Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint
picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor
House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a
Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere
is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of
the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on
the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington
Village known as Manorside and it was to number 1 Brewery Cottages where our
story takes place.
Apart from her normal
duties as district nurse Olwyn Brown took it upon herself to provide additional
services, partly to make sure they regained their self-worth, but on occasions
it was more than that but only once did it go beyond the professional.
Her patient was Mandy
Lamb, a pretty 29 year old girl, who had cancer and was quite naturally
depressed.
Olwyn was almost 35
and very experienced in her field as district nurse and she had watched many
young people suffering from the insidious disease in her time.
But there was
something special about the patient she was going to see in Manorside.
Olwyn knocked on the
door and a moment or so later Mrs Lamb, the patient’s mother answered the door.
“Hello dear” she said
“Hello Mrs Lamb” Olwyn
said brightly “How’s the patient today?”
“The same” she said
blankly “I don’t know how to help her”
“Just be supportive”
she said
“It’s hard though dear”
she said putting on her coat and going to the foot of the stairs.
“Mandy! The nurse is
here” she shouted up the stairs “the pretty one with the blonde hair”
Olwyn smiled and Mrs
Lamb said
“You can go up when
you’re ready, I need to do some shopping”
“Hello Mandy” she said
as she walked into her room, but there was no response.
“How are you felling
today?”
Still no response.
“Come on I can’t help
you if you don’t talk to me” she said and in response her silence she added
“Very well if that’s
what you want”
Olwyn closed her bag
and got up before heading for the door.
“Don’t go” Mandy said
quietly
“So there is
something?” Olwyn asked
“Yes” Mandy replied
timidly
“So what can I do to
make you more comfortable?” she asked
There was a short
period of silence and then Mandy said
“Hold my hand”
“What?” she asked
“Please hold my hand”
she begged
“Why?” Olwyn asked and
held her breath in anticipation of the answer
“Because I like you”
Mandy whispered
“Well that’s very nice”
Olwyn said “I like you too”
“Yes but I really like
you” she said
“What about Kathy?”
she asked, Kathy Clark was her long-time girlfriend.
“We broke up” she
explained “I broke us up”
“So why me?” Olwyn asked
“Don’t you know why?”
“You need to tell me
why” Olwyn insisted
“Because you’re
special to me” Mandy replied “And I think about you all the time”
“Are you sure?” She
asked as she caressed Mandy’s cheek
“Oh God Yes” she
replied and Olwyn kissed her.
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