Never Too Old for Love

by Rosie Harris

  ‘Oh dear! I never thought of that. You are right, of course. Richard is still rather fragile and he might draw the wrong conclusions. Thanks Bill, you really do think of everything.’

  THIRTY-ONE

  Sister Delia Cook was of medium height, tubby, with straight brown hair. She was plain but very efficient. When she smiled her whole face was transformed, and there was a warmth and interest in her brown eyes, as though she really cared about what the other person was telling her.

  All the other staff liked her because, although she ran her ward with a firm hand and expected everything to go like clockwork, she was fair in her dealings. Patients adored her because she always had their interests at heart. There were no shortcuts when she was on duty, she never raised her voice, yet nurses jumped to attention when she spoke and carried out her orders to the letter. Mary liked her but, nevertheless, she felt apprehensive about approaching her to ask if she could bring George in to visit his father.

  ‘How old is he? Sister Cook asked.

  ‘Five. He’s at the end of his first year at school,’ Mary said. ‘He’s very quiet and well behaved and no one will know he’s here.’

  Sister Cook smiled gently and shook her head. ‘We have strict rules about children as young as that coming into the ward.’

  ‘Yes, I know but this is an emergency,’ Mary said.

  ‘An emergency?’ Sister Cook frowned. ‘Your son is out of danger and making good progress.’

  Mary bit her lower lip. She didn’t want to parade family problems to the whole world but it looked as though she was going to have to tell Sister Cook why it was so important for George to see his father.

  ‘It’s a family matter.’ She stopped and hoped that Sister Cook would accept that and not ask any further questions but, as usual, Delia Cook needed to know the details before she would make a decision. There was an uneasy silence. Then Mary looked round quickly to make sure no one else was within earshot. ‘It’s to do with my son’s marriage,’ she said in a voice that was little above a whisper.

  ‘Shall we go into my office?’ Sister Cook suggested. Without waiting for a response, she led the way towards the small room set aside for her use. ‘Now sit down, take your time and tell me what the problem is.’ She listened without interruption as Mary told her that Richard’s wife, Megan, was a high flying career woman and that at the moment she was in New York and that she had phoned to say that she wouldn’t be coming home again. She was leaving Richard for good.

  Sister Cook’s eyes widened when Mary told her that Megan had said that George was his responsibility and she didn’t want to hear from any of them again.

  ‘Does the little boy know that his mother has left them?’

  ‘He was told last night. His big worry was that his father had already left him as well because of course he hasn’t seen Richard since he had his accident and was brought in here. I thought that if he could just come in and see his father for a few minutes it would set his mind at rest,’ Mary explained.

  ‘Yes, I understand your problem,’ Sister Cook said, laying a hand on Mary’s arm.

  ‘So, can I bring him in?’

  Sister Cook hesitated for a brief second then she nodded her head. ‘Yes, of course you may. I can’t allow him to stay very long, but he can certainly reassure himself that his father really is in hospital and that he will be home again as soon as he is better. You had better bring him in today while I am on duty,’ she added as she stood up and indicated that their chat was over.

  Mary thanked her profusely. ‘I’ll bring him in this afternoon. Will that be all right?’

  ‘Fine. I’m on duty until six o’clock,’ Sister Cook told her with a gentle smile.

  Mary could hardly wait to tell Bill the good news.

  ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ he asked.

  Mary hesitated. ‘I’m not sure that they would let you in as well,’ she said frowning.

  ‘That’s all right. I’ll wait in the restaurant and you can come along there afterwards and tell me how you got on. I’m sure George would enjoy one of their fizzy drinks and a cake.’

  Mary phoned Lucia and explained she would come round and collect George as soon as he came from school.

  ‘I’ll bring him straight round to your house,’ Lucia volunteered.

  ‘I can’t offer to take you with me, they wouldn’t allow you into the ward,’ Mary explained.

  ‘That is all right. You telephone me when you rerun home and I will collect him,’ Lucia said cheerfully.

  ‘No need, I’ll drop him off at your door,’ Mary promised.

  Richard was propped up in bed with his eyes closed the same as he had been the day before when Mary had gone in to see him.

  ‘Richard.’ She said his name softly. ‘I’ve brought you a visitor.’

  He opened his eyes slowly, almost as if he was too weary to do so. Then when he saw who was there he struggled to sit more upright, which brought a flash of pain that contorted his face for a moment.

  ‘George! Hello, son.’ He said in delighted surprise.

  George went to fling himself into his father’s arms.

  ‘Careful,’ Mary whispered. ‘Your Daddy’s hurt his back remember.’

  George hesitated and nodded. Richard put out a hand and drew him closer. ‘It’s great to see you,’ he said ruffling George’s hair affectionately.

  George stood there wide eyed and nodding, but obviously uneasy.

  ‘Are you all right, son?’ Richard asked.

  George nodded. Then in a burst he asked, ‘You’re not going to go away and leave me, are you Daddy?’

  ‘Of course I’m not,’ Richard reassured him. ‘I’ve got to stay here until my back is mended but then I’ll be home again, don’t you worry.’

  ‘I won’t, as long as you are coming home again. I don’t want you to go and live in America as well,’ George told him.

  ‘Now why would I do a thing like that?’ Richard said with a tight crooked smile.

  ‘That’s where Mummy has gone and you usually go with her when she goes away.’

  ‘Not this time,’ Richard promised.

  ‘She’s going to stay there for good.’

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid she is,’ Richard said.

  ‘I don’t mind, I don’t like her very much. She always pushes me away when I try to give her a kiss. I knew she didn’t like me.’

  ‘George! You mustn’t say things like that, or think them.’

  ‘It’s the truth,’ George said stubbornly fighting back his tears. ‘When are you coming home then?’ he asked, in a choked voice.

  ‘I told you, just as soon as my back is mended.’

  ‘How long is that going to take?’

  Richard looked away from him to speak to someone who had quietly approached his bedside. ‘You’d better ask Sister Cook that question; she might be able to tell you.’

  Delia Cook stood at the bottom of the bed studying them both. ‘So you are George,’ she smiled. ‘I’m sure your daddy is very pleased to you.’

  ‘I’m pleased to see him because I miss him,’ George told her seriously. ‘Can he come home soon?’

  ‘I certainly hope so,’ Sister Cook replied. ‘It won’t be for a while though. His back still has to get better.’

  ‘Can I come in again to see him?’ George asked.

  Sister Cook hesitated. ‘Yes, but not every day. Your daddy has to lie very quietly, but perhaps once a week?’

  ‘That’s not very often,’ George sighed. ‘It’s lonely at home without him.’

  ‘Well the more he lies quiet and isn’t disturbed the sooner his back will be better,’ she told George.

  ‘I suppose so,’ he nodded.

  ‘I’m afraid I’ve come to tell you that you must go now,’ Sister Cook went on, ‘so say goodbye to your daddy.’

  She waited while George kissed Richard and then she took him by the hand and began to walk towards the door with him, leaving Mary to have a few quiet words with Richard.


  ‘I hope Daddy can come home soon,’ George said. My mummy’s gone away and isn’t coming back. I don’t mind that so much but I do miss Daddy.’

  ‘I’ll try and make him better as soon as possible,’ Sister Cook promised as Mary joined them.

  Mary thanked her for allowing George onto the ward and asked Sister Cook whether she had meant it when she said George could come in once a week.

  ‘Yes, but try and make it when I am on duty. I’ll give you a copy of my rota next time you come in.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you,’ Mary said gratefully. ‘It has meant a lot to be able to put George’s mind at rest.’ Then, taking George’s hand, Mary said. ‘Come along, I’ve another surprise for you. We’re meeting Bill in the hospital restaurant.’

  While George sat immersed in a chocolate cake, a glass of lemonade and a comic, Mary told Bill what happened. She saw him smile when she mentioned what George had said about Megan.

  ‘It’s shocking but, in a way, it is better that he feels as he does because it makes the separation less traumatic for him,’ he said gravely.

  ‘Yes, I’m sure you are right,’ Mary agreed.

  ‘That Sister Cook is very kind and understanding,’ Bill added thoughtfully. ‘Richard’s in very good hands there.’

  They took George home and while Bill read him a story from his comic, Mary explained the situation to Lucia.

  ‘I don’t think you are going to have any problems because I don’t think George is too upset by what has happened.’

  ‘It certainly doesn’t sound like it,’ Lucia agreed. ‘Children are so honest, aren’t they?’ she said with a relieved laugh. ‘We would try our best not to let other people know how we felt, but he comes straight out with the truth.’

  ‘Yes, and the important thing now is to keep life to his normal routine.’

  ‘Except that he will be able to visit his father.’

  ‘Yes, Sister Cook said he can visit Richard once a week. When I see her tomorrow, I will try and find out if she has any idea at all about how long Richard will be in hospital. I understand he is being seen by Mr Dancer, so she may have some definite news. In the meantime can you manage on your own?’

  ‘As long as I have money for food and household bills I can,’ Lucia assured her.

  ‘Don’t worry about that, I will make sure that you have what is needed and I will pay your wages regularly as well,’ Mary told her.

  ‘Thank you! That is a great relief, you make me very happy,’ Lucia told her smiling broadly.

  ‘In a way it is a pity that George is just starting on his school holidays. It means you will have to care for him all day and every day.’

  ‘I understand and that is no problem,’ Lucia assured her.

  ‘I will have him some of the time, of course, so that you can have your time off each week,’ Mary promised.

  ‘That will be very nice, but only if it fits in with your visits to see your son,’ Lucia insisted.

  ‘We’ll manage something, so don’t worry,’ Mary promised. ‘I’ll come and see you tomorrow and we can work out something that suits us both.’

  THIRTY-TWO

  Seeing George was the highlight of Richard’s day. It was against hospital rules, so it was a secret between Richard, Sister Cook and George. Mary only brought George in when she knew Sister Cook was on duty. To try and make sure that no one on the ward knew, Sister Cook always drew the green curtains around Richard’s bed. George loved that.

  ‘It’s like going camping and living in a tent,’ he said. If any of the other nurses happened to peep inside the curtains to check that everything was in order, George would hold a finger to his lips and shake his head at them. Most of then found it hard to keep from laughing, but they knew that would give the game away, so they nodded back at him and held a finger to their lips, before making sure that the curtains were closed tightly and no one could see in.

  George and Sister Cook became great friends. He loved talking to her and asking her questions. She never seemed impatient and he was careful to be very quiet and not to talk as she hurried him down the ward to his father’s bedside. Mr Dancer, the surgeon who had operated on Richards’s back was both pleased and surprised at the excellent progress he was making.

  ‘It’s the special tonic I receive from Sister Cook,’ Richard told him.

  Mr Dancer frowned, ‘Special tonic?’

  ‘She allows my little boy in to see me and that acts like a tonic,’ Richard smiled.

  ‘It’s certainly working,’ Mr Dancer smiled genially.

  ‘The swelling and inflammation around the damaged vertebrae has diminished and fortunately there has been no damage at all to your spinal cord,’ he told Richard ‘Another two or three weeks and you should be fit enough to be discharged.’

  ‘You mean I will be able to walk?’

  ‘Yes, but you will need to use crutches at first and you will have to attend a clinic for physiotherapy as an outpatient for quite some time,’ Mr Dancer warned.

  George’s school holidays were almost over when Mary was told that Richard was being discharged.

  ‘He will have to come back as an outpatient twice a week for physiotherapy,’ Sister Cook told Mary, ‘and of course he will need a great deal of rest, because he will tire quiet easily. Are you going to be able to manage that, or do you want him to go into a nursing home?’

  ‘No, I am sure Lucia can cope with all that and I will do all I can to help too,’ Mary said.

  She knew Richard would hate having to go into a nursing home. He would consider that as an extension of being in hospital. She had already talked things over with Lucia and she was confident that they would be able to nurse Richard.

  ‘Perhaps we should arrange for a carer to come in to help him shower and dress in the morning and to help undress him and get him into bed at night,’ Sister Cook suggested.

  Mary thought about it and agreed. That would lighten Lucia’s work considerably.

  The day Richard came home was a day for celebration. With Bill’s help, Lucia had managed to bring a single bed downstairs, so that Richard wouldn’t have to climb the stairs, and she had made the room as comfortable as possible. George spent the day standing by the front door waiting for the ambulance to arrive. When he saw it coming down the road he ran down the path to the gate, waving wildly so that they wouldn’t go to the wrong house.

  George danced up and down in excitement, as the back doors of the ambulance were opened and Richard was lowered onto the platform, and then down onto the road in a wheelchair.

  ‘Daddy, Daddy can I ride on your lap?’ he called running over towards Richard.

  The paramedic pushing the chair put out a hand to stop him.

  ‘It would be too heavy for me to push if you were on it as well,’ he said laughing down at George.

  Before George could protest, someone took his arm and he looked up in surprise to see that it was Sister Cook.

  ‘I’ve come to make sure that your Daddy settles in,’ she said. ‘Can you show me where he will be sleeping?’

  ‘Yes,’ George said importantly. ‘I helped Lucia get the room ready for him.’

  Mary made tea for them all, while Delia Cook explained to Lucia about Richard’s medication and the best way of caring for him. Then, together with the paramedics, she went back to the ambulance to return to the hospital.

  ‘I wonder if she accompanies all the patients when they are sent home …’ Mary mused.

  ‘I doubt it,’ Richard said with a smile. ‘I think she wanted to see George again.’

  Mary doubted that. She felt sure that it was to make sure that Richard was settled in, but she merely nodded and said nothing.

  Settling in took Richard several days. He woke early in the morning as he had been used to doing in hospital and Lucia found she had to adjust her own routine to suit his, because he always wanted a cup of tea when he woke up and she had forbidden him to attempt to make one for himself. The carer arrived somewhere
between half seven and nine o’clock to shower and dress him, so breakfast was often interrupted.

  The routine for the rest of the day depended on how Richard was feeling. George would hover near, ready to accompany him if he wanted to take a walk in the garden or along the street. Twice a week, usually in the mornings, the ambulance came to pick Richard up to take him for a physiotherapy session. When he returned home, he was usually exhausted and wanted to have a sleep.

  Mary came to sit with him most days and while she was there, Lucia would nip out and do whatever shopping she had to do. Bill also came and sometimes he would read aloud to both Richard and George, while the two of them lay on Richard’s bed curled up together.

  George looked forward to the visits from Delia Cook. Usually she was out of uniform when she came to visit and she would sit and play board games with George, and sometimes Richard would join in.

  Before Mary left she would check on Richard’s progress and encourage him to use his crutches to walk around the house, and to sit out in the garden if the weather was fine. Occasionally, she encouraged him to go for a short walk down the street, but she always went with him, because she knew he still felt nervous about using his crutches. At first, he had found them difficult to use, but with regular practice he gained confidence and, accompanied by George or Delia, he would even walk down the street to the corner of the road and back again.

  Mary was delighted and very relieved at the steady progress Richard was making, but when he talked about going back to school – when the new term started – she was doubtful.

  ‘I think you should wait a bit longer, you would find it difficult to cope in the classroom on crutches,’ she pointed out.

  ‘By next week I should be able to walk around indoors without them,’ Richard told her.

  ‘I would have to use a stick,’ he said quickly when he saw the doubt on her face.

  Mary shook her head. ‘I think we should let Sister Cook be the judge of whether or not you should do that,’ she said quietly. ‘You don’t want to undo all the good you’ve achieved so far.’

  The next time Delia Cook called to see them Mary posed the question about Richard going back to work.