(aka Bike) Part 823 by Angharad |
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I came out of the cubicle only to have Ken Nicholls walk over to engage me in conversation. “How’s he doing?” he asked.
“He’s okay I think, more due to you than me.” I wanted to go home and see the girls.
“I don’t think so, I remember a couple of children who wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been here to help them.”
“I think that’s all a bit exaggerated. I’m exhausted and would like to go home, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to go to the loo and call up Simon to come and get me.”
“If you can wait five minutes, I’ll take you home, save Simon coming out again and I’m going your way.” I went off to the toilet after accepting his offer, so by the time I came back he was ready and waiting with his brief case to leave.
As a consultant, I suppose he earns about a hundred thousand a year so it was no surprise to see he ran a series 5 BMW. It was nice, but not as nice as the Merc run by Henry, and which Simon would be using until his Jaguar was repaired.
“So when did you discover you had this gift?”
“What, to count dormice?” I asked playing stupid.
“No–to heal the sick.”
“I haven’t, it’s rather hit and miss and I don’t plan to do any more of it if I can help it.”
“I wish I could get surgical incisions to heal up while I watched them.”
“Well, I tell you what, how about you do it and I’ll just go home and look after my children.”
“Why are you so embarrassed by it?”
“It doesn’t make any sense to me, and I want nothing more to do with it.”
“So, you wouldn’t be interested in doing some study on it?”
“No thank you.”
“But the potential for good is so great.”
“Well fine, you go and do it, but don’t involve me.”
“But you have something special.”
“Yes, three children whom I love very much.”
“How would you feel if I acted like you did, only operating when I felt like it?”
“You’re a professional, you signed up to do this, I didn’t, it just happened and I’ve had enough. I have to stop or my life would cease to be my own.”
“I’m sure we could set boundaries to protect you.”
“I’ve already set them–I won’t do any more.”
“What a waste.”
“No, it did what it needed to do–I want nothing else to do with it, it’s a curse.”
“Sam Rose told me you felt that way about it, I find that amazing, but it’s your decision.”
“It stops me from being normal, from choosing what I want to do with my life. I just want to be ordinary, look after my kids and Simon and I suppose Tom as he gets older.”
“This is it, I suppose,” he pulled into the drive.
“Thanks for saving Henry, he’s a silly old fool, but I’m rather fond of him.” I was about to get out of the car.
“If you hadn’t worked on him, he’d have been dead within a maximum of three hours.”
“Why?”
“His kidneys would have packed up and then his heart would have stopped. In fact if you hadn’t intervened, he would have died before he got to us.”
“I’ll bet he wouldn’t.” I wasn’t quite as positive as I made out.
“I’m telling you he would.”
“Thanks for the lift,” I said and got out of the car.
“If you change your mind, give me a shout.”
“I won’t, don’t worry.” I made my way to the house as he drove off. It was seven o’ clock and I was tired and hungry. I rang the doorbell, because I couldn’t find my key. Simon opened the door and stared at me.
“Hi, Babes, how’s Dad?”
“If you let me in, I might manage to tell you.”
“Oh yeah, yeah, come on in.” He stepped out of the way and I walked into the house.
“Where are the girls?”
“Tom’s put them up to bed and is reading them a story.”
“I’ll just go and say goodnight to them, put the kettle on, will you?”
“I was going to get a take away, you fancy one?”
“Oh yes, just fish and chips would do me fine.”
“I was going to get a Chinese, but fish and chips sounds good to me.” He went off to get his jacket. “How is Dad?”
“I think he’s going to make it.”
“Thanks, Babes,” He hugged me and I felt so tired suddenly, as if I wanted someone else to take responsibility for a few minutes and give me a break. It wasn’t to be and I knew it, but I could dream. “I’d better go,” he said releasing me, and I went upstairs where the girls were all cuddled together listening to Tom reading.
“Hello, girls.”
“Mummmmeee!” they shrieked and bounced out of bed to hug and kiss me. Tom smiled and withdrew to give me some space with them.
“Is Grampa Henry, okay, Mummy?” asked Livvie, while Trish held tightly to me.
“I hope so, darling. Come on everyone back into bed, and I’ll have a cuddle down with you.” I remembered lying down with them, but nothing else until, Simon came to get me to say my chips were getting cold. The girls were all asleep and it took a moment for me to regain my bearings and to untangle myself from their ‘hooks’.
The fish and chips tasted wonderful and we ate them out of the paper, although it isn’t the newspaper they used to use, it felt naughty to be slumming it at the same time, it also meant there’d be little washing up.
I brought them all up to date with how Henry appeared to be, which to my mind, meant he was doing okay. I thought we could go and see him tomorrow. I didn’t say anything about him turning up in wraith like form, because part of me wondered if that was like a dream and didn’t actually happen. The interaction with the nurse and the ‘ghost’ of Henry seemed quite plausible to me, it is possible to be dreaming and interact with others at the same time. Recently, some chap was found not guilty of murdering his wife when he strangled her dreaming he was fighting with an intruder. I found it a bit much to believe, but I don’t have details of the case.
I enjoyed the glass of wine which I had after my meal and the cup of tea after that. Stella had been super with the girls. She must have been beside herself with worry after what she’d seen in the drive. However, she stayed relatively quiet asking one or two questions before retiring to bed.
I followed her out. “Are you okay, Stella?”
“Fine now. I had every confidence in you, Cathy, but it’s been an exhausting day. So I’m off to bed.” We hugged and I let her go.
Tom went off to his study and began to deal with the hundreds of emails he had. Tomorrow, I decided, I would take the girls to school, including Meems, and after a bit of paperwork, I’d go with Simon to see Henry.
“Has, Monica been to see Henry yet?”
“No, she can’t, they’ve got no one to look after her dog. Usually, her help does it, but she’s away. I called her while I was at the chippy, told her he was going to be okay.”
“That was a bit risky, wasn’t it?”
“Not really, with you in charge, I knew it would be okay.”
“Simon, he nearly died–he did die, what if he’d stayed dead?”
“Don’t go there, girl, be thankful he didn’t.”
“Would you have been head of the bank?”
“Dunno, possibly but it isn’t certain. It would have been up to the board of trustees. It’s all in trust–to avoid unnecessary death duties–I suppose I could have been the big cheese.”
“I’m glad I helped him to survive then.”
“Yeah, Babes, so am I,--so am I.”
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Comments
Cathy's Light
And her channeling its power is one heck of a storyline. Now, whether or not she can be compelled into becoming a lab rat about it has yet to be seen. But if she is, will it become a weapon?
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Normality?
Let's hope it returns soon. Meanwhile, it's a good job Cathy's planning on visiting the hospital with Simon in tow. That way, there's less chance of the surgeon causing trouble.
Yes, she has healed numerous people, but it tires her out. She's already failed once due to exhaustion. Besides which, compare it to someone who knows CPR or first aid. They're not expected to be perpetually 'on call' to help anyone and everyone in their town that needs those skills. 99.9% of the time they just get on with their life, the same as everybody else. But if someone in their vicinity needs first aid / CPR, they'll jump in and use their skills. OK, Cathy's healing is different, but just because science can't explain it at the moment, it doesn't mean it has to be thoroughly tested until someone has a vaguely plausible idea as to how it works. Besides which, although the surgeon claims they'd impose strict limits, I wouldn't put it past them to use emotional blackmail "Just one more - you don't want to let this person die knowing you could have healed them!" until she collapses from exhaustion or inadvertently kills herself. Not to mention the testing process would make even more people aware of her 'power', some of whom could 'leak' her address to the media, thus resulting in a daily avalanche of begging letters.
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Not at all surprised or upset
that Cathy wants to closely control her "gift". Was surprised that Simon wasn't at the hospital looking for word of his father's health. Seems a little cold that he went home while Cathy worked. Or maybe it's a supreme compliment...
“How is Dad?â€
“I think he’s going to make it.â€
“Thanks, Babes,â€
Is that really all he had to know? Strange. What's with Monica too?
It's kind of a plus or minus
the way Cathy is treated by her family after one of these healings. On the plus side, she is being treated with such normalcy after doing such extraordinary things that it keeps her grounded and not feeling like such a freak. Sheesh, Simon treats her as if she had just come home from a day at the office instead of communing with the universal force and nearly raising the dead. It's like Lois Lane if she were to marry Superman what he did with his day - 'oh, I had to hold up a bridge while they made repairs and prevent 40 cars from falling into the river - That's nice dear, now wash up for supper'. On the minus side, she is not recognizing how special she is and her family is not trying to reinforce her self-esteem in a gentle but firm way. She is losing an opportunity for growth as a person as a consequence.
I respectfully suggest that her healings are a metaphor for what she has yet to do for her own life, joining with something beyond herself ( eg acknowledge she is a WOMAN in this world and not a 'make believe' one ) and finally finding peace. I know that some posters have to my mind been a bit too literal about the current blue light phase of her life but I trust our authoress has a reason for it and I suggest we give her the benefit of the doubt.
Kim
I can breathe again.
What is this woman going to do? Will she ever get Married? Will she ever do the walk, get to choose a bridal party, throw that bouquet, get carried across the threshhold, ravished while still in her wedding dress? I do so understand her desire to not do her "blue light special". Keeping it within limits is the only way to have a sane life, other wise people would suck her dry.
When I was a career Electrician, I had all sorts of people asking me to do free, illegal, and cut rate work, and as soon as I did it, I was out of their social circle again. Worse yet, it was those very people who could so easily afford to pay for it.
Funny thing, as soon as I stopped doing the work this cloud of friends just evaporated.
Gwen
I'm wondering if Cathy can
I'm wondering if Cathy can channel her "gift" in a manner that could surprise a few Russian mobsters by aiming her hands at them and causing them to pass out when they get near her and the children. Jan
There could be a way for doing that!
Allowing, for the moment, that this impossible healing ability exists in Cathy in the story, then one could say that, since going around kidnapping and killing people is a sick, abnormal thing for humans to do (NORMAL humans anyway), then those who do such naasty things are mentally sick, therefore cathy could reprogramme them to turn them into nice, kind people who do not do such things....
Briar
Briar
Surely if your husband
is at death's door you would find some way of seeing him before he passed on, To use the excuse that you could not find someone to look after your dog seems to me to suggest something is not quite right between Monica and Henry....Or maybe there is more to Monica than meets the eye!!!
Kirri
Excuses, excuses.
When I worked as a child counselor in Virginia, I had a mother who failed to show for her son's placement hearing because she said she couldn't find anyone to watch her three dogs. We make time for what we think is important. Good point!
She was born for all the wrong reasons but grew up for all the right ones.
Possa Dio riccamente vi benedica, tutto il mio amore, Andrea
Love, Andrea Lena
Cathy
Is getting better and better at using her gift. Practice makes perfect, you know.
I wonder what would have happened if she had been allowed to finished her dream of going into the light.
It's like a drug reading this story
It's easy to see how this story has gone on so long, this is the third or forth story within a story. AMAZING !
Cefin