Blurred Lines

by Naughty Aphrodite

  ***

  Walking into the familiar and comfortable surroundings of Amy’s farmhouse after such a long and exhausting day, felt like a godsend to Norman. After traveling in the ambulance with Amy and making sure that she was settled in her new private room at the hospital, Norman had finally conceded that there was nothing else that he could do there. The hospital was going to run some tests in the morning to see if they could see any reason for Amy’s unconsciousness but they had reiterated the words of doctor Miller. All that he could do was wait for her to hopefully wake up.

  Checking the old farm clock Norman couldn’t believe that it was nearly 3am, it wouldn’t be that long before the sun was coming up again. Despite feeling bone tired he knew he wouldn’t be able to get to sleep just yet, so set about cleaning the kitchen. It was still as Amy had left if, even with the dirty dishes in the sink. Seeing everything there almost as if the house was waiting for her to return was both heartbreaking and comforting to Norman. Being back at the farmhouse somehow managed to ease some of the tension he’d been feeling for the past few weeks.

  He’d really missed this place. He hadn’t realized until now how much he had come to love it. The familiar scent of the lavender polish that Amy used on the wood, the rocking chair by the fire that Amy’s uncle had made, the sound of wild animals in the fields going about their nocturnal business. All of it came together as a balm on Norman’s senses. He felt like he was home.

  The familiar feeling of Tabatha weaving in and out of his legs was also wonderful. Picking the cat up he rubbed the top of her nose until she was purring in satisfaction.

  “Don’t you worry, lovely girl, I’m here to look after you now. How about the three of us head off to the bedroom and see if we can get some sleep?

  ”

  Moving to the bedroom and getting settled in bed with Tabatha by his feet and Rollo happy on the rug by his side Norman finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

  Chapter 3

  Never in Norman’s life had he expected to know so much about strawberries. As he stood in the field, now cleared of the old plants and ready for fertilizing he thought back to when he’d last been in this field. He and Amy had been working on clearing the plants away by hand after the tractor had broken, they’d been interrupted by a huge storm and had taken refuge in the nearby shack. Norman turned and looked at the shack, Amy had been terrified of the storm and told him about seeing a church struck by lightning when she was younger, which had led to a man being killed. Norman had provided her with comfort and safety in his arms but it hadn’t taken long before their passion for each other had taken over and they’d made love for the first time.

  Closing his eyes he could almost feel Amy’s soft skin against his, taste her on his tongue. He longed for her to be here with him, reliving the memory together. It had been over a week since he’d found out about her accident and there was still no sign of her waking up.

  Since then, he’d been splitting his time between the hospital, the farm, and his business, fitting in meetings when he could, even though it felt alien to him now, to sit in a room, feeling uncomfortable in his suit and tie. The whole world of business and money seemed so superficial and unnecessary when compared to the fragile balance between life and death. He had to admit that most of the time he wasn’t paying attention, thinking instead about what jobs he still needed to do at the farm or longing to be by Amy’s side.

  He heard the car making its way up the track before he even saw it. The roar of Mark’s Lamborghini was unmistakable and it wasn’t long before he could see the bright yellow car pulling up outside the house. Knowing how much pressure Norman was under, Mark had suggested that they move their usual weekly partners meeting to the farmhouse and that he’d bring dinner with him. He really had proved invaluable over the last few days, doing whatever he could to take some of the pressure off Norman.

  Seeing Norman up in the field he turned and waved, Norman waved back and started walking back to the house. Just the thought of having some food made his stomach start to rumble. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d eaten. It certainly wasn’t lunch time because he’d rushed straight from the hospital into a meeting and when he’d gotten back to the farm he’d realized he hadn’t stopped at the shop to get any food and he wasn’t yet that hungry that the prospect of eating Rollo’s dog food seemed appealing.

  “Well, you look terrible.” Mark as ever was more than happy to tell Norman the truth.

  “So would you if you’d just spent the afternoon digging up dead plants.”

  Mark winced in sympathy. “Any news on when the new tractor should be arriving?”

  Norman had decided that there was no way he could clear another field by hand and had taken it upon himself to order a new tractor. He didn’t think that Amy would mind, besides by the time she was up on her feet again he planned on having all the fields cleared and hoped that she’d forgive him the little expense.

  “Next week apparently, they hadn’t got the one I wanted in stock so it’s being shipped over from the manufacturers. You’ll have to have a go when it arrives, see if it handles any better than that beast.”

  Mark stroked his car. “There, there sweetheart, don’t you listen to the bad man. He’s just jealous that he’s not man enough for you.”

  Norman laughed and lightly punched his friend on the arm in jest. Looking down at the bag Mark was carrying, Norman’s stomach let out a loud groan.

  “Is that a Mai Lin bag? Oh please tell me you bought Chinese food, did you get dumplings?”

  “Ha, of course, I did and the shredded duck. I bought us a veritable feast. I figured whatever we didn’t eat tonight you could keep for your breakfast tomorrow.”

  “You are a lifesaver, I’m starving. Shall we go in so I can eat? Err, obviously I mean to start on our very important meeting.”

  ***

  Settled at the kitchen table with their Chinese meal spread out before them, the two men started to discuss business. Things were starting to grow again after the economic downturn of the last few years. Not that business had ever gotten bad, but more of their clients were starting to feel more confident about spending their money again.

  “So as you can see from this graph here, business took a steep dive and our accountants think we’ll be completely broke by the end of the year.”

  “Really, that’s great,” Norman responded absentmindedly and then realized what Mark had just said. “Sorry, what?”

  “I thought that might get your attention again. You had drifted off. No guesses as to where. Worrying about Amy again?”

  Norman looked over at his friend apologetically. “I’m sorry, you’re right I was distracted. What if she doesn’t wake up, though? This is entirely my fault.”

  “First off, this is not your fault. You didn’t make her go up the ladder. You weren’t up there with her and pushed her down. You need to stop thinking like that.” Pouring them both a glass of the white wine he’d bought to go with their meal, Mark took his glass and stared deep at its contents for a moment.

  “Secondly, I honestly believe that she will wake up. Obviously, I can’t say when, but I’m certain that she will.”

  Norman wished that he shared his friend’s certainty. “How can you be so sure? It’s been so long. Surely she should be awake by now.”

  “Listen we have the best people on the job doing everything that they can to make sure that she wakes up. You need to trust that she will. When have I ever been wrong?”

  “Well, there was that one time…”

  Mark laughed. “Yeah, maybe not that time.”

  Norman was managing to smile now. “And what about the time that…”

  “Ok, ok, stop already. So there have been a minuscule number of times that I’ve actually been wrong. This isn’t one of those times. Seriously, though.” He leaned forward, his deep brown eyes full of concern for Norman. “You need to start believing it too. The sooner you do, the soone
r you can start planning for when she comes out of the hospital. You need to start thinking about what happens next and what it means for you.”

  Norman wasn’t sure he understood. “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll know what I mean once you’re able to see things a little more clearly and I want you to know that I support you in any decision that you make.” He held up his wine glass in toast. “To the future?”

  Still uneasy and unable to shake off the helplessness he felt at Amy’s current situation, Norman, nonetheless, could see that Mark made a good point. He clinked his glass against the other. “To the future.”

  The rest of the evening was spent deep in companionable and ever more tipsy conversation. After finishing off another bottle of wine and starting on the scotch, it was decided that Mark would spend the night there. The farmhouse had plenty of spare rooms. They tiptoed around the house like naughty school boys trying not to wake their parents, as they tried to find clean sheets.

  “Shhhhh….” Norman put his fingers to his lips.

  “I’m shhh, you shhh. Anyway, why are we shushing? We’re the only ones here.”

  “I know but it’s late and I don’t want you to wake the dog.”

  Realizing the absurdity of it all, they both collapsed in a fit of giggles. It had been the first time in a while that Norman had felt relaxed and he couldn’t thank his friend enough.

  “I love you, you know.”

  “Of course, you do, everybody loves me. I’m completely loveable.”

  “Ha! You’re an arse.”

  Mark lay down on his bed, his hands tucked between his head. “Yeah, but I’m a completely loveable arse.”

  ***

  Woken from his dreamless sleep by the sound of his phone vibrating, Norman blearily opened his eyes and checked the time. 6am…. 6am?? He was instantly awake, why would somebody be calling him at this time?

  “Hello?” He answered the phone, his voice still heavy with sleep and drink from the night before.

  “Norman? It’s doctor Philips. I don’t normally make these calls myself but I thought you might like to know that Amy’s just woken up.”

  Norman flew out of bed and scrambled around the bedroom trying to get dressed at the same time as listening to the doctor. “I’m on my way.”

  “Ok, but bear in mind that she is still very weak and you won’t be able to see her for long today.”

  Stopping only to write a quick note for Mark, who wouldn’t be up for hours yet, he ran to his car and drove to the hospital as fast as he could.

  ***

  Running down the corridor Norman was stopped by a rather proper looking nurse with a stern look on her face.

  “Sir! No running down the corridor.”

  Feeling suitably chastised, Norman apologized and then walked as fast as he could to the reception desk on Amy’s ward. A nurse who was now friendly with Norman after his daily visits smiled at him in greeting.

  “Norman, lovely to see you. I was wondering when you would turn up.

  “How is she, Melissa?”

  “She’s sleeping at the moment, but the doctor has seen her and he’s happy. I don’t think that you’ll be able to spend much time with her today but I’m sure tomorrow she’ll be awake more. It’s going to be a long hard recovery for her, but she’s awake, which is the main thing.”

  Thanking the nurse, Norman made his way to Amy’s door and stood outside trying to calm his nerves. It was funny, he’d been here every day and even though the nurse had said she was asleep, the idea that she could wake up at any moment made him nervous. What if she didn’t want to see him? He tapped lightly on the door, and softly pushed it open. Amy’s bed had been raised so that she was in a sitting-up position and the machines had been switched off, it seemed strange to walk in and not have the regular rhythm of beeps. Not wanting to wake her just yet, Norman settled down into his seat and waited.

  Aware that somebody had entered the room, Amy tried to open her eyes but they were just too heavy. You would think, she thought to herself that after being in a coma for so long you would wake up feeling refreshed. How strange then that she felt more tired than she ever had before. Forgetting about her visitor she fell back to sleep.

  When she next awoke she managed to open her eyes. Norman was dozing in the chair next to her. She took a moment to drink in the sight of him sleeping. He was so handsome, his face relaxed in sleep had an almost boyish quality about it. His dark hair was ruffled like he’d just gotten up and she longed to reach over and run her fingers through it. He seemed much thinner than when she last saw him and even though he was sleeping she could see the dark circles under his eyes. She hoped that this wasn’t because of her but the nurse had told her how he’d been visiting every day and looking after her farm, so she guessed this probably was the case. She hoped that he woke soon, she had so much she wanted to say to him, wanted to thank him for everything he’d done but she was already starting to feel sleepy again. Despite trying her hardest to stay awake, it wasn’t long before it got too much for Amy to resist and the darkness overcame her again.

  Waking with a start, it took Norman a few seconds to work out where he was, then he looked straight over at Amy, she was sleeping. Had she woken at all? How could he have fallen asleep at such a time? He then noticed that a nurse was standing over him.

  “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”

  Norman was reluctant to go, especially as he hadn’t had chance to speak to Amy, but he remembered what the other nurse had said about her being more awake tomorrow. It was probably better that they talk then.

  Leaning over and kissing her forward, he whispered to her. “I promise I’m going to take care of you.”

  ***

  When Norman arrived back at the hospital the next day the nurse was already waiting for him.

  “Thank goodness you’re here. Amy’s been awake for the last hour and she keeps demanding to see you.”

  Norman looked at her worriedly. “Is everything ok? Is she ok?”

  Seeing how worried Norman was, the nurse smiled kindling. “Yes, everything seems to be fine. She’s woken up a lot fresher today, one of the other nurses has given her a bath and she’s managed to eat a small breakfast. I’m sure she’s just anxious to see you.”

  As Norman made his way to Amy’s room the nurse couldn’t help wondering who wouldn’t be anxious to see him. She certainly knew that most of the nurses around here would be sorry when Amy left and they wouldn’t get to see him every day.

  Seeing a familiar looking shadow at the door to her room, Amy suddenly felt shy. It had been so long since they’d gotten to talk to each other. What would it be like? What would they say?

  She nervously fiddled with her hair as the door slowly opened and Norman peered around it, smiling when he saw her awake.

  “Hello, you.”

  The sound of his voice sent Amy’s stomach flip-flopping, it was just as deep and rich as she remembered it.

  “Hey,” she replied quietly.

  “It’s lovely to see you awake, you had me worried for a while there.” He’d come and sat beside her in the chair where she’d seen him sleeping yesterday, seemingly the chair where he’d spend most of his time while she’d been here.

  “I know, I’m really sorry. Listen…” She paused, there was so much that she wanted to say, but where to start really. “I wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me. The nurses explained how you moved me here and how you’ve been taking care of the farm. After everything…” She paused as a lump suddenly appeared in her throat.

  “After everything that happened, for you to still care, to still do all this for me, well it’s just beyond kind of you.” She leaned over and took his hand in hers. “Thank you so much.”

  Norman placed his other hand over hers and squeezed it gently.

  “It was the least that I could. When I heard about your accident, I couldn’t hel
p think that it was my fault. I was the one that was supposed to paint the roof. I’m so sorry that I let you down.” He looked down at their hands entwined, together as they should be. “I owe you an explanation.”

  Amy didn’t reply, just nodded her head and waited.

  “When I first came upon your farm I was… Well, I guess I was angry and unsure of myself. I’d just finished with my girlfriend after I found out that she was only with me for my money. I was fed up of just being seen as Norman the Billionaire. I wanted people to see me as a regular guy. I just wanted to be a regular guy. It was a spur of the moment thing and then, before I knew it, I’d fallen for you and couldn’t work out how to untangle the knot I’d gotten myself into. All I knew was that I didn’t want to lose you” He smiled ruefully “As it turned out I did a pretty rubbish job of untangling it.”