Toddy had been
on St Giles for two weeks, after learning that Sister Margaret had had a heart
attack, but she and Charlie were in constant touch, using the mobile phone he
bought for her, and fortunately it turned out not to have been a heart attack.
Paramedics attended
her, and she was flown on the Air Ambulance to the Beaumont Manor Hospital on
the neighbouring Beaumont Island where she was monitored for 48 hours.
She had already
left when Toddy arrived at the retreat, where she found a very agitated Sister
Lucy, who wanted to go to the hospital.
Reverend Henry
Noble who worked at the retreat, suggested they get the Water Taxi, the Ocean
Breeze, from the port of Cabot Town to Spaniards Creek, and he arranged for a
taxi to meet them after the Ocean Breeze moored and take them to the Beaumont
Manor Hospital.
So, after
leaving Cabot Town the Water Taxi passed between Cabot Head and Spaniards
Point, before proceeding into the mouth of the river which led to Spaniards
Creek where the taxi was waiting.
On one of the
calls Charlie received, Toddy said that Sister Margaret needed surgery and had
an appointment at Pepperstock and District Hospital in Pipershaven.
“I'll drive
into Pipershaven to pick you up” he suggested
“I can’t ask
you to do that” Toddy replied
“You're not
asking, I’m offering” he retorted
“Thank you,
Charlie,” she said
After giving
him the ferry details, he said
“I’ll book
three tickets for Friday, and I’ll meet you at this end”
“I can’t wait
to see you” Toddy said
“I can’t wait
either”
“The Sisters
are really looking forward to meeting you”
She added
“I hope they’re
not disappointed” Charlie said
“You haven’t
disappointed me” Toddy retorted, and he could tell, by the way her voice
cracked, that she was about to cry so he said
“Until Friday
then”
“Ok dear man,
Bye” she responded and hung up
Charlie was up
early on Friday morning as he had very much missed Toddy while she had been on
the island and was eager to see her again.
She and the
Sisters were arriving on the first ferry that morning from St Giles and he was
keen to be there to meet her, so keen in fact that he was at the port half an
hour early.
Which gave him
far too much time to think while he waited, he had been dreaming of the moment
when he could hold her and kiss her, but as much as he wanted to, he was
worried he might embarrass her in front of the Sisters and that was the last
thing he wanted.
However, he
didn’t want to give Toddy the wrong idea either, so he was in a quandary.
To add to his
discomfiture the ferry arrived twenty minutes late, so he was in a state of
agitation when the ramp was lowered, and the cars began to disembark.
He spotted the
nuns straight away among the assembled crowd of foot passengers behind the rope,
even in their more modern habits they were still easily identified, one was seated
in a wheelchair, who he assumed to be Sister Margaret, and the tall slim Sister
Lucy pushing her, and then he spotted Toddy in a floral dress, and she was
scanning the area.
The steward unhooked
the rope, and the passenger began filing down the walkway and Toddy was
constantly looking around as they proceeded towards the quay.
He was in among
a crowd himself but as they thinned out, she spotted him, and she waved and
pointed him out animatedly to the Sisters.
When they were
about twenty yards away, she suddenly ran headlong towards him and jumped into
his waiting arms and kissed him.
So much for his
worries about embarrassing her, by the time she had finished, Sister Lucy had
arrived with Sister Margaret, and holding tightly on to his hand, Toddy
introduced them and said
“This is
Charlie”.
“I’m so pleased
to meet you both, I've heard so much about you” he said
“Not I suspect,
as much as we’ve heard about you” Sister Lucy said with a wry smile and
when he looked at Toddy she was blushing
“Well, you can
tell me more on the way to the car, it’s a bit of a yomp I'm afraid, shall I
take over the donkey work?” he said and took control of the wheelchair
“You’re right,
he is a gentleman” Sister Lucy said
It wasn’t as
far to the car as he led them to believe so they were soon on the way to the Pepperstock
and District Hospital and when he got there he pulled up at the main entrance
and got Sister Margaret back in her chair.
“I’ll go and
park and catch up with you inside” Charlie said and gave Toddy a quick kiss
The procedure
Sister Margaret was having was a coronary angioplasty and she had already
gone through to a side ward for an assessment to make sure the operation
was still possible after the journey.
Toddy texted
him while he was on his way from the car park, so he got himself a coffee and
made himself comfortable in the waiting area.
During the
pre-operative assessment, they did blood tests and gave her a general
health check to make sure she was well enough for surgery and then she had an
angiogram to check her blood vessels before discussing their concerns with
the heart specialist.
So, the
cardiologist and Sister Margaret announced they were both happy to proceed so
she was taken to a catheter lab equipped with X-ray equipment to allow the
doctor to monitor the procedure on a screen.
Sister Lucy and
Toddy were with her as the nurse helped Sister Margeret lay on her back on an
X-ray table and linked her up to a heart monitor but had to leave before
she was given the local anesthetic.
The procedure
was expected to last anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours, some tears were
shed as they returned to the waiting area to find Charlie, who after some words
of comfort suggested he take them for a hot drink and some food.
“We don’t want
to go too far” Todd said
“How about
the cafeteria by the main entrance?” he suggested
“Perfect” they
chorused and laughed
Despite the
fact that Sister Lucy said she was too nervous to eat anything, she managed to
force down 2 sausage rolls and a Danish pastry washed down with 2 Latte's.
“I'm assuming
they will be keeping Sister Margaret in overnight” Charlie said
“Yes, that’s
what they said” said Toddy “Sister Lucy is going to stay at a Bed and Breakfast
near to the Hospital”
“Nonsense” he
said “I live alone in a 4-bedroom house, you can stay with me Sister”
“I'm not sure
that would be seemly to be alone in the house with a man” she said “But thank
you for the offer”
“Well, how
would you feel if Toddy stayed as well?” he asked, “Would that be more seemly?”
“That would be
perfect” Toddy said
“Great I’ll
phone Mrs. Horne” he said
Widow,
Catherine Horne was among other things, his cleaner and it was her day to
clean.
“Hi Catherine, I
have two house guests tonight, could you make up two rooms please?”
The coronary
angioplasty procedure was a success, and the two stents were where they should
be and functioning effectively, however an overnight stay at the Hospital was
required even though the procedure was quite straightforward, mainly due to her
age.
No comments:
Post a Comment