Ah well – it’s now or never.
16: Hello, Dolly!
It was worth coming back, even though freedom was only a step away, just to see Martha’s joy when she entered the room.
I am not out of the woods, of course. I feel very weak and I know I will be in hospital for a while. But at least she and I will now have time to fix whatever was broken between us.
She nearly fainted when she saw my eyes open. It was Mary who told her how I came back: ‘It was very quiet, Martha, real quiet. I wasn’t even praying. Father Jimmy just had both hands on her head, one at the crown and one at the forehead. And I was just massaging gently.’
‘The next thing, I could actually feel a movement in the sole of one of her feet and I looked up and her hand was moving too. And then her eyes opened, real slow …’
(I had to control it a little, not to give them too much of a fright.)
Martha fell on Father Jimmy. ‘Thank God, thank you, Lord! It’s a miracle – Father, you’re a miracle worker, thank you, thank you!’
Right now she is still wringing his hand. ‘I shouldn’t have left. I should have been here –’
‘We were all playing our part, Martha.’ Father Jimmy takes her hand and pats it. Probably to stop his own from being mangled. ‘Don’t fret,’ he says, ‘your Mammy is back with us, that’s the main thing. Now I think we should get a nurse or a doctor, don’t you? They should be told.’
He leaves the room to me and my two daughters. Although I want to hug them both, I am too feeble to raise my arms.
It is Martha who sees this. Careful not to disturb all the tubes and drips, she raises me gently and plumps up my pillows. And then she gives me a hug. In my living memory, this is the first time she has embraced me since her childhood.
I try to speak but if my voice was weak before it’s a whisper now. They come close and I whisper at them to prepare the others. ‘Tell them I’m sorry they’ve had a wasted trip. No funeral.’
‘You could hear everything we were discussing?’ Mary is crying – with joy I believe – but Martha is appalled now. Although I can no longer read her thoughts, I know my daughter. She is flipping back through the night, trying to remember what she has said, hoping against hope she has not given me any ammunition. Things are getting back to normal.
I smile at both of my beautiful daughters and it is no effort.
‘I’m sorry for giving you both a fright,’ I say. ‘I’ll never go away again.’
OPEN DOOR SERIES
SERIES ONE
Sad Song by Vincent Banville
In High Germany by Dermot Bolger
Not Just for Christmas by Roddy Doyle
Maggie’s Story by Sheila O’Flanagan
Jesus and Billy Are Off to Barcelona
by Deirdre Purcell
Ripples by Patricia Scanlan
SERIES TWO
No Dress Rehearsal by Marian Keyes
Joe’sWedding by Gareth O’Callaghan
It All Adds Up by Margaret Neylon
Second Chance by Patricia Scanlan
Pipe Dreams by Anne Schulman
Old Money, New Money by Peter Sheridan
SERIES THREE
An AccidentWaiting to Happen
by Vincent Banville
The Builders by Maeve Binchy
Letter From Chicago by Cathy Kelly
DrivingWith Daisy by Tom Nestor
The Comedian by Joseph O’Connor
Has Anyone Here Seen Larry?
by Deirdre Purcell
Has Anyone Here Seen Larry? Page 4
