by Joan Jonker
‘What did you mean, you’ll be on your way home all being well?’ Ann asked. ‘Isn’t it definite they’re discharging you?’
‘I asked the doctor this morning, when he was examining me, if I could go home. He wasn’t agreeable at first, said I shouldn’t try to rush things. But I told him there was nothing I was doing in here that I couldn’t do at home. I also said I’d come on better because I’d have my family around me. So he promised to discuss it with the matron when he’d finished his rounds. He must have done, because Sister said she wanted to see you tonight, Ann, and there’s no other reason why Matron would do that. I’ve been on pins all day, building my hopes up, and I’ll be really disappointed if she turns me down.’
‘I’ll go along to her office now and get it over with,’ Ann said. ‘Save you being in suspense any longer. I’ll do my best, love, even get down on my knees to her if that’s what it takes.’
‘Pretend she’s Miss Bond, you did all right with her.’
As she walked away, Ann heard Ken asking, ‘Who’s Miss Bond when she’s out?’ And she knew her husband would be telling the tale of how Theresa came to be in the senior school now. And he’d tell it with pride in his voice.
The matron was standing outside her office talking to a nurse when she saw Ann approaching. ‘Go in, Mrs Richardson, I’ll be with you in a minute.’
Ann couldn’t hear all that was being said, but she could tell by the tone, and the odd words like ‘slipshod’ and ‘careless’, that the matron wasn’t in the best of moods. That doesn’t augur well for me, she thought. It might take more than getting down on my knees to win this request.
She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders when she heard Matron dismiss the nurse. Oh dear, now for it. But she had to win, because George desperately wanted to be home, and she and the children needed him there. So she decided to take the bull by the horns and go on the offensive. ‘Good evening, Matron, I believe you wish to talk to me about my husband being discharged tomorrow? He is so looking forward to seeing the children again and they’ll be over the moon when I tell them.’
‘On the instructions of the doctor, Mrs Richardson, I have to make sure that going home is the best thing for him. While he’s here, we can control the pain to a certain extent, whereas at home that wouldn’t be possible. Also, he needs the binding attended to each day, and that is not easy for someone like yourself who hasn’t the experience. Then there’s the walking exercises, which are very important. He’s a big man, Mrs Richardson, I don’t think you could manage him. I’m inclined to think it would perhaps be better if he stayed here for another few days.’
‘Oh, no, Matron, please reconsider. I’m having the bed brought down to the parlour and I know I can manage. I won’t be entirely on my own, I have a very good neighbour who will give me all the help I need. And I’m sure our doctor, Dr Greenshields, will call in and see he’s being well looked after. If I didn’t think it was right for George, I wouldn’t be asking you, because I only ever want what’s best for him. So I’m asking you to please let my husband come home tomorrow.’
The matron rested her chin on a curled fist, her eyes thoughtful. Then she said, ‘I know Dr Greenshields very well, which is a point in your favour. I could ask him to arrange for a nurse to call in each day, just for the first week, to see to the binding and help with walking exercises. I would be satisfied with those arrangements, Mrs Richardson, would you?’
‘More than satisfied, Matron.’ Ann’s eyes were shining with unshed tears of joy. ‘Thank you, I am very grateful and I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him. He’s told me how kind everyone here has been, and I want you to know he appreciates very much all that you’ve done for him. It’s just that he misses our two daughters and he’s pining for them.’
‘Right, that’s settled then. I’ll contact Dr Greenshields and ask him to organise a nurse to call each day and check your husband’s progress. He’ll be going home by ambulance as he’s not fit to travel any other way. But I can’t give you a time, it depends upon when a vehicle is available.’
Ann pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘I’ll have everything ready for him.’ She got to the door and turned. ‘Thank you for taking such care of my husband, Matron, and putting him on the road to recovery. We would be in a sorry state without doctors and nurses.’
Running in a hospital corridor was frowned upon, so Ann kept to a brisk walk. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face, though, and as soon as she entered the ward Ken said to his brother, ‘It looks as though ye’re on yer way tomorrow.’
George tried to sit up but a shaft of pain caused him to sink back against the pillows. But he refused to let it show, and he was smiling when Ann reached the bed. ‘Well, love?’
‘You’re coming home in style tomorrow, by ambulance. Matron couldn’t give me a time so you’ll have to be patient. I’ll see if me and the girls can manage to get the bed dismantled and brought downstairs. It’s got to be ready for when you arrive.’
‘You’ll never manage that, love, it weighs a ton!’
‘I’ll do it,’ Ken said. ‘I’ll go back with Ann and get cracking.’
‘Isn’t Friday night pub night?’ George asked, raising his brows. ‘I thought you never missed a few pints on a Friday?’
‘I’ll be home before closing time. It shouldn’t take long to do the bed.’
Ann didn’t argue, having doubts about her own ability to do the job. It took her all her time to push the big iron bed a few inches to brush underneath. She’d never be able to dismantle it and carry it downstairs, even with the help of the girls. It definitely required the strength of a man. ‘Would you mind if we left now, love? It’ll give Ken a bit more time, and visiting must be nearly over anyhow.’
‘Yes, you go! I’m quite happy to be left with my thoughts. This time tomorrow I’ll be back home with my family, and it’s a wonderful feeling.’
They were halfway down the hospital path when Ann tugged on Ken’s arm to slow him down. ‘Don’t walk so fast, I can’t keep up with you. I’ve got a pain in my side and I’m puffing like a steam engine.’
‘Yer must be out of condition, girl, that’s all I can say. I’m not walking any quicker than I normally do.’ Ken was grinning as he rubbed his hands together. ‘My brother has got me well taped. I won’t miss me Friday-night pints with me mates if I can help it. I wouldn’t leave yer swinging with the bed, though, Ann, I’m not that bad. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour, so I’ll have plenty of time.’
They were sitting on the tram when Ann said, ‘Lizzie will get a surprise, me getting home so early. Still, it means she’ll be able to get away handy.’
‘Who’s Lizzie?’
‘I told you about her, she works with George. She’s been smashing, sitting with the girls every night.’
‘What will George do if he can’t go back to his old job?’ Ken asked. ‘He said the doctor told him the bones will take months to mend, and even then he’d be daft to start lifting anything heavy. He’d be asking for trouble.’
‘I’m trying not to think about that. Mr Fisher said he’ll keep paying his wages, but that’s because he expects George to go back to his job.’ Ann sighed as they stood up when the tram was nearing their stop. ‘I’m not going to worry about it until I’ve got to. The main thing is getting George back on his feet, fit and healthy.’
‘It’s nice around here,’ Ken said, as they walked up tree-lined Moss Lane. ‘It’s a change to see a bit of greenery.’
When Lizzie opened the door her face showed surprise. ‘Ye’re early, queen.’
‘George is being discharged tomorrow, and Ken here has come to bring the bed down. This is Lizzie, Ken, the woman I’ve told you about, who has been an angel. And this, Lizzie, is George’s big brother.’
‘Yer’ve no need to tell me that, queen, he’s the spitting image of him.’
The girls came dashing out of the living room. ‘Is Dad coming home, Mam?’ Maddy didn’t wait for an an
swer as she linked her arm through her uncle’s and grinned up at him. ‘He must be if you’re bringing the bed down.’
Tess linked his other arm. ‘Oh, isn’t that the gear, Uncle Ken? I haven’t half missed my dad, and I’ve got loads and loads to tell him.’
‘Leave your uncle alone, girls, he hasn’t got a lot of time. I think it might be as well if I ask the man next door to give you a hand, Ken, you couldn’t manage it on your own and I’m absolutely hopeless. It’s a great big heavy thing and I don’t want you ending up in hospital.’
‘There’s no need to get the man next door, queen, not while I’m around.’ Lizzie bent her arm and patted a muscle that any man would be proud of. ‘I didn’t get that peeling bleedin’ grapes.’
Tess gasped. ‘Mrs Lizzie, you said a bad word again! But don’t cut your tongue out, ’cos I don’t think it meant it. Give it another chance.’
Ken chuckled. That was the first time he’d heard a swear word in this house, and Ann hadn’t batted an eye. He usually watched what he was saying, even though he swore like a trooper at work, and at home. His brother’s wife had that effect on you. She was so prim and proper you were on your toes all the time. Perhaps Lizzie coming into their lives was the best thing that could happen for the two girls, to teach them what life was really like. ‘Ann, have yer stripped the bed? And have yer got the right spanner for the bolts?’
‘Oh, ye gods! I’m standing here like a spare part, instead of getting on with it. I’ll have a look for the spanner, I’ve got an idea where it might be. And you two girls can see to the bedclothes. Just put the pillows in the middle, fold the clothes over them and carry the lot down as they are. Hold one each end and carry them between you, but mind you don’t trip on the stairs.’
Maddy took the stairs two at a time, with Tess close behind. And Ann was going through to the pantry, where she knew George kept a box of tools, when she heard Ken say, ‘We’ll manage it between us, Lizzie, no problem. You can be my labourer.’
‘Your labourer indeed! Yer can sod off, Ken Richardson, I ain’t going to be no one’s bleedin’ labourer! I’ll be the gaffer, you can do as ye’re told.’
‘I heard that, Mrs Lizzie,’ Tess called down from the landing. ‘That’s two swear words you’ve used.’
‘It’s all right, queen, I’m keeping count. I’ll give meself a damn good hiding when I get home for not being able to control me tongue.’
Ann fetched the biggest spanner she could find in the tool box. ‘Is that about right?’
Tongue in cheek, Ken said, ‘Yer’d better ask the gaffer, I’m only the labourer.’
‘Any more sarcasm out of you,’ Lizzie told him, ‘and I’ll dock yer ruddy pay. Now move out of the way while the girls carry the bedding into the parlour, and then perhaps we can start.’
Thinking of her brother-in-law, Ann said, ‘Ken likes to go for a pint on a Friday, Lizzie, so he wants to be away handy.’
Lizzie fixed her green eyes on Ken. ‘Oh, ye’re one of them, are yer, a flippin’ boozer?’
‘I wouldn’t call meself a boozer, Lizzie.’ Ken had taken a liking to the woman, whose hair was so red you could warm your hands in front of it on a winter’s night. ‘I just like me pint.’
Lizzie put a cupped hand to her ear. ‘Me hearing’s not what it used to be. Did yer say pint, or was it pints, as in two or three?’
He chuckled. ‘One most nights, but three every Friday. It’s a ritual with me mates.’
‘I’ve got a man at home like you, he doesn’t think he’s a boozer either. But anyone who has to have a beer every night is a boozer in my eyes. Saturday is Norman’s night for getting together with his mates, ’cos like all the workers, that’s the day he gets paid. How come you’re in the money on a Friday when everyone else is skint?’
‘An understanding landlord, he puts it on the slate for us. He wouldn’t do it for just anyone, mind, it’s because we’re such good customers and he’d be out of pocket if we took our custom elsewhere.’
‘Blimey, I’ve heard everything now! Pints of beer on tick! Have you ever in yer nellie heard the likes of it?’
‘Haven’t you ever had a loaf of bread put on the slate at the corner shop?’ Ken asked. ‘I bet a pound to a pinch of snuff that yer have.’
‘A bit of difference between a loaf of bread and a pint of beer, lad. One is a necessity, the other’s a bleedin’ luxury.’
Tess’s head appeared around the parlour door. ‘Watch it, Mrs Lizzie, your tongue is really getting out of hand.’
‘I’m keeping me eye on it, queen, and as I said, I’ll give it the hiding of its life when I get home. I’ll teach it who’s boss. And talking of boss, would you pass that spanner over to me labourer, Ann, please, and we can make a start?’ There was devilment in the green eyes as she jerked her head at Ken. ‘Come on, lad, let’s see what stuff ye’re made of.’
Ann watched as Lizzie took the lead in climbing the stairs, and she could hear Ken’s hearty chuckle. They’ll get on like a house on fire, she thought as she went into the front parlour to see what the girls had done with the bedding. The room, which was seldom used, contained very little in the way of furniture. A few straight-back wooden chairs, a small table under the window with a plant on, a couple of ornaments on the mantelpiece under a gilt-framed mirror and two pictures on the walls. Ann had always been going to furnish it properly when they had the money, but that time had never arrived. And tonight she was glad, because there was no furniture to move out.
‘I’m glad Dad’s coming home, Mam,’ Maddy said. ‘Me and Tess have missed him, but it must have been worse for you going into the hospital every night and seeing him in pain.’
‘Well, the worst is over, thank God. What we’ve got to do now is make sure he does what he’s been told to do, so he’s soon up and about again.’
‘Me and Maddy are going to be very good and help you all we can,’ Tess told her. ‘We can go for your shopping when we come home from school, and I can peel the potatoes while Maddy does the ironing.’
They heard roars of laughter coming from above and hurried into the hall to hear Lizzie shouting, ‘Ye’re bloody useless, Ken Richardson! Just like a ruddy man, not a ha’p’orth of good. I could have done this job on me own, standing on me flaming head and singing “Nellie Dean”.’
Then Ken said, ‘Go on, show me!’
‘Yer what!’
‘I said show me! Go on, prove it! Let’s see yer standing on yer head and singing “Nellie Dean” while ye’re loosening those bolts.’
‘Listen, lad, any more lip out of you and I’ll loosen your ruddy bolts. And if I do that yer’ll have to stand at the bar drinking yer pints, ’cos yer won’t be able to sit down. Now hold that headboard while I lift this end of the iron bar.’
‘Do you want me to come up?’ Ann called. ‘To give you a hand?’
‘Not on yer life!’ Ken shouted. ‘I’ve got enough trouble with this woman, I couldn’t cope with another.’ His voice cracking with laughter, he added, ‘Mind you, Lizzie is a woman and a half. She’s got bigger muscles than me.’
‘Yer’ll be feeling me muscles if yer don’t hold that ruddy headboard.’
At the bottom of the stairs Tess asked, ‘Mam, is “ruddy” a swear word?’
‘Not really, but it’s not a word for young girls to use, so don’t let me hear you using it.’
From above they heard a crash, followed by a howl. ‘Yer’ve just dropped the flaming iron bedstead on me foot! Lift it up so I can see if me toes are broken.’
They could hear the springs of the bed make a twanging sound, and then Lizzie’s voice. ‘Holy suffering ducks! Yer’ve done nothing but fiddle-arse about since we started. Now stop crying, wipe yer eyes and let’s get this bedstead downstairs.’
‘I’m not going down first, I don’t trust yer,’ Ken said. ‘You go first.’
‘Oh, ay, soft lad, let the woman do the heavy work, eh? I bet yer’ll stand at the bar tonight and tell yer mates how hard yer�
��ve worked and they’ll all think ye’re a knight in shining armour. When all yer’ve managed to do so far is put yer bleedin’ foot in it! And I’ll swear yer did that deliberate, to get a bit of sympathy, thinking I’d kiss it better.’
‘Have yer got no heart, woman?’ Ken was chuckling to himself as he rubbed his foot. This was one funny lady. ‘Yer could at least ask me if I’ve broken any toes.’
‘Not until we’ve got this bed downstairs and put together. After that, lad, I’ll be all sweetness and light.’
‘Oh, this I have to see.’ Ken took the end of the bed nearest the door. ‘I’ll go down first, but keep hold of the ruddy thing, I don’t want it landing on me back. I know there’ll be an empty bed in Walton Hospital when our George comes out tomorrow, but I don’t want to be the next patient in it.’
Ann and the girls moved down the hall to allow the heavy iron spring base to be carried into the parlour. Then Ken ran upstairs to fetch one of the headboards down. ‘I’ll get the big one, Lizzie, I’ll leave the little one for you. And don’t ever say I’m not a gentleman.’
It took twenty minutes to put the bed up, Lizzie working as hard as Ken. Sweat was running down their faces when they stood back to admire their handiwork. ‘Is it all right for yer there, Ann, or do yer want us to move it?’
‘No, Ken, that’s fine where it is. Me and the girls will make it up when you’ve gone. You and Lizzie have been marvellous, I’m very grateful.’
‘Think nothing of it, queen, it was an eye-opener working with his nibs here. He was better than my feller would have been, and almost as good as me.’
‘And I bet he’s on pins to get away, aren’t you, Ken? I don’t want you to miss your friends, so poppy off, I can manage the rest now the bed is down. I was worried about how I was going to manage.’
‘I’ll go with him, queen, and let you get on with fixing things ready for George coming home. I’ll call in and see him on Monday night, if that’s all right with you?’
