Georgie

by Jo Meadows

  He decided that the only thing he could do was to try and stay calm and be ready to talk to her when she came in. If she did what she’s been doing, she won’t come back until late anyway.

  ***

  Georgina caught him totally by surprise when she walked in the door half an hour later. She seemed happy and calm as she apologised to him for earlier and said that she wanted to talk again.

  ‘How did your appointment go?’ he asked.

  ‘I hate this shouting all the time David, it’s as though we’re having a row. I do hope your hearing gets better soon. The appointment was fine thank you. Have you had any breakfast?’

  ‘Yes thanks, I’m fine.’

  ‘Alright, I’ll just make us some tea then.’

  ‘Are you alright Georgina? You seem happier than earlier.’

  ‘I am; the doctor was very nice. He’s given me some anti-depressants to help me cope a little better.’

  ‘Anti-depressants? Are you okay with that? You normally don’t like those kinds of things.’

  ‘Well, after we had a chat, the doctor said that I only needed to take them when I felt things were getting on top of me and when I had trouble sleeping. He said it was understandable that I was getting upset occasionally and it was perfectly normal. So, as I told you, there’s nothing to worry about.’

  ‘That’s good news. See, I told you it would be worth talking to him about it.’

  David was pleased. She’d had some advice at last and hopefully, there seemed to be a way forward. He had no doubt that she hadn’t told the doctor anything about her violent moods, but at least she’d been given some pills to help her cope. He knew that the problems wouldn’t disappear overnight, but he was happy that she’d spoken to someone at least.

  They ought to consider counselling the partners of stroke victims when they visit the hospital. This is probably more common than you think. I bet a lot of people have problems when their husband or wife has a stroke or some other serious illness. Thank god we’re getting something done now. What a relief.

  What he failed to realise was that Georgina hadn’t been to the doctor at all. She’d only gone out to get away from the discussion he’d wanted to have. Once again, she’d played the victim and he’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker. I know I’ve said it all before, but god, he makes it so easy, she thought to herself.

  ***

  David went to bed that night feeling a mixture of relief and worry. Despite what she’d said, he was still worried about her recent behaviour and he couldn’t put out of his mind, the fear he’d felt when she’d left the house that morning. Eventually he managed to fall asleep and awoke the next day feeling much better. After breakfast, Georgina gave him a second cup of tea, pecked him on the cheek and left him to go shopping, promising to be back within the hour. Sure enough, she came back quickly and started to prepare some vegetables for lunch.

  Relieved, David knew that half the battle was accepting you had a problem; that was the first step to recovery. Georgina had taken that step and hopefully, she was going to be alright. He could forgive her for what she’d done. He’d thought she hadn’t been herself for some time. We’ll be alright, he thought, thank god we’re going to be alright.

  The day went well. Georgina seemed happy and that evening got out a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. ‘The doctor said this was a good idea and in moderation, it would do me good,’ she said.

  ‘I think he’s right. I’m glad you’re allowing yourself to relax darling. I wish I could join you.’

  ‘I’m sure you could David dear. Why don’t you have a glass?’

  ‘Are you sure? What about my pills?’

  ‘I’m sure they only tell you that you shouldn’t drink alcohol in case you forget to take them. A glass or two won’t do you any harm.’

  ‘Okay, if you think it’ll be alright, I don’t mind if I do.’

  ‘Go and get yourself a glass then, I’m sure you can manage.’

  ‘Oh. How do I carry the glass and use my sticks?’

  ‘If you want a drink, I’m sure you’ll work it out,’ she laughed. ‘Come on. It’s getting warm.’

  Several glasses later, David was feeling relaxed. Georgina had got his pills ready, to make sure he didn’t forget to take them and then they’d relaxed in front of the television. They hadn’t said much all evening, mainly due to his hearing, but he felt that they’d turned a corner. Things were changing for the better; he could feel it. This is great, he thought, we should have done this years ago. As he started to nod a little, he thought he heard Georgina say something. She said it so quietly that he knew she wasn’t talking to him. His mood changed when he suddenly remembered the last time he’d overheard her talking to herself. He listened carefully, glancing in her direction to see if she’d noticed he’d stirred.

  ‘It’s a shame you can’t hear me David, my love, but then again, what fun would that be? Now, what shall it be tomorrow? Would you like to fall over again or would you like some soup in your lap? No, that would be boring, it’s too easy. Been there, done that. What about something sharp in your food? That glass in the cupboard worked a treat; much better than I thought it would. You didn’t have a clue did you, you poor thing.’

  David fidgeted, he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Georgina noticed him moving and waited a while until she thought he’d settled down and then said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, I’ll work something out. Something in the food’s not a bad idea I suppose.’ David almost spoke up but managed to calm himself. He asked for another glass of wine after pretending to wake up. ‘Alright, but only one more then, you haven’t had any for a long time, we don’t want you getting drunk now do we?’

  She poured them both a glass and sat back down. ‘How are you feeling now Darling?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m fine thank you. Did you nod off just then?’

  ‘Just a little, I’ve been going to bed early for a while now. I suppose I’m not used to staying up as late as this. It’s really nice though, isn’t it? You know, just us sitting here having a little drink together. I do love you Georgie.’

  ‘I know David, I love you too.’

  ***

  David was on tenterhooks all that night and all the next morning. He couldn’t sleep and spent the night listening for Georgina moving around. In the morning everything seemed normal but he carefully checked the toast she gave him, looking for anything out of the ordinary. By lunchtime he was starting to doubt that he’d heard anything the night before but he knew he had. It was when Georgina served him a beef curry for lunch while she only had a sandwich that he became alarmed.

  ‘Why aren’t you having curry Georgina?’

  ‘Oh, the piece of beef I used was only small. I bought it yesterday; it was a bargain I couldn’t resist. Besides, I still don’t feel too well. I’ll be alright with this.’ David was unsure what to do. He carefully probed the curry and rice with his fork but could find nothing wrong.

  ‘David. What are you doing? Stop playing with your food and eat it before it gets cold.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  Without being obvious or pretending to feel unwell, David had no choice but to eat what was in front of him. God, this is awful, he thought. Tentatively, he put a forkful into his mouth. When he tasted it he almost laughed with relief. The curry was red-hot. Georgina had purposely put in way too much chilli. Oh well, he thought. I’m sure I can cope with this, if this is the best you can do, bring it on.

  ‘How is it? Is it alright?’

  ‘Excuse me,’ said David, spluttering a bit. ‘It’s lovely thank you. It’s just a touch spicy that’s all. It’s very nice.’

  ‘I know you like it hot. I thought I’d make it nice and spicy for you as I wasn’t having any.’

  ‘Thanks, it’s great. Can I have a glass of water please?’

  ‘Of course, you know where the glasses are. You know you should be keeping mobile, go on get up and get one.’

  Within half an
hour of finishing lunch David was in the bathroom. He’d felt sudden sharp pains in his stomach and rushing as quickly as he could, just made it to the toilet. Feeling dizzy, he was violently sick and then was horrified to realise that he’d messed himself with diarrhoea. ‘God, what’s wrong with me,’ he said out loud.

  ‘David? Are you alright?’ shouted Georgina from outside the door. ‘Do you need some help? You’re making an awful racket in there.’

  ‘No, I’ll be fine,’ he shouted, not wanting her to come into the bathroom and see him in such a state. He managed to clean himself up and rinse out his clothes just in time to be sick again. I know what this is, he thought. I had it once before when I was young; it’s food poisoning, Jesus, I feel terrible.

  For a moment he wondered if Georgina had actually put something in the curry. He quickly dismissed that idea though, thinking she’d probably just overdone the chilli to see his reaction. She couldn’t have used any kind of poison; that would be too obvious. What if he’d died or something? She wouldn’t be able to explain that away. Why am I thinking like this? She gets angry, she’d never do something like that; that’s ridiculous. No, it must have been the meat in the curry. Yes, that’s it, it’s got to be. Dodgy beef; it’s a coincidence.

  In the kitchen, Georgina was beside herself. She’d almost laughed out loud when he’d dashed off. It was obvious what was happening, poor David. She’d had some out-of-date beef in the fridge for about a week and she’d taken it out before going to bed the night before. She’d left it at room temperature overnight until she was ready to make the curry. She couldn’t believe her idea had worked at all, never mind worked so well. She’d overdone the chilli in case it had tasted odd, besides, she knew David loved it nice and spicy; a master stroke. Well, he got more than he bargained for didn’t he? She’d been a bit worried before serving it, worried that food poisoning might be too much for him in his condition but then quickly thought, what the hell; good luck to him. Analysing me and telling me to get help. That’ll teach him.

  He never sees me coming does he?

  Chapter 18

  David suffered for the rest of the day but felt pretty much back to normal by the following morning. He’d drunk a lot of water and rested throughout the day and had gone to bed early. Georgina had asked him what was wrong and was appalled to hear that he thought he had food poisoning. She said she couldn’t understand how that was possible as she was always mindful of buying good quality, fresh meat and was meticulous in the kitchen. After all, neither of them had ever had food poisoning before and that was down to good food hygiene in the kitchen. She suggested that he hadn’t washed his hands properly or something and so it was probably his own fault. David, feeling too ill to argue, had said she was probably right and let the matter drop.

  When she went out on her usual shopping trip, he sat and, still feeling uneasy about what had happened, wondered whether she could have done something to the curry. It would explain why she’d only had a sandwich. Taking his sticks, he checked outside to make sure she’d gone and seeing the coast was clear, went to the bin. With some difficulty he managed to reach in and find the wrapper from the beef she’d used in the curry. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he read the use-by date on it; it should have been used over a week ago. That doesn’t mean anything, he thought. No, hold on, she said she bought it yesterday and that it had been a bargain. I wonder if she missed the date. She could take it back and complain. He decided to keep the wrapper and ask her about it when she came back.

  ‘Hi Dave, what are you doing? Dumpster diving?’

  ‘Oh, hello Pete. No, I was just looking for this. I had a dodgy stomach yesterday and was wondering why.’

  ‘That’s all you need in your condition. How are you by the way? I haven’t seen you in ages.’

  ‘What’s the phrase? I’m getting there, as they say. I can move around quite a lot better and my sight and hearing are getting better by the day.’

  ‘That’s good to hear. Is Georgina okay? I’ve seen her out and about quite a lot lately which has surprised me.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, I thought she’d be at home looking after you.’

  Oh, I see. No, she thinks I’ll recover quicker if I try and manage on my own as much as I can.’

  ‘Well, perhaps she’s right. You seem to be doing alright. I can’t tempt you with a glass of my latest brew can I?’

  ‘No thanks Pete, better not. I’d better get back indoors; if she catches me out here she’ll go mad.’

  ‘Okay. You wouldn’t want that now would you? I’ll see you around. It’s great to see you up and about. I did ask Georgina if I could pop in and see you the other day but she said you were still very poorly and it was too early for visitors. I was quite worried about you. Anyway, take care Dave and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. See you.’

  ‘See you Pete.’

  Making his way indoors, he dropped the beef wrapper in the kitchen sink and, after washing his hands, went and sat back in the living room. Georgina arrived home a little while later and on spotting the wrapper in the sink shouted, ‘What on earth is this rubbish doing in the sink? Did you put it there?’ David pretended not to hear her to keep up the illusion of his deafness. Georgina came into the living room carrying the wrapper and asked again. ‘What are you playing at? Did you put this in the sink? It’s rubbish out of the bin.’

  ‘Yes I did. I was wondering if the beef could have been out-of-date and that’s why it was a bargain. If it was you could return it and get your money back. They’re not supposed to sell out-of-date food.’

  ‘Don’t be so stupid. That’s probably old rubbish that’s been there ages. Anyway, how did you manage to get outside and go looking in the bin? I thought you could hardly move about.’

  ‘I’m getting better all the time Darling.’

  ‘I should hope so. If you’re that fit you can start doing a few jobs around the place. You haven’t done anything since you came out of hospital.’

  ‘The bin men only came the day before yesterday; it’s got to be the wrapper from that beef, surely.’

  ‘No it isn’t, and do you think I’m that stupid that I wouldn’t notice something as obvious as a use-by label? You didn’t wash your hands properly. Now get over it and move on. Why’s everything got to be a problem?’

  ‘You didn’t have what I had. It was awful.’

  ‘No, and I’m not likely to get it either, I know how to wash properly and so should you at your age, you’re hopeless.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Oh shut up David. Making a meal of everything; going on and on. God you wind me up.’

  ‘I saw Pete while I was outside. He said he’d asked if he could come in and see me but you said no.’

  ‘What if I did? I told you he only wants to know our business like everyone else around here. I’ll decide when you can have visitors and when you can go out. You’re an embarrassment in your state. Do you want to see our neighbours looking like you do and everyone knowing you’re an invalid?’

  ‘I don’t care what I look like. It would be nice to get out if I could.’

  ‘I care David. That’s what counts and you’re going nowhere until I say so.’

  Georgina went outside and threw the wrapper away. Why did he go to all the trouble of looking for that? I know I go on at him but anyone can see he can hardly get about. He’s obviously got a bee in his bonnet about that stupid meat. It’s time he was put back in his place.

  ‘How about a nice cake with your cup of tea?’ she asked, bringing in a tray.

  ‘Oh, that’s nice, what a lovely surprise. Thanks.’

  ‘It’s only a cake David, calm down,’ she said, putting the tray on his lap. ‘I’m going out this afternoon; I want to go for a walk while the weather’s good. You don’t mind do you?’

  ‘No of course I don’t, you go and enjoy yourself. This is gorgeous.’ She left the room muttering to herself causing his ears to prick up. He listened
intently as she walked into the kitchen.

  ‘You can tell you’re getting back to normal, sticking your nose in as usual. Now, why would you be suspicious about the beef, why? Oh, who cares? I’ll just have to come up with better next time. That time with the ornament, now that was good. That just came out of nowhere; hitting him. God that felt good. Whatever you do you must be careful…’ she said, her voice trailing off so he could no longer hear.

  Taking the teapot into the living room, she asked David if he’d like more tea. When he didn’t reply she quietly said, ‘You can’t hear me can you? That’s such a pity because if you could, you might know I’m going to have a plan for you tonight. I’m just not sure how far to go yet. You know you shouldn’t challenge me or imply that I’m stupid. Will you ever learn? You idiot!’

  She left the room leaving him once again in turmoil; his mind spinning. He’d suspected that some of the things that had happened over recent months had not been his fault. He knew he could be clumsy, but now it was becoming more and more apparent. Most of what had happened was down to Georgina. Why would she do those things? The glass in the cupboard. Blowing up out of all proportion and hitting me because of that stupid ornament. I bet she put the bird bath in the way on purpose too. After all, the light had been switched off hadn’t it? God! What else had she done? I was in such a state before I had the stroke, I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. She probably caused that indirectly, I was in a real mess that morning, waking up late.

  His thoughts turned quickly to what he’d just heard Georgina say. “I’m going to have a plan for you tonight.” What did she mean by that? Oh no! Oh God No! He didn’t know what to do. He’d been terrified when he’d woken up with her hitting him. And the pillow across his face; he’d been frightened to death. What was she capable of?