Sally’s Return: 2nd Book in this Romance Short Story Series (2 page)

“Oh, I can’t believe I’ve been such a fool Kiera! Maybe I have kind of led him on – just a little Honestly!”

“I believe you Sally, but a word of warning; he is not used to being rebuffed so I would be gentle if I were you.”

“Thanks Kiera. He has hinted about going for lunch today – maybe I should just make some excuse?”

“Hmm, possibly – or you could maybe use it to set the record straight? After all, he knows you are engaged so you have all the excuse in the world to cool down his ardour a little!”

“That’s a great idea, I’ll do that. What a blessed nuisance, I should have known better than to give him the least encouragement – now I’ve made a right mess of things!”

“Ha
ha, honestly Sally don’t be such a drama-queen! It will do Brandon good to know that he just can’t get every girl he wants – though he could have me any time!” She said this laughingly as she headed away from Sally, on to some errand.

Sally was left contemplating the conversation. Had she really been flirting with Brandon? The fact was that although she had not intended it, she had been very friendly towards him, and he had obviously gotten the wrong idea. On reflection however, she also had to admit the odd daydream about what it would be like with him; he was after all a very handsome guy, if not more than a
little vain. Also the thought that a guy ten years her junior would be interested; had a certain erotic appeal.

A vision of them both in bed together caused her to shake her head in confusion.

“just stop right there Sally. You are happily engaged to a man you love dearly – enough of this nonsense!”
With that thought, she determined to knock any idea of a romantic clinch with Brandon on the head, before it got too far to stop.

******

Robert groaned as his mother Agnes, shouted that it was time for work. It was 7am on a cold spring morning, and he was due to get up and fix a section of estate fencing that had collapsed over the winter – allowing the Red deer to ravage the young conifers. However he had been at a Ceilidh the previous night, and his head felt as though it was crushed in the jaws of a vice.

The fact was that he had been drinking just a little bit more than he should be off late, and he swore to himself yet again that enough was enough – for the umpteenth time.

His mind wandered as it always did when he first awoke, to Sally, and how she was doing. An ache of longing welled up inside him, as he mentally counted down the days to her coming ‘home’ and the pure joy of having her in his arms once again.

With that thought to encourage him, he quickly jumped into the shower and headed off for a quick breakfast of salted porridge.
“Sally would just hate that!”
He thought chuckling, as he remembered that she liked sweet breakfasts such as waffles with maple syrup; or stewed fruit and cream.

“Ah, so you decided to get up after all!”
Said Agnes, with a smile. “I suppose your head is a bit the worst for wear this morning is it?”

“Nothing that a good breakfast won’t sort out mum!”
Said Robert good naturedly, as his mother served up the porridge.

Agnes looked at her son and pride welled in her
heart once again, as she thought of the change in him since his encounter with the young American girl from Wisconsin – a place she never even knew existed until recently. Up until that time he had been a total wreck, and she had worried about him constantly; now he was like a totally new man. She thanked God again for the car wreck that had brought them together the previous Christmas.

“So how was the Ceilidh, did Tom and Elizabeth turn up?” She asked him.

“The Ceilidh was great, and yes, Tom and Elizabeth did turn up, though they did not stay very long, Elizabeth was not feeling too well I think.”

“Oh, that’s not
very great; I’ll call later and see how she is.”

“Yes, that would be good, though Tom will be working with me today, so I’ll find out some more maybe.”

Robert quickly finished his breakfast and headed out into the cold spring morning. The Loch An Eilein Estate needed constant maintaining as it was a real ‘hive of activity’ offering everything from fishing to quad-biking as well as holiday accommodation in and around Aviemore. As such there was a huge dedicated staff employed to make sure that the whole enterprise ran like a well-oiled machine; and Robert was just one of the many Foresters employed to maintain the forest and the many trails around the estate.

The previous winter had been quite severe, and a number of fences had been brought down by the weight of the
snow, allowing the predations of red deer and rabbits into areas otherwise out-of-bounds.

This morning’s work was at Loch
An Eilein itself; a favourite picnic spot in the summer, and a place of outstanding natural beauty.

He planned to row Sally out to the old 13c Castle
ruin that stood forlorn and derelict, on a small island in the middle of the loch. A reminder of perhaps darker more violent times; when it was used as a place of refuge and defence from marauding bands of renegades or opposing clans, but which was now regarded as one of the most romantic spots in the whole of the highlands.

He slipped slightly on the wet steps leading from the cabin, as he headed for the 4 x 4 parked
nearby. He had just jumped into the driver’s seat, when a voice called out.

“ROBERT!”
It was Agnes calling from the front door of the chalet.

“You’ve forgotten your piece laddie!” She waved the pack with his sandwiches in the air, as she rushed down the steps.

Too late, Robert called out to her to watch her feet on the slippery steps. Then, as if in slow motion, Agnes lost her footing and somersaulted backwards, arms flailing for support, her head making a gut-wrenching sound as it made firm contact with the solid top step.

The world seemed to freeze as Robert stared on aghast, for just a few moments, wishing her to move – but s
he lay as if dead; blood oozing from her cracked scull.

“MUM!” He cried out as he rushed to her side.

Agnes was out cold – but alive at least. He quickly got out his mobile phone, then cursed aloud – there was no signal! Rushing into the house he quickly grabbed the phone and called 999; where he was assured the ambulance would be there within a few minutes. Meanwhile he was to make his mother as comfortable as he could, by covering her with a warm blanket and making sure her airways were not blocked.

As promised the Ambulance arrived within 5 minutes – although it seemed an age to a distraught Robert
, who prayed as he had seldom prayed before.

Soon the medics had her assessed and decided on air-ambulance uplift to Inverness. This was duly arranged as they made Agnes ‘comfortable’ and within 15 minutes she was taking the short 30 mile flight to Inverness Hospital.

Robert was able to accompany her in the Air-Ambulance, but could only look on distraught as the crew fought to keep her in a stable condition; it did not look good.

Soon they arrived to find the hospital staff waiting, and the patient was rushed off to the emergency theatre. Robert meanwhile chewed his nails in the waiting room, and texted everyone he could think off to ask for prayer. Sally was top of the list, but it would be only about 2am in the USA according to his calculations. He would have to wait grimly for her reply.

Tom was however on the phone almost immediately.

“Robert! My God, what’s happened?” Robert tearfully went through the whole scenario, finishing with a
chocked. “Tom, I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t make it!”

“Don’t think like that Robert! Of course she’ll make it – she’s a tough old bird is Agnes! Just you hold on and Elizabeth and
myself will be there shortly.”

“But what about the work Tom, will you get the time off?”

“A pox on the work – I’ll get someone to take my place. Some things are more important that work!”

“Thanks Tom, you’re a good friend. I’ll let you know if there are any developments.”

“Just you hold on Robert, we’ll be there before you know it!”

Tom hang up, just as a nurse approached Robert – whose heart sank as he looked up at her concerned face.

“ Mr Lindsey?”

“Yes. Do you have any news?”

“Well I’m afraid your mother is in a very bad way. She is stable at the moment, but still unconscious. We have arranged for a C.A.T. scan to determine just exactly what the damage is, meanwhile she is in intensive care. I’m afraid you will not be able to see her for a little while, but as soon as things are a bit more settled I will give you a call.”

Robert looked anxiously at the nurse.

“Is there nothing else you can tell me?”

“I’m afraid not Mr Lindsey; we will have to wait for the scan results. Rest assured though, she is in the best of hands at the moment.”

“Ok, thank you nurse – I appreciate everything that you’re doing; please let me know as soon as I can see her.”

Robert settled down to a long fretful wait, as he considered just how he would manage if his mother did not survive.

******

It was 6am when Sally finally fully awoke from a troubled sleep. Since selling her spacious apartment in a popular area of the town, she had rented this tiny ‘broom closet’ for what was left of her stay in Milwaukee, and indeed the USA, as she planned a new life in Scotland. It was stuffy and not well ventilated – which often translated to sleepless nights.

After a quick shower she wandered over to the cell phone to pick up any messages that were left, and immediately spotted the one from Robert.

She felt a chill come over her, as she read the brief
message ‘Please pray, Agnes has had a terrible accident and is in hospital. I will let you know more as I get info. R’

She noticed the time it was sent
– 4 hours ago, and there had been no update.

She quickly called his number, a knot forming
in her throat as her imagination dwelled on just what the ‘terrible accident’ was exactly.

The call was answered on the second ring.

“Robert! What on earth has happened?” She quickly blurted out, forgetting the usual formalities.

A trembling voice answered from the other end, as Robert tried to pull himself together and ‘put on a brave face.’

“Sally! Thanks for calling. Agnes had a bad fall, and hit her head on the steps leading from the house. She is in intensive care at the moment, and has not regained consciousness.”

He almost cracked as he continued. “I’m afraid it’s not looking good at the moment, it seems that there is bleeding on the brain that is causing inflammation. The doctors say that the next 24 hours will be critical.”

He stopped; unable to carry on.

“Oh Robert!
I don’t know what to say. This is terrible! I’ll check out the flights and get over to you both as soon as I can. Just hold on – we’ll just have to stay positive and pray that all will be well.”

“Thanks Sally, I must confess that I’m struggling at the moment to stay positive. As for you coming over, let’s wait and see what the next 24 hours bring. You already have your tickets booked and will be here in 3 weeks’ time anyway.”

“But are you sure Robert? I can’t stand to think of you all alone at this time – is there anyone at the hospital with you?”

“Don’t worry Sally, Tom and Elizabeth have both driven up from Aviemore and are here with me now; not that they can do anything, but it’s good to have their support.”

He continued on for the next 20 minutes filling in the details that Sally – her journalistic inquisitiveness taking over - demanded. Finally, on Roberts assurance that he would text or call her as soon as anything changed; a distraught Sally said her farewells and hung up.

Almost in a daze she went through the breakfast routine, tasting nothing of the waffles in maple syrup, nor the freshly percolated Brazilian coffee.

She put on her jacket and headed off on the short drive to her office.

Kiera almost bumped into her, as she stumbled out of the lift on the third floor.

“Goodness Sally, what’s wrong with you – you look terrible!”

“Oh, thanks Kiera, that’s just what I wanted to hear – NOT!”

“I’m sorry, Sally – but what is the matter, you look upset about something – it’s not that fool Brandon is it?”

“No it’s not Kiera, don’t worry about him! I’ve just had some terrible news about
Roberts mother – she’s had a terrible accident.”

She went on to describe the accident to her friend, missing out none of the details. Even recounting it however left her upset and frustrated at the distance between them.

Kiera responded typically.

“SHUT UP! Sorry Sally, I just can’t believe this has happened – and just from a fall down some steps?”

“Yes I know – it’s just too terrible!” Sally responded dismally.

“Listen Sally, I think you should just turn around and go home for the day, never mind this place. There’s nothing fantastic happening – as usual – to keep you here.”