Heather’s face slackens. Is this what she’s trying to do? Claire had said something similar when they chatted the night before. Might both Claire and Gerry be right?
‘But Scott …’
‘I know, I know. He treated you badly and spoke unkindly when he was stressed out of his head and, frankly, in shock. But the question is, Heather – what doyouwant? Because inviting a bloke like me, who likes you this much, for dinner and then being distracted because he’s not the person you wish was sitting opposite you – well that’s just a bit …’
Gerry, the safe choice, who she has used as a backup for the last few months, hits the nail on the proverbial head. Whatisshe doing?
Once the air is cleared between them, and Heather has apologised profusely for making Gerry feel used, they finish their meal under much more amiable terms.
Afterwards, Heather offers her cheek for Gerry’s kiss, escorts him to the door and double locks it behind him. She knows the reason his words have affected her is because they are laden with home truths.
‘I’m so sorry, again,’ she’d said as he left.
‘You know I’ll always be there for you, Heather,’ he said. ‘But you need to be honest with yourself about what you really want.’
She ponders the backup plans she put on her manifestation board earlier in case tonight’s meal was a disaster. She’d considered a dating app. Claire advocated for walking groups and had tried to steer her towards her open water swimming instructor, but Heather knows he shows her nothing more than a professional interest. And she doesn’t really like him like that, anyway. Is Gerry right? Is the person she wants right beneath her nose and she’s too stubborn to admit it?
She rams the washing tablet into the dishwasher door, closes the cage and sets the machine onto a cleaning cycle. The whirr of the mechanism coincides with the ringtone of her phone. She glances at the kitchen clock automatically. Who calls past midnight these days?
‘Thank God. Thank God.’
‘Brianna?’ She recognises the hysterical voice immediately. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s Dad. It’s Dad. Oh My God.’
Heather’s blood runs cold. She’s been ghosting his calls. What on earth has happened? It takes three minutes to calm Brianna down so she can talk coherently.
‘He’s fractured his skull. He’s unconscious. I’m his next of kin and so they want me to go, but …. I’ve got my last exam tomorrow at ten and if I don’t attend ...’
It takes a further three minutes for them to agree that, as his power of attorney, Heather can attend in Brianna’s place.
Within ten minutes, Heather is in the car and driving over three hundred miles to see Scott in hospital. Heather’s last words to Brianna ring in her ears as she drives: ‘Stay focused on your exam. That’s what your dad would want. I’ll call you as soon as I can, and we can take it from there.’
She stops twice en-route for the toilet and a shot of espresso, and is at the hospital by six am.
***
‘My goodness, Heather.’ She recognises Scott’s sister-in-law, Lorraine, from the scene of Brianna’s driving accident. ‘They won’t let me in to see him as I’m not immediate family. He saw Leon. He bolted. He wasn’t ready. It’s all such a mess.’
Heather hugs Lorraine as tightly as she can, but breaks off to report to the nurse’s station.
‘I’m Scott Reynold’s power of attorney. I’m here with express permission of his daughter, Brianna, who has a university exam this morning.’
She shows them the paperwork, Scott’s bold and confident penmanship evident in his signature alongside her own less assertive one on the relevant dotted line.
As the nurse leads her through to him, Lorraine rushes up and grabs her arm. ‘Tell him,’ she says, ‘that Lucy would absolve him from the promise. No doubt at all.’
The desperation in her eyes signals to Heather this is important.
‘I’ll tell him,’ she says. ‘When he wakes.’
If he wakes.
She steels every bone in her body before following the nurse into the ward.
Scott is still and frail, attached at the head and chest to machines. His arm is plastered, and bruising spreads beyond the cast. A ventilator beeps with each inhalation. His eyes are closed.
She listens mutely to the nurse’s information about what to expect. His concussion is severe, and CT scans have indicated subdural haematoma, bleeding on the brain. The only thing Heather can do is to be here, talk to him, keep him connected.
