Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 2243

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The Daily Dormouse.
(aka Bike, est. 2007)
Part 2243
by Angharad

Copyright © 2013 Angharad
All Rights Reserved.
  
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Somewhere in the distance a phone was ringing, in my dream there was... Damn it, it’s got louder. I reached out and banged my hand on the bedside cupboard and sat up whimpering–well it bloody hurt. I switched on the light a weal was forming on the back of my hand. Just as the phone rang again and I jumped, Simon sat up and muttered half asleep, “Woss goin’ on?”

“Hello?”

“Cathy?”

“Who else are you expecting?”

“Sorry,” said Ingrid, “I’m worried about David.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I can’t wake him.”

Oh shit. Think, “Is he breathing?”

“I think so.”

“Is he warm?”

“As toast, he’s sweating like a pig.”

You’d think as a biologist I’d know if pigs actually sweated. I don’t. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“What’s up?”

“David is sort of unconscious and very hot.”

“Sort of unconscious?” asked Si as I pulled off my nightie and pulled on some clean knickers and then my trousers. I was so glad I washed before I settled down after you know...too much information, you don’t really care do you? You don’t wish to know that if you’re lying down when...it can take a while to drop out...yeah, okay, too much...

I pulled on a bra and clipped it behind me.

“How can you do that so fast when it takes me five minutes of fumbling to get it off you?”

“Girl guides.”

“But you weren’t in them, were you?”

“For two weeks,” I responded pushing my arms through the sleeves of my sweater.

“Two weeks?”

“My Lady Macbeth era, Siá¢n thought it would be fun to enrol me. My dad found out after the second week and made me resign.”

“Pity,” he shrugged, “Want me to come?”

“If I do I’ll ring.”

“Okay.” He laid back down. I switched off the lights carrying my shoes and sock with me. It was throwing it down as I dashed over to the cottage. Thankfully, Ingrid had left the door open.

“Up here,” she called me and I ran up the stairs. David was breathing very rapidly and I suspect shallowly.

“Call an ambulance,” I said to Ingrid and while she was doing so I assessed my unfortunate cook. His pulse was racing and he was sweating copiously. His body temperature was very high. I tried to scan him but for some reason, it didn’t or wouldn’t work. It doesn’t always.

“They’re coming.”

“Good, he’s burning up, isn’t he and his pulse is fast and furious as well. I suspect an infection. Get some cold water and some flannels and let’s try cooling him a little. She rushed off and came back with a bowl of cold water and two clean face cloths. I immediately wrung one out and started wiping down his face and neck. She started on his torso. It wasn’t going to help that much, but anything is better than nothing.

Blue lights appeared in the drive and the paramedics drove their van up to the door. They took one look at him and listened to his chest. “He should be wheezing like mad, I reckon pneumonia. Okay, hospital and quick.”

We helped them get him on to a stretcher and then to negotiate the narrow stairs with their precious and heavy load. “You his wife?” asked the senior paramedic.

“Me? Good lord, no. I’m his employer, that’s his partner.” I pointed to Ingrid who was coming out of Hannah’s room.

“You coming, luv?”

“What about, Hannah?”

“You go, I’ll see to Hannah.” As she went out the door, “If you need a lift home give us a shout and we’ll organise it.”

“Okay, thanks, Cathy.”

Off they went and down I sat. Then I jumped up when Hannah wandered into the sitting room. “Where’s Mum gone?”

“She’s gone to hospital with David.”

“What for?”

“David was taken ill and needed hospital care.”

“He’s been ill for a couple of days.”

“I know, but he worsened tonight.”

“Oh, can’t you mend him with the blue stuff?”

“Apparently not.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t tell me.”

“Oh–he’s not going to like, die, is he?”

“I hope not.”

“He berrer not.”

“I hope not.” I didn’t know. People did have an unfortunate ability to corpse when in my vicinity, and my cooking wasn’t always to blame. Cooking–ha. Compared to David, I made soup and bread–actually, I made neither, one was the product of a bread-making machine, the other a hand blender. I’m a dab hand with a blender and so far haven’t actually blended my hand yet.

“Why don’t you go back to bed, Hannah?”

“I don’t like sleeping here on my own.”

“I’ll be right here.” I said tapping the chair in which I was sitting.

“I’ll come and sit with you–you wanna cuppa tea? Mum says you drink gallons of it.” Character assassination by a ten year old.

“You could always come over to the house with me.”

“Nah, I’ll sit with you.” With that she sat on my lap and cuddled up to me in an easy chair which wasn’t really designed for multiple-occupancy. I sat uncomfortably as she went off to sleep in a couple of minutes. She snuggled up to me and zonked.

After about twenty minutes, she was getting quite heavy and my arms and legs were either going to sleep or getting pins and needles. Just as I thought I’d have to ask her to move when Simon arrived. “Babes?” he shouted.

“In here,” I called back quietly.

“What you...” he paused in mid shout when he saw the sleeping girl lying on top of me. “...doin’ in here?”

“Do I need to answer that?” I hissed back at him.

“Not really.”

“She’ll have to move or I’ll be permanently deformed.”

“Little one’s squawking for you.”

“Damn, I forgot to feed her again.”

“Swop?” he pointed at Hannah.

“Is it still raining?”

“A bit.”

“Get a blanket.”

He trotted upstairs and came down with a travel one–“All I could find.”

He picked her off me and the relief was enormous except I couldn’t quite stand on one leg, so I sort of hopped around and covered her with the blanket in his arms. By the time we went outside, I could walk or even run and we trotted back to the house where Tom was standing in the kitchen with the kettle boiling–that’s experience for you. It wasn’t apparently, he just fancied a cup of tea–to dilute the alcohol?

We tucked Hannah up in the dining room on the sofa and left some background lighting on so she’d see where she was. Simon sent me up to bed and lay down on the sofa on the other side of the room. I told him no and sent him up to bed. There was no way I was having him compromised by sleeping in the same room as a young woman. He didn’t quite understand my point but I insisted and got another blanket and pillow, then with my cup of tea and my book, I settled down for what remained of the night. It was four o’clock on Boxing day morning.

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Comments

It's wierd but ...

Troble often seems to come around during the Christmas season. Storms, crashes, disasters, sickness, central heating breaking down, electricity cutting off and so on and on. Why always around Christmas? My theory is that the first real impact of winter usually exposes any weaknesses that have been developing during the year.

Thanks Ang. Still lovin' it.

Bevs.

x

bev_1.jpg

Hadn't heard anything about Hannah lately

Kind of sweet that she cuddled into Cathy and went to sleep.

Hope David will be ok. Really think a visit to the hospital in the morning would be appropriate.

Sign of our times that Cathy couldn't let Simon sleep in the room with Hannah. Sad.

Starving Little One !!!

So, the poor thing was left to starve all night long. :(

G

Is Hannah

Podracer's picture

going to be spending a lot more time chez Watts, I wonder. Cathy must've fed the "little sucker" before settling downstairs, or nobody would have got any more sleep.

"Reach for the sun."

Well if it is

pneumonia then that is certainly a christmas present David could have done without, Hopefully the ambulance will get him to hospital ASAP with pneumonia there is no better place ..

Cathy's experience with her leg reminds me of the time a while back when i had fallen asleep in a chair in an awkward position, The phone ringing woke me up with a start, Without thinking i shot up out of my chair... Big mistake, I collapsed into an untidy heap on the floor after my leg would not support me, By the time i sorted myself out the phone had stopped ringing...I never did find out who it was... Blooming witheld numbers :-(

Kirri