Time Out of Mind

by Ruth Hay

  Her eye fell on the swimming bag at the foot of her bed. What about the college swim team raising money for the physiotherapy pool at the nursing home? It was unlikely the team could fund the entire pool but they might be able to make a good start and encourage others to take up the idea. How could they advertise the notion in an interesting way?

  Caroline began to type furiously. She had permissions to seek, suppliers to contact, and her posse of friends to enlist. There was no way to achieve the results she wanted on her own.

  It looked like her whole family was going to be involved as well as everyone she knew.

  “I’d better get busy!” she warned herself. “Time is of the essence, as they always say. I’m not sure what that means but it sounds right under the circumstances!”

  Chapter Eight

  “Caroline! It’s Janine! Pick up the phone please. You’ve been ignoring my text messages and I can’t seem to track you down this week. What’s up? Call or text me ASAP! I mean it!”

  “Have you heard this phone message yet, Caroline? Janine has called several times.”

  Her mother’s concerned voice jolted Caroline away from her preoccupation with the schedule of events on her laptop. She put down the spoon she was holding suspended over the cereal bowl, and turned to face her mother.

  “Uh, what did you say? I’m sorry; I was trying to work something out.”

  “Yes, I see, and that is exactly the problem. You have too much on your plate right now, Caroline, and I am not talking about food, Mike, before you say something smart.”

  Mike shrugged as if a smart remark was the furthest thing from his mind at that moment, but he watched the exchange between his sister and mother with great interest. It wasn’t often that Caroline, The Perfect One, heard the sharp edge of her mother’s tongue and he wasn’t about to miss one word.

  “It’s OK mum, honestly. I’ll talk to Janine today, I promise. It’s just that I had a lot to do this week but most of it is falling into place and I should be clear after this weekend.”

  “I hope you mean that! I am worried that you are trying to juggle too many balls in the air and some of them will get dropped. You have exams soon and you have commitments at the nursing home now. My mother and father are coming for Sunday lunch and I know you want to talk to them about your great-gran. Your father tells me he is taking you to London to meet a client of his on Saturday. It’s too much, Caro. You simply can’t keep up this pace much longer.”

  Caroline closed her laptop and sent a chilly look towards her brother who was miming a juggler struggling, and failing, to catch dropped balls behind his mother’s back.

  “You are right, mum. I have been overdoing it but I swear I can manage. I have a whole team at the college to help me with my project and with my studying. In fact I am going to meet with them today at lunch break and hear committee reports. The worst is over now. Everything should go ahead smoothly from here on.”

  Caroline anxiously watched her mother’s expression to see if she was in any way convinced by these words. In truth, Caroline was worried about the massive project she had initiated.

  She had already lost sleep, planning and re-planning to prevent disaster. The trouble was that so many of her ideas were dependent on other peoples’ approval and cooperation. If it was all up to her, she knew she could cope, but when adult cooperation was required the results were uncertain at best.

  She had already submitted her ambitious plans to the college supervisor, and to Eva Singh, with the proviso that a number of financial elements were still to be confirmed. The meeting today would settle some of these issues, and then the Saturday interview with Mr. Johnson would finalize things. Or else, it might all fall apart, she confessed silently to herself, while smiling as reassuringly as she could, at her mother.

  “You had better be right about this, Caroline. I don’t often interfere, as you know, but I will be watching you carefully from now on.”

  Caroline escaped from the kitchen clutching her laptop. One or two more days and the pressure should ease considerably. The project, now named, ‘Community Connections’, and nicknamed C3 by her friends as, “Caroline’s Crazy Commitments”, had assumed huge importance in her life, far beyond the initial intention of gaining credits and bonus time out of class. Now it was a mission to demonstrate the value of student input in society’s problems and challenges, and she was determined to succeed.

  Whenever her energy began to flag, she only had to think of Gigi and the stories she had learned about the residents at the nursing home and her resolve was renewed.

  * * *

  The lunch break seemed to take forever to arrive. Caroline was prepared to meet the gang with questions and report forms at the ready, but she had not even started to organize her paperwork before Janine and Ashley converged on her table in the cafeteria, yelling together.

  “Where have you been, dude? We have so much to tell you. You won’t believe what Ashley did! Push over and give us room.”

  Caroline moved some of her papers to the side and her two friends bracketed her with their trays of food. “Well, you know I’ve been busy,” she began apologetically.

  “But so have we!” declared Ashley. “I found this amazing store in London online where we can get anything we want silk-screened on any style of shirt we design and they will give us express delivery and no extra charge!”

  Caroline opened her mouth to comment but Janine interrupted her. “Just wait till you hear this! I canvassed all the student clubs in college to see if anyone wanted to volunteer their time, and I got way more than I expected. The Psych department wants to set up a test to see if learned skills involved in playing a game like chess can survive in the brain even after the onset of dementia.”

  “Hold on a minute, Janine, I haven’t got permission to go ahead with my project yet!”

  Caroline could feel little beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she contemplated the trouble she would be in if her plans were not approved. There were so many people involved now and Janine was about to add a whole lot more who might well be disappointed.

  “Oh, you’ll get permission, don’t worry, little worrywart!” Janine stated firmly while counting off her discoveries on her fingers. Caroline hoped fervently that only one hand would be needed for this task, and she swallowed convulsively as Janine rattled on with great confidence.

  “The Garden Club can’t wait to take on the nursing home gardens, and they have spades at the ready as soon as you say when to go. They will visit local nurseries and get sample plants, provided we can place a plaque with the nursery names in the finished gardens.

  The Harriers were looking for a cause to donate to when they end the year with their sponsored Fun Run in May, and Sheila Stewart in year three helps her parents train rescue dogs and wants to bring their best dogs to the nursing home for supervised visits.”

  Janine sat back with a pleased expression on her face and waited expectantly for Caroline to shower her with praise.

  Caroline was in no condition to say anything. Her heart was thumping with panic. She had a vivid image of a rabbit surrounded by generations of baby bunnies who seemed to multiply every time you looked away for a moment.

  “That’s fantastic, Janine!” exclaimed Ashley, enthusiastically thumping her friend on the back.

  “Now, leave Caroline to absorb all that, while we eat lunch. There’s Adam coming over with more news.”

  Adam sat down opposite Caroline and immediately noted her stunned expression. He asked if she felt all right.

  “I guess so,” she whispered, “but I think I have accidently created a monster.”

  “I disagree. You have certainly started something that’s probably bigger than you intended but that doesn’t diminish the idea you had in the first place. You just hit on a topic and a time frame that appeal to a lot of people. How can you complain, Caroline, when so many of us want to help you succeed?”

  Adam opened up a lunch bag and extracted a huge sandwich,
an apple and a carton of yogurt and proceeded to eat them with relish.

  Caroline looked over at him and thought how different he seemed when he was dry. In his swim trunks at the pool he was much like the other guys on the team, but his personality really showed at school with his pale skin, dark-lined eyes and jet black hair combed down over his forehead. The all-black clothing was another contrast although the long overcoat he wore in town was not approved for college wear. He called himself a Neo-Goth and stated to all enquirers that this gear was common in London. Caroline doubted if shoppers passing him on the local High Street could guess what a neat guy he was under all the scary exterior trappings.

  “So,” he began, “I checked with Coach Lawson and we can use the regional swim meet for fund raising provided we don’t do anything to prevent us from winning the team trophy this year. What were you thinking of doing Caroline?”

  Before Caroline could respond Ashley jumped in with her new online discovery. “That’s my baby, Adam. I can see a lightweight, vest-type shirt with a message on both front and back that won’t fade or run in water. We could design them in a shorter length, secured with Velcro or elastic so they won’t get in your way when you are swimming to first place.”

  “I see what you are after, Ash. The message would be seen by the crowd when we are standing on poolside or swimming. That might work but who is going to design this masterpiece?”

  “Do not worry, young man,” Janine assumed a lecture posture and stated, “I, myself, have secured the services of our art department for this task and they will have several samples for our approval next week.” Janine then smiled happily at Caroline who was nervously adding to her growing list of college involvements.

  Through a mouthful of sandwich, Adam signaled to Caroline that he had brought a CD with a math exam study guide for her.

  “I want that after you, Caroline.” Janine pleaded. “You will rock the English Lit exam but we should both work on this math soon.”

  “It won’t be this weekend, I’m afraid, Janine. I am fully booked, so you should take the CD now and I’ll catch up with you later. If my Community Connections project is approved, the time out of class will help me get ahead with all my commitments and get my mother off my back, with any luck.”

  She gathered up the scattering of papers she hadn’t needed and made a few quick notes on her laptop. “Thanks guys! You are all amazing for working so hard for old folks you don’t even know. I’ll text you as soon as I know what’s happening and we can connect next week. OK?”

  The trio nodded agreement and waved Caroline off. She hadn’t had a chance to eat and didn’t think her stomach could cope at the moment since her insides were still in turmoil.

  As she rushed to her science lab class the thought uppermost in her mind was, what will the college administrators think of my project and will Eva Singh accept it?

  * * *

  Eva Singh had closed her office door to get five minutes to study Caroline’s proposal.

  It had been a hectic morning. Three members of staff were off sick and an elderly resident had died during the night requiring a discreet operation to allow the funeral director to remove the body while keeping the entire episode separated from the other residents’ view.

  What with one thing and another, lunch was delayed by half an hour which upset several of the old people whose anxieties could be controlled only by a strict, predictable routine.

  Eva picked up the mug of coffee she had tried to drink several times. It was as cold and unappealing as she had expected. With a sigh, she opened her office door again and took the coffee over to the service counter where Mary and Stella were just finishing handing out the after-lunch tea cups to those residents who had stayed to watch the large-screen TV.

  “My, my!” exclaimed Mary when she saw her manager’s expression.

  “Don’t you look like you could use a fresh cup of something strong! I’ll bring it in to you in a jiffy. It’s been a tough day all right.”

  “Thanks, Mary. See if you can filch a cream cake out of the kitchen fridge for me. I think I need the sugar fix. Can you also sit down with me for a spell? I have the Fenton girl’s project to review and I’ll need another opinion before I make my final decision.”

  “No trouble, Eva. I’ll be right there. Things seem to have settled down here for a bit, I hope.”

  When Mary returned, balancing a tray with a plate of cup cakes and two mugs of hot coffee, she could hear Eva’s laughter coming from the office. She backed through the door and blurted out, “Don’t tell me it’s that bad? I thought the girl had some decent ideas. Are you thinking the whole project is so hopeless it’s ridiculous?”

  “No, no Mary! It’s just that I can’t believe the energy and ambition of young Caroline! She has come up with some excellent suggestions. Some of them are ideas I have tried to promote for years with absolutely no success.”

  “Well, if you couldn’t get things moving, how on earth could a mere slip of a girl hope to do any better?”

  “That’s just it, Mary. Look at this list. She has actually provided some fund-raising initiatives and she certainly has access to volunteer helpers at the college. I wish I had thought about co-opting the students years ago. In fact, the more I think about this project, the more promising it looks. If Caroline Fenton can implement one-third of her creative ideas, this place will be transformed, at least for a short time.”

  Mary was totally surprised by her manager’s reaction. She knew Eva was forward-thinking but to adopt the notions of a kid who was still wet behind the ears to Mary’s way of thinking, was just crazy talk. It was all very well to dream, but they had responsibilities to their residents that outweighed any experiments by a bunch of teenagers who might well give up and disappear after a day or two, leaving a mess for her staff to clean up.”

  Eva caught the disapproval on Mary’s face and invited her to sit and relax.

  “Don’t worry, Mary,” she said reassuringly, “I won’t approve anything that’s dangerous or too ambitious. Caroline has an interview this weekend that will determine whether she can go ahead with her scheme to use technology in the residents’ rooms. I can see you are not keen on this idea but think of it this way. If we had had a quick and easy method to check into rooms last night without waking our residents, perhaps old Mr. James could have been saved.”

  This thought made Mary stop and consider. John James had been one of their male patients who was prone to bad asthma attacks. Like many others, he did not make use of the alarm pull by his bed to get help. By the time the night staff reached his room on their rounds, he was already past any help.

  “Well, you may be right, Eva. I can’t see it myself, but if the college kids can help us out and listen to advice, I am willing to see what they can do here.”

  “Good! I think we are in for an interesting few weeks, Mary. Don’t say anything to the rest of the staff until the project is finalized. I’ll call a meeting and make everything clear once we get the go ahead. Meanwhile, drink that coffee before it’s cold, and grab one of these cakes before I devour the lot!”

  * * *

  The college students had been gone for an hour when Joan Miller of the Student Services department got a summons from the deputy headmaster about out-of-school projects for the spring term. Gathering up her forms and notes, Joan walked down two flights of steps to the main office and found Brian Collins wearily bending over a pile of work on his desk. A white board on the office wall showed the list of duties he had to attend to before the end of term and Joan nodded sympathetically when she recognized some of the items.

  “Another busy week, Brian?”

  “You could say that, Joan. I won’t keep you long. I need to clear your applications before I head home for the weekend. I have your recommendations here but what’s your honest opinion? We seem to have a lot of students anxious to skip out in these last weeks.”

  “Yes, a few more than usual. I’ve eliminated the spurious ones but the res
t do have some merit to them.”

  “What about this project from Caroline Fenton? Community Connections seems like an appropriate name. I must say it is very ambitious for a student, even one in her final year.

  I can’t see how she can possibly manage all this work. It looks to me like a whole year’s endeavour rather than a short, term project. Can she really accomplish all she has set out in this form?”

  “I had the same concerns, Brian. I feared she would fail by attempting too much and jeopardize the good ideas she has put forward. I called her in to discuss the issue and was impressed by her commitment. It seems she has some family connection to the nursing home in question and has already volunteered there. I cautioned her not to attempt too much and she assured me she has many helpers.”

  “Hmmm!” Brian Collins rocked back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

  “I’ll leave it up to you to keep an eye on things, Joan. We don’t want this to reflect badly on the college. There are enough negative comments in the press these days about education spending without inviting any more.”

  “Right! I’ll do that. Any other matters?”

  “No, I’ll stamp ‘approved’ on the lot for now, although it’s likely some of them will withdraw when they see what kind of work is involved.”

  “Fair enough, Brian. Have a good weekend.”

  “You, too, Joan, and thanks for your advice.”

  Chapter Nine

  Caroline settled herself carefully on the front seat of her father’s car. She was wearing a dark grey suit of her mother’s and the skirt felt totally strange around legs that usually were encased in jeans. Last night’s dress rehearsal in her mother’s bedroom had unearthed this garment which her mother assured her was “a classic style, expensive, and this year’s model. I need to lose five or six more pounds to be comfortable in it, but it’s perfect for you!”