Wobbling Doorframes (aka Bike) Part 568 by Angharad

I set to after changing my clothes, and began cooking the dinner. Trish came and helped me, washing the vegetables and laying the table. She seemed to enjoy the one to one with me, I’d speak to Simon later, and I’ll bet Mima was the same with him.

I assumed they’d gone to see Henry, although Simon had asked me to go instead, as he had hospital visiting fatigue, a newly classified disease, only occurring in men.

“Have you had a nice afternoon?” I asked Trish.

“Oh yes, Mummy, I’ve really enjoyed myself.”

“Okay, I’m glad, now just remember what we agreed.”

“About the blue light?”

“The whole thing.”

“Okay, Mummy, I won’t tell anyone, not even Mima.”

“Don’t tell her for goodness sake, she’ll tell everyone. Talk of the devil…” As I spoke, Simon drove into the driveway and parked. He and Mima got out of the car. “Where’s Tom?” I asked myself, and then ran to the door.

“Where’s Tom?” I shouted to Simon.

“Let me come in and I’ll tell you.” He followed me through the door. “He wasn’t feeling too good, so I called the doctor. He suggested taking him to hospital. I tried to call you but I suppose your phone is off.”

“Yes, they ask you to switch them off in hospital. How is he?”

“I had to leave him there, they were doing ECGs and things. It was beginning to look as if they were keeping him in.”

“Damn, did you take his pyjamas?”

“No, it all happened quite quickly.”

“I’ll go and pack for him, keep an eye on the dinner.” I’d only unpacked for him a day or two before, so it seemed a nuisance that I had to throw it all back in a bag for him. I grabbed the book by his bed and shoved that in as well.

We ate rather hurriedly after that and for the second time that day, I was driving to the hospital and Simon was baby sitting–it would be good for him. I parked and ran into reception, they told me he’d been admitted to the cardiac care ward, where he was before.

I rushed up to the ward and the nurse pointed me to his bed, it was opposite where he’d been before. He was sitting in his chair reading the Echo. “How are you, Daddy?”

“Cathy, what are you doing here?”

“I brought you some pyjamas and stuff.” I pecked him on the cheek.

“Thanks, but I would have coped.”

“I’m sure you would, but I preferred you have your own.”

“You’ve spent enough time here today, get off home.”

“I’ve just paid for an hour in the car park, so I’m staying.”

“Suit yourself.” He continued to pretend to read his paper. “So how was the baby?”

“She’s coming on fine.”

“That’s your healing energy.”

“Come off it, Daddy, that’s your imagination. I’m a scientist, remember?”

“As if you’d ever let me forget, if you care to cast your mind back to when you last were a scientist, and I’m not knocking you, if you can remember that far back of course, I was a humble professor of biological science. So I suspect that makes me senior to you, seá±orita.”

“I thought all this mumbo jumbo stuff went out with Darwin.”

“With Darwin, or because of Darwin?”

“You know what I mean, Daddy, with Darwin.”

“Course I do, so tell me, did Trish see the blue light?”

“What blue light?”

“You know damn well what blue light.”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Children often can, it’s only when they realise they’re not supposed to be able to see it, that they stop doing so.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“That’s why I’m the senior scientist,” he joked.

“Isn’t that a euphemism for old fart?”

“Probably, young pip squeakess.” We both laughed at that.

“Did you bring in your mobile?”

“Yes, it’s in my locker, why?”

“Nothing, seems odd that you remembered it and forgot a change of underwear.”

“It was all a bit of a shock, but Simon was very good.”

“He usually is if someone tells him what to do.”

“Which I did.”

“I think Stella trained him well.”

“Some men can think for themselves, some even get to be made professor.”

“Yeah, oh great one, but Simon ain’t one of them.”

“I know that, young lady, I know that well enough.

“But he’s good with the girls, so I forgive him the rest.”

“Aye, that’s a point in his favour. He also loves you, which is another.”

“I think he loves the girls, too.”

“ ‘Tis a little obvious, and they love him too.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I sighed and sat down on the bed.

“You’re not still jealous of him, are ye?”

“A bit, they make such a fuss of him.”

“Yes, yes they do, but they could live without him. They couldn’t without you.”

“Of course they could, they did for three and four years respectively.”

“Ah, that was before you fostered them. They’d be very upset if they lost you.”

“Not if Simon was about.”

“Hen, they widnae notice efter a few days, if he disappeared. If you did, they’d be upset in hours.”

“I think they would miss him. They ask for him now when he’s up in Town.”

“They ask for you when you’re in the bathroom.”

“Only because I feed them.”

“You’re much too young to be so cynical.”

“I learned it early on.”

“Was your childhood as bad as you make out?”

“Not all the time. I’d see girls and wish I could be them, then Daddy would try to toughen me up.”

“I can see that worked very well.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I was being sarcastic, Cathy.”

“It toughened up my mind, I didn’t give in to his beatings in the end.”

“No okay, how about we move on to more recent times? He seemed to make it up with you before he died. In fact he seemed very proud of his daughter.”

“I didn’t give him a lot of choice, accept me or lose me forever.” I could still feel the anger when I thought back, although instead of wanting to hit my father, I wanted to cry.

“Are you giving me the same ultimatum?”

“Eh?”

“Are you giving me the same ultimatum?”

“I thought you accepted me,” I felt rather uneasy about all this.

“I do, so I hope I’m not going to lose you forever.”

“So why are we discussing it?”

“I thought we’d best make sure there were no loose ends, or unfinished business. If my heart is playing up again, I might not be here much longer…”

“Oh, Daddy, don’t go and die on me. I need you.” I threw myself on to him and hugged him.

“Careful, Lass, you’ll finish me off at this rate.” I released my hold, but I had tears in my eyes.

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but in my folder at home, in the event of anything happening to me, check out that file, okay?”

“Only if something should happen, and I hope to God, it doesn’t.”

“For a born again agnostic, you seem to mention that three letter word you don’t believe in rather a lot, don’t you?”

“Figure of speech, that’s all,” I said sniffing.

“But of course, thank Darwin,” he said, gave me a funny look and we both laughed.

“You know what I think?” I said.

“No I don’t, but I’m sure that situation won’t last.”

“I think you’ve got indigestion–you made a curry, didn’t you?”

“Do ye think I canna differentiate between indigestion and a myocardial infarct?”

“In a word, yes.”