“Shush Bella helps coming, stay awake Bella look at me and stay awake.” I lift her arm and there is a small dagger in her side, I didn’t see that, and I know not to remove it, but as I hold her, I hear the rasp as the thick blood comes from her mouth. I am manhandled away as Bedford and Henry work to save her, I am watching as my world comes crashing down. I watch helplessly as they work on her, I watch and do nothing I can’t do anything I’m useless. I watched as my wife defended me, surely it should have been the other way around?
“Chris, move and grab some towels now, Marie do you have any pipe here or a tube of some sort, the nurse, is her bag in your room?” Maria rushes to grab the bag as I come back with fucking bath sheets, damn you dick I rip them into pieces and they are pressed to her side and as I do I hear the same rasp I did when Glenda died no, no, no, no. Maria gives Henry the bag and as he rifles through it he finds a catheter and skilfully he inserts it into the wound on Bella’s side, his fingers are in there too and he is covered in blood, he slides it in and as he does, she breathes easier.
“She has a collapsed lung her ribs broken and has punctured it, this will help her breath, now get the paramedics here, and Tammy nice shot by the way.”
We all then notice Gina, who was dragged from off the top of Bella, she has a round red hole on her forehead and the back of her head is oozing blood everywhere. Mel is then screaming as her stomach hurts. Maria takes her and Luis to the bedroom, as pandemonium brakes out. The fore alarm has everyone running from the hotel. They are not our priority, but they need to be safe too.
“Bedford, get the guests re roomed in the H, and tell them their stay is comped. They are all standing in the rain we need those alarms off and where in Christ sakes is Ethan?” I hear Hugh ask Poppy.
“Ethan, is he not here with you? He wasn’t in his bed when I went to his room I thought he was in here with you.” I’m with Bella on the floor and realise my son has been taken. Hugh is still speaking.
“No, we saw the flashes and thought he was with you?”
“The cameras were faulty, they tried hacking through the powers supplies, but the backups kicked in.” My son is missing and I don’t know what to do. Henry is still fingers deep in Bella and thought the packing is stopping the blood flow, he is losing her again, then thank god, the paramedics rush in they quickly work and stop the bleeding, the then perform CPR on her as she flat lines, I pace the side helpless to do nothing and wonder where my son is. I send Grant and Rochelle to look through the camera feeds and I bark out orders, as a worried Bedford takes the second lot of paramedics to see to Mel, who has started in labour, Christ when shit happens to me it is never simple, I’d laugh but this is serious.
“Shit, he can’t be far, Poppy you and Tammy head to the ground floor shut this building down. Ferguson, I want answers and now, get more security in searching the floors, I want my son found.” The police head into the room and are taking control. I am still watching as the work on Bella and place her on a gurney, for now she is safe her pulse is weak, but she needs the dagger thing removing and her lung fixing I watch as Hugh collapses fuck me no, not him too?
They are taking Mel, Maria, Hugh and Luis to the hospital and I am lost, what the fuck do I do? When suddenly I hear a little voice and let loose the breath I was holding on to.
“Daddy, why are there lots of people here, I not sleepy now?” I cry in relief and as I swoop in to rescue him, I then realise he can’t see his mother covered in blood, I take him to his room and as I do Tammy runs into his room. Ethan has blood on his Superman sleep suit, I check him over, the blood is not his, how and where has it come from, as he went nowhere near Bella? Poppy is relieved to see her ward and came by my side and ran her hand over him and shook her head, it wasn’t his blood, thank god.
“Where were you, you little stinker, I looked for you stink bomb, were you in the bathroom?”
“No, I was sleeping in the cupboard in my room Poppy, the lady tolds me to get in and be quiet, ‘cos the bad lady would get me too.”
“Which lady Ethan, and here is she?” I had to wonder who saved my son from Gina’s hands.
“She looked like Aunty Smelly.”
“Catherine.” Lorna looks at me as we both say it at the same time.
“Where did this lady go stinker?” Tammy had rushed to check his room, and on her return, she gave me the sign for a cut throat, had Catherine been killed too? I go to place him in our room followed by Tammy and Poppy.
“She said she sorry, but she needs to be sleeping for a minute. I am a good boy, I play a game and I need to be quiet, to win a prize, did I be quiet a long time? She got to see her bruver alright too he hurt by bad lady. I win a big prize Pop-Pop?” Poppy smiles.
“Yes little man, you were very good, and get a big prize, later okay?” He nods his head and falls against my chest.
I then remember Gina’s rant had she done Roger harm? I had to hope she’d killed him ‘cos if she hadn’t I will. I see to it that Ethan is not left alone, and go to be with Bella. I follow behind the gurney and as we head down in the lift she flat lines again. I stand back and as they shock her not once but three or four times, they shout, they are losing her and as I watch on helplessly, I pray for him to take me, not her…
CHAPTER TWENTY:
Chris.
As we head along the road to the crematorium, I watch the hearse in front of us taking the coffin to its final resting place, and as the rain falls, I hold steadfast and hard. I hate this day and I want it to end, I hold Mel’s hand tightly as we drive in silence. I pray for this to end quickly and with no drama and no fuss. I watch as the mourners take their seats. There are flowers, of that I’m sure and there are tears I know, because I hear them, but as the blurb from the priest drones on and on I am here, but not? I want to be anywhere else but here. My heart is breaking and I need the world to stop and rewind, I want a time machine I want to go back. I need this pain to go away. I watch as Maria is hugged by Hugh, and I watch too as Jameson, watches me, as do Tammy and Henry. Mel is being held by Luis, as we sit, none of us taking this in.
“Today we say our fond farewells to person, who meant so much to so many, leaving behind family and friends.” I want to laugh nobody here knows that to be true. My father was an ass, as were the two bastards that tried to kill me and my family. I get up to leave and as I do, a hand comes to my side and hugs me.
“Sit down Chris you need to say goodbye, you need to put the hate you have for him behind you.”
“Yes Mrs Holland, but did he really know the bastard that was my father or his spawned from evil children? The way he is talking, they were not the lunatics we knew them as and they are not the hapless victims of the deluded maniac Gina. They deserve to be burning in hell, all of them Bella, all of them.”
“I guess not, but you still need to show your respect, and be a better man than he was. This bunch are here for the free booze, and that lot to see if they got left anything. Let’s crowd watch Chris?” I agree as Bella strokes my back lightly. “Her over there, she’s here to tell you all she is having your father’s child, and needs what you all got. That one there was his last bunk up, the one who he was err playing with as the reaper called. The man there is his tailor and has his bills in his pockets. Now your brother and sisters are here waiting for the decisions on what they get from their departed father, anything or nothing, have you decided is it to be disappointment or happiness?”
“Happiness I guess?”
“You guess?”
“I decided to split the money, and give them all the same, there are only the five of us now what with Sommer, Roger and Catherine dead, the rest well they need to be free to do what they want with their lives, Mel and I want none of his money, but I will keep the hotels and they get the money shared between them. We have agreed to try and be civil as you suggested, but Mrs Holland I guess time will tell as to whether or not we bond?” I sigh as the priest stops talking and the body is slid behind the curtain I turn and walk back
to the car.
“How are you holding up Son?”
“Fine Dad just fine, let’s get back to Ethan he will be missing us and you, how are you?”
“I have had better days Son, better days it has to be said.” I am hugged, as I get back into the car and we head back to the hotel, we need to pack and head home, and with everything set for tomorrow I try to relax. I figure the ranch in Australia is going to be the right place to raise Ethan, our ranch is fast becoming a housing estate as three more homes were added to the growing number there, with a nice one for Maria and Hugh designed by my clever wife. I get back to see Poppy holding Ethan and as he runs to my legs, I smile and pick him up.
“Daddy, your back, you leave me too I thought you leave me too.”
“No baby, I didn’t leave you, I had to say goodbye and I didn’t like it very much. Can Daddy have a big cuddle off his big boy?” My son holds me tightly as I sob into his shoulder.
“Come on we have to get to get something to eat and get to bed early, because tomorrow we have to take a big long ride in our plane.”
“Are we taking my mummy home with us tomorrow too?”
“Yes baby boy we are.” I get him his dinner and ready for bed with a warm bath and clean fresh pj’s, these are a Spiderman onesie, because he likes the onesie that look funny, his favourites are ready for the plane ride tomorrow. Mickey Mouse gets to run around the company jet and yes fly the plane. I read him Pooh Bear and as he finally drops off to sleep I kiss his sweet little head and join him in sleep, a much needed rest, my mind is as heavy as my heart. I sleep for what seems an age and then as I wake I kiss his head and head in to the lounge to see the rest.
“Is my little Prince asleep?” Maria comes in for a hug.
“He is and wearing his second best pj’s, the Spiderman ones you got him.”
“I didn’t think of potty training him when I got them, Bella was going to start soon, poor Bella. She won’t be seeing him tinkle in a potty, we did try before you know but as Hugh says he can’t be the best at everything. Are you going now?”
“I am I will see you in the morning.”
“We will be waiting do you want me to come too?”
“No, I need some alone time with her for a while.” I am driven by Grant to the hospital and as I get there, I’m greeted by smiling faces and people running around like headless chickens.
“What’s the matter? Has Bella…”
“No, oh god no, she has woken up and is very grumpy, very grumpy indeed.”
“I don’t understand how, you said she would be in the coma for the rest of her life, how?” I was told to sit in the doctor’s office as Bella was busy having tests done. I have done little else in the past three weeks but write statements about Gina, then I had to identify my brothers and sisters bodies. Roger had had his throat cut with the dagger that was taken from Bella’s chest, the one that had nicked her heart and had caused the heart attack, she died several times more on that fraught road to the hospital and on the operating table, she lost so much blood she was nearly empty. Her poor heart gave way so many times, then the last one shut her brain down for five whole minutes, and she was put into a medically induced coma. Alas, we were told she would, in all likelihood, never recover and if she did, she would probably be damaged. The day I had to honour her written word of no medical intervention if her life was dependant on a machine for survival, that killed me. They stopped the drugs and turned off the machines, and as we stood by her bedside awaiting her to die, she didn’t, she fought to stay alive but alas she still did not wake.
“I’m not sure what to say Mr Holland, but Mrs Holland was being readied for her trip and was having her last scan and the technician noticed sudden body movements when she was in the machine, and as he rushed to get her out, she awoke screaming to be freed. I can assure you the last thing we expected was for her to wake up, as I have said to you before the brain is a complex and integral part of our anatomy, a part of the body that we as yet do not fully understand. She has not asked for anyone, she could have memory problems and she could be brain damaged we just need for you to be prepared.”
“I am, is she awake now?”
“No after the initial scream and upon her release from the machine she passed out again. She is as I said sleeping.”
“Sleeping, not in a coma?”
“Sleeping as in extremely tired, her brainwaves are fine, her heart stronger than it’s been in almost a month, all tests show she is simply sleeping.” She takes a call and smiles. “I will send him up now.” I see the smile and I push the chair from beneath my legs, and run, not walk, I run for her room, as I get to the door I pause, what if she doesn’t remember me, what if she doesn’t need me? I put my hand on the door and push it open and the nurse smiles and steps aside for me to see Bella, she has showered and changed and her hair is in a towel.
“Mr Holland, you’re here, Mrs Holland has, as you can see just had her shower and would like you to sit.”
“My wife would, would she?”
“Thank you nurse and I’m sure if we need you, you will be buzzed.” She smiles and leaves and as I continue to stare at Bella, a lost look crosses her face. Shit she doesn’t remember me, or our son, please say that’s not so.
“Bella, I… I… Oh Bella you’re awake.”
“It would seem so, I am sorry but they keep calling me Mrs Holland, I don’t think that’s right, I am not Mrs Holland…”
“Bella, you don’t remember me?” I am fighting back the sadness I feel as I see her smile.
“I thought I was Humphries Holland, the same as our son?” The relief as she said it took me by total surprise, total and utter elation, she remembered me, she remembered Ethan. “Now, where is my little boy, is he safe I had a strange memory of everyone looking for him? I have been asleep they tell me for almost a month, is he alright?”
“Bella, he is wonderful, missing his Mummy but wonderful. Bella you’re here and awake and, you’re here and awake.” I stand repeating myself over and over dumbfounded and amazed and don’t know what to do, my heart is fit to bursting and my eyes are wet with the tears of joy I am shedding.
“You missed me so much, yet you haven’t said hello or kissed me yet?” I stumble to her bed and haphazardly fall at her side. I am in the prayer position at her bedside and lost, I need to make sense of all this, yesterday I was told she would never awake and could possibly live a whole life time simply sleeping, that was fine by me she was still here and she was still Bella. Ethan said she looked like Sleeping Beauty and perhaps, if I kissed her, she would wake up. I rained down so many kisses to make her wake up, as did Ethan too, but alas she still slept. Tonight I come back, and she is awake and looking like nothing has happened to her.
“I can’t believe it, you are awake, aren’t you? I know you are, but the doctors were so sure, you would not wake up Bella.”
“A kiss would still be nice unless you’ve gone off me Christopher Robin?” She has remembered my name. Surely, there is something wrong with her?
“Hey just for that you can go whistle.” I got up from my feet and kissed her, her warm dry lips were kissing me back and her hands were holding me this time.
“Now am I still a dream?”
“No, no you’re real wow so real.” I kissed her again and again, not noticing the doctor come to the room.
“Hum-hum, cough, cough, excuse me?” We part lips for a second and I feel my cheeks get warm.
“I see you do remember you are married and are reacquainting. How do you feel Mrs Holland?”
“Please it’s Bella, and to be honest with you I don’t know what all the fuss is about, however I have a few scars that weren’t there before and I ache, what the hell happened to me?”
“You are indeed very lucky to be alive, you have had a very bad time indeed, dying several times, and indeed we for a time thought you would die again. The massive coronary you had on the operating table, meant you needed help breathing and you were in coma, as
your brain suffered a massive gap of oxygen deprivation, and oxygen is essential for brain function. Your cardiac arrest had caused a sudden cut off of the blood flow and oxygen to the brain, this is called hypoxia or anoxia.
After you had been given cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, you were resuscitated, and not once but several times that day, and as with most survivors of cardiac arrest, you end up in a coma. The reports we had back were not looking too good, you had little to no brain activity, the machines were breathing for you and on hearing this, your brother brought in your living will and it clearly stated you did not want medical intervention, and were not to be kept alive if it was to be dependent on the machines. So honouring your request, we weaned you off the drugs and still you did not wake, we then removed the breathing tubes and the things keeping you alive, and what can I say, other than you’re a lucky lady, you did breath on your own, but alas did not wake. We have had specialists in and they all told your husband to expect the worse and that you would in all probability not awaken from your sleep.”
“I died, really oh hell really? Chris where is Ethan, can I see my little boy please Chris?”
“He’s sleeping we were having an awfully big adventure tomorrow and taking Mummy home, home to Australia.”
“We are we still going I hope, because my horses will love it there, we need to get them all there Chris? Ethan’s sleeping, of course he is silly me where is my head at these days, leave him please Chris, and so Doctor what happens now?”
“I am reviewing your latest test results, but other than the scars, there seems to be nothing wrong with you, to say that you can’t return home in the next couple of days. We will keep you here for observation a day or two more and yes, more tests I’m afraid, but no you should, tests permitting be allowed home soon. I am both amazed and pleased to see you Bella, really amazed. I will leave you two, to it and call back in the morning please rest, and yes I know you have been sleeping a long time, but you are still very weak.”
Soul Mates. The Beginning. Page 40
