He took his coffee back to the ward and the first thing Barney said when Harvey appeared at his bedside was, ‘I’m sorry for being an ungrateful grouch.’
‘No worries at all.’ Harvey tentatively pulled up a chair and sat down.
‘What’s the coffee like?’
‘Iffy, but it might keep me awake a while longer.’
‘Bad as the food then,’ he harrumphed.
‘Unfortunately.’
‘Nurse is happy with my progress.’
‘That’s great.’ Harvey took another brave sip of coffee. ‘We’ll soon have you home. They mentioned it would probably happen today.’ When Barney nodded he asked, ‘What happened when you fell? You still haven’t really explained.’
Barney muttered. ‘It’s no great mystery, I fell off a ladder.’
‘But did you lose your balance? Were you dizzy?’
‘I’ve already been through this with the doctors and nurses. Honestly, you’d think you lot were trying to confuse me with all your questions.’
‘This is purely for my peace of mind.’
‘There’s no mysterious tale to tell. I was trying to repair a beam in the barn, that’s all. I’m getting too old, I know.’
‘That wasn’t what I was getting at.’
‘Well it’s true, it’s a fact.’ Barney looked up at the ceiling. ‘This place needs a fresh lick of paint, the whole hospital does. Do you think it’s their mission to make these places as depressing as possible?’
Pleased at least to see the old man’s sense of humour trying to escape, Harvey agreed. ‘It may well be. I mean, they don’t want to encourage patients to hang around too long, do they?’
Barney relaxed into the familiar friendly banter, a father-son-like way of talking to each other that neither of them had ever had before they came into each other’s life.
‘I can fix the barn up,’ Harvey assured him. ‘It needs quite a few things doing, but no more climbing up ladders for you, leave it to me.’ He pulled a face after a sip of coffee and set the cup on the window sill.
‘That bad?’
‘Worse…thought I could manage it but I’ll pour it away.’
‘Listen, don’t go fixing up things around the barn or the house, you’ve got your own job to do. It can wait.’
‘I can fit it in, not a problem.’
‘Really, there’s no need.’ He looked away.
‘Barney, what are you talking about? You always make sure the barn is in good repair so it’s ready for the Wedding Dress Ball every year. You hate things to be left until the last minute.’
Barney shrugged noncommittally. ‘Don’t worry yourself about it.’
‘You’re going to pay someone else?’
‘No, I’m just going to leave it.’
Harvey ran a hand across his chin. ‘Now we both know you’re not going to do that. The Wedding Dress Ball is in just over a month. It’s a safety issue and you wouldn’t want it on your conscience if someone got hurt by the glass breaking in one of the little windows, or if one of those beams came down mid-dance, or if –’
‘I’ll stop you right there. No, I would never forgive myself, you’re right. Which is why it’s not happening.’
‘What’s not happening?’
