The Price of Love (7 page)

‘It was a very deep ditch and there was considerable impact when the car plunged into it—’

‘It’s not true,’ Lucy interrupted. ‘Sam was taking Mam and Dad for a day out, so he wouldn’t let something like that happen to them.’

‘I’m sorry to have to bring you such distressing news, miss, but I’m afraid it is true and you will need to go along to the hospital mortuary to identify the bodies,’ he added, looking not at Lucy but at Robert.

‘How soon do we have to do that?’ Robert asked, glancing uneasily at Lucy.

‘Right away, if you can. It’s best to get it over with as quickly as possible,’ he advised.

‘Yes, I understand,’ Robert said stiffly.

‘Now, is there anything else I can tell you?’ the officer asked as he tucked his notebook back into his top pocket and picked his helmet up from the table ready to leave.

‘No, I don’t think so.’ Robert looked enquiringly at Lucy but she shook her head and gave a small shiver as she clutched at his arm as if for reassurance.

After the police officer had left, Robert patted her shoulder and then gently pushed her into an armchair. ‘Sit down and I’ll make a cup of tea before we go,’ he told her.

She offered no resistance but did as Robert asked; she was still sitting there, staring into space as if completely mesmerised, when he brought in the tea.

Neither of them spoke; Robert had no idea what to say, he still couldn’t believe that such a terrible thing had happened and he wasn’t too sure that Lucy had taken in everything the policeman had said.

To his surprise, when she had finished drinking her tea, Lucy put the empty cup on the table and said in a quiet, determined voice, ‘I’d better be going to the hospital to identify the bodies, hadn’t I? Are you coming with me?’

‘Of course I am.’ He stood up and picked up her cup and his own and carried them through to the kitchen.

‘Leave them on the side,’ Lucy called out. ‘I can see to them when we get back. The policeman did say to go along there as soon as possible.’

Without waiting for him to reply Lucy went out into the hall and took down her everyday grey coat and hat from the hallstand and put them on before Robert could help her.

Outside there was sunshine and clear skies. ‘Good job we didn’t go over to New Brighton, although it would have been a lovely day to walk along the shore,’ Lucy commented as they walked towards the nearest tram stop.

Startled, Robert looked sideways at her. She was speaking in such a normal voice that he was slightly taken aback. The look of stunned disbelief had gone from her face. She wasn’t smiling but she was holding her head high and stepping out as if enjoying their walk in the March sunshine.

He didn’t know what to say. He felt he ought to warn her about what lay ahead but he couldn’t find the right words. It was going to be a tremendous ordeal and he wondered if she would be able to cope with it. They would also have to visit Sam afterwards and he wasn’t sure if Sam knew about what had happened to his parents when the car overturned or not; or how he would take the news if they were the ones who had to tell him.

To Robert’s amazement Lucy remained icily calm when they were shown into the mortuary. He expected her to cringe away when the green sheet was pulled back from the body on the first trolley to reveal her father.

Instead, with a small sigh she bent and pressed her lips to the waxen figure before nodding and confirming in a low, firm voice that this was her father, forty-five-year-old Bill Collins.

Without wavering, she repeated the process when they uncovered the body of her mother, ‘Margaret Collins, forty years old,’ she stated after implanting a light kiss on her mother’s forehead.

‘If you’re ready, then we’ll go and visit Sam,’ she murmured turning to Robert.

Sam was in a small side ward with only three other beds in it. Lucy hesitated as the sister started to lead them towards the one in the corner of the room that had the curtains drawn around it and Robert quickly took hold of her hand and squeezed it.

As the sister drew one of the curtains aside they found a nurse was setting up a drip and they had to wait until she had finished.

One of Sam’s arms was heavily bandaged and the wrist of his other arm was in splints and supported above his head. One of his legs was encased in a plaster cast from ankle to thigh and there was a metal cage over it to keep the bedclothes from pressing down on it. His face was badly lacerated and both his eyes were surrounded by dark bruising. Lucy could see that his mouth and lips were very swollen and she wondered if he had lost any of his teeth.

His eyes flickered open as they approached but although Lucy spoke his name he simply stared vacantly into space and moaned as though he was in pain.

‘He doesn’t even know me,’ Lucy whispered in a shocked voice as she stood helplessly at the bedside staring down at him.

‘Your brother is heavily sedated at the moment, Miss Collins,’ the sister told her.

As the tears began to trickle down Lucy’s cheeks Robert put his arm around her shoulders and gently drew her away from the bed.

‘I would suggest that you go home and come back tomorrow or the next day and hopefully by then you will find he not only recognises you, but is also able to speak to you,’ the sister advised.

‘Does he know what happened and that our parents are both dead?’ Lucy whispered, her voice trembling.

‘No.’ The sister shook her head firmly. ‘He was unconscious when he was brought in.’

‘Who is going to break the news to Sam?’ Lucy asked, her voice full of concern. ‘He’s going to be so terribly upset,’ she added with a deep, shuddering sigh.

‘It would be best not to tell him about what happened until he is much stronger,’ the sister said firmly. ‘Next time you come we will discuss the matter; perhaps it would be better to leave it until he is on the road to recovery himself.’

‘He is going to be all right, isn’t he?’ Lucy gulped.

The sister hesitated for a second. ‘Your brother is young and healthy and if he was quite fit and strong before the accident then he should make good progress given time and patience.’

‘Will he make a complete recovery?’ Lucy repeated, emphasising the word
complete
.

Again the sister hesitated. ‘He will need a great deal of nursing care for some considerable time after he is discharged from here,’ she said evasively.

‘I think we should go now,’ Robert suggested, taking Lucy by the elbow and propelling her away from Sam’s bed.

‘Yes, that’s very sensible,’ the sister murmured giving Robert a grateful look.

‘It is all right to come back tomorrow, though?’ Lucy asked.

‘Yes, but there may not be a great deal of improvement in his condition by then, so it might be better if you left it for a day or two.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘Please don’t ask me to do that,’ she begged. ‘I’d like to stay now and sit by his bedside so that I am here for him when he does waken.’

‘No, no. You can do nothing for him at the moment,’ the sister told her firmly. ‘He needs complete rest. Come back tomorrow, if you really feel you must. Mid-afternoon would be best. By then I hope you will see some improvement in your brother’s condition,’ she added briskly as she ushered them out of the ward.

Once they were outside the hospital Lucy seemed to be so overcome with grief that Robert wondered if he ought to get a taxi cab to take them home. As soon as he mentioned this, though, Lucy shook her head emphatically.

‘No, Robert, I would prefer to walk. I’ll be all right in a minute,’ she told him, taking great gulps of air and scrubbing at her tear-stained face with her handkerchief.

‘Are you quite sure? You were so brave when we went to the mortuary.’

‘It was because they only seemed to be asleep. It was such a shock when Sam opened his eyes and didn’t recognise me, or even look at me, that was what upset me the most,’ she babbled.

‘The sister explained that was because they had sedated him; they had to do that, Lucy, because he was probably in terrible pain after they’d seen to his injuries.’

‘If he’s in so much pain tomorrow, he still may not be able to speak to us or even recognise us,’ she said unhappily.

‘Give it a few days and he’ll be over the worst,’ Robert said consolingly. ‘He’s being well looked after and they’re doing all they can for him,’ he assured her.

By the time they arrived back in Priory Terrace most of the neighbours had already heard rumours about the accident and were anxious to know more.

Lucy was still too upset to talk about it so Robert told them as much as he knew.

‘You should have come and let me know right away and you should have taken me to the hospital with you when you went to see Sam,’ Patsy said furiously. ‘Which hospital is he in and what’s the name of the ward?’

‘There’s no point in going there now, he is so heavily sedated that he doesn’t know anyone,’ Robert told her.

‘He’ll know me,’ Patsy told him defiantly.

‘No, Patsy, he won’t. He’s very badly injured and he’s practically unconscious. His eyes aren’t focussing and he can’t speak,’ Lucy told her. ‘He has broken one of his legs as well as an arm and the wrist on his other hand has a plaster on it as well. There are also cuts all over his face and I think he may have lost some of his teeth.’

‘You’re exaggerating!’ Patsy looked accusingly from Lucy to Robert and back again. ‘You’re trying to frighten me and put me off because you don’t want me to visit him.’

‘No, Lucy is telling you the truth, Patsy. We were told it would be better to leave visiting for a day or two until he’s stronger,’ Robert affirmed. ‘Anyway,’ he added quickly when he saw she was about to argue with him, ‘they won’t let you see him, even if you go along to the hospital. The sister said it was better if he didn’t have any visitors until he was stronger.’

‘Then why did they let you in today?’ Patsy asked, tossing her head, her blue eyes accusing.

‘We’re family,’ Robert said quietly.

‘Lucy might be, but you’re not.’

‘Patsy, it’s no good arguing about it. I don’t make the rules. Go along if you want to, and don’t blame me if they turn you away,’ Lucy said wearily.

‘At the moment Sam won’t know you and he certainly won’t be able to talk to you,’ Robert added as he took Lucy by the hand and headed for her house.

‘Bring Lucy in here, son,’ Robert’s mother, Barbara Tanner, called. ‘I’ve a pot of hot scouse waiting for you both.’

As Robert took Lucy into his house, which was next door to her own, he gave her a reassuring hug. ‘Mum’s right, you’ll be better staying in with us for the moment because people will be banging on your front door asking for news about the accident and I’m sure you don’t want to deal with that sort of thing.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I’ll be all right. I need to be on my own to think through all the things I’m going to have to do. There’s the funeral to be arranged and I don’t know where to start.’

‘Come in for a minute or so and have something to eat and a cup of tea before you go home and we’ll talk about it. I’ll help you, you don’t have to see to everything on your own, you know,’ he reminded her.

It was four days before Sam was fully conscious. When they finally broke the sad news to him about his parents he was overcome with remorse and blamed himself for what had happened. Lucy found it so difficult to comfort him that she was in tears.

‘Why couldn’t I have been the one to die?’ he raged. ‘I’m always having accidents of one sort or the other and now I’m going to be completely useless. I might never walk again or be able to drive even if Mr Carter does keep my job open for me. All I’m going to be is a burden on everyone else for the rest of my life.’

Lucy reached out and gently took his hand. ‘You certainly will be, if you are going to adopt that sort of attitude,’ she told him as she brushed her own tears aside. ‘In three months’ time your broken arm and wrist will both be as good as new and you’ll be walking again and be able to do just about anything you want to do as long as you follow all the advice the hospital has given you.’

‘You mean like having massages and doing regular exercises,’ Sam said moodily.

‘That’s right, and I’m going to make sure you do them,’ Lucy vowed in a voice that brooked no argument.

‘How will you manage to do that? You’re going to be the sole bread-winner until I’m better, so you won’t have time because you’ll be out at work every day.’

‘That’s right. So because I’m going to be so extremely busy I shall expect you to be cooperative. Even if you’re at home on your own for most of the time, it doesn’t mean you can forget all about doing your exercises.’

It was a further six weeks before Sam was allowed to come home from hospital. He was unable to walk and because of his broken arm and wrist he wasn’t able to use crutches, so it meant that he had to be pushed about in a wheelchair. By then the double funeral for Bill and Margaret Collins had taken place.

Robert and Lucy had debated for a long time about whether they should try and delay the internment until Sam came out of hospital. In the end they decided that perhaps it would be better to get it all over with before he came home because he still seemed to be reluctant to talk about what had happened.

Robert’s parents helped Lucy to make all the arrangements and most of the people in Priory Terrace followed the hearse. Robert stayed at Lucy’s side throughout the entire service, holding her hand and giving her the courage to go through with the terrible ordeal she had to face.

In the weeks that followed Lucy had to put her own life on hold. It wasn’t simply a matter of going to work, cleaning the house and preparing all their meals. She also had to supervise Sam’s medication and take him back to the hospital for regular check-ups. Time and time again she had to tell Robert that she couldn’t spare the time to go out with him, not even for a walk.

More important still it meant delaying their wedding; in view of what had happened Lucy knew it was impossible to go ahead with their plans to be married in July.

‘Do we have to postpone it?’ Robert argued. ‘By then everything will have settled down, Sam should be fit again and well enough to go back to work.’