by M A Comley
“I’m not disputing that, Miss Morgan. Does your friend know that you’re putting it around that he was a bully? If not, my suggestion would be that you put that right immediately if she doesn’t.”
“I will be ringing her soon, to give her an update. I’ll be sure to give her all the information that has come my way throughout the day.” Ruth had a sinking feeling that she was getting nowhere fast. Maybe Bradley didn’t bully the kids at school, only on his football team. She hoped that was right. Surely if it wasn’t, the kids wouldn’t have put up with his bullying without plastering it all over social media. Wasn’t that what kids did nowadays? Which to Ruth’s mind was in itself a form of bullying. The world had gone nuts in that respect.
“I have to go now. Was there anything else you wanted to ask, Miss Morgan?” Miss Scott stood and walked around the desk, ready to show Ruth out.
“No. That’s all for now. Would it be okay to revisit you if I think of anything else?”
“Maybe we could discuss anything further over the phone instead. My working day is hectic most days.”
“I understand. Once again, I thank you for sparing the time to see me in your busy schedule.” Ruth held her hand out.
Miss Scott shook it, her wrist as limp as a rotten cabbage leaf. Ruth’s father had warned her about people with limp handshakes: people who insisted on using them were often insincere. She returned to the car, wondering if Miss Scott was insincere or if the myth was a load of codswallop.
She stopped off to give Ben a run along the coastal path and then made her way home. She was almost there when she spotted the ambulance sitting outside her sister’s house. “Oh no!” Yanking on the handbrake, she darted out of the car and into the house.
“Carolyn, what’s going on?”
Her sister rushed into her arms, tears cascading down her face as two paramedics tended to a very pale-looking Keith. Ruth’s gaze drifted to his hand. Blood was seeping through the towel wrapped around it. It appeared to be serious.
“He was using a circular saw, and it slipped,” Carolyn told her in between sobs.
“He’ll be all right, hon. They’ll take him to hospital and get him stitched up.”
“I think he’ll need more than stitching,” Carolyn replied quietly, as if saying the words aloud would make the situation a whole lot worse.
“I’ll come with you. Give me five minutes to drop Ben home, and I’ll be back, all right? Don’t go into a meltdown, I know you.”
“I won’t. Don’t be long.”
Keith wailed when the paramedics removed the towel and the blood arced across the room.
Ruth’s stomach lurched. “I’ll be back soon.” She kissed her sister and ran back to the car. After unhooking Ben from his harness, she whisked him along the road and let herself into the house. She then hurriedly scribbled a note to James, explaining the situation, and left the house again.
Five minutes later, the ambulance was on its way to the hospital with Carolyn and Ruth in hot pursuit. “What about the kids?”
Carolyn waved her apprehension away. “I asked Mrs Lake to watch out for them. She said she’d give them their tea, bless her. I love it when the neighbours come to our aid. What would we do without them? She heard me scream. If it hadn’t been for her ringing the ambulance, I would still be standing there in shock, staring at Keith.”
“She’s a sweetie. Please, you mustn’t worry about Keith. He’s in safe hands now.”
“What if he loses it?”
“What? His hand? Was it really that bad?”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Carolyn turn to face her. “You saw how much blood there was. I reckon he’s lost a couple of pints already. Oh gosh, I think I’m going to be sick.” Her sister retched.
Ruth indicated and pulled up at the side of the road. She reached across Carolyn and flung the door open. “Not in my car you don’t.”
Carolyn leaned over and emptied her stomach in the gutter. In the distance, the ambulance was getting further and further away from them. Ruth extracted a tissue from a box she kept in the centre console and handed it to her sister.
“Better?”
“Hardly. How do you define better when your throat has just been burned by acid?”
“You get my drift. Come on, shut the door, we need to get on the road again.”
Ruth pressed her foot down on the accelerator, her aim to catch up with the ambulance ahead. All she succeeded in doing was making Carolyn feel sicker than she already was. Carolyn held one hand over her mouth and tugged at Ruth’s sleeve with the other. Right about then she mentally kicked herself for not having a sick bag tucked away in her glove compartment.
“Hang on, we’re almost there now. Can you do that?”
Carolyn pulled open the door, forcing Ruth to slam on the brakes while she barfed.
Another couple of minutes passed before they were able to get on the road again. The rest of the journey, thankfully, was vomit-free. Ruth parked the car and the pair of them ran through the main entrance. Spotting the signs for Accident and Emergency, Ruth grabbed Carolyn’s arm and bolted down the corridor, following the colour-coded line that would lead them to their destination.
“I can’t keep up with you,” Carolyn complained, lagging behind.
“Come on. We’re almost there now.”
Within seconds, they had reached the department. The receptionist told them to take a seat in the family waiting room, adding that a doctor would be out to see them as soon as he or she was free. Carolyn flopped into a chair and placed her head in her hands. It had been a whirlwind twenty minutes. Ruth realised she would need to call on all her resources to be strong enough for them both. She sought out two cups of water and handed one to Carolyn.
“Here, drink this, it’ll make you feel better.”
“Thanks, I’d rather have a cup full of brandy, though.”
Ruth smiled. “It’s good to see you’ve still got your sense of humour. He’ll be fine, you’ll see.”
“But how can he be, when he’s lost so much blood?” Carolyn downed the rest of her water and placed the empty cup on the small table beside her.
“Thinking negatively isn’t going to help. Try and spin that on its head and think positively. I appreciate how hard that’s going to be, but Keith is going to need to see you coping better than you are about this.”
“I could seriously do without one of your know-it-all lectures right now, sis.”
Ruth held her arms out to the sides and let them slap against her thighs. “I’m not lecturing you. All I’m trying to do is ease the tension and ask you to think about things practically. Knowing how Keith’s mind works, he’s probably in there, worrying that he’s letting you and the kids down rather than about the injuries he has. He’s promised you all you’d be in the newly renovated house by Christmas. The likelihood of that happening now will be playing on his mind. You’re going to need to get across to him that his health is more important than keeping a promise.”
“Why thank you, ma’am. What would I do without your insight into my relationship?” Carolyn snapped back, her words laced with sarcasm.
Ruth flew across the room and sank into the chair beside her, gathered her sister’s hands in her own and looked her straight in the eye. “You know me, love, I shoot from the hip. I didn’t mean it to come out sounding that harsh, I’m sorry.”
“I know. I didn’t mean to bite back either. What are we like?”
The conversation came to an abrupt halt when a young man wearing blue scrubs entered the room. “Mrs Everett?”
Carolyn jumped out of her seat. Ruth did the same and placed an arm around her waist, ready to support her sister if her legs gave way.
“That’s me. How is he?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood, I think you realise that. He’s lucky the ambulance reached him when it did. He’s going to need an operation. You’re aware he cut two of his fingers off?”
Carolyn swooned; Ruth held her upright.
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br /> “Can you stick them back on?” Ruth asked, forgetting what the correct terminology should be in instances like this.
The doctor grinned. “Yes, we have the fingers. They will be stitched in place again. He’s going to need months of recuperation before he’ll be able to use them properly again.”
“But we’re renovating the house and were hoping to be in before Christmas,” Carolyn whined.
The doctor shook his head slowly. “If you’re doing the renovations yourselves, then things will have to be put on hold.”
“We are. Oh my, what on earth are we going to do now?”
Ruth squeezed her sister tightly. “We’ll all muck in and help. The community will pull together.” She knew she was wrong voicing her hopes but she also knew how important it was to keep her sister’s spirits high. Gosh, as if I haven’t got enough on my plate already with the investigation. Now I’m going to have to make good on my word and rally people in the community to lend a hand.
“I hope you’re right, Ruth. We could do with the extra help.”
Ruth nodded. “Let’s discuss the finer details later. Doc, will Keith be in hospital long?”
“It depends how the surgery goes. I think you should expect him to be with us for around a week.”
“Thank you. That’ll give us a chance to get things organised at home. There’s nothing for it, Carolyn, you’re all going to have to move in with me and James.”
Her sister let out a long, relieved sigh. “That would be fantastic. Thank you.”
“Right. I must get on. Do you ladies want to see him before he goes down for surgery?”
“Yes, that would be lovely, thank you, Doctor,” Carolyn replied, anxiously gripping Ruth’s hand.
“Come with me.” He led them down the corridor to a small room where they found Keith lying in bed.
Carolyn rushed towards him, sobbing, and flung her arms around his neck. Keith seemed a little out of it, doped up to the eyeballs on medication ready for his operation.
“Hello, mate, how’s it going?” Ruth asked, rubbing his upper arm.
“Stupid, ain’t I? Not sure what made me start to use the thing with the cable in the way. I tried to move it, and that’s when I slipped on some debris underfoot. You know what? For a few seconds I didn’t even realise what I’d done. There was no pain. Realised soon enough when I saw my two fingers lying on the floor beneath me.”
Ruth nodded. “It must have been a huge shock. You’re going to be all right, Keith. You’re in expert hands. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“I’m worried about all the work ahead of me. I can’t possibly do that with only one hand.”
“Right, I’m going to leave you guys to discuss things. We’ll be taking you down in five minutes. Try not to fight the medication, Mr Everett,” the doctor advised before he left the room.
Ruth smiled at Keith. “You heard what the doc said, we’ll discuss this later, Keith. You need to relax and let the medication take over.”
He leaned back against the pillow. His eyelids started drooping as they watched him relax. Moments later, a hospital porter arrived to take him down to the operating theatre.
“I’ll be here when you wake up. Good luck,” Carolyn called after him.
“Come on. I’ll take you to the restaurant, buy you a coffee and a sandwich, something to keep your strength up.” Ruth had to point her sister in the right direction; her gaze was still drawn to the porter pushing the bed up the corridor. It wasn’t until they’d gone through the door at the end that Carolyn’s attention turned back to her once more.
They walked off in the opposite direction.
Once they’d located the small restaurant, neither of them was hungry. Ruth bought them both a coffee and a chocolate muffin they could share. They found a seat by the window, overlooking the vast parking lot which had a view of the hillside beyond.
“Do you really think we’ll be able to rally people to help us? It seems a bit of a cheek. If only we could afford to pay a building firm to take over the work. That would take the pressure off a little.”
“That’s it. Instead of begging people to lend a hand in the community, we’ll organise a Go Fund Me through the internet.”
Carolyn shuddered at the thought. “Isn’t that like putting out a begging bowl for people to drop a few pennies in that they’ve found down the back of the couch?”
Ruth wrinkled her nose. “Don’t be daft. Some of these funds raise thousands of pounds for the right cause. Let me think about how to word a campaign this evening. There’s no guarantee it’ll work, though, so don’t come down heavy on me if it goes tits up.”
“He, he, I’ve always loved that expression. You have my word on that. Thanks, Ruth, you always think of a solution to a problem.”
“I’m always here for you. I meant what I said about moving into the house, too.”
“Shouldn’t you run that past James first?”
“Leave him to me. He’ll be putty in my hands.”
“If you say so. I won’t be offended if you retract the offer once you run it past James and he thinks the idea sucks. Anyway, I think we’ll be fine for a few months, while the good weather is still with us.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it then. I hope the surgery goes well. It’s amazing what they can do nowadays, right?”
“I shudder at the thought of him being unable to use his hands properly, what with him being an electrician. That reminds me, I’m going to have to get on to the insurance people when I get home.”
“Will they cover him? Seeing the incident was an accident that happened in his own home and not while he was on the job, so to speak?”
Carolyn gasped and covered her mouth. “Crumbs, I never thought of that. Whatever will we do?”
“Not worry would be my first suggestion. I’ll add that information to the campaign I’ll set up. It’s bound to pull at people’s heartstrings more, especially if Keith is self-employed with a family he needs to feed.”
Carolyn closed her eyes and held her crossed fingers up in the air. “I do hope you’re right.”
Several hours later, after they’d both worn out a patch in the waiting room floor with their pacing, a nurse came to collect them to take them up to the men’s ward. Keith was still unconscious, his injured arm raised up in a pully. Ruth settled Carolyn next to her husband and then excused herself. She’d promised her sister she would collect her two sons from the neighbour and feed them, if Mrs Lake hadn’t already done it.
Ian and Robin were both understandably worried about their father and were exceptionally quiet while Ruth prepared the dinner. She’d expected them to bombard her with questions, of the gory variety, but they didn’t.
James came home looking confused. He pecked Ruth on the cheek and motioned with his head towards the boys who were playing Tetris or some such game on their phones. “What’s going on?”
“We’re babysitting them for the evening. Keith is in hospital, and Carolyn is by his bedside. Is that a problem?”
“No. Wow, why’s Keith in hospital? What’s he done?”
“Sliced a couple of fingers off. He’s had surgery now, but I had to jump in to help. Here, lay the table for me. I found some fish fingers in the freezer. I know you’d buried them for yourself. I’ll buy you some more when I go shopping.”
“There’s no need. Was there enough for all of us?”
“For you three, yes. I’m not really hungry, too concerned about Keith and Geraldine to eat. I found out something interesting about Bradley today, something that could turn the case on its head. I’ll tell you about that later.”
“Sounds intriguing. Don’t I even get a hint?”
“Nope. I’m too busy making sure I don’t burn these chips and fish fingers.”
James laughed and withdrew the cutlery from the drawer. The boys offered to lend a hand, too, and filled four glasses with orange juice and placed them on the table. Ruth smiled at her nephews’ ability not to dwell o
n what was going on with their father.
Once the meal had ended, she suggested the boys go through to the living room to watch some TV while she and James cleared up the kitchen.
“Are you still in a mood with me?” he whispered in her ear.
“No. I have bigger fish to fry, excuse the pun. I’m sorry for falling out with you. We need to have a serious chat.”
He frowned. “Sounds ominous. Is this chat about us?”
“In a roundabout way it is. Take a seat.” She took the coffees she’d made over to the table and sat next to him. Lowering her voice so the boys couldn’t hear, she revealed her plans.
“What? They’re moving in?”
“Shh…keep it down. Not yet, when the weather gets bad. You wouldn’t begrudge them having a dry roof over their heads, would you? They’re no bother.”
“I know. All right. You’ve talked me round.”
She leaned over and kissed him to show her appreciation. “I’m also going to sit down tonight and start a Go Fund Me campaign.”
“Now that’s an excellent idea and one that I’m willing to get behind if you’ll let me help you organise it.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. We’ll get that started in a few minutes.”
“Done. Now, what’s going on with the investigation?”
“You first?”
He shrugged. “Nothing from what I can tell. You said you’d discovered something today that you think will help.”
“What exactly is Inspector Littlejohn doing during the day? As far as I can tell, she hasn’t even started questioning the guests who attended the wedding yet. All right, she questioned a few of us on the day, but damn, there were over a hundred guests there.”
“She’s doing other things. I don’t want to start slating her off to you when I’m not privy to what she and her team are up to. Are you going to tell me what you’ve learned?”
“I visited Bradley’s ex-best friend this morning and, although they’d made it up again recently, he told me something shocking.”