by Sue Fortin
‘You're so crude at times,’ snapped Anna, ‘usually when you're being spiteful and looking for an argument. Like now.’
‘I'm not looking for a row actually,’ countered Mark, stepping into the kitchen. ‘I am pretty pissed off with you and your behaviour though. You're a thirty-five-year-old mother, not a rebellious teenager and yet you insist on behaving like one. What sort of example are you to our son?’
‘You've got a nerve lecturing me about not being responsible. I don't remember it being one of your strong points.’
‘Why do you do that?’
‘What?’
‘Always bring up the past. You can't let it drop, can you? Every opportunity you get you bring it up.’ Mark looked accusingly at her.
‘So you admit you've been irresponsible in the past. Well, that's a first.’
‘You're the one who's looking for a row. You're in a stinking mood,’ scolded Mark. Then spitefully, ‘Lover boy dump you?’
‘Get lost, Mark.’
‘Ooh! Touched a nerve, did I?’ He was taunting her now.
Anna's response was intercepted by the bleeping of her phone with a message. She retrieved the mobile out of her bag in the living room. It was from Tex.
Hope you’re okay. See you tomorrow. X
‘So what exactly was wrong with you last night?’ The sound of Mark's voice right behind her startled Anna. Christ, he was like a second shadow, every time she turned round he was there. She popped her phone back into her bag and brushed past him, marching back into the kitchen to finish making her cup of tea.
‘I was sick, all right? ’ Anna dropped the teabag into the bin. Would he ever shut up?
‘You two arguing again?’ Luke was now standing in the kitchen.
‘Oh, hi, Luke.’ Anna smiled at her son, disguising her thoughts. He'd better not start either. ‘You okay?’
Luke grunted and nodded. Anna took that as a yes.
‘I was just trying to find out from your mum exactly what the problem was last night.’
‘For God's sake, Mark!’ Anna's voice was louder than she meant it to be, she winced. That hurt her head. She closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for the shooting pain to stop.
‘Oh, I get it,’ Mark said sarcastically. ‘You were drunk, weren't you?’
‘Give it a rest, Mark!’ Anna could hear her voice rising involuntarily, despite her headache.
‘I expect you were sick. Not from illness though, but from drink.’ Mark looked very pleased with himself.
‘You were out drinking?’ Luke sounded surprised.
‘Of course she was,’ replied Mark before Anna had a chance to say anything. ‘And she was out with whatshisname? The Yank.’
He was doing it on purpose.
‘Tex,’ Anna snapped. ‘His name is Tex.’
‘There, told you so. She's not denying it, is she?’
‘Mum?’ Luke looked questioningly at his mother.
‘It's not quite like that,’ began Anna. What could she say? Like Mark said, she couldn't actually deny it.
‘No, no, of course it wasn't,’ mocked Mark acidly. ‘I expect it wasn't anything as sordid as a drunken night with your boyfriend. Well, not exactly your boyfriend, just your shag-friend.’
‘Mark!’ Anna looked indignantly at him. What was he thinking of, going through all this in front of Luke?
‘Listen to you. Trying to sound all prim and proper. Don't like it that your son may find out what you're really like.’ Outraged, Anna went to slap him but he grabbed her wrist in mid-air. ‘Tut, tut, tut. Violence isn't the answer.’ Mark thrust her hand away, then turning to Luke said, ‘Sorry you're having to see your mother like this.’
‘I hate you!’ screamed Anna. ‘Absolutely hate you! I can't wait until you clear off back to America. Even then, the other side of the Atlantic won't be far enough away.’
‘Mum! Stop!’ Alarmed, Luke stood between his parents.
‘Yes, why don't you just stop, Anna?’ chided Mark.
‘Why don't you?’ she shouted. ‘Why don't you just stop making my life a misery? Why don't you just leave me alone? Forever!’ She pushed her way past father and son and rushed upstairs, slamming the bedroom door and throwing herself onto the bed. Too angry to cry, she pounded the pillow with her fist.
Tex looked at his phone for the third time, rereading the message. He couldn't quite believe what Anna had sent him earlier.
Tex I dont want 2 c u any more dont contact me again its over from Anna
He passed the phone to Jamie, who held it so that Yvonne could read it at the same time.
‘Ouch,’ commented Yvonne.
‘You can say that again.’ Jamie slid the phone back across the desk to his friend. They were seated in the office of the Arundel restaurant, having been to a client’s housewarming party in Brighton, and had called in on Tex on their way home. ‘Must say, I'm surprised she did it by text. Didn't think that was her style.’
‘Nor did I.’ Tex flopped back in his chair. ‘I thought I understood her. I obviously don’t know her at all.’
‘Have you tried talking to her?’ asked Yvonne.
‘What’s the point? I think that message says it all very clearly.’ Tex gestured accusingly towards his phone. ‘Although another part of me says that something is wrong. I’m sure it is something to do with Mark, but I don’t know what and Anna has never said.’
‘Sounds to me like she can't make her mind up,’ said Jamie. ‘I don't mean to sound harsh and it's probably not what you want to hear, but maybe she was using you to make him jealous.’
‘Jamie, you're supposed to be making him feel better, not worse,’ frowned Yvonne.
‘I'm also supposed to be his mate who tells him as it is,’ corrected Jamie.
‘It's okay, Yvonne,’ sighed Tex. ‘He's right to say that. And, yes, I had considered that she might wanna get back with him. To be honest, I don't know what to think any more.’ He had totally misread the whole situation and how she felt about him. She must have gone home, back to Mark. She didn't have the nerve to meet him tomorrow and tell him in person, she didn't even have the decency to speak to him. ‘I knew it wasn’t gonna be straightforward, getting involved with her, but I think I have to admit defeat. I give up.’
‘Anna! Anna!’ yelled Mark from the bottom of the stairs.
What did he want now? What time was it even? She cursed, remembering she had left her watch at Tex’s apartment. Judging by the chat show now on the telly, she guessed it was around midnight.
Anna peered down the stairwell at Mark. ‘What?’
Before he had time to speak, she could tell from the look on his face that something was wrong.
‘What is it?’ Pulling her dressing gown around her, she hurried down the stairs.
‘It's Luke. He's in St Richard’s Hospital,’ said Mark gravely. ‘He's been drinking and collapsed. Suspected alcohol poisoning. They said his condition is serious but stable.’
Tears sprang to Anna's eyes. ‘What does that mean?’
‘I’m not a doctor. How should I know? Now get dressed. Go on, don’t just stand there.’
Chapter Thirty Three
Alcohol poisoning. Tube in windpipe. Help breathing. Pump stomach. Monitor. Serious. Lucky. Dehydrated. Worst case scenario. Seizures. Brain damage.
The words swam round in Anna's head. She could see the doctor's mouth moving, hear that he was speaking, but the words weren't making sense. She couldn't take in what he was saying.
‘Mrs Barnes?’ The doctor looked at Anna.
‘Come on, Anna. Get a grip,’ said Mark impatiently, giving her shoulder a shake.
‘Sorry.’ Anna shook her head. Mark was right. She needed to focus, this was no time to get all flaky. ‘What does it all mean exactly? In plain English. How is my son?’ She ignored the tut from Mark.
‘Mrs Barnes, your son is in a serious condition. He has drunk far in excess of the legal drink-drive limit. He has alcohol poisoning. When you see him, it may
be a bit of a shock. We had to put a tube down his throat to flush out his stomach, to try to get as much alcohol out before it is absorbed. Severe cases of alcohol poisoning can lead to problems breathing, dehydration and possible brain damage.’
Anna closed her eyes. Please God, no.
‘It's okay, Mrs Barnes, we're not at that stage yet. I'm confident that your son will make a full recovery, however, as I said, he has drunk an excessive amount of alcohol and it's not going to be a pleasant or easy few days.’
‘Thank you, doctor,’ said Anna. ‘Can we see him?’
‘Yes, come this way.’ The doctor led them into a cubicle of the emergency treatment room.
‘Oh, Luke,’ gasped Anna, rushing to her son's bedside. The sight of him lying there looking lifeless, as a nurse took his blood pressure, made Anna feel physically sick from shock. Being told was one thing, but seeing her child in that condition, was another. Luke’s lips were dry and puckered from lack of moisture, his skin pale, almost grey. His shirt had been cut open for speed. His favourite Fred Perry one, thought Anna randomly. She stroked his blonde hair and kissed his forehead. ‘What have you done Luke?’ she said bleakly.
Mark let out an incredulous huff. ‘Obvious isn't it? Taken a leaf out of your book.’ He glared at Anna for a moment before returning his gaze back to Luke.
‘Not now, Mark. It's hardly the time or place for point scoring,’ replied Anna stonily. She glanced over at the nurse, who carried on writing up her observations, appearing not to have heard the exchange of words. As if, thought Anna, but all the same was grateful for her discretion. The doctor left them alone, saying he'd come back later to check on Luke’s progress.
Anna sat in silence by one side of the bed, clasping one of Luke’s hand, willing him to make a recovery. Mark, on the other side of the bed, doing the same. Now and again a nurse came in to check Luke’s blood pressure, pulse, and lift his eyelids to see if his pupils were responsive to the little hand-light she flashed across his eyes. Anna just sat there, feeling totally helpless, knowing there was nothing neither she nor Mark could do, it was totally out of their hands. Anna didn't know or care what the time was: time seemed to have no relevance. The hospital never slept, a constant revolving door of injured people, some worse than others, some accidental and some, like Luke, self-inflicted. Busy, busy, busy.
At some point during the night, the doctor came back to speak to them.
‘The alcohol levels in his blood are still high, but they are showing signs of dropping. He's not out of the woods yet, but I'm confident that we have things under control.’
‘Thank you, doctor,’ replied Mark, standing up. ‘Do you know if there will be any long-term damage? Has he done himself any lasting harm?’
‘Unlikely, although we can't totally rule it out at this stage.’ The doctor picked up the flip chart hanging on the end of the bed and flicked through the notes. ‘There's been no respiratory problems or seizures and although he was extremely dehydrated, none of this leads me to believe there's been any brain damage. Once he's awake we will have a better idea, but I think it's safe to assume that he will make a full recovery. He's a strong, fit, young man, there's no reason why he won't come out of this with just a hangover.’ The doctor gave a small smile before adding, ‘That'll be one heck of a hangover.’
Heavy-eyed and groaning, Luke eventually came round, rolling over on his side and retching on a now empty stomach, and finally opening his eyes. Anna rushed back in with the nurse she had gone to fetch, and poured him a glass of water.
‘Your throat's going to be a bit sore,’ explained the nurse as she helped Luke to sit up.
Luke grunted before resting back on the pillows and closing his eyes. Silence descended again as the nurse went through her usual observational routine of blood pressure, pulse and pupil reaction.
‘You'll live. Now, we'll be back soon to move you to a ward. We want to keep you in for a bit longer under observation. Need to do some more blood tests too, just to make sure everything is easing off.’ Luke didn't respond. ‘I think he's beginning to feel the after-effects already.’
With Luke now settled in the ward, sleeping off his hangover, Mark drove Anna back home. It was nine-thirty on Sunday morning. Anna felt absolutely drained. Not only had she herself been recovering from the effects of overindulgence in the alcohol stakes, but she had not had any sleep. She closed her eyes. What a day! What a past thirty-six hours!
Suddenly, remembering she was supposed to be meeting Tex later, Anna sat up. There was no way she could see him today. She was absolutely shattered, and she needed to be back at the hospital with Luke. She fished around in her handbag, found her phone and sent Tex a quick message.
Sorry Tex but I can't come over today. Luke very drunk last night, ended up in hospital. He's okay but I need to be with him today. I'll be in touch later or tomorrow. Sorry, I really wanted to see you! X
She hoped he would understand. Talk about lousy timing!
‘Anyone I know?’ asked Mark, nodding towards her phone.
‘Just Nathan,’ lied Anna. Actually, that wasn't a bad idea to text Nathan and let him know. She rubbed her temples, trying to stave off the headache that was looming.
‘You all right?’ asked Mark.
‘Yes, fine. Just tired.’
‘You look pretty rough.’
‘Thanks. You don't look that great yourself.’
‘Granted. Look, why don't you have a shower and a sleep when we get in. I can go back with some clean clothes for Luke.’ Anna looked at him in surprise. Mark smiled at her. ‘It's all right, I'll phone you if there's anything to worry about, which I'm sure there won't be.’
‘I don't know. I ought to go back and see him.’
‘There's really no need us both being there. When I get back, you can go over if you like. That way, there's always someone with him, rather than us both being there some of the time.’ Mark pulled up outside Coach House Cottages. ‘It makes sense.’
Anna knew it made sense but it was reluctantly that she agreed to it. She felt uncomfortable with Mark's change in attitude towards her, her escapades and that of Luke's. In fact, he was being surprisingly pleasant, understanding and non-judgemental this morning. Very different to the cold, brutal, spiteful person of the previous evening.
Anna's suspicions were roused further when Mark made tea and toast for both of them and then said he was running her a bath. She needed to relax and could do so better in a bath than in a shower.
‘Bath's run,’ he announced as he came back downstairs.
‘Thanks. You're being very nice to me,’ said Anna. She couldn't help herself. ‘What are you after?’
Mark came and sat down next to her on the sofa, running his fingers across his eyebrows, a pained expression settling across his face. ‘It frightened me. Luke. Last night. Sitting there with him, I couldn’t help thinking what if he didn’t make it. What if he didn’t recover or recover fully? The thought terrified me. I could have lost him last night. Lost him, when I had only really just found him.’ Mark sank back into the sofa and rested his head against the backrest. ‘All I kept thinking was please let him pull through so I have the chance to make it up to him. I’ve made such a fuck up of being his dad. In fact, I’ve made a pretty lousy job at everything. Not just being a dad … but being a husband too.
This time Anna didn't reply. He was unnerving her, this change in attitude. Despite the feeling of exhaustion that was gradually seeping through her, her mind was alert. Maybe this was her chance to get the photos back. Instead of making him her enemy, maybe she should make him her ally, or at least allow him to think so. He might be more willing to give her the photos that way. She swallowed hard and forced herself to reach out for his hand.
‘We’ve both made mistakes,’ she said. ‘Neither of us have been perfect.’ She felt him give a small squeeze of her hand.
‘Generous as always. Go and have your bath. Get into bed and get some sleep. I'll take Luke some clean clothes a
nd give you a ring later. Go on.’
The message tone bleeping on her phone brought Anna out of her sleep. Leaning over to the bedside table she picked it up and opened the message box, half expecting it to be from Tex or Mark. No, neither. Some random text from someone who wasn't in her contact list as it just came up with 'unknown caller' and a phone number.
Who is this?
Anna deleted it. She couldn't be bothered to answer, it was obviously just someone sending her the text by mistake. Before she could ponder it any further, there was a knock at the front door. Pulling a sweatshirt on, Anna went downstairs to open the door. She was greeted by Zoe, concern across her face.
‘Oh, Anna, how is everything? Mark phoned and told me Luke was in hospital with alcohol poisoning. He asked if I could call over and check you were okay.’
Anna raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s very unlike Mark to be so thoughtful.’
In need of fresh air, the two women decided to go for a walk along the footpath that circulated Priory Park and Anna brought Zoe up to speed on how Luke was.
‘I'm so glad you came,’ said Anna, linking her arm through Zoe's.
‘Nathan wanted to, but I persuaded him to let me come,’ said Zoe. ‘He's looking after the kids but sends his love, and says that it goes without saying but if you want anything, you only have to ring him.’
‘I know. Tell him thank you. I'll ring him later anyway, when I know a bit more about how Luke is and what's happening.’
‘He wanted to go to the hospital himself but didn't particularly want to bump into Mark. He'll come over though, maybe when Mark's not about. Said he wanted to see Luke himself, and you.’ They followed the path as it rose up to the level of the city walls.
‘That's fine. I'll sort it out with him.’ Anna smiled at Zoe.
‘So was Luke at a party or something and overdid it, trying to impress the girls?’ asked Zoe.
‘I wish it were as straightforward as that,’ sighed Anna. ‘Me and Mark had an argument last night and Luke was pretty fed up. Went out to his mate's house and they decided to raid the drinks cupboard while the parents were out. The other lad, fortunately, wasn't as bad as Luke and had the sense to ring his parents when Luke collapsed.’