Homecoming (12 page)

‘Emily?' she whispered. ‘Are you in there?' She tried the door again but it was definitely locked. She went into the living room; it was exactly as she had left it earlier that evening. She returned to the hall. Emily's bedroom door was open, the light on, her handbag, stole and evening dress tossed on the bed. She banged on the bathroom door and shouted, ‘Emily!' When there was no reply, she set her shoulder against the door and pushed with all her strength. The door burst open at her third attempt.

Emily lay on the floor, a sliver of broken glass wedged between her fingers, her wrists covered in blood that had dripped on to the linoleum, staining it a bright, crimson red.

‘We'll look after your wife from here, Mr Griffiths.' The nurse took Katie's arm from him as he helped her into the foyer of the nursing home.

‘I'll be fine, John.' Katie squeezed his hand and clambered awkwardly into the chair the nurse wheeled in front of her.

He paled as her face creased in pain. ‘Please, let me go with her.'

‘You'd be in the way, Mr Griffiths. I advise you to go home and telephone in the morning.'

‘I am not leaving.' John crossed his arms and resolutely stood his ground.

‘I swear, the fathers are more trouble than the mothers,' the nurse muttered under her breath, as Katie desperately tried to conceal another pain. ‘Nurse Evans,' she called to a colleague who was crossing the hall, ‘take Mr Griffiths to the waiting room and give him a cup of tea.'

‘This way, Mr Griffiths.' The nurse took him firmly by the elbow and propelled him down the corridor. As John tried to brush her aside, he looked back and saw that Katie was nowhere to be seen.

‘It was an accident,' Emily slurred, as Judy wrapped damp towels around her wrists. ‘I drank too much …'

‘I can see that.' Judy twisted the towels, exerting pressure in the hope that it would stop the bleeding. ‘Can you stand up? I have to get you to hospital.'

‘No!'

‘Oh yes,' Judy contradicted vehemently. ‘You can't expect me to stand back and watch you bleed to death.'

‘All right,' Emily conceded, ‘I'll go, but you have to tell them that it was an accident.'

‘You want me to lie for you.'

‘I fell on a glass.'

‘I don't believe you,' Judy countered frostily.

‘Please, Judy,' Emily started to cry. ‘My Aunt Mary tried to kill herself; it was horrible, they accused her of trying to commit suicide, she was put on trial and sent to prison …' Emily gave Judy an imploring look. ‘ … I was drunk, that was all,' she whispered hoarsely. ‘I didn't know what I was doing. It will never happen again. I was drunk. Please …'

John paced the floor of the waiting room. Fifteen steps one way, twenty-two the other, including detours around chairs and tables. Two cold, untouched cups of tea stood on the central coffee table. There was a pile of magazines on a second table set in front of a curtained bay. He picked one up, flicked through it and returned it to the stack without absorbing a single word or photograph he'd seen.

‘Mr Griffiths.'

He whirled around and saw that the nurse was smiling. How could she, when Katie was in pain …

‘You have a son.'

‘Katie.' His voice sounded high-pitched, peculiar.

‘Mother and baby are doing well after one of the shortest labours on record in this nursing home.' The nurse's smile broadened. ‘It is just as well that your wife produced after three hours, Mr Griffiths. I don't think you could have stood any longer.'

John caught sight of himself in a mirror; his hair was on end from the times he'd run his fingers through it while he'd paced. His face was white, his lips bloodless. He reached into his pocket for a comb and discovered he didn't have one.

‘Would you like to see them?'

‘Them,' he repeated in confusion.

‘Your wife and son,' the nurse explained patiently. ‘Please, come with me.'

He followed the nurse into the entrance hall. She pressed a button set in the wall and he realised why Katie had disappeared so quickly. He hadn't even noticed the lift when they'd arrived. The nurse led him into the lift, up to the second floor and down a corridor into a large, pleasant room decorated with green sprigged wallpaper. Katie was lying in a single bed, propped on pillows. Her smile faded when she saw him.

‘You look awful, John. Are you all right?'

‘I should be asking you that.'

‘I told you I'd be fine.'

He caught her hand. ‘And I will be now that I've seen you.' He sank into a chair the nurse placed next to the bed.

‘Would you like to hold your son, Mr Griffiths?' The nurse lifted a shawl wrapped bundle from a cot set the other side of Katie's bed and carefully handed it to him. ‘I'll leave you to get acquainted, but not for too long, your wife and son need to rest.'

He gazed from the baby to Katie, as the nurse closed the door quietly behind her. ‘Are you really all right?' he pressed earnestly.

‘It was just like Judy's mother said, there was pain, but as soon as he arrived and they gave him to me to hold, I forgot all about it.' She looked at the baby lying peacefully in John's arms. ‘He's seven pounds six ounces,' she revealed proudly. ‘The nurse said that's a good weight, he's fit and healthy, has beautiful blond hair, blue eyes …'

‘And a wonderful mother.' He kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘You don't mind him being a boy?'

‘I wouldn't swap him for a million girls.'

He pushed his finger gently into the baby's tiny fist. ‘You can hardly call him Daisy, which is the only name you picked out.'

‘He would get teased,' she agreed. ‘What was the name of your grandfather, the one who brought you up?'

‘John, and we're not having two John Griffithses in the house. But my father's name was Glyn.'

‘Glyn Griffiths.' She repeated it. ‘I like the way that sounds.'

‘How about Glyn Martin Jack Griffiths.'

‘Glyn Martin Griffiths, we'll keep Jack for the next one.' She laughed when his frown deepened. ‘He'll need a playmate.'

‘I'll need time to recover.'

‘Let me know the minute you do.'

The nurse knocked before opening the door. ‘I'm sorry, Mr Griffiths, but you'll have to leave.'

‘When can I see them again?'

‘Visiting is every evening from six until seven for fathers. We'd rather no one else came for the first week, aside from the risk of bringing colds into the home at this time of year, the mothers need their rest.'

‘You will take care of yourself?' Katie pleaded, as John handed the baby to the nurse and left the chair.

‘I promise, see you tonight.' He kissed her again.

‘Love you,' she whispered, ‘and thank you for my son.'

‘Miss Murton Davies's injuries looked worse than they actually were. The cuts are mainly superficial, only two needed stitching.' The doctor eyed Judy suspiciously. ‘You are absolutely certain that she fell on a glass.'

Unused to lying, Judy recalled Emily's pleadings as she had driven her to the hospital. ‘I saw the glass myself when I helped her up from the bathroom floor,' she hedged.

‘So it was an accident.'

‘That is what Emily told me,' Judy confirmed.

The doctor eyed her as though he hadn't believed a word she'd said. ‘And has Miss Murton Davies had any other “accidents” lately?' he enquired cuttingly.

‘None that I'm aware of.'

‘You live with her.'

‘We share a flat, yes.' Judy crossed her fingers, hoping he wouldn't ask her how long they had been living together.

‘You know she had been drinking. Far too much for someone in her condition.'

‘She'd been to a party.' Judy felt she had to say something in Emily's defence.

‘You weren't with her.'

‘No, she went with her fiancée.'

‘And he knows about the baby.'

‘She's having a baby?' Judy exclaimed.

‘She's almost five months pregnant. You didn't know?'

‘No, but she did say she'd be moving out soon to get married.'

‘The sooner the better.' The doctor pocketed his stethoscope. ‘You will inform Miss Murton Davies's family and her fiancée about this “accident”?'

‘Yes.'

‘And should there be any more “accidents” …'

‘I'm sure there won't.'

The doctor nodded. ‘Provided you agree to take care of her, you can take Miss Murton Davies home as soon as the nurse finishes bandaging her wrists. But I warn you, if you are lying, you could find yourself in serious trouble. Suicide is a criminal offence, as is aiding and abetting one.'

‘I am certain that Emily didn't mean to do anything of the kind.'

‘As long as you are sure, Miss …'

‘Hunt, Judy Hunt.'

‘Take care of her,' he barked abruptly, before striding down the corridor that led to the treatment rooms.

His words echoed in Judy's head. She returned to the waiting area outside the cubicle where they'd taken Emily. It wasn't her place to take care of Emily, it was Robin Watkin Morgan's and she'd see that he did exactly that, just as soon as she reached her flat and her telephone.

‘A nephew.' Lily's eyes shone with excitement. She laid out dishes of bacon, eggs, black pudding, laver bread, mushrooms and tomatoes on the table in front of John, Brian and Martin. ‘My first real relative,' she observed, remembering Brian's offer to Martin and repressing her instinct to shout the news of her own pregnancy.

‘Hey, what am I?' Martin complained.

‘Only my husband.' Lily joined them at the table. ‘What's he like, Mr Griffiths? How heavy is he? What are you going to call him?'

‘One question at a time, Lily. Poor Mr Griffiths has been up all night.' Martin passed John the bacon.

‘First, now that my son is your nephew, I insist on all of you calling me John,' John said firmly. ‘And to answer Lily's questions, he's beautiful, he has blue eyes, blond hair, he was seven pounds six ounces, and,' he looked at Martin, ‘we're naming him Glyn Martin Griffiths after my grandfather and you.'

As Martin beamed proudly, Brian murmured, ‘Jack isn't going to like that.'

‘I wanted to call him Glyn Martin Jack Griffiths, but Katie insists on keeping Jack for the next one.'

‘She's already talking about having another one?' Lily opened the butter dish. Taking a helping, she laid it on the edge of her plate and passed the dish to John.

‘Brave girl,' Brian whistled.

‘I've asked her to wait until I've recovered from the shock of this one,' John smiled, ‘but I've a feeling that won't take too long.'

‘Well,' Brian lifted his teacup in a formal toast, ‘here's to Glyn Martin Griffiths, may his life be a long, happy, healthy and successful one.'

‘Glyn Martin Griffiths,' they all echoed.

‘Formal wetting of the baby's head to take place in my house as soon as Katie and Glyn come home,' John invited.

‘What, no pub crawl tonight?' Brian grumbled.

‘Maybe a pint or two in the Rose tomorrow evening after visiting,' John conceded. ‘This is a great breakfast, Lily, thank you.'

‘You're welcome to stay for lunch.'

‘I may take you up on that offer but I won't be staying. As soon as I've eaten this, I want to drive to Limeslade to tell Jack and Helen the news.'

‘They'll be thrilled.' Lily passed Brian the black pudding.

Martin gave John a quick self-conscious look. John, Jack, Helen and him were the only four people who knew Helen would never have any children and he was far from certain that either Helen or his brother would be thrilled.

White-faced, red-eyed, Emily emerged from the cubicle and walked unsteadily towards Judy. ‘The doctor said I can leave if I have someone to take care of me for a day or two.'

‘I've told him I will.'

‘Thank you.'

‘Back to have the stitches out in ten days,' the nurse cautioned, carrying a bowl and bandages out of the cubicle. ‘Take care until then and no more falling on to glass.'

‘I won't,' Emily assured her, ‘and thank you. I'm sorry,' she apologised to Judy, as they left the building by the main entrance.

‘Sit in the car before you fall down,' Judy advised, unlocking it.

Emily did as Judy suggested. Covering her face with her hands, she muttered, ‘I can't thank you enough.'

‘I hate lying,' Judy said sharply, pushing the key into the ignition.

‘I'm sorry, really sorry.'

Judy looked across at Emily and felt a pang of compassion. ‘Give me your solemn promise that you will never do anything like that again. Promise,' she repeated sternly, when Emily remained obstinately silent.

‘I promise never to involve you in anything like that again.'

‘Then the minute we get home, I'm going to telephone Robin, your mother, your brother …'

‘No!' Emily interrupted, her voice wavering in emotion. ‘I don't want anyone to know about this.' She turned her face to the window.

‘The doctor told me that you are having a baby.'

‘He had no right. But then, what does it matter?' she whispered wretchedly, ‘the whole town will know soon enough.'

‘It's not something you can hide,' Judy agreed. ‘Did something happen between you and Robin tonight, because if it did I'm sure it was nothing. All couples quarrel. My fiancée and I had a right royal row –'

‘Robin broke our engagement.'

‘Once he finds out about the baby he'll come running back.'

‘He won't, he broke it because of the baby.' Emily turned a dry-eyed, anguished face to Judy's and somehow it all came out. How miserable her life had been since her father had been imprisoned and the family had lost everything. How all her friends went out of their way to avoid her. How she had been left with only Robin and her brother to turn to, and how Robin's sister had somehow arranged for her to be found drunk and naked in bed with one of Robin's friends.