Midnight Dolphin

by James Carmody

  ‘Mum, Toby?’ Rachel asked with a note of excitement in her voice. ‘Have you ever heard of somewhere called the Trinity Caves?’

  Chapter Twelve:

  Lucy drifted in and out of sleep after she returned to her physical self. Her body and mind were exhausted. Doctors and nurses seemed to swirl about her in the moments that she was conscious but she could barely keep her eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time. Her eyelids felt so heavy that she could hardly lift them at all.

  ‘Don’t worry Lucy’ Dad whispered when she stirred and opened her eyes drowsily to look at him, ‘it’s just the meds.’ He gave her hand a squeeze. ‘You’ll be right as rain before you know it.’ She smiled weakly at him briefly before her eyes fluttered and closed again.

  Dolphins inhabited her restless dreams. Elusively, she would glimpse them for a moment or two in the distance before they got lost again in the swirls and eddies of her sleep. Other times she would half glimpse the Victorian girl in a bonnet again, who she felt meant her well, but whose features she could never quite see properly.

  Later on Lucy forced her eyes open to see Bethany standing at the foot of the hospital bed, a styrofoam cup in her hands, her hair an untidy mess of blond curls about her face.

  ‘Hey Kiddo.’ Bethany smiled lovingly at her. Lucy was so drowsy that for a moment she thought it was Mum looking back at her.

  ‘You look…’ Lucy began to say, but was unable to complete her sentence. She drifted back to sleep again.

  Every time her mind crawled towards consciousness she felt Dad’s hand, cupping hers in his. When she moved a little in her sleep, he would give her hand a squeeze, as if to remind her that she must not slip away from them again. She welcomed sleep though. Whether it was the exertion of her mind while she was with Spirit, or the medication that the doctors had given her, she needed sleep now more than anything.

  Lucy had no perception of time passing, but when she finally came to, the early morning sunlight was filtering through the windows of the ward. She looked around her. Dad was asleep in the chair next to the bed. He had two days stubble on his chin and his skin looked grey. He suddenly looked much older than before. The lines of his face seemed deeper and she wondered when she had last really looked at him.

  Now it felt as though she was seeing the whole world with fresh eyes. The hospital ward and everything around her seemed bright and new. Her body was replenished and her mind was alert. She felt like jumping out of bed and going outside. Dad’s head lolled back in his sleep and he started to make a low noise from the back of his throat.

  ‘Dad, Dad. You’re snoring’ she whispered to him. He opened his eyes and smiled, stretching himself as he did so.

  ‘You look bright eyed and bushy tailed’ he said, smiling.

  ‘How long have I been asleep?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘Well’ he replied slowly, ‘let me see. Yes it’s been two full days since you came back to us. You’ve had a lot of catching up to do I think. The doctors said that even though you were unconscious before that, your brain was very active. They couldn’t really explain that to me either.’ Lucy smiled. She knew very well why. ‘But do you remember what happened to you?’ he asked.

  ‘I, I know that we were doing diving practice at the pool’ she replied. ‘I cracked my head and then, then I opened my eyes and I was surrounded by doctors.’ She thought it was better not to go into any more detail with him.

  ‘We were very worried about you Luce’ Dad replied. ‘You were unconscious for a very long time and the doctors couldn’t bring you around. Your heart rate and blood pressure suddenly became very weak and irregular and they even thought your heart might stop beating altogether’ he went on. ‘I’m hoping to keep you out of hospital from now on. After all it’s the second time this year.’ Lucy smiled again.

  ‘Do they reckon I’ll be okay now then?’ she asked.

  ‘I reckon so’ he replied. ‘You know what doctors are like. They’ll want to prod and poke you and run all sorts of tests on you, but you don’t look too bad to me.’

  ‘Where’s Bethany?’ Lucy asked. ‘She’s been here hasn’t she?’

  ‘Oh yes’ Dad replied. ‘She came up as soon as she heard about your accident and she’s pretty much camped at the hospital ever since. Now you’re over the worst of it I sent her back to the house to get a shower and freshen up.’ Just then a nurse came up to the bed.

  ‘And how’s our patient this morning’ she asked brightly.

  ‘I feel much better thank you’ replied Lucy.

  ‘You were our Sleeping Beauty’ the nurse went on as she bustled round the bed. ‘Luckily it didn’t take a hundred years before you woke up again.’ The nurse smiled again broadly. ‘Looks like you’re on the mend now. We’ll get you off home before you know it.’

  Now that she was fully awake again, it was a pleasure to lie back and watch the hospital staff get on with the business of the day. They always seemed to be doing something or another. A lady serving breakfast from a trolley came around the ward and Lucy suddenly realised that she was absolutely ravenous. Her stomach started rumbling loudly at the very thought of food. She hadn’t eaten for days and now she needed to make up for lost meals. Lucy piled up her plate with buttered toast and strawberry jam, and tucked into the resulting mound with gusto. She offered Dad a slice but he refused; it was clear that she needed the food more than he did.

  Lucy wondered what her class would be doing in school, but she didn’t even know if it was a weekday or the weekend. Her question was answered though when later that morning Amy and her mum appeared at her bedside.

  ‘Hey Lucy!’ exclaimed Amy, depositing some cellophane-wrapped flowers on the bed to reach over and give her friend an extravagant hug. Mrs Hodges smiled broadly behind her daughter. After a few minutes of general chat, Dad and Mrs Hodges strolled up the corridor together, leaving the two girls alone to talk.

  ‘We all thought you’d die!’ said Amy. ‘You’ve been the talk of the school for days. Do you remember what happened?’ Lucy told her what she’d told Dad. ‘I was worried sick’ Amy went on. ‘I couldn’t concentrate on anything at all. We were supposed to have a French vocab test but I just couldn’t revise. I ended up only getting seven out of twenty five words right.’ She looked at her friend again. ‘I couldn’t help but think it was something to do with…, you know, something to do with you and Spirit.’ Just then they both glanced up to Dad and Mrs Hodges walking back towards the bed. Lucy didn’t want to say anything that Dad might overhear but gave Amy the slightest of nods. ‘I knew it, I knew it!’ Amy exclaimed. ‘You’ve got to tell me all about it as soon as possible’ she whispered quietly. ‘It’s almost the Christmas holidays’ she added. ‘Just a few days to go. We can spend lots of time together then.’

  Lucy felt awkward with Dad and Mrs Hodges within earshot. She asked about all the lessons she’d missed and the preparations for the school play and end of term disco.

  ‘I don’t think you’re going to be up for that Lucy love’ said Mrs Hodges.

  ‘That’s right Luce’ added Dad. ‘I’ve already spoken to the doctors and school and it’s agreed that you’ll be kept off school till the start of the new school year in January. That way you’ll have a proper chance to recover.’

  ‘Aww’ exclaimed Lucy. ‘I’ll miss out on all the fun.’

  After Amy and her mum had gone, Lucy was taken down for more tests. The nurse put her in a wheelchair and took her down to a room in the basement with an enormous white tube in it, which looked like an elongated ring-donut. There was a stretcher-like board for her to lie on and the staff told her to lie perfectly still as something whirred and she was propelled inside. It made heavy metallic clunking noises from within the machine and after what seemed like an eternity, they brought her out again.

  Lucy felt dizzy as the nurse carefully helped her back into the wheelchair again, but the technicians were all smiling. It looked as though whatever they’d wanted to test was fine.

  �
��Why can’t I just walk?’ Lucy asked, determined to get back to normal as soon as she could.

  ‘You will soon enough’ replied the nurse reassuringly. ‘But you’ve been flat out in bed for the last few days and it takes a while to build your strength up again. We just put you in a wheelchair to be on the safe side. Besides, I think the doctor will discharge you tomorrow morning.’

  Later on Bethany spent a few hours with Lucy while Dad went home for a rest. Bethany had her sketch book with her and Lucy flicked through it idly as they sat together. There were half a dozen or so sketches of Lucy in the hospital bed with her eyes closed.

  ‘I only started sketching you once you’d regained consciousness. It was only after you’d fallen asleep naturally that I picked up a pencil’ Bethany explained. I was just too worried to even think about sketching before that.’

  They sat companionably watching a film on the television that was mounted just over Lucy’s bed. It was an old black and white movie about a princess on holiday in Rome who was befriended by an American who took her to see the Coliseum and the other sights on the back of his scooter. Normally Lucy wasn’t keen on romantic comedies, but it was good to lie back on a heap of pillows and surrender herself to the charm of the movie.

  Bethany was entranced by it. ‘I haven’t seen this film in years’ she murmured. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely it is.’ Wrapped up in their comfortable cocoon of idleness, the afternoon passed. Nagging away at the back of her mind though was the thought of Spirit, Dancer and the other dolphins out there, somewhere in the ocean.

  ‘Bethany?’ she asked apropos nothing in particular. ‘Have you ever heard of the Three Green Caves?’

  ‘Three Green Caves? Err no. I can’t say I have Kiddo’ Bethany replied glancing around at her niece. ‘Why?’

  ‘Oh I thought you may have come across them’ replied Lucy noncommittally, ‘… down in Merwater.’

  ‘You’d have to ask Thelma or Nate’ replied Bethany. ‘I’m afraid I’ve never heard of them.’ Lucy frowned. Ever since she’d found out that Thelma had told Dad that she would grow out of being a dolphin-child, but hadn’t told Lucy, she’d felt betrayed and let down by Thelma. She didn’t really want to ask Thelma anything at all. Bethany turned her full attention towards Lucy and regarded her thoughtfully.

  ‘When you were unconscious Lucy, do you remember anything from that time? The doctors said the scans showed that your brain was very active; as though it were conscious, somewhere…’ Bethany trailed off.

  ‘I remember all of it’ she replied simply, returning Bethany’s gaze. She didn’t want to say more at that time and was glad that her Aunt didn’t press her.

  ‘Oh I see’ was all that Bethany said, but her eyes showed a level of understanding more than words could convey. Lucy looked out of the window for a minute or two into the wintery darkness of early evening.

  ‘Bethany?’ she asked once more. ‘Mum never lost her gift did she?’ Bethany shook her head.

  ‘No Lucy, she didn’t.’

  ‘Why was that?’

  ‘I only wish I knew. But I have no idea at all. I…’, she hesitated. ‘No it’s nothing.’

  Just then Dad strode up to them. He was cleanly shaved and looked as though he’d finally caught up with some sleep.

  ‘How are you two getting on then?’ he asked in a friendly tone. ‘You look very thoughtful the pair of you. Been having a heart to heart have you?’

  Bethany left not long afterwards, promising to come back the next morning. It was soon dinner-time on the ward and Lucy was again exceptionally hungry. She didn’t normally like sausages and mashed potato, but this evening she didn’t care. She devoured the whole plate followed by apple pie and ice cream and then asked Dad if he could go down to the hospital shop and get some salt and vinegar crisps because she was still feeling hungry.

  ‘Well, it looks like you’ve got your appetite back’ was all that he said dryly as he jangled his pocket for loose change. ‘I’d be surprised if they didn’t discharge you tomorrow morning’ he added with a smile.

  At eight thirty the nurses politely informed Dad that he had to go home for the night. When Lucy had been so ill, they’d waived the rule about visiting hours and let Dad stay. Now that she was evidently so much better, there was no reason why he shouldn’t go home for the night. As they dimmed the lights in the ward to enable the patients to sleep, Lucy imagined that each hospital bed was a life boat set adrift on a windless sea. As she tried to imagine where her bed might float to, her eyelids fluttered shut and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

  By ten o’clock the next morning Lucy was fully dressed in jeans, tee-shirt and a woolly pullover that Dad thought would keep her warm but which she didn’t really like very much.

  ‘You need it’ he insisted. ‘It’s really chilly outside’. ‘There’s already been snow up in Scotland and they think it’s heading this way. This ward’s really warm and you’ll feel the difference when you leave.’ He’d even brought her ski jacket from home. A junior doctor gave her one last quick check and then declared her fit to leave. Lucy said goodbye to the nurses, and then she, Dad and Bethany made their way downstairs to the exit. As soon as they got outside Lucy realised what Dad meant. There really was an Arctic chill to the air. Her mind immediately turned to Spirit and she wondered how he was coping with the cold. Would he be able to find the three green caves? If only she could reach out to him.

  It felt strange leaving the hospital. Most of the time she’d been unconscious and hadn’t even been aware of being there. Despite that she had a curious feeling of leaving the comfort and safety of the big building with its friendly nurses, for the cold uncertainty of the outside world. Bethany’s battered old Land Rover was waiting for them in the car park. Even in the summer it was a draughty car. It would be freezing now.

  ‘Where’s your car then Dad’ asked Lucy, feeling surprised. Dad was usually so proud about his car, with its heated steering wheel and plush leather seats. He said at least one good thing about his job was that they gave him a decent car.

  ‘Oh, it’s err, in for a service’ he answered uncertainly. ‘I’ll…, I’ll tell you about it later Lucy.’It was only a short drive back to their house. Lucy sat in the back and Dad sat in the passenger seat next to Bethany at the wheel. She shivered on the cold hard seats and was grateful that Bethany dug out a tartan travel rug to throw over her. Home looked exactly the same as before, but in a way she could not put her finger on, it felt somehow completely different. They shed their coats in the narrow hallway and went through to the living room to sit down.

  ‘Who wants something to drink?’ asked Dad, before making his way to the kitchen. Just then Bethany’s mobile phone rang and she delved in a pocket to pull out the phone in time before it went to voicemail.

  Bethany answered the phone with a cheery ‘Hi there’ but within a few seconds her face seemed to crumple unhappily.

  ‘I’m so, so sorry’ she was saying. ‘It must have been a terrible shock.’ The voice on the other end spoke for a while. ‘Yes of course, of course’ said Bethany. ‘And if there’s anything we can do…’ she went on. ‘Our thoughts are with you all’ she said. Soon after she lowered the handset and looked up. Lucy had been listening unashamedly and Dad had come back into the living room, holding a mug in each hand. It was clear something bad had happened, but Lucy still could not guess what. It took Bethany a few moments to compose herself.

  ‘It’s Thelma’ she said at last. ‘She had a massive stroke and they took her to hospital in Exeter, but it was no good. She passed away.’ Lucy sat down heavily on the sofa.

  ‘How can that possibly be?’ she said. ‘Thelma wasn’t that old.’

  ‘I know’ said Bethany, looking down at the mobile phone in her lap. ‘She was only in her late fifties. Not that old at all, nowadays anyway. She may have been a bit overweight but nothing that bad.’ Bethany put an arm around Lucy’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

  All three had conflicting fee
lings at the news. For Bethany, Thelma had been a friend who had been able to offer support to her troubled niece. For Dad, Thelma had assured him that Lucy would grow out of her gift and become a normal girl again. Lucy though had more complicated feelings. For her, Thelma had been a motherly figure who she felt that she could trust. When she found out though that Thelma had said one thing to her but another thing to Dad, she had felt completely let down and betrayed. The secret that Thelma and Dad had shared; that her special gift with dolphins would simply wear off like a henna tattoo was shocking and awful. She could hardly believe that Thelma would keep it from her as she did. She’d never had a real opportunity to tell Thelma how she’d felt. Now she never would. The thought of Thelma’s death brought all the memories of Mum’s death come flooding back. She didn’t know how to cope with it all.

  When Lucy had been with Spirit recently, they had seen Nate on the Lady Thelma looking out mournfully to sea. Now Lucy realised why he had been looking so sad.

  ‘Well, we must go to the funeral’ said Dad. ‘Do you know when it is Bethany?’ Lucy looked up in surprise, wiping away at her tears with the back of her hand. She never thought that Dad would suggest such a thing.

  ‘But what about your work Dad? Are you sure you get the time off?’

  ‘Oh yes’ he smiled sadly. ‘I’ve got all the time in the world. You see Luce, they made me redundant last week. You were still unconscious at the time. That’s why I don’t have the car anymore. They took it away from me. I’ve got a reasonable pay off and more time on my hands than I know what to do with.’

  ‘Oh’ was all Lucy could think to say. ‘I’m sorry.’ After Mum’s death, Dad had buried himself in his work. It had been like a suit of armour for him. Now she wondered what he would do without it. It didn’t explain why he was suddenly willing to return to Cornwall though. It was only a few months before that he’d dragged her away from the sea and her friends the dolphins. Maybe now that he thought she’d already lost her gift he reckoned it didn’t matter. Maybe he thought that she would be paying her respects to her own past as much as Thelma’s memory.