Chapter 22
Bella had arrived in Pretty Beach for the weekend, and Maggie had said she didn’t want to go on the boat again because she wanted to look at bunnies with Jeremy. So, not wanting to force Maggie to have another day boating Juliette had driven over to Jeremy’s to drop Maggie off for the day.
Juliette said hello to one of Jeremy’s neighbours, walked down the path to his house with Maggie and Bella and pressed the bell on the front door. Two minutes later, Jeremy dressed in a white linen shirt, navy-blue shorts, and boat shoes, opened the door. He flashed the megawatt smile. All three of them were about to be Sparkled.
‘My three favourite girls!’ Jeremy said, and gave Maggie a hug and then put his arm around Bella and kissed her on the cheek.
‘Daddy, you forgot Delilah!’
‘Silly me. Of course I wouldn’t forget Delilah,’ Jeremey replied, chuckling.
Juliette kissed Maggie, gave her a huge hug, and went to walk down the path while Bella stood chatting to Jeremy and then followed her back to the car.
‘Enjoy your day out on the boat then, darlings,’ Jeremy called out as Juliette clicked the remote to unlock the door.
‘We will, thanks,’ Bella replied looking back and waving.
‘Thanks Jeremy. We’ll be back from the boat early evening.’
‘Okay. Have fun! I’ll text you later, Bella.’
Juliette and Bella got back into the car and made their way back to Pretty Beach through the busy traffic. They finally got back to Mermaid Lane, collected their stuff for the boat and walked all the way through Pretty Beach to the jetty.
‘Ahh, it’s so lovely to be back and to be spending the day with you. I’ve missed you so much.’ Bella said.
‘I’ve missed you more!’
‘It’s a shame Maggie didn’t want to come out,’ Bella said.
‘I know. She wasn’t going to be persuaded though, was she? To be fair she’s been to the boat with us so many times now while we’ve been doing it up that I think the novelty has worn off a bit.’
‘Yeah, maybe. She really didn’t want to come.’
Luke was already on the boat, pottering around cleaning the windows, together with Holly who was sitting out at the back a huge sun hat keeping the sun off her face. Luke waved as Juliette and Bella walked along the jetty.
‘How was the traffic coming into Pretty Beach? I heard it’s quite busy already,’ Luke asked.
‘It was. We had to queue at all the roundabouts on the way in.’
‘Everything okay with Maggie?’
‘Yes. Jeremy was in high spirits on this lovely day, wasn’t he, Bella?’
‘Yeah, he always loves the sunshine.’
‘Don’t we all,’ Luke replied as Bella held her head up to the sun and took a deep breath in. ‘Ahh, the fresh sea air of Pretty Beach, so very different to Oxford.’
‘And you’ve got a whole weekend of it ahead, and a great weather forecast too,’ Luke said smiling as Bella jumped into the boat and sat down on one of the little benches at the side.
Juliette kissed Luke and started to take the French bread and vanilla buns out of her basket and put them on the side table. She poured water in the stove-top kettle and put it onto one of the tiny little burners. She unwrapped the vanilla buns while the kettle boiled, and when it whistled to signify it was ready, she poured the boiling water into a cafetiere with ground coffee in the bottom.
Five minutes later, she'd pushed the plunger down on the cafetiere, poured the coffee, and handed it out to Luke, Bella and Holly.
Holding his coffee in one hand, Luke slowly pulled out and away from the jetty. Holly, Bella, and Juliette sat at the back of the boat with their coffee and buns. None of them really said anything as they all sat and looked out to sea. A deep blue sky peppered with puffy white clouds went past overhead and every now and then a seagull squawked and swept down into the water.
‘What a beautiful day to be out on the water,’ Holly said, sighing and closing her eyes held her head up to the sun.
‘It’s divine,’ Bella agreed and pulled off her t-shirt, put her towel along the top of the bench seat and got her Kindle out of her bag and laid down to sunbathe.
‘It must be at least ten minutes since you had your nose in a book Bella,’ Juliette said smiling.
‘I know. I was getting withdrawal symptoms,’ Bella said, giggling.
‘What are you reading about today, then?’
‘The role of the gunners in the war.’
‘Sounds riveting,’ Holly replied, laughing.
Juliette smiled and they all waved as their friend Harry went past in his fishing boat, and they could just make out Ed over at the kayak hire shop loading a few tourists into the water.
‘Pretty Beach on a nice day. Nothing better,’ Juliette said and let out a contented sigh.
‘What about the Maldives?’ Luke shouted over with a joke and a wink to Juliette.
‘I couldn’t tell you as I haven’t been, but right now I don’t think there are many places in the world I’d rather be,’ Holly said, rubbing extra sun lotion into her legs and adjusting her hat so that it covered her face.
‘You went there on honeymoon, didn’t you Luke? So you’d know,’ Juliette teased.
‘I did. There’s nothing like a day out on the water,’ Luke called out and all three of them at the back nodded in agreement.
***
A very big lunch, quite a lot of sunbathing, a bout of fishing, and about six hours later they headed back across Pretty Beach bay to the jetty. All Juliette’s thoughts of life and its surprises were far out of her mind as they all kicked-back, relaxed and enjoyed the coastal air.
Luke pulled carefully into the berth and Juliette started to potter around the deck putting things away, folding up towels and popping her bits and bobs into her basket.
‘I’ll take all this washing up and do it in the big sink up at the club, shall I?’ Bella asked whilst Luke started to tie things up and check the engine.
‘Yep. There’s no point fiddling around and trying to do it in here, thanks,’ Juliette said and passed the washing up bowl over to Bella.
Bella hopped off the boat and walked up towards the amenities block and ten minutes later came strolling back along the jetty, barefoot, a shirt over her bikini, and with the washing up bowl in her hands.
Juliette turned her gaze to Bella and watched her step over a gap in the timber boards and make her way back to the boat.
Bella, her hands full with the washing up bowl, went to step onto the boat and turned around at the same time as a seagull swooped down towards her. As she stepped onto the boat, the boat swayed and she missed her footing.
As quick as a flash the washing up bowl and its contents dropped, and Bella fell straight back into the water.
Juliette jumped up and Holly shrieked as they saw Bella sink down, disappearing into the dark water between the boat and the jetty.
‘Oh my god!’ Juliette screamed.
Luke, who had been standing at the back of the boat putting the latches across on the cupboards, dived off the boat towards Bella. Bella had already come back up and was struggling to hold onto the side of the boat.
Luke held onto the ladder with one hand and held onto Bella with the other.
‘My foot! I’ve hurt my foot!’ Bella gasped from the water.
‘Okay, Bella. Stay calm. We’re going to get you out of the water,’ Luke instructed and started to gently lead Bella to the ladder on the side of the boat.
Holly and Juliette were leaning over the side, looking down and reaching their hands towards Bella.
‘Oh no! Oh my God!’ Juliette kept repeating over and over.
‘She’s fine, I think,’ Luke said as he helped Bella up the stairs.
‘She is not fine, Luke! Shut up!’ Juliette shouted angrily.
‘My foot. It caught between the boat and the timber. I think it’s bad,’ Bella cried, as she pulled herself out.
They all looked do
wn as Bella lifted her foot out of the water and saw that three of the toes on her left foot were crushed and out of shape. The third toe was bent back the other way and her whole foot had begun to swell. Bella looked down at her foot and started to cry.
Bella’s breathing was laboured and all the colour had drained from her face. She stepped onto the boat and placed her left leg out in front of her.
The toes on her left foot were crushed, the little toe almost going to the side and the middle toe misshapen.
‘We need to get her to your car. Where did you park?’ Holly shouted.
‘We need to get an ambulance and we need to get one quickly.’ Luke replied calmly.
Juliette nodded in agreement.
Bella sat motionless with her head leant back on one of the seats and whimpered in pain. Luke was already on the phone speaking to the emergency services, and Juliette held onto one of Bella’s hands, with Holly holding the other. Holly gently patted Bella on the arm and repeated, ‘It's okay. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.’
As Luke finished the call Juliette frantically looked down the jetty towards the road as they waited for the emergency services to arrive.
Juliette knew that something had been coming. This was obviously another one of life’s surprises. It what had been in the back of her mind all along.
Chapter 23
‘Yeah, cheers mate. Nothing else to tell you at the moment. I’ll send you an update,’ Luke said to Jeremy on the other end of his phone, as he paced up and down outside Newport Reef hospital.
‘What did he say?’ Juliette questioned as Luke walked back in, and sat back down next to Juliette in the waiting room.
‘Maggie’s going to stay there. He’s not going to tell her anything yet. He sounded very worried. Obviously.’
‘I can’t believe this is happening!’
‘I know. Me either.’
‘One minute we were clearing up and ready to go, the next minute she’s in the water. Just like that and slipped down into the sea!’
‘It was quick as a flash,’ Luke said, grimly.
‘I told you boating accidents are rife. Oh, my goodness, my beautiful daughter’s foot is shattered, Luke. What are we going to do?’
‘There’s nothing we can do. You and I of all people know that. All we can do is wait,’ Luke said, and patted Juliette on the leg.
Juliette nodded and fumbled in her bag for a humbug, unwrapped it and sat there, still with her swimming costume on underneath her shorts and top staring into space.
Every now and then panic rose up through Juliette’s throat and she just kept closing her eyes and shaking her head. Luke put his arm around her.
‘My Bella. She just fell, didn’t she? Right down into the water. Just like that. It was like I was watching it in slow motion.’
Luke nodded in agreement.
‘Luke, you and I know that look on the face of the consultant.’
‘Yep.’
‘Do you think she’s going to lose a toe?’
‘I’m sorry, I just don’t know the answer. But it’s not looking good. It really isn’t. The toes are not in a good way - I don’t think you have to be a medical professional to see that. It’s more that it was all crushed in there from the look of that x-ray.’
Juliette’s phone buzzed and she opened a text from Jeremy.
Any further news?
Nothing. I’ll let you know.
Thanks.
Juliette closed her phone and then gasped. ‘I’ve suddenly thought! Should I be calling Jack?’
Luke didn’t say anything right away as he contemplated what Juliette had said.
‘It’s not my call, but I don’t think so, at least not at this stage. I know he’s her biological father, but he has met her what, twice now?’
‘Yes. Yes. You’re right. He hasn’t been in her life so far, so, why would I let him know now?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Then again, does he have a right to know?’
‘It’s a tricky one. I think it’s best you don’t for now. It’s not like it’s a life or death situation.’
Juliette took another humbug out of her bag and nodded.
‘I’m not sure I can handle him anyway. Not that this is about me, but he’s not even really in our inner-circle is he? She’s only met him a few times.’
‘Yeah, it’s up to her. Best to leave it and go through it with her. See how she feels.’
‘Okay. Yep, I’ll leave it,’ Juliette replied putting her phone back in her bag.
‘Shall I go and see if I can find us a cup of tea while we wait to see what happens?’
‘Thanks, yes. But I’m not moving from here.’
Chapter 24
‘I’ve got good news and bad news,’ the consultant said as he spoke to Juliette standing in the corridor. Juliette nodded and wished that either she or Luke knew this consultant, but both working in maternity they were in a completely different department of the hospital.
‘The good news is I’ve spoken to the orthopaedic surgeon in Pettacombe Valley Hospital and there’s a bed in the foot and ankle unit.’
Juliette clasped her hands in front of her and let out a sigh. ‘And the bad news? She’s going to lose a toe?’
‘The bad news is that I don’t know the answer to that at this stage. You need a specialist to advise you, I’m afraid.’
‘I know, sorry,’ Juliette replied wringing her hands in front of her.
‘The patient transport etcetera is all being arranged now. As you know there’s also the concern with it being an accident in the water. Obviously, there’s a risk of soft tissue infections with the broad array of microorganisms involved and she’ll need intravenous antibiotics. It’s really a case of seeing how she responds to all of that too.’
‘So, basically, we won’t know much more until she’s transferred to Pettacombe?’ Juliette asked, trying to ascertain the situation.
‘Yes. That is correct.’ The consultant nodded gravely.
‘And when do you think that is going to be?’
‘I’ll have all the answers for you soon. If she can be reasonably transferred this evening, we’ll go for that option. If not, it will be in the morning.’
A couple of hours later after various discussions and talks regarding transferring Bella, it had been decided that she would stay in Newport Reef overnight and was booked in to be taken to Pettacombe Valley in the morning.
Juliette and Luke walked down the corridor and turned into a room where Bella was sitting up in bed in a small ward. Juliette tried not to gasp as she looked at Bella who looked tiny and frail in the grey metal bed surrounded by equipment. The dull sickly green walls, electric blue curtains, and huge purple wing-back chair seemed to make everything feel a million times worse. Juliette had never noticed the colours in the hospital before, never noticed the dullness of the decor, the drabness of everything all around, but now it all seemed suffocating. The air felt too hot, the floor didn’t look clean, and the bed seemed too high. Everything felt alien.
As Juliette moved around the bed and sat down an extremely round tea lady wearing a floral tunic came in. Luke looked up and smiled in recognition.
‘Oh Juliette! Luke! Whatever are you doing here? What has happened, my lovelies? Is this one of your lovely daughters? You don’t look in a good way,’ The tea lady said and looked over at Bella. ‘What have you gone and done to yourself?’ the lady crooned.
‘An accident on the water,’ Bella replied and smiled faintly.
‘Hello Glenda. So nice to see a familiar face. We’ve not really seen anyone we know at this end of the hospital. Yep, we’ve had a boating accident.’ Juliette replied with a small, sad smile.
‘You poor things. Rightio. Cup of tea? A nice cup of tea may just cheer you all up a tiny bit.’
Juliette smiled weakly, Bella nodded yes to the offer of a cup of tea and Glenda poured tea from a huge pot and then continued around the ward with her trolley.
Bella sip
ped on her tea and looked at Luke, her huge eyes wider than normal. All her hair piled up on the top of her head.
‘Luke, do you think I’m going to lose my toes?’
Chapter 25
It was a few days after Bella’s transfer to Pettacombe Valley Hospital and her first surgery. Pettacombe was several stops along the line on the fast train from Pretty Beach and getting to Pettacombe Valley Hospital was quick and efficient via the train. As Juliette sat on the train on the way to the hospital everything looked drab and grim. Thick grey clouds moved overhead as the train sped along and Juliette stared out of the window at the fields saturated with rain. She’d known there had been something about to happen all along and here she was now living the reality of it.
She checked her phone for messages, put her phone back in her bag, crossed her legs and continued to stare out of the window. A woman got up from the seat opposite and went to the loo and it reminded Juliette of when she had seen Luke’s ex-wife on the very same train back in the Spring. That seemed almost a world away now. Everything in her mind now was either before the accident or after the accident. Everything was now black and white.
The train usually felt like it flew along at a million miles per hour, but today, desperate to get to the hospital, it felt like it was crawling along like a snail.
As the train finally arrived in Pettacombe Juliette gathered up her bag and raincoat when her text pinged with a message from Luke.
How are you getting on? How are you feeling?
Good. The train is just about to arrive at Pettacombe.
OK. Let me know when you get there.
Juliette got off the train, tapped her card on the pad at the gate at the end of the platform, and hurried along towards the bus stop in the drizzling rain. She felt exhausted from the past few days. The ups and downs. The different medical staff. The transfer to Pettacombe with the specialist foot unit. It had all been draining and pushing all sorts of her buttons.
A Pretty Beach Wish Page 8
