Debbie. ‘When can we go and see her? Did you ask?’
‘Yes; visiting time is two till four, then again in the evening. Only two at a time, so if we all go we’ll have to take it in turns.’
‘Of course we’ll all go,’ said Fran. ‘I wonder if Neil’s still there? Maybe not,
as she’s come round. And Lisa’s parents …?’
Right on cue there was a knock at the door, then Neil popped his head round. ‘Oh, sorry,’ he said, noting their night time apparel. ‘Just wanted to tell you that Lisa’s awake. She’s a bit woozy, but it seems that she’s going to be alright, thank God.’
‘It’s OK, Neil. Come right in,’ said Karen. ‘We’re all quite decent! I’ve just rung up and heard the news meself. We’re having a cuppa; d’you want one?’
‘No thanks; I’m going to get some shut-eye,’ said Neil. ‘They let me wait in the lounge, and there’s a comfy chair so I nodded off once or twice. Not for long, though, as you can imagine. I’m so relieved now …’ He shook his head dazedly. ‘You can’t imagine how much … Lisa’s parents arrived in the early hours. So we met, didn’t we?’ He gave a rueful smile.
‘Oh … I see. So how did it go?’ asked Debbie.
‘Quite well … Yes, I think it’s going to be OK.’ His face lit up with a satisfied smile. ‘Anyway, I must go. See you later, girls.’
Karen grinned. ‘What did I say?’ She cast her eyes heavenwards. ‘He moves in mysterious ways, doesn’t He?’ The three girls took a bus to the city and arrived at the hospital soon after two o’clock. On arriving at the ward they were told that Lisa already had a visitor, a young man, whom they guessed would be Neil.
‘You go in first, Debbie,’ the other two told her, ‘and we’ll wait.’
‘P’raps we shouldn’t all have come,’ Karen said to the nurse in charge, ‘but we’ve been real worried about our friend.’
‘Well … I dare say we could stretch a point and allow three,’ said the nurse. ‘But the young man hasn’t been here long.’
‘It’s OK,’ said Karen. ‘We’ll sit and read your magazines, won’t we, Fran?’ She flopped down in a chair in the waiting area and picked up a three-month-old copy of Vogue.
Lisa was sitting up in bed with Neil close beside her, holding her hand. She looked pale and tired but her eyes shone with pleasure when she saw her friend. Debbie hugged her and kissed her cheek.
Old Friends, New Friends Page 18