In the north of Downshire is the old market Town of Nettlebridge which is quainter and more peaceful than its noisy neighbour Nettlefield which was a Military Town, whereas Nettlebridge prospered from the sheep and wool trade, which is evidenced by the road names, Sheepfold Street, Woolsack Lane and Shepherds Bridge, and this trade had historically generated a great deal of wealth.
Nettlefield
was also where Jason Wade and Nicola Boyle grew up together, because their families
were very close friends, but they were chalk and cheese, it wasn’t always that
way they had been inseparable before he went off to university, but they were
never as close again.
The
sixteen-year-old girl he left behind turned into an adrenaline junkie and he
was far from that.
He kept fit
and ran 3 days a week, but he was not a thrill seeker attracted to danger or
high risk.
However, he
was attracted to her, he always had been, but he was unable to act on it
because her love was for extremes.
They still
saw each other at family gatherings, and they always spent at least some time
together talking but he didn’t ever see a path back to the way things were
before he left for Uni.
Jason was
halfway through the second year of his master’s in film history, but he was
stuck, he couldn’t decide on the subject of his thesis.
He had
decided that it would be a film Director and he had narrowed it down to Frank
Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, George Seaton, Michael Curtiz, John Huston, Howard
Hawks, George Cukor, or Alfred Hitchcock, because they were his favourite, and
he had written about all of them to some degree over his four and a half years
of university, but he was struggling to narrow it down to one.
He had been
wrestling with the problem for weeks and was no closer to a decision.
But then at
the beginning of December something happened which made his deliberations pale
into insignificance.
He received
a phone call from Nicola’s father to say she had been seriously injured in a
car accident.
He was
calling on a satellite phone from the slopes of Kilimanjaro, where he and his
wife were on their way down from Uhuru, they were going to get back to
Downshire as soon as possible, but thought it might be two or three days before
they were home.
“We don’t
want her to be on her own, we’d really like someone with her that she really
loves, so would you sit with her until we get home, she’s at St Lucy’s in
Sharpington”
“No problem
I’ll get over there straight away” he said
His first
thought when he heard about a car accident was that she had been driving
recklessly, or involved in some adrenalin induced stunt, so it came as a bit of
a shock when he found out that she had been hit by a speeding car while out
running and thrown against a farm gate.
She had
several broken bones, including her right ankle, and her left wrist, three
ribs, skull fracture, and some internal injuries.
He wasn’t
quite sure what she was doing in Sharpington, it was the other side of the
county from home, hopefully he would find out.
Because it
took a while for the Police to track down her father and because he had to make
the long drive down from Nettlebridge it was almost 90 hours after the accident
when he reached the hospital.
He went to
reception and found out she was in the private wing, so he made his way there
quickly and was confronted by a rather fierce looking sister.
“I’m here
to see Nicola Boyle” he said
“Are you
next of kin?” she asked
“No, I’m
not”
“Then I
can’t let you see her” she said a little too smugly for his taste
“Listen,
her parents are in Tanzania and won’t be here for at least three days, her
father, Derek, phoned me and asked me to come and be with her” he explained “So
that’s what I’ve done”
The sister
pulled a disbelieving face but said
“Wait
there”
Then she
went to her desk and accessed her computer.
“What’s
your name?”
“Jason
Wade”
“It would
appear that her father has been in touch, and you have permission”
The grumpy
sister led him down the corridor to room 4 and said
“She’s
still sleeping off the anesthesia from the last operation, so I doubt you’ll be
able to talk to her until the morning, you could always come back then”
“No, I’m
anxious to see her” he replied
“Ok then go
in”
He was
shocked when he saw the girl he loved, broken and bruised, her right lower leg
was in a cast, as was her left wrist, her face was cut and bruised, and her
head was bandaged.
He put his
bag on the floor and quietly picked up the armchair standing in the corner and
moved it to beside the bed and settled himself into it, he gently took hold of
her hand and then promptly fell asleep.
About 1 am
he woke up with pins and needles in his arm and gingerly picked up his dead arm
with his unaffected hand while life flooded painfully back into it and having
successfully restored blood flow to his stricken limb, he checked his phone and
saw that Derek had texted an hour earlier to say they had just left Zanzibar
and were flying to Nairobi, he typed a reply and then walked to the ensuite.
When he
went back Nicola was restlessly murmuring in her sleep, so he took her hand in
his again and her restlessness seemed to fade away and then he dosed off again.
The next
time he woke up was about 6am and he was still holding Nicola’s hand, but a few
moments later he realized she was holding his back, so he looked up and her
eyes were open and her battered and bruised face was smiling at him.
“Hey you”
he said
After an
hour’s catch up, he was ordered out, as the Doctor was due, then there were
dressings, catheter, cannula blah blah blah.
“Please
sister can’t he stay” she pleaded
“No” she
replied “Not this morning, but he can come back later”
“I’ll make
myself scarce then” he said and kissed her forehead
“See you
later”
“You’d
better” she snapped and when he got to the door he turned and said,
“You look
like a Panda by the way”
“Bastard”
As he
walked to his car, he got another text from Derek saying that they had been
delayed in Nairobi because the Kenyan Airways aircraft they had boarded for the
next leg of their journey to Amsterdam had developed a fault, so they needed to
disembark, and were awaiting further details.
He ended
the message by saying he would text again when they had a departure time.
Jason typed
a reply sharing the news that he had seen and spoken to Nicola, and she was in
good hands.
He realized
as soon as he got in the car that the first thing he needed to do, was to have
a shower, so he booked into the Seaview Hotel on the sea front, however when he
got to the room, he made the fatal error of sitting on the bed, because he woke
up three hours later.
So, he
hurriedly showered and shaved, got dressed and went to get some lunch before
returning to the Hospital.
But while
he was eating, a thought occurred to him, so when he finished, he went
shopping.
It was
after 3 o’clock when he walked back into room.
“What kept
you?” she asked
“I’ve been
shopping” he replied
“What
shopping?”
“Toothbrush,
toothpaste, deodorant, nighties and knickers” he said and put the carrier bag
in front of her.
“You bought
me knickers?” she said disbelievingly and roared with laughter “This I’ve got
to see”
Because of
the cast on her wrist, she struggled to hold the bag and extract the contents.
“I can’t do
it” she said pathetically so Jason took everything out of the bag in the same
order he listed them before,
“Toothbrush,
toothpaste, deodorant,”
“That’s my
favourite” Nicola said, although he already knew that because he’d smelt it on
her many times.
“Nighties”
Jason said as he held one up “with wide sleeves so you can get them on over you
cast”
“Good
thinking” Nicola said “You’ve done well so far I think the next one will be an
epic fail”
“You think
so?”
“Absolutely,
they’ll be totally impractical for Hospital, all lace and no substance” she
said confidently, and then he took the knickers out of the bag and put them in
front of her.
“Oh,
they’re exactly what I would have chosen” Nicola said with surprise “Thank you”
“So, I did
ok then” he said “with everything”
“Apart from
the Christmas nighties”
“What’s
wrong with the nighties?” he asked “I thought they were quite sensible”
“They’re
too Christmassy” she stated
“But you
love Christmas” he pointed out
“Not this
year” she said and gestured with her good hand “This has ruined Christmas”
She went a
bit quiet after that, but he didn’t press her on the subject, and ten minutes
later she was asleep.
So, he took
up his position in the armchair again, but stayed awake this time, and filled
the time by doing jigsaw puzzles on his phone, then he read a few chapters of
the ABC Murders and then was just about to watch an old movie on his tablet
when she woke up.
“How long
have I been asleep?” she asked
“About
three hours”
“Oh God I’m
always sleeping, and when I am awake, I’m bored and according to you I look
like a Panda” she whined
“I can put
the TV on that might help with the boredom, it won’t stop you looking like a
Panda though”
“I hate
you” Nicola lied
“Anyway, it’s
all Christmas rubbish on TV”
“Christmas
Rubbish?” he retorted feigning outrage
“Yes,
sugary sweet movies, where everything is perfect, everyone is perfect, and they
all have a perfect Christmas”
“Oh, dear
you have got it bad” Jason said as he got up and put the TV on, then he
rummaged in his bag and took out his tablet and a dongle, and he plugged the
latter into the TV.
“What you
need, Miss Grumpy knickers, is the universal cure for all Grinches and
Scrooges”
“Grumpy
knickers?” Nicola said indignantly
“Yes, but
“It’s a Wonderful Life” will do the trick”
“What’s
that?” Nicola asked
“What’s
what?” he replied
“It’s a
wonderful something” she said
“It’s a
Wonderful Life?” Jason asked
“Yes?”
“It’s a
Classic” he said
“A Classic
what?”
“Movie” he
retorted but she just looked blank
“James
Stewart, Donna Reed, Clarence the angel?”
“I’ve never
seen “It’s a Wonderful Life””
“Then you
are in for an absolute treat” he said and cast from his tablet to the TV.
“There’s
something wrong with the colour” she pointed out
“It’s black
and white” he retorted
“I’ve never
seen anything in “Black and White” before” she said
“Not one
thing?” Jason asked incredulously
“No”
“Well,
you’ve started with a corker” he said
At the end
of the film Nicola was in tears
“That was lovely” She sobbed, dabbing at her eyes with
a tissue.
“I can’t
believe you’ve never seen it before” he stated
“I will
have to introduce you to some more films”
“Will they
be as good as that one?” Nicola asked
“Some of
them will be even better” he replied
“Then I
can’t wait” she admitted and then the nurse arrived
“Can you
make yourself scarce for half an hour” she said to Jason
“Sure,
thing I’ll go and grab a sandwich” and as he was about to leave when he
received a text
“Your
parents have just left Nairobi”
He’d been
gone for nearer an hour and when he got back to the room her dinner had
arrived, and she had almost finished eating as he settled back on the chair.
“Have you
got your phone handy, I’ll make sure its fully charged and then you can text
your mum and dad” he asked
“I think
it’s still in a field, or a hedgerow” she replied
“Well, you
can use mine” he suggested
“I’m a leftie,
I can’t do it with this cast on, and I can’t type with my right” Nicola
explained
“Alright
then you dictate, and I’ll type”
“Ok that I
can do” she replied as she finished the last spoonful of her pudding.
After
dictating a very lengthy text Jason sent it and Nicola said
“Time for
another movie from the pre-electric light era”
She
chuckled at her little witticism and then winced in pain.
“Ok then
let’s see what you make of “Miracle on 34th Street”” he said
At the end
of the film Nicola was in tears again
“That was
brilliant” She sobbed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
Jason was
pleased to see he’d moved her to tears again, but he also detected a paleness
to her unbruised skin and a tiredness in her eyes.
“Well, I’m
glad you enjoyed it, but it’s time for you to rest”
“No don’t
go, I want to watch another one” she pleaded
“Tomorrow”
he said and kissed her forehead
“Now is
there anything you need me to bring with me?”
“Yes, I
have a list” she said “on the cupboard”
He picked
it up and read down the short list of soap, cosmetics and sanitary products,
and said
“That’s
very neat writing”
“The nurse
wrote it for me” she said and yawned
“Ok then
I’ll see you tomorrow” he said
“Don’t be
late” Nicola said
“Ok,
nightie night grumpy Panda” he said and laughed
“I hate
you” She shouted
He slept
later than he intended the next morning and missed breakfast, so he went to
Albie’s Café for a full English and while he was in there it started to snow.
By the time
he had fulfilled Nicola’s shopping list, and picked up something else for her,
it was snowing heavily, so he made his was cautiously to the hospital, where
grumpy Panda needed cheering up.
“It’s not
fair” she exclaimed stroppily “I love the snow, and I’m stuck in here”
“Oh, dear
we have got it bad today haven’t we” he said “Here I’ve got your shopping, and
I’ve got you a “pay as you go” smartphone so you can contact your friends”
“Oh, thank
you” she said “I don’t think I’ll let them know I’m here yet, they’ll only want
to come and visit”
“Don’t you want
visitors?” Jason asked
“I’ve got
all the visitors I need at the moment” she said and blushed a little
“But you
only have me” he pointed out
“They can
come later” she said hurriedly “when….”
“You look
less like a Panda” he said and roared with laughter
“I am
really going to hurt you when I can get out of this bed” she said threateningly
and then giggled “Now entertain me”
The
snowstorm continued for the rest of the day and most of the night, which meant
he was snowed in, the following day the snow was lighter but persistent.
It wasn’t
just Downshire that was affected, so was western, and central Europe which
meant that the Kenyan Airways flight to Amsterdam was diverted to Rome as all
the Airports were closed, resulting in the Boyle’s journey being delayed for
another 24 hours.
So, from
that first snowy afternoon he spent his time entertaining her for the next two
days, with watching classic movies, and Nicola loved them all.
For Jason
watching Nicola experiencing Clarke Gable and Claudette Colbert in “It happened
one night”, James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan in “Shop around the Corner”,
Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in “The Lady Vanishes”, Ronald Coleman
in “Lost Horizon”, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in “Holiday” and “The
Philadelphia Story”, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in “To Have and Have
Not” or Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in “Ball of fire”, was almost as
special as the movies.
About 7
o’clock in the morning, eight days after the accident Jason woke up in the
armchair after an uncomfortable night, he was just in time to see Nicola coming
out of the bathroom, and as she stood in the doorway with the bright bathroom
light behind her, her nightie became translucent, and he could see her lovely
figure beautifully defined, and he thought it was a very pleasing sight.
“What are
you up to?” He asked
“I needed
the loo” she replied
“You
shouldn’t be doing that on your own” he said with concern
“I didn’t
want to wake you, and I don’t need you to help me pee” she said “and the physio
said I should do some walking”
“She did,
but not on your own, not in the middle of the night and not without your crutches”
he said and rushed over to her
“Ok you old
woman, help me back into bed”
When the
sun came up it was apparent that they were no longer snowed in, which was great
news, as was the text from Derek to say they were on route from Rome to
Amsterdam and their connecting flight to London Stanstead would get them to the
UK by midafternoon and a hire car from the Airport would get them to Sharpington
by early evening.
Jason was
desperate for a shower, shave and a change of clothes so after her breakfast
arrived, he kissed her forehead and excused himself.
“Don’t be
long” she called after him
His first
stop was Albie’s café, for a sustaining full English that would set him up for
the day, then he went back to his hotel and having showered, shaved, and dressed
in a clean set of clothes he made his way back to the Hospital.
When he got
back to Nicola’s room, he discovered he was not the only one of them who had
freshened up, her hair was brushed, her face was lightly made up, she had a
fresh nightie on, and she was wearing perfume.
“What kept
you?”
“What do
you mean?” He retorted “I’ve been really quick”
“I need
your help” she said
“What
with?” he asked
“I need the
loo” Nicola said
“And you
need my help?” he asked “You managed alright on your own earlier”
“I know but
I think I over did it this morning” she said sheepishly
“Oh, ok
then” he said and walked to the side of her bed and helped her sit up and then
she slowly swung her legs over the side until she was sat facing him.
Jason leant
forward so she could put her arms around his neck, while his hands went to her
waist, and then in one fluid motion she was on her feet, and the moment she was
perpendicular she tightened her grip around his neck and planted a sensual kiss
on his lips, which he immediately reciprocated.
When she
came up for air she smiled coyly
“That’s the
way I want to be kissed, not on the forehead like I’m your sister, I don’t want
to be your sister” she said and pulled him towards her again and planted
another kiss on his mouth, much more controlled and unhurried.
“Wow” Jason
said
“Ditto” she
agreed “Not such a rubbish Christmas after all”
“Definitely
not rubbish” Jason said and then added
“I thought
you needed the loo”
“I lied”
Nicola replied “Now let’s get back to the kissing”
