Not believing her but not wanting to go behind her back, Mary and Richard listened to Amy. They both agreed that if she was not feeling completely better then she would stay with them until they were to return to Ireland, in a few days time. Amy would not hear tell of it, much to Liz’s disappointment, but promised that she would see how she felt in the morning before making any decisions.
That night Amy slept fine but woke still feeling unwell. Making her way to the bathroom attached to her room, she was sure she was going to be sick. They did tell her in the hospital that she may have some side effects after the abdominal surgery she had undergone a few months before. Hoping to God that it wasn’t serious she thought that the wisest thing would be to go to the doctor. It was more than likely a bug she picked up in her food but nonetheless she was slightly worried. The pain she had felt was not pretty.
Throughout the night, Mary worried for Amy. The poor girl crippled over in pain the night before had her unable to sleep. Seeing her the following morning still looking unwell and shook, she made the executive decision to take Amy to the hospital. She would not have her brother give out to her for not taking care of Amy while she was staying with them. The hospital it would be.
24
The hospital was smaller than Amy had expected it to be, but it was clean and modern. It was more like a fancy private clinic than a hospital, at least one you might find at home in Ireland. The staff were very friendly but Amy didn’t care for friends at that moment. She wanted to know that she was ok. How could she go and ruin the best holiday of her life. She and Liz were having a ball and now she was going to die and destroy the lot. After numerous tests, the doctor entered the exam room, a small file in her hands.
‘I’m dying? I am, I knew it’ she started to cry.
‘Ok, I think you are being a little over dramatic. It’s highly unlikely, you are going to die’ the doctor tried to soothe the petrified patient.
‘How do you know? I was in a serious crash a few months ago…there’s probably something wrong with my insides!’ She started to ramble until the doctor stood up and reached for her.
‘I’ve probably something growing somewhere…a tumour…’
‘Well yes the…’ the doctor was interrupted before she could continue.
‘I knew it!’ Amy cried ‘I just knew it!’
‘Stop’ the doctor smiled now barely able to control the poor Irish girl in her office.
‘Listen to me. First of all, sit down’
Amy sat back down bracing herself for the news.
‘If you had let me finish, I was going to say that yes you have something growing but no, it’s not a tumour. Amy, you are pregnant. Now, I have to say that it’s very early days. I will have to perform an ultrasound to give you proper dates but can I just ask when you had your last period?’
‘What?’ Amy’s face went white.
The doctor kept on talking, but Amy heard nothing. She was pregnant. PREGNANT! With child. Up the duff. Going to have a baby! Thinking back on her dates she was a little late but only by a few days, a week at most. She had presumed that the busy days and hectic schedule of their holiday had put her out.
‘Sweet Jesus in heaven’ Amy was feeling faint. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to remain upright.
‘Are you ok?’ the doctor asked, feeling a little concerned that the newly pregnant woman was taking the news a little badly.
‘Yeah’ Amy scratched her head ‘I’m grand…it’s just that….’ She didn’t know if she could say the words out loud ‘it’s just I was with two guys and ….’ She started to cry again.
‘I see’ the doctor was not there to judge
‘Well…, maybe if we sit down with a calendar and figure out a few dates we might be able to settle a few things before you get yourself too upset. You need to try and keep calm for the baby’ the doctor urged.
‘The baby’ Amy nodded trying to get her head around what she had been told.
‘Yes, the baby’
Lost for words, Amy moved to sit in the chair at the doctor’s desk. She wondered if everyone in the waiting room thought she was dying. What would she tell them? She would lie. She had no choice. Or else the news would be home quicker than she would even leave the building. How would she explain this one? After about five minutes of checking and rechecking dates and ‘activities’ with Sean and Adam, Amy was now 100% sure who had helped her make this baby. That much at least made her feel a little more secure. How would she have felt if she didn’t know which one it was? Was she happy she now knew who it was? Would this help her make up her mind? She had a lot to think about that was for sure.
‘Daaaaarling, sweetheart are you ok?’ Mary was on top of her as soon as she had come into the waiting room.
‘Yeah Mary, I’m fine. Just a silly pain from my old injuries but I’ll be fine, I promise’ she laughed a little too enthusiastically. Liz eyeing her suspiciously didn’t believe a word she had said. She could tell from Amy’s big red eyes that she was lying. There was something else up.
‘Really? Are you sure? Well thank God for that… I’m so glad you’re ok’ she sat back down, showing the strain of the past few hours. Mary was not used to stress.
‘Can you imagine if I had to call your dad and explain if anything happened to you?’
‘Well, Mary there’s no need whatsoever to worry. I’ll be grand in a couple of days…honest’
‘Well you girls will be staying with us then until you go home’
‘No, no, no. We will head back on the train this afternoon. Liz is dying to get back to the city. She had big plans…BIG plans don’t you’ Amy looked to Liz egging her on.
‘Right, yeah’ Liz said slowly unsure what was going on.
‘Well now, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. You were very sick last night and no better this morning. I don’t care what the doctor says. I think you would be better laying low for the last few days? I think you’d be silly to stay at a hotel when you are ill’ Mary was not taking this lying down.
‘Ah no, we’ll be grand won’t we Liz!’
‘Yeah…grand’ Liz didn’t know what Amy was doing but she had a feeling she would find out soon enough.
‘I’ll take care of her, Mary. Don’t be worrying. I won’t let her out of my sight and if there’s even a sign of a sniffle, I’ll have her back to a doctor. Ok?’
Amy could have hugged her friend. The last thing she wanted now was to hide away in Mary’s house pretending that she was ok. She wasn’t ok. She had landed herself in the crapper, good this time.
On the train ride back to the city later that day both girls sat in silence. Liz knew not to even open her mouth. Amy would talk in her own good time. Saying goodbye to Mary and Richard was harder than Amy had thought it would be. It was more than likely her hormones playing tricks on her but she was sad that she would not see them for a very long time. They had both been so kind taking them in for the night and taking her to the hospital. In any case, she was glad that she wouldn’t have to explain to anyone. Anyone, except Liz that was.
Since they had boarded the train for the journey back to the city, Liz had said nothing. Amy knew that her friend was dying to know what had happened at the hospital. She hadn’t asked or even said a thing but Amy knew by her friend’s actions that the curiosity was killing her.
‘Go on ask, I know you’re dying to’
‘Ask what? I have no idea what you’re talking about’ Liz replied sarcastically.
‘Fine’
‘Oh fine so. Go on then, what’s wrong with you and why aren’t we staying back at south fork?’ Liz broke, complaining at her injustice.
‘Nothing is wrong with me but there is something…’
‘And, would you like to share that something’ the sarcasm still seeping through.
‘Ah liz…I’m bollixed. I’ve gone and done it good this time…’ Amy banged her head against the window beside her ‘Liz I’m pregnant!’
‘What?’
<
br /> ‘I know, that’s what I said’
‘But you’re on the pill’
‘I know…well I was but there were a few times during the same week that I didn’t take it and well…you know the rest’
‘And dare I ask was this one time was it with Sean or Adam?’
‘Oh Liz’ Amy started to cry not knowing if she was happy or sad.
‘It’s Sean’s. I’m having Sean’s baby!’
‘Oh my God Amy! Are you ok? Are you ok with it, Are you sure it's his?’
‘Do you know I think I might be happy!’ Amy was afraid to admit it
‘I kind of feel like I’ve been pounded over the head with a mallet by the universe’ Confused, but yet trying really hard to explain herself, she continued ‘I came here trying to figure out what I really wanted but now I’ve been landed with this. I’ve been trying my hardest to look at my life and foresee what road might lead me to happiness. But I should know, above all people, that there is no way in hell anyone can predict the future. I was thinking of the day I got married to Frank and much and all as he hurt me, we had some wonderful years together. I learned a lot about myself with him. I grew up with him for God’s sake’
Liz nodded her agreement and looked at her friend. She had walked into that hospital a version of the old Amy and left a different girl, a new version of herself. Gone, was the fragile girl who had come to New York. In front of her now was a stronger woman. Even though tears were coming down Amy’s face, they weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of realization.
‘I would not change those years for the world. So now…I find myself recognizing that I can’t shelter myself from my future. There’s no magic airbag to protect me from what anyone might do to me’
‘Wow’ Liz was genuinely proud of her friend ‘You’re making a lot of sense. I think you’ve had your ‘’ah hah! Moment’’
‘I’m thinking I have, maybe I should call Oprah’ she joked.
‘So dare I ask…are you sure it's Seans?’ asked Liz.
‘Well…’ answered Amy looking out at the passing countryside as trees and fields slowly changed into larger buildings and houses, as they reached the city.
‘I am. Adam was away for a week and I was with Sean the week I forgot the couple of pills. I know by the dates.
'Do you love him? Liz questioned her again.
'I'll have to go with my heart on this and no matter which way I look at it, I always come back to the same thing. I want to be with someone who makes me go wobbly at the knees, who makes me laugh without even saying anything and someone who challenges me. They will be there no matter what happens and love me for me. I want that someone to know what I’m thinking without even having to ask or not wanting to ask, they need to be kind and gentle, thoughtful and accepting…’
‘Not looking for much there are you?’
‘Liz, I love Sean. I’ve loved him this entire time and was afraid to say it out loud’
Liz was not surprised. She had seen this coming a long time. Sean loved Amy for years and it was probably half the reason he was such a boyo. He knew she was married and closed the door on it. He bottled up his feelings because he knew that they would get him nowhere. Liz knew this was fate. She just knew it. Her friend deserved happiness and even though she had a small history with Sean, it was so silly it wasn’t even worth the thought. He was a good man and would be good for Amy. He had waited for her for years. Now was their time.
‘Why would you be afraid?’ Liz asked her.
‘I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want it to be him. Adam was perfect. He was such a gentleman and all roads pointed to him. That was, until they didn’t’ she smiled. ‘He’s always been perfect for me. We have so much fun and that night in Clairnbridge…’ blushing as she recalled the night they shared, Amy didn’t need to continue.
Now what would she do…she had found out she was pregnant and admitted who she had fallen in love with, all in one day. One thing was for certain, she had achieved what she had set out to do. Next thing on her agenda: how to tell Sean.
25
Knowing that they had only a few more days to see the city both girls agreed that they would make the most of the time they had left. Aware that Amy was pregnant, their days of trawling the streets from the minute they woke until the shops closed were over. That being said, they weren’t about to waste their three days. There wouldn't be any more alcohol, that was for sure!
‘So, what’s the plan then? You know, for Sean?’
Liz inquired as she sat eating her breakfast while Amy looked on unable to put anything into her mouth. She didn’t know if it was nerves or morning sickness but she doubted it was the latter as she was only just pregnant. Was it even possible to have morning sickness that early?
‘I have no idea…Maybe when I get back I’ll call him to see if he wants to come over? Then again, he might very well have gone off me and have zero interest’
Amy was nervous to say the words to Sean. What if he baulked and ran? No. She would face it head on and what would be would be. Maybe he did love her. She now knew that she loved him. She would do anything to see him right now. He would know what to do. He would make her feel better.
‘God, I’m like Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! One minute I’m saying this and one minute I’m saying that…’
‘It’s only now that’s dawning on you?’ Liz barely looked up from her gigantic breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup.
‘What’s the bet I change my mind again?’ Amy was poking fun at herself
‘I’ll probably be in love with Jimmy the postman next week’
‘Or PJ, the milk man…now he’s smoking hot!’
The two girls cackled at the thought of hopping into bed with the milkman. PJ delivered milk for the past thirty years around Galway. Everybody knew him and he knew everybody. Nosey as the day was long PJ knew everything about everybody. He went out of his way to ask as many questions as he could if he caught you at all. Lucky for everyone he was out early in the morning and didn’t have the chance to corner as many as he would like.
One day, when Amy had first married Frank and they were both in the honeymoon phase of their early married life, he had caught them in a fairly compromising situation. Sharing a few intimate moments together on the sitting room floor early one morning, PJ stuck his nose in the window to see what was going on after he had seen a bit of commotion through the curtains. Both parties without so much as a stitch on, got the fright of their lives seeing two big eyes staring in at them. Poor PJ got more than he bargained for, hearing the screams and Frank chasing out the door after him, Amy’s silk dressing gown half off him. That story had been a conversation stopper at parties for many a year to come.
‘Seriously though, what are you going to do?’
‘Not sure. I wish he was here right now so I could get it over with! The thoughts of telling him "hey Sean..emmm…remember that time you said you loved me….well…guess what…I kinda love you too! Oh yeah and FYI I am having your baby!’’…what you think? Too much?’
‘Well, it’s the truth at least’ Liz agreed.
‘God, I can’t even think about it. What if he runs a mile? What if he wants nothing to do with me?’
‘Now, you know as well as I do that that’s not true. Now you know our history but at the back of it all, he is a decent bloke. He’d never just abandon you and you know it’ Liz consoled Amy with her kind words.
‘Well, you never know. People have been known to do that before…’
‘Regardless, your happiness does not depend on any one person. You are a strong and capable person Amy and don’t’ ever forget it’
‘Oh Liz’ Amy started to cry again ‘Thank you so much…I really don’t know what I’d do without you…I’d be lost, I’m telling you’ Amy leaned over to hug her friend getting maple syrup all over her sleeve.
‘Don’t be so daft, you know that I’ll always be there for you no matter what. Sure if it all goes to pot, we’ll make a fine job
of that child!’
‘Social services to reception please…’Amy was now laughing, seeing the funny side to it all.
Heading out for a short walk after breakfast, they decided that wherever they wanted to go, they would get a cab or use the subway. Feeling perfectly ok compared to the day before, Amy was looking forward to the day’s activity. It would take her mind off things and help her clear her head. They agreed that one of the things they had always wanted to do, was a city bus tour. They only had to buy a ticket and they could hop on and off the bus for the day. That way they would get to explore all the hidden treasures the city had to offer and they got to do it on a budget. If they got tired or bored, a taxi back to the hotel was no problem.
Excited about the tour, they hopped on the bus a few blocks from their hotel. Looking at the brochure for the stops included on their package, Amy scanned what would most probably be her favorites. She was most looking forward to the Empire State Building. Having seen it on many movies, she hoped that it was as stunning as she remembered it to be. Hoping to save it until last, the ticket they had booked was a 48 hour tour. Meaning they could use the ticket for the last few days of their holiday. They could hop on and hop off if they had enough or if Amy was tired. The first stop on their excursion would be Madame Tussaud’s and Radio City Music Hall Backstage tour. This was going to be followed by the Rockefellar Centre Tour and a cruise to the statue of Liberty. Tomorrow, they would hit Carnegie Hall, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and last but not least, the Empire State Building.
While not very physically demanding, Amy found herself tired after the first day of the tour. She was able to rest on the bus and didn’t have to walk around too much. Liz told her that whenever they wanted, they could ditch the tour and take off back to the hotel. Never known not to get her monies worth, she stuck it out until the end.
The couple of days flew by and they were only two nights away from going home. Sitting on the bus headed towards the Empire State Building on the final day of the 2 day tour bus ride, they noted how very few people were left on the bus. It was late evening and they supposed that at eight thirty at night most of the tourists would be back in their hotel rooms ready for another fun filled night and another day around the city the following morning. Hopping off the bus across from the large entrance, to probably one of the most famous buildings in the world, Amy gazed up at the building stretching up far into the sky. At one point, she knew that it was the tallest building in the world, which was no longer the case. However, she imagined that whatever building had taken over that honour, it was definitely not as famous as the one standing before her now.
Whiplash Hotel Page 20
