Never Ever Leave Me (2 page)

“So let me get this straight,” John said.  “You ha
ve a degree, had a good job with prospects and you were paying all the bills.  Gordon has little education, got fired from a dead end job for stealing, he hit you and you feel guilty about leaving him.  Why?  You have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“He was frustrated being out of work.  My successes made him feel inadequate.  I shouldn’t have moaned about his drinking, I knew he’d get upset.”

“Stop making excuses for him woman,” John said.  “Can’t you see his kind of love is destructive?  He was a ticking bomb.  Anything could have set him off.  It’s lucky you found the strength to run.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Katy said voicing her fears aloud.  “I’ve walked out on my job, walked out on my home and I’m
three months pregnant,” she added almost in a whisper.  “I have seven hundred pounds in my bank account and about a hundred and sixty in cash and I’m heading towards a strange city where I don’t know a soul.  I don’t even know what I’ll do when this train arrives in Glasgow.”

CHAPTER 2

When John Houston jumped on the train at the last minute before it was due to leave, he had no idea, that within a short while, he’d be pouring his heart out to a complete stranger.  Until now he’d been unable to discuss Carol’s death with anyone, not even his own mother.  His mum, Betty, had loved her, said she was the daughter she’d never had.  Everybody loved her, but no one more than John.

From the first day he’d met her he
’d adored her.  They were five years old and their mums had just left them at the local primary school.  Carol was tough, the youngest of four children, she had three older brothers.  She could play football better than any of the boys and she was clever, already reading basic books by the time she came to school.  She wasn’t the prettiest girl in class, Emily Andrews held that title, but she had a cute face with small even features and her hair was the colour of spun gold.

John and Carol lived only one street away from each other and they became inseparable friends.  It was almost inevitable their friendship would turn to love as neither could imagine ever being apart.  Both families were delighted when they wed and everyone got on so well together it was hard to know where one family ended and the other began.

Both John and Carol loved children and hoped to have a large family, but they sensibly agreed to wait until they felt emotionally ready and financially secure.  John finished his degree then began his academic life lecturing at the university in social sciences.  He wrote textbooks and was paid handsomely to deliver lectures all over the country.  Carol trained as a baker then developed her own company supplying cup cakes to shops just at the time they became popular.  So all in all they were quite comfortably off when they planned for a family and Carol stopped taking the pill.  Three months later she was dead.

“Can you help me please?  I’m not sure where to go when we get off the train,” Katy’s voice cut through his thoughts.  “I’ll have to book into a hotel for tonight at least.  Can you recommend something close to the station that won’t turn me away when they see my stylish luggage,” she joked nodding at the duvet cover.

John stared at the pretty, blonde woman facing him and thought of his large sandstone house.  It had four bedrooms.  He and Carol had bought it with the intention of filling it with children.  Now he rattled around in it like a marble in a jar.  Katy seemed so vulnerable, slender and petite her large blue eyes looked haunted.  For a moment he considered inviting her to stay, but he knew it wouldn’t be appropriate on so many levels.

“When we leave the station I’m catching a taxi home.  I’ll drop you at the
Premier Inn on my way.  It’ll be quite basic but it’s clean and cheap and you can walk into town from there simply by crossing the bridge over the River Clyde.”

“Cheap sound
s good,” she replied.  “It’s been a traumatic day, but I’m sure I’ll feel better able to sort myself out after a night’s sleep.  I suppose I’ll have to get myself to a job centre and register as unemployed and I’ll have to find somewhere to live.  My money will soon run out if I remain in a hotel.”

John stared at Katy for a couple of m
oments then he said, “I might be able to help you.  My brother-in-law is a property developer and I know he’s almost completed the renovation of a small flat on the south side of the city which he plans to rent out.  When I say small I mean tiny.  Just a studio flat really, but housing benefit would cover the rent until you found work and it would be cheap enough for you to afford after you secure employment.  Why don’t you take my card,” he said fishing one out of his wallet and handing it to her.  “Call me tomorrow after four.  I’ll have finished lecturing by then and I’ll be able to tell you what I’ve found out.”

“You’re so kind,” Katy said and fresh tears filled her eyes.  “You know nothing about me and yet here you are offering me support.
”

John was embarrassed.  He didn’t know what to say so instead he took his blackberry from his pocket, cleared his throat
, and looked up the number for the Premier Inn.

“It’ll be better if we make your booking now,” he explained.  “Then you’ll just have to check in.  Besides I might manage to get you a discounted rate by using my university connection.  We give them lots of business so I’ll see what I can do.”

It was then Katy realised that she hadn’t lifted her mobile when she’d run.  She could visualise it clearly, lying on the kitchen table.  However, she reasoned, it was only a pay as you go phone and easily replaceable and at least Gordon wouldn’t be able to contact her.  She could soon buy a new phone and have a fresh start.

By the time the train entered Glasgow Central station Katy Bradley had a reservation at the hotel for two nights. 
When asking her name to make the booking and after a discussion about it John remarked that it was lucky she hadn’t adopted Gordon’s surname when they’d married.

“A
t least you won’t have the added complication of changing your bank details and passport now that you and Gordon have separated,” he said.

Katy hadn’t got as far as thinking about the practicalities of her situation she was simply relieved to
know that she’d have a roof over her head for the night.  When the train finally rolled to a halt she was overwhelmed by exhaustion.  Her limbs felt leaden and she had a dull ache in her back.  If John hadn’t taken her arm and helped her to her feet she doubted she could have managed to get off the train.  He lifted her belongings for her and, with his own rucksack looped over his shoulder, led her towards the taxi stance.  It was a foul night, dark, cold and raining.

“Welcome to Glasgow,”
he said wryly.  “Are you going to be okay?” he enquired.  “You’re as white as a sheet.”

“I’m just exhausted
,” she replied.  “It’s been a very upsetting day.  I’ll be all right once I get a cup of tea and a warm bath.  I can’t wait to climb into bed.  I feel as if I could sleep for a week.”

There was a taxi waiting at
the stance and the journey to the hotel took less than ten minutes.  John asked the driver to wait while he helped her inside.  The receptionist gave them a curious look when he eyed her belongings, but he said nothing.  He’d seen stranger things in his job, much stranger.  Once John knew she was booked in he took his leave of her, but before exiting he turned.

“Remember to call after four,” he said.  “You’ve still got my card haven’t you?  By four o’clock, with a bit of luck, I’ll have some information for you.”

“Thank you, John, you’ve been very kind.  I’ll call you tomorrow.  I do have your card,” she said taking it from her coat pocket and holding it aloft.

Within a few minutes Katy was
in the lift ascending to her hotel room and John was back in the taxi heading for his home.  By the time she reached the room the effort of dragging her belongings from the lift had been almost too much for her.  She managed to pull the duvet cover over the threshold and close the door then she flopped down onto the bed completely spent.  All thoughts of having a warm bath and a cup of tea were abandoned.  Instead she stripped down to her underwear and slid between the sheets.  Her bones were aching.  She still had the dull ache in her back and a thumping headache as well.  I’ll just have a bit of a rest, she thought then I’ll sort myself out.  Within a couple of minutes she was sound asleep.

All the way home in the cab John worried about Katy.  Had he done the wrong thing in leaving her at the hotel, he wondered.  She looked awful.  What if she was ill and became worse through the night?  She was on her own with no one to check on her.  She might be getting worse and he’d left her to fend for herself.  What if she died?

“Oh, for God’s sake, stop being an idiot,” he muttered to himself.  “She’s a stranger I met on a train and she probably won’t even call me.”

Within twenty minutes he was home, back to his big empty house.  John poured himself a large scotch, switched on the television to
help him relax and pushed all thoughts of Katy Bradley from his mind.

CHAPTER 3

Katy was woken at dawn by the loud chirping of birds in the trees outside her window.  Then almost immediately her body was wracked with pain.  Her lower back felt as if it was gripped in a vise and she was doubled up with agonising stomach cramps.  The bed felt damp and she wondered if she’d wet herself in her sleep.  It took her a few moments to process what was happening then, as another agonising spasm of pain gripped her belly, she realised.  It’s the baby, I’m losing the baby, she thought.  She was scared, she had to get help.  She reached for the telephone beside the bed and managed to press zero for reception.  When the receptionist answered, with her knees bent up to her chest and the phone pressed into the pillow, Katy gasped, “Help me,” before passing out.

“It’s all right, Pet, I’m going to look after you.  Don’t be scared, I’m a paramedic.  I’m just going to attach this drip to give you fluids and I’m going to put this monitor on your finger.
  Can you tell me your name?”

“Katy, I’m Katy Bradley
,” she replied trying to focus through the blur of pain.

“Good girl, Katy.  Now can you tell me if you’ve taken anything?  Any tablets or drugs?”

“I think I’m losing my baby.  I’m three months pregnant,” she sobbed as another crushing spasm gripped her.

She heard the paramedic say to her colleague, “Spontaneous abortion, I think.  We’d better take her to the Southern General.”

“I haven’t done anything,” Katy cried.  “I’d never hurt my baby.  I’d never have an abortion.”

“Yes, Pet, we know.  We think you’re having a miscarriage.  I’m sorry, Pet, but the sooner we get you to the hospital the sooner we’ll know what’s happening.  Try to stay calm.”

Katy sobbed quietly as the paramedics wrapped her in a blanket, strapped her to a chair and carried her to the waiting ambulance.  The fifteen minutes it took them to reach the hospital was a journey filled with pain and despair.  Within a few minutes of arriving she was examined then whisked off to theatre.  When she woke she was groggy but she knew she was no longer pregnant.  She wept for her lost child and she grieved for her lost marriage and the life she should have had.

The doctors wanted to keep
her in hospital for a couple of days as her blood pressure was fluctuating.  The hotel was very efficient and later that day the staff arranged for her belongings to be delivered to the ward. When she felt able, Katy searched for John’s card so she could call him and explain what had happened, but somehow it had been mislaid, it wasn’t amongst her things.  She felt terrible.  After being so kind to her he would now think she’d never intended to call, but at this point in time, there was nothing she could do.

…

John woke bright and early and drove to the university.  He parked in his allocated space and made his way to his office.  He didn’t have to deliver his lecture until eleven o’clock so he decided to phone his brother-in-law Peter to ask about the studio apartment.  He wanted to have all the information about it before Katy called.  He decided not to tell Peter too much about her or the circumstances of their meeting.  He didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and read something into it that wasn’t there.

Before
he had the opportunity to make his call the telephone rang.

“Hello,” he answered, “John Houston.  Who’s calling, please?”

“Hi John, Patrick Cosgrove here from the University of Manchester, how are you doing mate?  I’m just calling to let you know we’ve had the funding approved for your proposal.  They met up and agreed just after you left.  So it looks like you’ll be coming down here for three months beginning next week.  It’s all been cleared with both of our universities.”

“That’s fantastic news,
have you arranged a room in the halls of residence for me?”

“Not on your Nelly.  You’ll stay with me.  Like you, I’m on my own and I’ve got a large house.  If you don’t mind we
can be company for each other.”

“Thanks Patrick, I could do with some company.  I spend far too much time on my own.  It’s really good of you to offer.  I haven’t stayed in halls for years, but from what I remember, they’re very cramped and full of spotty teenagers.”