“Your mother is very sick,” he said.
They could both gather that.
“I have to be honest; it’s not uncommon for people of your mother’s age to fail to recover from an infection like this. But we’ll do all we can. I just think that perhaps you should prepare yourselves for the possibility that she may not get better.”
“You mean she’ll die?” asked William, disliking the man’s inability to say it as it is.
“I’m afraid so.”
That started Linda wailing again.
The doctor muttered some inanities and wandered off. A nurse bustled up and said she had to attend to things. She asked them to step out of the way as she pulled the curtain round the bed.
“How long have you been here?” he asked his sister.
“I’m not sure, a couple of hours.”
“Why don’t you go and ring Graham in Brussels and let him know and then grab a coffee?”
“Are you sure?”
He smiled, squeezing her hand.
“Of course. I’ll sit with her. If it’s going to be the end, then at least one of us will be here.”
The nurse pulled back the curtains and smiled at them.
“All tickety-boo now. We’re trying to get her a bed in the HDU, so it might not be long,” she said.
Linda kissed her mother, as if she knew she would never see her again alive. Then she bustled out of the A&E, grateful for the release for a while. Kenneth lingered for a moment, staring bleakly at his grandmother on the bed.
“That doesn’t look like her,” he said.
“No, you’re right, she doesn’t.”
“I’ve never seen a dead person,” the lad said.
“Well, let’s hope you don’t have to just yet.”
The boy almost smiled, but then just nodded and followed after his mother. William watched him go. He was a pleasant lad, a bit wet, though; didn’t have a lot of get up and go, but William didn’t think kids today did.
William sat on the ubiquitous plastic chair and took his mother’s hand.
He had no regrets, as he had a good relationship with both his parents. He just felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness weigh him down. If she died and he was unable to get a job, and then his heart.......
The wave of depression hit him like an express train.
At that moment the monitor attached to his mother sounded an alarm.
His next clear and conscious thought was of confusion. That might sound daft, but one moment he was by his mother’s bedside, and the next he was in a hospital bed looking up at his distraught wife.
“Oh God, Billy?”
He frowned, wondering what had happened, but then a tall man with a dark face and a white coat stepped into view.
“Mr Baldwin, I must tell you that you’ve had a heart attack. Your mother, I’m sad to say, passed away and we suspect the shock of that triggered your attack. You’re stable now, but you need a by-pass operation as a matter of urgency.”
“Mum’s dead?” he asked. Carrie nodded, sobbing into her handkerchief. William knew it wasn’t for his mother.
He shrugged, strangely relieved that the old girl didn’t have to see him like this.
“She had a good innings and she’ll be happy to be with dad again,” he said, which made Carrie wail the harder.
“Your brother is coming in, and so we’d like you to rest now.”
Billy took Carrie’s hand.
“It’ll be all right, love; you’ll see.”
John arrived to find his sister Linda and the sixteen year old Kenneth in the relatives’ room. John resembled their mother more than their father, while Billy was not unlike old Neil. Kenneth was like neither of his parents. He was a tall lad, but slender and fine of feature. Linda had dark brown hair, greying now. Graham, on the other hand, was almost totally bald. No one was quite sure where Kenneth’s fair hair came from, until Billy remembered that their mother had been fair. She went grey at an early age, so none of them remembered.
“What’s happened?” he asked.
Linda dissolved in tears, so Kenneth had to tell his uncle what had transpired.
“Grandma’s died and Uncle Bill had a heart attack.”
“Bloody hell, when?”
“Just after grandma died, they said. It was the shock or something like that.”
“Is he all right?”
“Um, I think so, but the doctor said something about a by-pass.”
“Where’s mum?” John asked.
“In a side room; they said we can see her if we want, but Mum said we’ll wait for you.”
The trio went along to speak to the A&E sister, who took them to where their mother was laid out in the side room.
“She looks peaceful, now,” John said.
“She looks better than she did earlier; more like she used to look like. She looks asleep,” said Kenneth.
Linda just cried.
“This is a rum do; where’s Bill?”
“He’s in A&E waiting for a bed in the cardio unit.”
They sat in silence with the dead woman for a couple of minutes.
“Still, she’ll be glad to be with Dad again,” said John.
“That’s just what Uncle Bill said.”
“At least it was quick. It’s the lingering death I don’t want.”
Linda cried some more.
The nurse came in with a green carrier bag.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mr Baldwin, Mrs Frost. These are your mother’s personal affects. Please let me know if there’s anything we can do at this sad time.”
John thanked her and took the bag. The nurse stayed for a moment, but as there did not seem to be any questions, she told them about what they had to do, having included a card with a number of the bereavement service at the hospital.
“Please call and make an appointment. They’ll issue the certification and tell you what you have to do to register the death.”
John felt tears sting his eyes at the mention of the death certificate. It was so final.
“Thanks,” he managed to grunt.
The nurse smiled and left them alone.
“Have you seen Bill?” he asked his sister.
She nodded, still crying.
“Is Carrie here?”
Kenneth said, “Yes, she with him.”
“I’ll go see if the old sod is all right, I suppose. Are you coming?” he asked Linda.
She shook her head.
“I want to stay with mum for a minute or two. Take Kenneth, if you like. I want to be alone,” she said.
Kenneth went with his uncle, back along to A&E.
“Are you okay?” John asked.
“I suppose.”
“How’s school?”
“All right.”
“Got a girlfriend yet?”
Kenneth frowned; every time John saw him he asked the same stupid questions.
“No, not yet.”
“You’ve plenty of time.”
They arrived at Bill’s booth in A&E to find two porters and the nurses busy preparing to move him. He looked rather grey under the oxygen mask.
Carrie was crying quietly, out of the people’s way. She almost smiled for her brother-in-law and nephew.
“How is he?”
“Stable, but he needs an urgent by-pass. Apparently he was told this by the specialist a while ago, and kept it to himself.”
John frowned.
“Why?”
“He didn’t want to worry me. What with being made redundant and now his mother…” she tailed off, crying again.
The staff nurse approached him
“Hello, are you family?”
“I’m his brother.”
“Good, then we’re moving him up to the cardio ward. The specialist has seen him and it looks as if he’ll be detained for possible emergency surgery. He needs a triple by-pass.”
“Is he critical?”
“Not exactly; it is serious, but he’s in the right place. I understand he was on the list, so this way he’ll get done a little quicker.”
“Do we need to stay?”
“That’s up to you. He’s been sedated and is on various drugs to assist the blood flow. If I were you, I’d go home. We’ll call if there’s any news or change. I understand you’ve had a rough day?”
“That’s one word for it. Thank you.”