Page 16 of Trust in Truth
Was she angry they had cut their weekend short? It had been Katherine’s suggestion they leave right away. Anna felt disappointed to leave early too. It had been their first time away together, her birthday, and her first time in Bath. Her head spun with escalating thoughts. She couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
“I’m sorry that the weekend hasn’t worked out how you planned. I really enjoyed what time we did have together.”
Katherine pulled her lips straight. “Never mind, we have all the time in the world for weekends away. Being there for Harry is what’s important now.”
“You were about to say something on the bridge.”
“It was nothing. It doesn't matter now.”
Something told Anna it did matter. She didn’t feel comfortable pushing the point further in case it caused upset. If Katherine wanted to elaborate, she would have.
“Are you okay?” Anna asked, not wanting the conversation to end when it had only just started.
“Yes, I’m just worried about Harry.”
Anna stretched her legs out and yawned. “How did Lucy not pick up that it was pneumonia?”
“She’s not a doctor, and Harry only presented with a cough initially. She followed protocol and checked his temperature. Elderly patients don’t always have a fever, their symptoms tend to be more subtle. They might be unsteady and lack an appetite like other pneumonia patients. As we know, these can be day-to-day symptoms of Parkinson’s for Harry.”
Anna propped her elbow on the car door and rested her head in her hand. “We didn’t get our snog on the bridge.”
Katherine’s initial smile quickly slipped away. “No, no, we didn’t. I guess it will just be the three of us for Christmas too.”
Anna’s head shot round to look at Katherine. “You think he’ll be in the hospital until then?”
“He’ll be extremely lucky to still be in the hospital then.”
Anna chewed at her bottom lip. She knew what Katherine was insinuating; she didn’t want to say outright that there was a possibility Harry wouldn’t make it. Anna wasn’t sure how to react. The old Anna probably would have had palpitations followed by a panic attack, but she wasn’t so quick to hit panic mode anymore. She’d been through this before and felt more equipped to deal with it calmly. Harry hadn’t been well for a while, and she knew he wouldn’t live forever. It hurt nonetheless to think of life without him. She pushed the thoughts away; they weren’t helpful.
It felt all too familiar arriving at the hospital; at least this time she wasn’t in an ambulance breathing into a paper bag. They were directed to the geriatric ward. Katherine led the way, her hand firmly held by Anna. Although they had arrived during visiting hours, they were shown into a waiting area and told a nurse would be with them shortly.
A moment of quiet reflection mixed with the familiarity of the hospital smell hit Anna, and she felt a rush of emotion finally come over her. She closed her eyes to prevent the tears she could feel forming from falling. They broke through the barrier anyway; she felt their warmth as they rolled down her cheeks. Katherine noticed her distress and wrapped her arms around her, attempting to soothe her with gentle strokes of her hair and kisses against the side of her head.
It was at least ten minutes before a nurse entered. They parted as the nurse approached but their hands found each other.
“Which one of you is Mr Walker’s daughter?” The nurse’s eyes flitted between the two of them as if making an educated guess as to who was the more likely candidate.
“I am,” Anna said, stepping forward a little. “This is Doctor Atkinson, my partner.”
The nurse gave Katherine a smile and nod of acknowledgement.
“How is he?” Anna asked, trying to move past the formalities.
“He’s stable; he was a little restless when he came in, so we’ve given him something to help him sleep. We’ve got him on intravenous antibiotics. It’s too early to tell how he is responding. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow after some blood work. Would you like to come through? Probably best just one of you for now if you don’t mind.”
Anna twitched her face at Katherine. A squeeze of her hand from Katherine gave her the courage to follow the nurse from the waiting room.
Anna entered the stuffy hospital ward behind the nurse and immediately began removing some layers of clothing. The nurse directed her to the bed nearest the window. Anna preferred window beds; at least she knew Harry would get some idea if it was night or day when he woke. It was so easy to get disorientated in hospital as to what day it was, let alone the time of day.
Harry was asleep as the nurse had said. Anna took a seat beside him and held his hand. She hated seeing the needle in the back of it. His elderly skin was so thin and fragile, she knew it would leave a nasty bruise. His sallow complexion drew her attention to his face. Where there would be colour in his cheeks, they now appeared pale. The hospital gown made him appear weak and vulnerable. She hadn’t quite appreciated how much he’d aged in recent months.
She took in the ward whilst she sat. It was festively decorated with red tinsel wrapped around the metal headboards and a line taped along the nurses station. A heavily decorated Christmas tree stood in one corner of the room, every branch had something hanging from it causing it to droop. It looked rather sad and was a stark contrast to Katherine’s elegant minimalist creation at home.
It reminded her of the Christmas trees from when she was a child. Her mum had acquired quite a collection of hanging ornaments over the years and insisted there was room on the tree for all of them.
It was a wonder the nurses found time to add these little touches to the ward. It certainly brightened the place up and they were no doubt appreciated by the patients.
Conscious that Katherine was waiting, she only stayed for ten minutes. The nurse reassured her he was unlikely to wake anytime soon and encouraged her to return tomorrow. Anna left and walked straight into Katherine’s waiting arms outside the ward.
