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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Let no man put asunder - chapter 33
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Extended Work
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| Let no man put asunder - chapter 33 | |
| By LynB | ||||||||||||||
| 27 January 2007 | ||||||||||||||
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This may be the last chapter for a while, as I am going into hospital on Monday, for a minor op. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I am able to put up the next chapter! Chapter 33 As Donna gradually fell quiet, and the colour drained from her face, Jon realised that he would have to get help for her – and fast. He picked her up and carried her into the living room, gently placing her on the sofa. By now, the girls had returned from their games. Rosie and Clare came and sat down next to her, crying softly, a look of fear and confusion on their faces. David just clung to his daddy, unsure whether or not to cry; he looked totally bewildered. “What’s wrong with mummy?” said Emily, her voice trembling, and her eyes filling with tears. “Mummy’s baby’s poorly” he said, trying to retain some degree of self-control. “She needs to go to hospital.” “Are you taking her, daddy?” said Rosie, clinging to his arm. “No” he said, gently squeezing Donna’s hand, as she moaned with pain. “It’s not my baby, is it? It’s mummy and Steve’s baby. I have to tell him – it’s up to him to take her. I know he’s only next door, but I don’t want to leave mummy, so I’m going to ring him up.” After speaking to Steve for a few minutes, he turned and spoke to Donna. His words hardly registered, as she drifted in and out of consciousness. When Steve arrived, he quickly took charge of the situation. Sitting next to Donna, he glanced up at Jon, an accusing expression on his face. “What happened?” he said, his voice trembling with suppressed anger. “She complained of pains in her stomach, then she fell down the stairs. Look, just what are you trying to say?” “Just what were you doing, when my fiancée was upstairs losing her baby?” “How dare you?! Are you trying to imply that I’m responsible for what happened?” “He didn’t know what was happening, Steve” whispered Donna, clutching his hand. “I didn’t tell him I was in pain. I just went up to the bathroom, and that’s when I realised. I fell down the stairs because I felt faint. Don’t you dare blame him! Please, take me to hospital….” “Okay. Come on, sweetheart, I’ll look after you – which is more than your husband has ever managed to do!” Jon did not answer him; he just did not have the strength, and the last thing he wanted was a confrontation, especially with Donna in her current condition. He watched as the door closed behind them, and gazed out of the window as the car pulled away. Steve’s parting words had been cruel, but it did not really make any difference – he could not possibly hurt him more than he was already hurting. His beautiful Eliza had just died in the cruellest possible way, and now Donna was being rushed to hospital – scared and in pain. He felt so helpless, and so inadequate, but he had to pull himself together for the sake of his children. Suddenly, he became aware of someone next to him, and turned to see Emily looking up at him, tears rolling down her face. “Is mummy going to die?” she said, holding her arms out to him. “I’m frightened, daddy.” “No, of course not” he replied, lifting her out of her wheelchair, and holding her close. “She’ll be fine. There’s no need to be frightened.” He sat down on the sofa, with Emily still clinging to him like a limpet. Rosie climbed up and sat next to him, while Clare leaned her head on his lap. As he tried desperately to comfort them, David looked around him, a puzzled expression on his face. “Mummy!” he said, his lips trembling. “Mummy?” Not for the first time, Jon suddenly felt completely out of his depth. It had been so long since he had been in sole charge of all his children, that he was not quite sure what to do next. He did not want to turn the girls away, yet he could not leave David sitting on the floor alone, crying for his mummy. Emily, in her usual sensible, inimitable way, solved the problem for him. “Daddy, you’d better get David” she said, looking up at him. “He doesn’t understand why mummy doesn’t come when he calls her. We’re all old enough to know, but he isn’t.” Quite unable to say a word, he got up from the sofa, and made his way over to little David. He picked him up, and held him close. “It’s all right, mate” he said, desperately trying to comfort him. “Mummy will be back soon. Shall we play cars?” “No!” shouted David, twisting round in his arms. “Want mummy! Mummy!” “You can’t have mummy.” He was close to tears now. “She’s not here, but she’ll be back soon. In the meantime, you’ll have to make do with me!” As David continued to cry for his mother, Jon began to feel more and more frustrated, and, like so many times before, totally inadequate. The little boy obviously sensed his frustration, and his cries grew louder by the second. Jon gently rocked him in his arms, pleading with him to be quiet, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. “Please, give me a break! I know you want mummy, but there’s nothing I can do about it! Stop crying, please, just stop crying…” “He always stops crying for mummy” said Rosie, looking up at him. “He needs mummy.” “I know” he said, tears beginning to roll down his face. “Mummy obviously has a magic touch. It appears I’ve lost mine – that’s if I ever had one…” “Sing to him, daddy” said Emily, her heart aching for him. “That should make him feel better. I know it always makes me feel better when you sing to me. Why don’t you give it a try?” “It won’t work” he said, his voice shaking. “He just wants mummy, and nothing I say or do will make any difference. He doesn’t need me any more, none of you need me any more….” “Don’t say that, daddy” said Rosie, reaching up and clutching his hand. “We do need you. Mummy needs you, too” He doubted very much if that was true, but he did not say so. Rosie was already upset about her mummy, and he did not want to make the situation worse. He began to sing softly to David, and gradually he fell quiet, listening contentedly to the God given voice he had grown up with. He gently kissed the top of his head, and realised he had fallen asleep. “See, daddy!” said Emily, smiling warmly at him. “It did work, I knew it would! It always does!” After putting David to bed, he rejoined the girls in the living room. As he glanced at their expectant faces, he felt his throat tighten, and his eyes burned with unshed tears. He felt just like a frightened child himself, and it was proving increasingly difficult to be strong in front of his little girls. Emily seemed to sense his distress, and reached out, putting her arms around him. “It’ll be all right, daddy” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “Mummy will be fine. The doctors and nurses will look after her. When I was in hospital once, the nurses were really kind to me, just like Eliza…” That did it. He had been trying to be brave for so long, but hearing Eliza’s name rammed home to him just what he had lost, and wave after wave of grief overwhelmed him, as he sobbed like a baby. Emily did not speak, but just held him close, perilously close to tears herself. Rosie and Clare both clung to him, trying their best to comfort him, in their own childlike way. With a superhuman effort, he pulled himself together, and pulled away from them. “I’m sorry, girls” he said, looking a little shamefaced. “I should be looking after you, not the other way around.” “We can look after each other, daddy” said Rosie, planting herself firmly on his lap. “When will mummy come home? Will they make her baby better?” “I’m afraid they can’t make mummy’s baby better” he said, choosing his words carefully. “The baby was poorly, and it went to Jesus. He’ll look after it for mummy, so there’s no need to be sad.” “Oh” said Rosie, her eyes filling with tears. “That’s all right, then. If Jesus is busy, then Auntie Eileen can look after mummy’s baby” “Yes, I’m sure Auntie Eileen would love to” he said, holding her close. “I’m sure that will be a great comfort to mummy, knowing that. She should be home soon, Rosie, then you can help look after her.” Just as he finished speaking, there was a tap on the back door, and Steve walked in. He appeared to be alone. He walked straight past Jon, and switched the kettle on. Why not, thought Jon, he’s taken everything else over, so why not treat my home as his own, too? Still, that was irrelevant at the moment. “Where’s Donna?” he said, looking around. “What’s going on? I take you’re going to tell my children what’s happening to their mother? And, before you ask, yes, I would like to know as well!” “They decided to keep her in for observation” said Steve, not even looking at him. “She’d lost quite a lot of blood, so she’s quite weak. They couldn’t save the baby, there was nothing they could do.” “One question – what are you doing here?” “What do you mean?” “I would’ve thought that was obvious! Your fiancée is lying in a hospital bed, having just lost your baby. She’s frightened, and in pain, and grieving – and you’ve left her alone! How could you? How could you come home, and leave her there – she needs you more than ever, right now!” “Butt out, Jon” snapped Steve. “It wasn’t your baby.” “No” he agreed, controlling his temper with great difficulty “but she is still my wife, and I still care what happens to her! I’ll ask you again – what are you doing here?” “She’ll be all right” said Steve, his voice almost casual. “They’ll look after her. Anyway, I couldn’t stay any longer – it was doing my head in! Hospitals and me don’t mix!” “You are absolutely unbelievable! Have you any idea how Donna must be feeling right now? You heartless bastard! Do you actually feel anything for her? Have you ever really loved her?” As Steve glanced at him, with cold, expressionless eyes, before walking past him out of the door, Jon knew that he had answered his question without saying a single word.
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Even after having 3 children 
Take care, and I look forward to your next chapter(s).
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