“So she has family here, then?”
“Yes, I’ve met her gran, she a lovely woman.”
“Okay, stop off for some flowers on the way.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what girls like. Trust me!”
“Thanks mum.”
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
Pete nodded.
“More than that, mum, she’s everything to me!”
“Then get her something really nice!”
Pete grinned, taking the £10 note his mother handed him.
“Thanks.”
She watched him go to the car, sighing. One minute you were changing their nappies, and the next they were driving off to visit their girlfriends in hospital. She sighed again. Next stop grandparenthood!
Kayla listened to Ingrid’s description of one of the first times she met her husband to be. She tried to imagine Grandpa as a young man, failing miserably. He had died when she’d been quite young, and she’d no recollection of him being fit and healthy.
The door opened. Pete popped his head round.
“Pete! How good to see you,” she almost shrieked.
Jake smiled across the room at his wife. Kayla’s accent was automatic. Even recovering from a general anaesthetic, she maintained the Swedish accent.
“Hi, how are you?” Pete asked, handing over an enormous bouquet of red roses.
“Oh, I love roses!” she said.
He grinned self-consciously.
“We’ll leave you for a while. We’ll pop back in an hour or two, okay Kayla?”
“Thanks, Uncle Jake.”
Jake grinned, kissing her on the top of her head.
Pete waited for them to leave, only then approaching the bed. He gently kissed her, to be somewhat shocked and pleasantly surprised at the passion with which she returned it.
A nurse came in and they broke off. The nurse smiled.
“Would you like some supper?”
“Something light, a salad, please?” Kayla replied, waiting for her to leave again.
“So, all fixed?” he asked, noting she was wrapped up in a large dressing gown.
“Ja. I had minor surgery down there. It was not difficult, but was a, how you say, blockage. I’m fine now.”
“Good. My mother was asking, but I don’t think I want to know the details.”
She smiled. He thought she looked remarkably good, despite being in surgery. He told her so.
“It wasn’t serious. Would you like to see?”
Pete swallowed.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll take your word for it.”
“I had just the surgeon remove some extra skin. That’s all,” she said. “I will be home tomorrow. There is just a slight risk of infection; that is why I have the bag.”
Pete saw the catheter and decided that he didn’t want to know any more. He decided that the Swedes were more open about medical stuff than the British.
Kayla giggled at his discomfort.
“You’re teasing me!” he said.
“Ja, a little.”
“You wouldn’t have shown me, would you?”
She shrugged.
“If you like. It is not beautiful, I think. There is some swelling and soreness.”
“Shit, Kayla, you don’t want to show that sort of stuff to people!”
“You are my boyfriend, aren’t you?”
Pete looked at her.
“Yeah, I’d like to think so.”
“Kiss me again?” she said. “And I’ll show you when it’s all better!”
He grinned.
“Deal!” he said, kissing her.
Lynn was in the kitchen when Peter returned. He hung the keys up in the cabinet and came into the kitchen, whistling and looking very content.
“Well, how is she?”
“Fine. She was looking really good.”
“What was wrong with her?”
“Her English wasn’t that good. She described it as a blockage down there. Nothing serious, just some skin that needed removing. She had a tube attached to her, collecting her pee. Why would they do that?”
“She probably had a growth removed. Infections are so easily picked up; they keep things clean by putting in a catheter. When is she being discharged?”
“Tomorrow. She’s only in for the day.”
“That’s a good sign. It wouldn’t be anything serious. Poor kid, it still wasn’t that nice for her, though.”
“She liked the roses.”
“Oh yes? So you bought a big bunch of red roses, then?”
“How did you guess they were red?”
“Because you’re in love. Red roses mean love, don’t they?”
“Mum! I bought them because they’re her favourite.”
“Yeah, pull the other one. I bet you never knew that until today!”
Pete looked sheepish, so Lynn knew she was right.
“Peter, don’t get too involved with her. She’ll probably go back to Sweden soon and you’ll never see her again!”
“That’s what she said a few weeks ago. She thought it better if we didn’t get serious, but I can’t help it, and I don’t think she can either.”
Lynn frowned.
“She said that?”
“Yeah. Do you remember that time I went to pick up the car, and we took Percy a walk in the rain?”
“Yes, so?”
“She told me that she would be going back to Sweden and she didn’t want to hurt me by allowing us to get too serious. She’s so lovely, Mum, I just can’t help it. She really thought about me!”
“What about her, what did she want?”
“She wanted to be with me, but felt that if we didn’t get serious, then we’d not miss each other when she goes home.”
“Sensible girl. So what happened?”
Pete shrugged and helped himself to a biscuit.
“We sort of agreed to take each day as it comes.”
“And?”
“I think we’ve both sort of got serious.”
“Oh, Peter, and with your A levels just round the corner too!”
“I know, but she’s like no one else I’ve ever met. How do you know when you’re in love?”
Lynn smiled.
“You just know. You just want to be with that person all the time. When you’re apart, you just can’t wait to be with them again. You continually think of them. You smile when you think of them, you feel pain when they hurt, and you cry when they cry. Pete, you just know!”
He smiled.
“That’s what I feel like.”
Lynn gave him a hug.
“Welcome to the club. Just be sensible, because with love comes hurt. Be prepared for that, okay?”
“Yeah. I am.”
11
The surgeon had let her go on the following morning, as promised, allowing her home to recover. Actually, most of the pain was from the catheter being removed, and she wasn’t really prepared for her first experience of trying to pass urine as a girl.
Mr Sweeney warned her that she might spray a little. That was the understatement of the century! She sprayed almost everywhere but downwards!
She took to stuffing toilet paper down the gap to catch it all before she redecorated the bathroom. After a couple of days, the swelling went down, and by the end of the week, she was able to hear the reassuring sound of water into water every time.
Pete became almost a constant companion. They sat and played cards and board games, or just chatted. With every moment they were together, they became closer and closer.
She was invited over to Sunday lunch by Lynn, who was desperate to see the girl who had stolen her son.
They’d had a very pleasant meal. Lynn found the Swedish girl delightful. She was polite, respectful, helpful and such a gentle soul, she immediately understood what Pete saw in her. As well as being excruciatingly pretty, she convinced Lynn that she was just a very genuine girl.
As they washed up after lunch, which Kayla had volunteered to do, Lynn broached the subject of the girl’s recent medical treatment.