Chapter 25

“You know what we need, don’t you?” said Donna, as they both sat there together on the sofa.  The lights were dimmed, the children were in bed, and they were sharing a few precious moments alone – that did not happen very often, and they wanted to make the most of it.

“I know what I need at the moment!” he said, giving her the look that usually robbed her of the ability to think straight.

“Typical man!” she retorted, hitting him with a cushion.  “Can’t you keep your mind out of your trousers for five minutes?  I was going to say, after all that’s been going on lately, we could do with a holiday!  Somewhere nice and hot!  What do you think?”

“Sounds good to me!  Now I’ve written to Emily, and explained everything, I feel I’ve done right by her, despite what her parents might think.  It’s about time I gave her up as a lost cause, and concentrated on my family.  You come first from now on, I promise.  You do believe me, don’t you, Donna?”

“I want to believe you.  It’s up to you now, to prove that you mean what you say.”

“You still don’t trust me, do you, Donna?”

“It’s not going to be plain sailing, Jon – especially after what happened.  We’ll have to work at it.  We have a very strong relationship – let’s build on it.  Come on, cheer up – it might never happen!”

“I think it already has!” he said, the sudden tremor in his voice causing her to look up in surprise.  “Maybe you’re right about the holiday – it’s just what we need to unwind and spend time together as a family.  God knows, I could do with some time off – I’m so tired lately, that I don’t know if I’m coming or going”

It was the perfect setting for a holiday – the sun kissed Hawaiian island of Honolulu, with its unbroken blue skies, and swaying palm trees.  The waves gently lapped against the shore, the sunlit sea stretching out as far as the eye could see.  As they sat there together - Donna holding Clare in her arms, Rosie playing happily on the sand -the previous few months seemed like a million miles away.  They had been through so much together in those few months – lesser relationships would have crumbled under the strain of so much upheaval – that this holiday, an escape from it all – was what they both desperately needed.

They quickly made friends with another couple in the same hotel, Steve and Laura, and often went out together.  They were about the same age, but did not have any children, and they quickly fell in love with Rosie and Clare.  Donna had confided in Laura the main reason for their holiday, she had seemed very sympathetic.  One night, she took Donna to one side, and said:

“If you and Jon want some time to yourself, why don’t you let us look after Rosie and Clare while you go out for a meal or something?”

“I can’t expect you to do that!” said Donna, at the same time feeling quite touched.

“Of course you can!” replied Laura, putting a hand on her arm.  “It was Steve’s idea, actually.  He’s quite taken with your little ones – he can’t wait to be a dad!  It will be good practice for him!  Seriously, Donna, it’ll do you good, to have some time to yourself – just to talk or do whatever you want!”

“Sounds wonderful!” said Donna, holding out her arms as Rosie came running over to her, having been in the pool with her daddy.  “I don’t think Jon will take much convincing!”

“Okay, you’re on!”

As Donna had predicted, Jon did not take much convincing!  In fact, he jumped at the idea!  As much as he loved his children, he desperately wanted to spend some time alone with his wife – the main reason being to try and prove to her that he could be the husband she deserved, he had a lot of making up to do, and this would be a good way to start.  They decided to go to a lovely little restaurant just around the corner from the hotel – it was quiet and peaceful, almost completely cut off from civilisation.

“You’re looking very thoughtful!” she said, reaching across the table, and taking hold of his hand.  “Care to enlighten me?”

“I can’t really explain, Donna” he said.  “I don’t know, for some reason, I’m scared….”

“What on earth are you scared of?”

“That everything will go wrong again.  I’m just starting to get my life back on an even keel, and you’ve given me another chance.   I don’t know, Donna!  I don’t how to explain it….”

“Then don’t!” she said, silencing him with a kiss.  “Just make the most of this!  Just the two of us – it won’t happen very often now!  Come on, it’ll be all right – you’ll see!  We’re so good together – we always have been!  You have to take the bad times with the good – but we’ll make it through, you have to believe that!  We love each other – that’s a good start!”

“You’re right, as usual!” he said, giving her a smile that made her want to leap over the table and attack him there and then.  “Let’s make the most of it!”

As the evening wore on, however, he grew quiet, and did not seem to want to talk much.  He could not pinpoint it, but he just did not feel right.   As he toyed with the food on his plate, quite unable to face eating it, Donna said:

“What’s the matter?  Aren’t you hungry?”

“No” he said, sighing heavily.  “I don’t want it.  I’m sorry, Donna, but I just can’t face it.”

“Are you all right?”

“I’ve got awful stomach ache, I’ve had it on and off all day!”

“Why on earth didn’t you say so?  We didn’t have to go out if you felt under the weather!”

“I didn’t want to spoil things for you, and I thought maybe it would take my mind off it, but it hasn’t!  In fact, it’s getting worse instead of better.  Please, can we go back, now?”

With Rosie and Clare safely in bed, he decided to go and lie down while Donna watched TV.  Eventually, he fell asleep, and when Donna came to bed, she hadn’t the heart to wake him, and just lay on top of the duvet next to him.  She woke in the middle of the night to find that he had disappeared.  She wondered where on earth he had got to, her question was answered as the bedroom door opened, and he stood there in the doorway, doubled up with pain, beads of sweat standing on his forehead.  He crossed the room, and collapsed on to the bed, curling up into a ball, groaning as the pain gripped his stomach like a vice.

“Help me, Donna!” he moaned, writhing in pain.  “I’ve just thrown up all over the bathroom, and….     Oh, God, it hurts!  It hurts so much!”

“Oh, Jon!”  She was shocked.  “How long have you been like this?”

“I don’t know!  I didn’t make a note of the time!  Oh, Jesus, Donna!  Make it stop!  Do something!”

As Donna sat on the bed with him, trying to keep him calm, and reassuring him that everything was going to be all right, secretly she was scared.  They were stranded in a foreign country, until he was well enough to fly home – and it was anybody’s guess when that would be.  Things couldn’t possibly get any worse, she thought.  If they had been at home, and seen that morning’s national papers, then she would have realised that they most definitely could.