“I’ll get him for you,” she assured Meredith.
Time seemed to stop for everyone as Kate beckoned for Richard to come closer.
“I want to go home.”
Kate could barely hear Meredith, but Richard heard. With tears in his eyes, he moved silently closer toward his wife and squeezed her hand, nodding his head.
Looking up at the room full of people and equipment, he spoke clearly.
“No more.”
When he stared back at his wife, his face was drawn and pale. He closed his eyes in prayer and simply said, “God. Please help me.”
The confusion in the room slowly slid away as the pads were removed from Meredith’s chest and the resuscitation trolley was wheeled from the room. No one spoke as each person got on with their job of removing superfluous equipment from the room. Richard had made his decision. A decision made from a place of deepest love from one person to another.
Kate turned the monitors off and began to pull the sticky dots from Meredith’s pale, flat chest. Meredith frowned in obvious pain and Kate glanced at Simon but he had already seen the look and was administering the morphine that would ease her discomfort.
Richard hadn’t moved and Kate lowered the bed and directed him to sit on a chair at her side. Someone turned off the overhead fluorescent lights and within minutes the space was almost empty, the curtains drawn around the bed. The emergency was over and Meredith would finally be allowed to die now without any interference from them.
Richard laid his head on the pillow beside Meredith’s own bald shiny head. They were both oblivious to Kate trying to remove the remainder of the leads and wires from her tired body. Too weak to speak, Meredith squeezed Richard’s hand from time to time, as though trying to find the final words to say.
Kate watched as he pulled a piece of string over his head. Attached to the black leather band was a silver wedding ring. He held the ring in his hand and placed it over Meredith’s heart, laying his hand on top of the ring.
“I have your ring here, my darling. I will wear it next to my heart forever.”
Meredith brought her own hands up to meet his and he joined their fingers together across her chest. The wedding band remained hidden beneath their hands.
Sadness anchored Kate’s feet to the floor and she was unable to pull her eyes away from the scene unfolding before her. The tears welled up and she awkwardly brushed them away, wondering what it would be like to love someone so deeply and to be loved so much in return. She sensed other movement and saw Richard and Meredith’s four young children, their eyes red from crying, peeking their heads around the curtain, unsure of whether to come in. The oldest child was carrying the baby. Richard beckoned them all toward the bed. Meredith turned her head toward them and opened her eyes long enough to gaze steadfastly into each of their eyes, one by one. The effort exhausted her and she closed her eyes again but her mouth moved silently. Kate could clearly make out the words she was trying to say.
“I love you all.”
“It’s okay, my love,” Richard whispered. “We’re all here and you can go home now. You’re going to a better place and we will see you again soon. We love you.”
And with those words of love, Meredith Jackman took her last breath. Her grip on her husband’s hands across her chest relaxed and her eyes remained closed.
Tears began to roll down Kate’s face in earnest and she let them fall, not stopping to wipe them away and not caring about the mascara that she knew would be leaving trails down her cheeks. Transfixed, Kate watched as Richard again laid his head beside his wife’s. Then, silently at first, he began to sob as the full realization of the truth hit him. He wiped the tears from each eye with his thumb. His children gathered around him and he drew them toward him. Kate slipped unnoticed from the room, allowing them the opportunity to grieve in privacy and peace.
The sound of their crying etched itself in Kate’s memory and as she made her way to the tea room, her own tears fell freely out of the well of emotional overload. Amanda and Laura were both sitting at the table in the tea room, heads down, silently staring into their cups of tea. Amanda was the first to stand and put her arms around Kate and she allowed herself to cry awkwardly on Amanda’s shoulder.
“I’m here for you, Kate. If you need to talk anytime, just call me, okay?”
Laura stood and placed her hand across Kate’s shoulders. “That goes for me too, Kate. Anything you need, let me know.”
Kate nodded, unable to speak, the constriction in her throat painful as she realized that in the midst of this tragic situation she had just made her first two friends in the unit.
Chapter 24
When Kate arrived home from work later that day, she checked the mail that was delivered each day into the rusty metal container at the end of her driveway. Not expecting anything other than the usual bills, she was surprised to see a letter, her name handwritten in cursive script on the thick cream envelope. Turning it over, she checked for a return address but there was none. As she approached the house, the sound of a dog’s cheerful bark of greeting could be heard through her open car window. She grinned, knowing exactly what she was about to find.
Leaving the mail on the front passenger seat, Kate stepped out of the car and went around to the side of her house where the barking was coming from. As she opened the gate, a large black and white border collie came bolting toward her, a huge bright blue ribbon tied around his neck. As soon as he saw Kate, he plonked himself down at her feet, his liquid brown eyes looking lovingly up into hers. Kate rubbed the dog’s ears and undid the bow, surprised that he hadn’t managed to remove it himself.
“Well, what’s your name?” she asked him.
Not expecting an answer, Kate was surprised when he gave a little bark. She reached for his collar and saw a small tag attached to the leather band around his neck with his name engraved on it.
“Baxter? Your name is Baxter?” The dog barked again. “I like it. It suits you,” Kate exclaimed.
The dog immediately tore around in circles, trying to impress her. Acting like a puppy, he continued to tear backward and forward, his long black tail flaring out behind him, the white tip pointing upward toward the sky. Kate let him run free while she unlocked the back door and went inside. Kate watched the dog out the kitchen window for a while and he soon calmed down when he realized no one was paying him any attention, and he lay down in the late afternoon sun, all his bundled-up energy spent for the time being.
“Hello, Miss Kate,” Joel answered his phone on the first ring and she could hear the lilt in his voice.
“A bit of warning would have been good,” Kate joked.
“I told you weeks ago you needed a dog,” Joel teased. “How much more warning did you need?”
“What would you have done if I was scared of dogs?” Kate asked.
“I knew you weren’t.” Joel sounded smug.
“But what if he’d dug up all the veggies while I was at work?” She was trying to come up with excuses.
“Have you actually checked your veggies, Kate?” Joel asked her.
“No.”
“Well, love, I suggest you go for a little walk in that backyard of yours.”
Kate kept the phone to her ear as she stepped out the back door, curious as to what Joel was talking about this time. Baxter greeted her enthusiastically again and immediately sat at her side, tongue lolling out to one side, eyes glowing, waiting for her to play with him. A tennis ball was at his feet where he had dropped it, hoping Kate would take the hint.
“He’s kind of cute,” Kate said as she rubbed the dog’s soft ears.
“Isn’t he though?” his reply came. “So are you in the backyard yet?”
“I’m walking across the grass now …” She froze mid-sentence. “Joel! You’re amazing!” Kate yelled into the phone.
While she had been at work Joel had been at her house and erected a new fence to separate the garden from the veggie patch and chook run.
“Do yo
u like it?” he asked.
“I love it! It’s absolutely perfect. How on earth do you have time to do these things for me?”
“I get Emma to look after the café one day a week so I can work on my farm. Today I just chose to do some work on yours.”
“You are the most perfect guy ever!” Kate gushed. “Now I won’t have to worry about the dog getting into the chooks or veggies.”
“The dog has a name,” Joel said, ignoring the comment about himself.
“Yes, I saw that. Baxter. It totally suits him. What’s his story?”
“Handed in to an animal shelter by some young guy in a big BMW. Probably someone from the city realizing that working dogs need more than a postage-stamp-sized backyard. He’s a purebred and very well trained.”
“That’s an awful story. Why would someone dump a dog as beautiful as him?” Kate hugged him tightly around his neck and the dog licked her cheek.
“Ah, I can hear it in your voice already,” Joel chuckled. “You’re falling in love!”
If only you knew.
*
As Kate was getting ready for bed that night, something reminded her of the mail she had left in her car. She slipped her feet into her brown knee-high Ugg boots, pulled on her dressing gown, wrapped the cord tightly around her waist, and opened the front door. The cool air chilled her and Baxter looked up from his temporary bed and eyed her strangely, as if wondering what she was doing outside so late at night. Kate retrieved the mail from the car and closed and locked the front door behind her. Back in the warmth of the house, she flicked off all the lights again and climbed back into bed.
The hand-addressed envelope was made from expensive-looking paper and she wondered who would write to her here on the farm. As she opened the envelope and pulled out the stiff cream-colored paper inside, she stifled a shocked cry.
Dear Catherine and partner,
Marcus Antony Thornton
and
Cindy Lee Collins
together with their families
request the pleasure of your company at their upcoming wedding.
Saturday 6th December
Kate didn’t read any further. For goodness sake, they hadn’t even spelled her name correctly!
“Well, he clearly didn’t waste any time moving on!” Kate spoke out loud and Baxter looked up at her with an expression she couldn’t read. She rubbed his ears while deciding what to do, then reached for her phone.
“Kate?” Joel’s voice sounded a bit groggy. “Twice in one night. What’s up?” Kate heard rustling sounds on his end of the phone.
“Sorry Joel, did I wake you?” Kate looked at the clock beside her bed but it was only just after eight o’clock.
“It’s okay, I haven’t been in bed long. It’s been a busy day and I thought I’d try to get to sleep before midnight. All that hard manual labor today has stuffed me and I’m not feeling all that well. I think I’m coming down with something.”
As if to prove his point, he coughed. Kate heard rustling again and imagined it to be the sound of Joel’s sheets as he got comfortable in bed. She tried to remove the mental image but found that she failed miserably.
“Marcus is getting married,” she blurted out.
“You’re joking! When?”
“In December,” Kate answered. “December this year!”
“Wow. He sure didn’t waste time moving on.”
“That’s exactly what I said. And no prizes for guessing who he’s marrying.”
“No way. His secretary?” Joel sounded as stunned as Kate felt.
“Yep,” she replied, “the one he apparently wasn’t having an affair with!”
“Are you okay, Kate?” he asked before he started coughing again. Poor guy. He sounded terrible.
“I’m actually numb. It’s just come as a massive shock.”
“I’m sorry, Kate. I know how much you wanted to get married.”
“It’s just he was always so dead set against marriage – said it was just a piece of paper.”
“I wish I knew what to say.”
“Oh my gosh!” Kate cried all of a sudden, a sick feeling in her stomach.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“I’ll bet she’s pregnant.” Kate’s heart felt heavy as though someone was squeezing the life from her.
Joel coughed again and Kate heard more crackling through the phone and she figured he was changing position in bed again.
“And guess what else?” Kate asked him.
“What?”
“We’re invited!”
“What do you mean? He’s invited both of us to his wedding? Is the guy stupid?” Joel replied.
“Well technically he hasn’t invited both of us. He’s invited me and a partner.” Kate emphasized the word. “You could be my plus one.”
“Oh.”
She couldn’t detect the tone in Joel’s voice but as soon as she had spoken Kate realized her mistake of making an assumption about their relationship.
“Of course, I’m not going to go,” she backpedaled quickly.
“If you want to go, I’m happy to accompany you, Kate.” Joel’s voice sounded slightly strained. He coughed again.
“No. No. It’s all right. I don’t even want to go. That would be just too weird anyway. I don’t even know why I suggested it.”
“Okay.”
“Well, I’ll let you go then,” Kate said. The phone call felt awkward now and she was regretting calling him. “I might drop by tomorrow and grab a coffee on my way to work. Will you be there early?”
“If you let me get some sleep I will.” The teasing voice Kate was more familiar with came across the phone. “Unless this cold develops into man-flu.”
She laughed. “Well, good night, Joel. Take care.”
“Good night, Miss Kate. Sweet dreams.”
“Yep. You too.” She hit the end button and stared at the phone for a moment. Baxter looked up at her and then tucked his head back around his body, curling himself into a tight ball and closing his eyes.
“That’s a good idea, Baxter. I think I’m going to try to do the same.”
An hour later Kate was still tossing and turning. She couldn’t stop thinking about Marcus marrying Cindy. Perhaps at the time there hadn’t been anything between them and the text message she’d found was one big mistake like everyone had suggested. But now, no matter which way she thought about it, even if Marcus kept trying to declare his innocence, one thing was certain to Kate. If Cindy truly was pregnant, then Marcus wasn’t just a cheat. He was also a liar.
Chapter 25
Almost ten days later, Kate was sitting in her office working her way through an inbox full of paperwork when her work phone rang. She looked down at the screen, hoping to see Joel’s number, but it was a number she didn’t recognize.
“Kate speaking.”
“Is that Kate Kennedy?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“It’s Emma. Joel’s sister.”
Kate immediately sensed something in Emma’s voice.
“Is Joel okay?”
She hadn’t seen or heard from him since she’d made the stupid assumption about their relationship status. She figured he hadn’t wanted to speak to her again. She still couldn’t believe she’d said he could be her plus one at Marcus’s wedding! She probably should have called him to apologize, but stubbornness and pride kept stopping her. Then, out of embarrassment and uncertainty, she had kept her distance, not even going into the café for her usual daily coffee and chat. The longer she went without seeing him, the more awkward it had become.
She had tried to tell herself his silence meant nothing. He was probably just busy getting Eagles Ridge Farm ready for the upcoming opening. When he hadn’t shown up for their usual Saturday morning run and hadn’t bothered to send a message explaining where he was, Kate had been slightly miffed, but not worried enough to find out why. She figured he was backing off because he didn’t feel the same way about her as she was starting
to feel for him. Clearly she’d read their possible relationship completely wrong.
“Emma?” she repeated. “Is Joel okay?”
Emma’s words came out in staccato beat. “I’m not sure, Kate. No. I don’t think so. He asked me to call you.”
On high alert now, Kate asked, “What’s wrong?”
“He’s been unwell for the last week or so and each time he goes to the doctor, he gets seen by a different doctor and given another lot of antibiotics. But he’s not getting any better. He’s really sick, Kate. And I’m worried about him.”
Kate didn’t want to pry, but she needed more information, and wondered if Emma would want to share the details of Joel’s personal medical history with her.
“Do you know what the doctor said, Emma?”
“Yeah. He says it’s just a really bad case of the flu but Joel says he’s having trouble breathing today. He’s saying his chest is killing him. He’s never sick and he never complains. He asked me to call you. He looks awful. His lips are really blue.”
Worry shot through Kate’s heart like an arrow and her own chest felt tight.
“And Kate? I’m really worried that he’s been drinking again.” Emma’s voice was almost a whisper and Kate had to push the phone against her ear to catch her words.
Had something happened? Why would Joel be drinking again? Kate shuffled dates around in her mind, struggling to recall when Rebecca had died. It was only November. The anniversary was still another month away. Maybe it was her birthday or some other special event that had tipped him over the edge.
“Are you with him now, Emma? Can I speak to him?” Kate asked, trying to keep the urgency from her voice.
“Yeah. Sure. Hang on.”
Kate heard the sound of muffled voices and then Joel came on the line. The voice was raspy and she barely recognized it as Joel’s, it was so laced with the sound of pain and fear.
“Katie?” He had never called her by that name and she was momentarily taken aback, surprised by how nice the accent made it sound coming from him. Immediately, she switched her mind into a more professional mode.
Intensive Care: Escape to the Country Page 20
