HOLLOW WISHES.
Let’s start with a vignette of a typical British family at home.
Young Billy Price tugged at his father’s trousers … much too close to the crotch for Malcolm’s comfort …
“Da-aad!”
Oh, how that boy could nag …
“Da-aad! When you were a little boy, did you ever wish?”
Dad Malcolm, as witnessed by the tip of his tongue twisting between his lips, was too deeply engrossed in removing the shattered bits of his iphone from the blades of his lawnmower to respond properly, so he simply grunted, and from the kitchen window Mum Alice teased for the fourth time … “I told you to stop putting the phone in your top pocket when you’re in the garden, Malcolm Price … why don’t you do what you’re told?”
Looking up from his task, Malcolm threw one of his meaningful ‘looks’ towards the window and drew an instant response from Alice … a sweet smile and a poke of her tongue.
“Da-aad, do you know what I wish?”
A loose piece of debris sprung from between the blades of the mower and narrowly missed Malcolm’s eye …
“I wish you lot would keep damned quiet just for one minute” he grunted irritably, “Can’t you see that I am busy?”
“Please don’t swear in front of the child”, came with a giggle from the window …
“and Billy, it’s time you cleared up that mess in your bedroom, so come in and wash your hands”.
“Aw Mu-uum, did you ever wish when you were a little girl?”
“Sometimes I did, now please come in”.
“And did your wishes come true, Mummy?”
“Not in respect of your Dad they didn’t, Billy”, said Alice cheekily.
“What does that y mean, Mummy?” persisted Billy, looking querulously from one parent to the other,
“It means that if you don’t go in and wash your hands it’ll be early to bed for you young man, so do what your mother tells you”, muttered Malcolm … closely followed by a shout of “Yes!” as the final bits of his Samsung succumbed to the manipulations of his screwdriver and sprung from between the blades.
“You’re a clever dad, aren’t you Daddy”, wheedled Billy.
Malcolm smiled ruefully and ruffled Billy’s tousled head affectionately, “Yes son, but don’t mention it to Mummy, let that be our secret … now go inside and do as your mother asks”.
Later that evening, and with Billy safely tucked into bed, Alice had a surprise in store for Malcolm … her suspicions had been confirmed earlier in the day by a positive pregnancy test, but she had waited until the evening before taking a second test ‘just to be sure’. Now she was.
Sneaking from behind as he settled into his favourite chair before the TV, and with a bottle of champagne in one hand and the positive pregnancy test kit strip in the other, she thrust the strip under his nose with a flourish …
“Dah-Dah!, Look what we have here …”.
Hugs and kisses, champagne quickly consumed, there followed an increasingly excited discussion into the early hours before a power-cut took the deliriously happy couple to bed with the prospect of an exciting new chapter in life about to open.
But rarely are things that simple … sometimes life can turn into a real bitch!
*********************
Unsurprisingly, the following day started badly … thanks to the power cut the alarm had remained silent and Malcolm was already way behind schedule before his feet even hit the ground …
“Alice, you have to get up … we’ve overslept and it’s already a quarter to eight”.
There was little response other than a pull at the sheets. …
Malcolm was already halfway to the bedroom door,
“Alice!”, this time more urgently. “We’re bloody late and you have to get up!”
Alice’s tousled head appeared reluctantly from beneath the sheets …
“Oh god! I wish we hadn’t finished off that bottle last night … what time did you say it was?”
From the bathroom … “It’s getting on for eight, we’ve overslept and I will have missed my train”.
Holding her head in hands, Alice was already padding for the bath-room. The door was locked … and her hammering on the door reverberated between her temples.
“You’ll have to wait”, came from inside, and Alice banged ever more urgently …
At this point in the story it takes a route that will be familiar to any reader who has ever been faced with a similar situation … an increasing tension as each party attempts to overtake the other in a race to make up time that has been lost forever, bitter recriminations and sharp words born of frustration, words that would come back to haunt both parties later … and the day has been ruined before it has even got properly started.
Perhaps we should be tactful and move quickly on.
By the time that he arrived at the office Malcolm had already missed his first appointment of the day …
Almost before he had removed his jacket, Janet his secretary was at the door,
“Mr. Angwin wants you in his office the moment you get in, Malcolm.”
“Mr. Angwin can go … “, Malcolm started irritably, then bit his lip and allowed his voice to trail off as he read the handwritten note on his desk.
The multi-million Rochester sub-contracting deal that he had been working on for over three months had gone to a competitor … surely Angwin hadn’t found out already … was that what ‘the chat’ was about? If it was then he needed to buy some time and get as many as remained of his contract ducks marshalled into line before seeing his boss … Angers would simply have to be patient for a while longer.
Reaching for his phone, he waved Janet away and dialled the number of his contact at Rochester’s main contractor to find out which wheel had fallen off.
“Dennis, good morning … yes, I know it’s nearly over, but Alice had some great news yesterday and we had a bit of a celebration last night and overslept this morning … right now I’m more concerned about this Rochester note on my desk … what the hell has gone wrong? I thought that we were on the same page with this one”.
“Yes, I rang Janet first thing … but don’t panic yet old chap, I’m still waiting for the full story, but it seems that Head Office has chipped in on this one and there’s a draught around the feet upstairs”.
“But his note says that it’s gone to Boodles … bloody Boodles … and after all the bread, and more than a little cake, that has come your way … “.
“You can forget that bull Malky, my earlier info was wrong and if it goes anywhere it’ll fall in your lap, sit tight until I read the runes and get back to you … as for Boodles, forget it, wherever that came from it’s a case of ‘wishes for fishes’ … you’re just going to have to trust me on this one …”
Angwin’s P.A. had entered the room, looking as if she was about to be sick …
“Just a minute Dennis …”, Malcolm covered his phone with his hand, “What is it Gina … tell Mr. Angwin that I’ll be with him in five minutes … I’m on the phone to Dennis about the Rochester contract and as soon as I’ve finished I’ll be with him.”
“I think you should come now Malcolm, it’s not work, I think it’s more personal”…
Was it his imagination or was Gina about to cry … come on old girl, worse things happen at sea.
“Dennis, I’ll have to call you back, it sounds as if old Angers has got his knicks in a twist … I’ll speak to you again later”.
Malcolm dropped the handset into its housing and reached for his Rochester file …
“Now please, Malcolm”. pleaded Gina.
“Now, Gina”, confirmed Malcolm with a wink. “And don’t look so miserable … it’s only a game you know”.
But it did nothing to wipe away the concern on Gina’s face … ‘She really should get out more’, thought Malcolm.
*******************
“Sorry about the delay, Cedric, my train was delayed this morning and I’ve only just …”
Malcolm still had the door-knob in his hand as his opening gambit was halted mid sentence by the sight of two police officers standing together across the room.
Angwin looked even sicker than Gina …“Come in and sit down Malcolm, these officers would like a word with you ”.
Looking querulously from the officers to his boss, Malcolm dropped down into the chair that had been placed to the left of Angwin’s desk. and one of the police officers, a young girl of no more than twenty three or four years of age, was the first to speak …
“Mr. Malcolm John Price?”
Malcolm nodded.
“Are you are the registered owner of a Vauxhall Corsa, registration number BV49KED?”
Malcolm nodded again as the older male officer interceded …
“I am 2599 PC Kilroy, Mr. Price, and I am sorry to have to tell you that your wife has been involved in a serious road traffic accident this morning and has been taken to Saint Joseph’s Hospital for treatment”.
Stunned is an overworked word. But the transition from thoughts of a contract at risk, to a wife in hospital, had knocked Malcolm sideways, and he remained speechless as the young lady constable poured a cup of tea from a pot on Angwin’s desk and placed it into his hand. The sound of the cup rattling in the saucer was all that it needed to bring him back to reality …
“Alice? … Accident? Where? How is she? Is Billy alright? I want to see them!”
“Your son is fine Mr. Price, they’ve taken him to hospital for a precautionary check-up but he’s fine …
“And my wife … the hospital you said … was she injured?”
The two police officers looked one to the other and the younger spoke first, and ominously gently …
“ I think it might be better to get that information at the hospital Mr. Price, but she had to be removed from the wreckage by the rescue unit and needed urgent treatment at the scene … Mr. Angwin tells us that you normally travel to work by train and if you need a lift to Saint Joseph’s we can take you there now”.
Dazed or not, Malcolm was already heading for the door with the female officer in tow.
“Thank you Mr. Angwin”, said the male PC as he followed them from the room.
“Is it bad?” asked Angwin quietly.
The officer turned at the door and wrinkled his nose … there was no other response.
*************************
The trip to the hospital took almost thirty minutes … thirty anxious minutes of silence except for the occasional cackle of police messaging from the radios clipped to the officer’s vests.
At the hospital, their present mission completed, the officers guided him to reception and left him with their best wishes for his wife’s full recovery ringing in his ears and a reminder that they would be back for statements concerning the circumstances of the accident when Alice had recovered sufficiently … Malcolm had no doubt of their sincerity, but they seemed glad to be leaving.
After an agonising wait for information that seemed like an hour but was probably only ten minutes in reality, a young male medic came to reception and took Malcolm into a small private waiting room …
“Alice has multiple fractures and ligament damage to her right shoulder and a compound fracture of the right arm, there is severe rib cage bruising but fortunately no sign of any broken ribs … “
“Thank God”, interrupted Malcolm, “and Billy?”
“Oh! Billy’s fine, the police were able to contact your sister Kirstie, who I believe is a neighbour of yours, and she’s with him now upstairs … but it’s your wife’s condition that concerns us most, Mr. Price … Alice also sustained considerable damage to her neck and head in the crash … the CT scan suggests that the neck injury is nothing more than ‘whip-lash’ but there is are signs of cerebral contusions and a depressed fracture of the skull that may require immediate surgery … this is something that is under discussion in Neurosurgery at the moment … I’m sorry, Mr Price, Alice’s condition is currently a cause for concern and the next forty eight hours will be critical … now, if you follow me we’ll go upstairs and you can see your sister and young Billy.”
“Can I see my wife … is she conscious?”
“Not at the moment, but she is breathing normally and there has been no interruption to the oxygen supply to the brain which is a huge positive … she is in good hands right now, and the surgeon will be able to give you a fuller picture later, but I’m afraid that until the immediate emergency procedures are completed, your patience is the best thing that you have to offer to Alice … that, and to take care of little Billy … don’t forget, he’s also a victim and will need all the love that you can give him … c’mon, let’s go upstairs and see what he’s up to … he seems to be a remarkably resilient little chap and you can do much more for him at the moment than you can for Alice”.
Malcolm followed the medic upstairs until he was shown into a large play-room where Kirstie and Billy were busily engaged with other hospitalised children sticking felt shapes onto boards on which they had each drawn a character …
“Look Dad, Auntie Kirstie is helping me with my Dinysorus”.
Almost without looking up, Billy carried on sticking as if nothing had happened … Kirstie simply gave her brother a welcoming look that said … “I can guess what you’re thinking … so am I”.
With Billy engrossed with his ‘Dinysorus’, they compared notes, and on being informed by the medic that Alice was already in pre-med being prepared for surgery, it was reluctantly jointly agreed that as no useful purpose would be served by hanging around the hospital waiting rooms, home was the sensible option.
Auntie Kirstie would take Billy and Dad home so that at least Billy would be in familiar surroundings tonight, whilst Malcolm could arrange some alternative transport for the morrow and get his head around how he was to deal with the immediate problems that would inevitably arise following Alice’s unforeseen hospitalisation.
*********************
It was almost four in the afternoon when Malcolm opened the front door of his home and the hollow silence that greeted them was tomb-like. He’d tried to persuade Kirstie not to come in, but she had insisted … and now he was glad that she had.
“You take care of Billy”, she said, “and I’ll see what I can rustle up from the ‘fridge and make a cup of tea. Luckily Jack is at home today and he’ll be picking our kids up from school and I’ve got him well trained so he’ll be able to look after them for an hour or so. When you’ve got things sorted I’ll be on my way soon enough, but not until young Billy is properly fed and watered”.
By six o’clock Kirstie had magicked a meal for both Malcolm and Billy from Alice’s well stocked ‘fridge, and she was reading Billy his bed-time story.
Meanwhile, Malcolm had spoken to Angwin and arranged for a few days off … no direct mention of the Rochester contract other than to say that “Janet has received an email from Dennis to say that ‘it had all been a false alarm and that everything was tickety-boo’, whatever that was supposed to mean”… which made Malcolm wonder whether old Angers had ever got wind of the contents of the note on Malcolm’s desk that morning. Angwin also told him that he’d arranged for Malcolm to have the use of a hire car from tomorrow … and until his insurance company sorted something out, ‘not to worry about the cost’.
So, along with the contract news, at least there was some small consolation in what otherwise had been an all-round disastrous day
At eight o’clock, just as Kirstie was about to leave, the phone rang.
Alice was in recovery, the operation had gone well with no complications, it might be possible to visit tomorrow but they would phone again in the morning with an update. For now everything was as good as could be expected.
“Thanks for everything sis, I don’t know how I would have managed today without your help”, said Malcolm, hugging his sister as if his life depended on it.
“It’s what sisters are for, Mal, just make sure that you keep an eye on young Billy for a few days, there’s bound to be some reaction … but you know where I am if you need me.
‘Not a day that he was likely to forget in a hurry’ thought Malcolm as her car vanished down the road and he returned to the silence of his once vibrant home … and he suddenly realised just how drained he felt … as much as he was dreading having to face his bed alone that night, he was absolutely shattered.
But sleep didn’t come easy for Malcolm that night, and it was the kaleidoscope of mostly imagined images flashing through his mind that held it at bay for over an hour …
At first, as he heard the creak of the bedroom door slowly opening, he was not sure whether he was still awake or whether he was dreaming …
“Da-aad! Are you asleep?”
Still unsure, Malcolm lifted himself onto one arm and turned to see in the half-light that Billy was in the doorway holding his favourite stuffed ‘dinysorus’.
“Da-aad! Can I sleep in your bed ‘till Mummy comes home?”
Malcolm silently lifted the sheets and Billy climbed in beside him without a word and snuggled close … they both needed company that night.
“Da-aad! You remember our secret…”.
“Which secret”, mumbled Malcolm.
“About how clever you are”.
“H’mmm …”
“When I see Mummy next I’m going to tell her”.
“Hmmm …”
“And Daa-ad … I’ll never wish anything for myself again, all my wishes are for Mummy”.
There was not even a Hmmm … and next morning they both overslept again.
***********************
Atiller16 