by Anne Fraser
* * *
Katherine and Poppy talked late into the night after Poppy had witnessed her outburst. It hadn’t been an easy conversation—there had been no instant falling into each other’s arms, but the tension and angst had begun to ease. There would, Katherine knew, be many more such conversations and bumpy roads but they had made a start. It would take time for them to be totally at ease with one another, but at least they were moving in that direction. And despite the rift between her and Alexander, she was more content than she had been in years.
* * *
‘Crystal’s great-grandmother isn’t well,’ Poppy told her a couple of days later. Katherine’s heart tumbled inside her chest. She was deeply fond of the old lady but hadn’t seen her since she’d made an absolute exhibition of herself by ranting at Alexander in public.
‘Do you know what’s wrong with her?’
‘Crystal says she has a bad cold but she didn’t get up this morning.’
If Grandmother had taken to her bed she had to be ill. ‘Where is Crystal?’
‘I left her at the house. I wanted her to come with me so I could tell you but she wouldn’t leave Yia-Yia.’
Katherine snapped the lid of her laptop closed. ‘Does Crystal’s father know?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Come on,’ Katherine said, picking up the medical bag she’d brought with her. Luckily she had a whole case of antibiotics left over from the meningitis outbreak. Did Yia-Yia have a chest infection? If she did, it wasn’t good. But she shouldn’t get ahead of herself. It was possible Grandmother did have just a cold.
But as soon as she saw her she knew this was no ordinary cold. The old woman was flushed and clearly running a temperature.
‘Poppy, could you take Crystal to our house, please? Stay there until I come for you. You can go down to the bay if you like but no further. Do you understand?’
Was it possible that the meningitis had come back in another form? No, that was unlikely if not impossible. However, until she knew for sure what it was, it was important to keep her away from the others.
For once Poppy didn’t argue with her. She took Crystal by the hand. ‘Go fetch your costume. My mum will look after your great-grandmother.’
It was the first time Poppy had called her Mum and a lump came to Katherine’s throat. She swallowed hard and made herself focus. She had a job to do.
After listening to Yia-Yia’s chest and taking her temperature, which as she’d expected was way too high, Katherine phoned Alexander.
‘I’ll come straight away,’ he said, when she told him.
‘I’ll give her oral antibiotics,’ Katherine said, ‘but she could do with them IV to be on the safe side. Do you want me to take her to hospital?’
‘Wait until I get there,’ he said. ‘I’ll be thirty minutes.’
While she waited for him to arrive, Katherine wetted a facecloth in cold water and wrung it out, before placing it on Grandmother’s forehead. When the old lady tried to push her away she soothed her with a few words in Greek, grateful that it had improved to the point where she could reassure her.
‘Alexander is on his way,’ she said softly. ‘He says you are to lie quietly and let me look after you until he gets here.’
‘Crystal? Where is she?’
‘Poppy has taken her to my house. Don’t worry, she’ll make sure she’s all right.’
The elderly woman slumped back on her pillows, worryingly too tired to put up a fight.
Alexander must have driven as if the devil himself was behind him as he arrived in twenty minutes instead of the thirty he’d told her. He nodded to Katherine before crouching at his grandmother’s side.
‘Her pulse is around a hundred and shallow. She’s pyrexial. I’ve given her antibiotics by mouth. Crystal is with Poppy. I thought it best.’
When Alexander looked up she could see the anguish in his eyes. He took out his stethoscope and Katherine helped Grandmother into a sitting position while Alexander listened to her chest again.
‘As I thought. A nasty chest infection. She’s probably caught a dose of the flu that’s been going around and a secondary infection has set in very fast.’
‘Does she need to go to hospital?’
Grandmother plucked at Alexander’s sleeve. ‘She says she won’t go,’ he translated. ‘She wants to stay in her own home.’
‘In that case,’ Katherine said, ‘that’s what’s going to happen. We can easily put her on a drip and give her IV antibiotics that way. Poppy and I can help look after her. What do you think?’
‘I think it’s risky.’
‘More risky than admitting her to hospital?’
His shoulders slumped. ‘You’re right.’
She wished she could put her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay, but nothing in his demeanour suggested he would welcome the overture.
‘I’ll stay here with your grandmother,’ Katherine said, ‘while you fetch whatever it is we’ll need.’
Later when they had Grandmother on a drip and her breathing was better, Katherine slipped home to ask Poppy to take Crystal back to her father. A short while later she was standing on the balcony when she became aware that Poppy had come to stand beside her. ‘Is she going to get better?’ she whispered.
‘I hope so.’ She reached out for her daughter’s hand and squeezed it. Poppy didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned into her. Katherine pulled her close. ‘We’re all going to do everything to make sure she will. But, sweetheart, I think you should go back to Liz and Mike. If flu is going around, I don’t want you to get it.’
‘But I could have it already and just not be showing the symptoms yet. If I go back I could pass it on to my baby brother.’ It was the first time she’d referred to Charlie as her baby brother. ‘So I’m staying,’ Poppy continued in a tone that sounded much like her own when she wouldn’t be argued with. ‘I’ll help you look after Grandmother and any of the villagers who need help. I can’t nurse them but I can cook and run errands.’
Katherine’s eyes blurred as she considered her amazing child. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ she said. ‘Did I ever tell you that?’
Poppy grinned back at her. ‘And I’m proud of you. Now, shouldn’t we get busy?’
* * *
‘I think it’s time I went home,’ Poppy said. She’d been a godsend this last two weeks, helping by playing with Crystal while Alexander and Katherine took turns caring for Grandmother. They barely saw each other, the one leaving as the other took over. She’d also helped care for some of the other elderly villagers who’d fallen ill with flu. But Grandmother was much better, as were the others affected. ‘I think Mum can do with some help with Charlie.’ She looked at Katherine, a small frown between her brows. ‘You’re okay...’ she grinned self-consciously ‘...but she’s still my mum.’
‘Of course she is. She’s the woman who’s cared for you all your life, the woman who nursed you through all your childhood sicknesses. Who was always there for you. Of course she’ll always be your mum. But I hope you’ll always remember that I love you too. If it helps, think of me as an honorary aunt. Someone who will always be there for you.’
‘You know, and I don’t mean this to sound horrible, I’m glad you gave me up. I can’t imagine anyone except Liz and Mike being my parents. I mean, they get on my nerves sometimes but, you know, they’ve always been there.’
Katherine winced at the implied rebuke in Poppy’s words.
‘Would you still have given me away if you had the chance to do it all over again?’
Katherine took her time thinking about her answer. She loved Poppy too much to be anything less than honest.
‘I feel so lucky that you are part of my life now—to have been given this second chance to get to know you. And knowing you now, I can
’t imagine a scenario where I would ever give you up. But back then I didn’t know you and I wasn’t the person I am now. Remember I was about your age. Half grown up and half still a child. Everything seemed so black and white then.
‘I do know that I thought of you almost every day and receiving the updates about you from Liz were the highlight of my year. Wait there. I’d like to show you something.’
She went inside and retrieved the album she always carried with her. She placed it on the patio table. ‘Liz sent me a photo of you on every birthday and Christmas. This is you on your first birthday.’ She passed a photograph to Poppy. She was standing in front of a birthday cake with a single candle. A hand belonging to someone just out of shot was supporting her and Poppy was grinning into the camera, two small teeth showing. Katherine handed her several more photos. ‘Here you are on your first day at school, when you joined the Brownies, your first swimming lesson, your first trip to the beach. Liz sent me a letter with every photograph and sometimes a little souvenir from your life—like this picture you drew when you came back from a holiday in Spain. I wrote to you too.
‘I’m not pretending any of that makes up for not bringing you up myself, but I knew you were happy and so I could live with my decision.’
‘Why didn’t you ever get married?
‘The right person never came along. One of the things I promised myself when I gave you up was that I would concentrate on being the best doctor I could be.’
‘And you did.’ The admiration in her daughter’s eyes made her want to cry.
‘I’m human, Poppy. You of all people know that. Don’t ever think anyone can be perfect.’
‘You like Alexander, don’t you?’ Poppy said out of the blue. ‘And I think he likes you too.’
It felt odd discussing her love life, or rather lack of it, with her seventeen-year-old daughter.
‘He did once, I think.’ She leaned across and wrapped her arms around her child. ‘But I’ve got you now. And that’s more than enough for me.’
* * *
Two days later, the tickets home were booked and Poppy had gone for a nap, exhausted after a day spent cooking and running errands. Her daughter was truly an amazing young woman.
Katherine had made supper but Poppy hadn’t reappeared. She boiled the kettle and made her some of her favourite camomile tea. She loved how she now knew these small details about her child.
Taking the tea with her, she tiptoed into Poppy’s bedroom. Her daughter was lying spreadeagled on the bed, the sheets tangled in her long limbs. Once more Katherine sent a silent prayer upwards for whatever had brought her daughter back to her.
But something about the way Poppy’s face was screwed up—as if she were in pain—made her cross the room and place a hand on her child’s forehead. At the feel of cold sweat alarm shot through her. Poppy had been complaining of a sore stomach the night before but this was something more.
Perhaps she had the same flu that had brought Grandmother and some of the other villagers low? Stamping down on the panic that threatened to overwhelm her, she gently shook her daughter by the shoulder. ‘Poppy, wake up.’
Poppy opened her eyes, groaned and closed them again.
Her heart beating a tattoo against her ribs, Katherine knelt by the side of the bed and examined Poppy’s limbs. To her horror she saw that her legs were covered with a faint but definite purpuric rash. It was one of the signs of meningitis. Worse, it was a sign that the disease had already taken hold.
Forcing herself to keep calm, she ran back to the sitting room and picked up her mobile. Her hands were shaking so badly she was almost not capable of punching in Alexander’s number.
To her relief, he picked up straight away.
‘Dr Dimitriou.’ The sound of his voice almost made her sink to the floor with relief.
‘Alexander. Where are you?’
‘At home.’ He must have picked up the fear in her voice. ‘What is it? Are you all right?
‘It’s Poppy. I need you to come.’
‘I’ll be there in a few minutes.’
She went back to Poppy’s room and tried to rouse her again but once more, her daughter’s eyes only flickered. She needed to get antibiotics into her and soon. Perhaps she should have phoned for an ambulance instead of Alexander. But that would take longer. The ambulance would have to come here—at least an hour—and make its way back. And every moment could make a difference.
She sat on the bed and pulled her child into her arms. ‘Hold on, darling, please, hold on.’
* * *
Alexander was there in less than five minutes, although it felt like hours. He took the scene in at a glance. Katherine looked over at him, anguish etched in every line of her face.
‘She feels unwell and has a purpuric rash. I think she has meningitis. Help us, Alexander.’
Although he wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms, he automatically switched into professional mode. He felt Poppy’s pulse. Rapid but still strong. She was clammy to the touch but the night was hot. He inspected her limbs and torso. There was a rash but it didn’t quite look like the ones he’d seen on patients suffering from meningitis. However, given the recent outbreak, meningitis was still the most likely diagnosis.
‘Let’s get her to hospital,’ he said, picking Katherine’s child up. ‘You sit in the back with her and phone ahead to let them know we’re on our way.’
For once Katherine didn’t complain about the way he drove. She cradled her child in her arms, murmuring words of love and encouragement.
* * *
Later that night Katherine sat by the bed, holding her daughter’s hand. Poppy had been started on IV antibiotics and it would be some time before they would know whether they’d caught it in time. Alexander had disappeared. He was going to phone Liz and Mike as soon as he’d spoken to the doctors again.
Was she going to lose her daughter again when she’d just found her? Why hadn’t she forced her to leave even if she’d felt confident that there was zero chance of her daughter contracting the disease? Had she let her own desire to have Poppy with her get in the way of what was right for her child?
She murmured a prayer. ‘God, if you’re there, please don’t take my child. I’ll do anything—give up everything—if only you won’t take her.’
A few moments later she heard a soft footfall behind her and looked up to find Alexander smiling down at her. Why was he smiling? Didn’t he know she was in danger of losing her child?
‘I have good news,’ he whispered. ‘Poppy doesn’t have meningitis.’
‘What do you mean? Of course she must have. The aches and pains, the rash...’
‘It’s the rash that got me thinking,’ he said. ‘It’s very like a meningococcal one but I noticed it was only on her shins. I remember reading something about an illness that can mimic meningitis so I looked it up. Katherine, Poppy has Henoch-Schönlein purpura, not meningitis. When the kidneys get involved it can be nasty but Poppy’s kidneys aren’t affected.’
‘She doesn’t have meningitis?’ Katherine could hardly believe it.
‘No. She’ll feel quite ill for a week or two, but I promise you she’s going to be fine.’
Katherine’s vision blurred as Alexander wrapped his arms around her. ‘It’s okay,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘You can let go now. I promise you, everything is going to be okay.’
* * *
‘How is Poppy today?’ Alexander asked Katherine a couple of days later when he visited them in hospital. She was a different woman from the one bent over Poppy’s bedside when she’d thought her child was desperately ill. The worry and fear had left her eyes and the steely determination he knew so well was back.
‘She’s booked on this afternoon’s flight to London. I’m going with her.’
‘Of cours
e.’
‘Thank you for being here.’ She held out her hand and he grasped her long, cool fingers. ‘Thank you for recognising she didn’t have meningitis.’
‘Will you come back?’
She smiled wanly. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘I love you, Katherine.’ She needed to know that.
There was no response. She just looked at him with her cool blue eyes. ‘Do you?’
‘I was a fool, an idiot-think of any noun you like and it could apply to me, but I love you, more than I thought possible to love another woman. Just give me a chance and I’ll prove it to you.’
She smiled wanly. ‘I’m sorry, Alexander, but it’s over.’ She shook her head. ‘I need to go if we’re to catch our plane.’
He wanted to reach out to her but the coldness in her eyes held him back. Now was not the time to convince her to give them another chance.
He pressed her fingers. ‘If ever you want to come back, if ever you need me, I’ll be here.’
CHAPTER NINE
KATHERINE THRUST HER hands deep into her coat pockets and pulled her collar up. Almost overnight, the leaves had fallen from the trees, carpeting the ground.
In a week’s time, Poppy would be coming to stay with her for the October school break. Liz and Mike were dropping her off before heading off to stay with Liz’s family in the Cotswolds. After Poppy had a week with her, Katherine would drive her daughter up there and stay for the night, before returning to London.
It was amazing how quickly she’d become part of Poppy’s family. As she and Poppy had discussed, she never tried to take Liz’s place but instead acted the part of the trusted aunt or wise big sister. Poppy had applied to and was starting medical school the autumn after next should she get the grades she and her teachers expected.
Katherine’s feet were beginning to freeze as the cold seeped through her boots, but she was reluctant to return home. The solitude that she’d cherished before she’d gone to Greece—before Poppy and Alexander—now felt disturbingly like loneliness.
The crunch of footsteps came from behind her and she whirled around.
