But it’s in the old market town of
Abbeyvale where the participants of this particular tale live their lives, and
the tale began as Christmas fast approached.
Nurse Rebecca Clarke lived in Purplemere after moving back
home to live with her mother Anna the year before, after the death of her
father and as she was an only child there was only the two of them.
She was 27
years old, with thick chestnut hair and a heavily freckled face, hazel eyes,
and a disarming smile.
She was
five foot nothing in her stocking feet, whippet thin, but despite her
diminutive stature she was widely regarded as feisty , and a first-class nurse.
She worked
at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere as a district nurse and as such
she had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients
which kept her very busy.
Even more
so in the run up to Christmas and one of her regular patients was Mark Fiest, a
PC in the Downshire Constabulary who was almost killed in a hit and run
incident which left him with multiple injuries, most of which had healed, it
was just one of his legs which required numerous operations, the latest of
which was only a few weeks earlier.
Her job was
to manage his medication, massage, dressings and try to keep his spirits
raised.
During his
convalescence he was staying at his parents’ house in the medieval Village of
Withery, which was located between Purplemere and Finchbottom.
It was
where the Monks of St Vitus Abbey grew the first grapes in the county.
The Abbey
was long ago reduced to rubble and provided much of the fabric of the Village
cottages surviving from 15th and 16th centuries, and Withery Grange Nursing
Home was the 21st century incarnation of the Manor House, and it was in Grange
Lane, in a row of Victorian cottage, where the Fiest home was located.
She parked
outside the house and walked up the path, then she knocked on the door and a
moment or so later Mrs. Fiest, the patient’s mother, opened it. “Hello dear”
she said
“Hello Mrs.
Fiest” Becky said, “How’s the patient today?”
“A bit
down” she said blankly “He’s so despondent, and I don’t know how to help him”
“Just be
supportive” she said
“I try, but
it’s hard though dear” she said putting on her coat and going to the foot of
the stairs.
“Mark! the
nurse is here” she shouted up the stairs “the pretty one with the freckles”
Becky
smiled and Mrs. Fiest said
“You can go
up when you’re ready, I need to pop out and do some shopping”
Mark was
one of her favourite’s, not that she was supposed to have favourite’s, but she
did, and he was hers.
He was very
frustrating though physically he was healing well but he was mentally fragile.
His main
problem was his self-isolation he almost never ventured out of his room, and he
hid from the world.
He drove
his girlfriend Sara away because he thought she was only staying with him out
of pity, she didn’t take much persuading, so Becky assumed she was looking for
an out but didn’t know how to do it without looking like a bitch.
But over
the six months she had been seeing him she had seen a great improvement, at
least on his good days.
She just
needed a way of getting him out of the house to get him to the next stage.
Becky
walked up the stairs and found Mark lying on his bed with his eyes closed as if
he’d fallen asleep in front of the TV and he never stirred even when she
knocked on the door.
She knew he
was awake; it was a game he played on some of her visits, pretending to be
asleep and so he wouldn’t have to engage in any kind of conversation.
“Hello
Mark” she said but there was no response.
“So, we’re
playing that game again, are we? Very well if that’s what you want”
It had been
a long tedious shift, so she was in no mood to take any shit from him.
Over the
months she had been visiting him, twice a week, sometimes three times, she had
got quite good at reading him and she thought she was making progress but then
he started with the silent treatment again.
She pulled
back the covers roughly to expose his bandaged leg she continued to chat to him
all the while she was changing his dressing even though she got no response.
When she
had finished, she recovered his legs again and said
“Ok Mark
I’m all done; I won’t be coming again I’ll get Sammi to take over”
When she
finished her sentence Mark spoke for the first time
“No don’t
do that”
“Oh, he
speaks” Becky taunted “but I’m afraid it’s too late”
“No please”
he begged
“You’ll
like Sammi she doesn’t do small talk either” she said “so you’ll get on like a
house on fire”
“But I want
you” he insisted
“Why?” she
said “When you lie there pretending to be asleep all the time I’m here”
“Because…”
“Because
what?” she snapped
“Because
I’ll miss you if you stop coming” he replied
“Well, if
you keep your eyes shut you can pretend it’s me” Becky said coldly
“I’ll know”
he said
“How?” she
scoffed “How exactly would you know?”
“Because of
your footfalls on the stairs, the sound of your breathing, your perfume and
your gentle touch” he said “that’s how I’d know”
“Well,
that’s an eye opener” she thought and took hold of his hand.
They spent
the next half an hour chatting it through and she said she wouldn’t go through
with her threat to hand his case on to Sammi on condition that he fully engaged
with her and more importantly left the house occasionally.
He promised
her that he would, and she took him at his word.
By rights
she should have reported Mark’s declaration to her superiors, and taken herself
off his case, but she didn’t, and at first, she wasn’t sure why, any emotional
attachment with patients was strictly a no no, but she realized that she
actually had feeling for him which had nothing to do with the Nurse/patient
dynamic.
When Becky
reached her car, she noticed Mrs. Russell coming up the lane.
“Hello Mrs.
Russell” Becky said
“Are you
off dear?” she asked, “How’s the boy?”
“You know,
I think we may have turned a corner” she replied
“Oh, I do
hope so dear” Mrs. Russell said with a sigh
“He has
promised to leave the house occasionally and not just for hospital
appointments” Becky said
“Really?”
his mum said “That is progress”
“A bit of
gentle nagging may be required” Becky said
“Oh, I
think I can manage that dear” she said
“I will
even come round and take him out myself if necessary” Becky said and then she
inexplicably blushed
Over the
following weeks Mark was good to his word and he engaged fully with her, and his
mental wellbeing was much improved, he had also started going to the village
coffee shop twice a week.
So, he was
making tremendous progress and she knew that she would have to discharge him
very soon and she should have been happy about that.
On Christmas
Eve her schedule was lighter than usual, so she was planning on spending a
prolonged visit with Mark.
She was
feeling very nervous as she approached the house because she had no idea how it
was going to go as there was every possibility it was going to ruin Christmas
for one of them or even both.
After the
usual friendly greeting from Mrs. Fiest, she was about to make her way upstairs
to his room when Mrs. Fiest said
“He’s in
the lounge dear”
“Is he?”
she retorted and gave Mrs. F a hug “great news”
She entered
the lounge and found him sitting in an armchair next to the Christmas tree.
“Well look
at you, sitting in the grownups room” she said mockingly
“I thought
it was time” he replied
“Ok then
drop your trousers, so I can have a good look” she said, and he raised his
eyebrows
“Your
scars”
As he
pulled his joggers back up, she said
“You’re
doing really well, so you only need to be seen once a week”
“Oh ok” he
said disappointedly which did not go unnoticed
“Well, if
you don’t like that then you’re definitely not going to like this” she said
“I’m discharging you from the district list so you will have to go to the
surgery once a week”
Her
statement was met by silence as she knelt on the floor in front of him.
“Cheer up”
she said putting her hand on his “If I was still your nurse you wouldn’t be
able to take me to the pictures next week”
“Theatre”
he muttered
“What?”
“I prefer
the theatre” he said
“Well PC
pedantic my point remains the same” Becky said, “Nurse Clarke can’t go with
you……. but Becky can”
“So, when
exactly do you stop being my Nurse?” he asked and
Becky
checked her fob watch and replied
“Just
about… now”
“So, I can
do this” Mark said and leant forward and kissed her
“Oh yes
that is permissible” she replied before returning his kiss with interest and
they were still kissing when Mrs. Fiest walked into the lounge with a tea tray.
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