. At last ‘A life’
By Julie D Cole
Chapter 31 Fruitless journey

I was shocked to see it was my sister Julie who had obviously just managed to catch the train since she was looking disheveled. Julie looked at the guy who had made the remark and just said ‘Chicks are hatched from eggs so who do you think you are talking to?’

He shut up and turned back to his friends and then we carried on down the carriage to find our seats. Luckily there was a spare seat across the aisle because somebody missed the train.

I said ‘What’s wrong why are you here?’

Julie told me that she’d tried to catch me at work and the receptionist told her we’d just left. She decided to board the train since she couldn't see me on the platform and the train had set off. So she'd called Gary who was now driving to Derby that was the next station to meet us.

Julie said that ealier on, just after I’d finished speaking to her, mum had called her to say that Gran had been rushed to hospital after a stroke so mum tried to call me but no answer. Then Julie tried so she also told me my telephone was switched off.

I hadn’t switched it off since it was still on but it said no service available. It looked like my contract had been suspended because when we checked Julie and Sallys phones both had a signal and worked.

Then Julie said that mum was at the hospital and she feared the worse. Julie had stayed on the train without a ticket and hoped that the guard would understand.

She then sent a message to mum to say she found me and at that point I had no idea what to do. I couldn't carry on to Birmingham and I wondered if we dare pull the alarm cord.

Sally said no and then said we should turn back as soon as possible and let James know. We should then get off the train at the next stop and go back with Julie and Gary. I was sure that Mum needed us and Sally and Julie both said that James would understand.

It was just my bad luck day but I felt this was much more serious than my credit card problem.

I was proud that Julie had been so positive and that she'd dropped everything and had the sense to jump on the train. But what if mum had got through to me and I'd not got the train at all.

She said she’d not even considered that and just left her shopping at the check out counter after mums call. She said that she was sorry to panic but she didn’t know what else to do.

Sally said we should find the guard and confirm the time of arrival in Derby so we could call Gary. She was the calmest for once.

Gary had a bigger problem to consider than us since he'd no idea of his arrival time since he was driving on Friday evening down a busy motorway.

The guard appeared before we had chance to go looking and he was very kind and helpful. He told us we could probably catch a train back about 15 minutes after arrival in Derby so Julie called Gary and since he was making good progress we decided to leave the plan as it was.

So I called James using Sallys phone and he said he’d tried to call me but my phone was switched off. I was annoyed by this time since my phone was a monthly contract phone and the payment should have gone through. He understood and asked me to call him when I had more news.

The guard gave us timetable and regretted that he couldn’t give us a re-fund on the tickets for Sally and I but at that time it was the least of my concerns. If all this was to do with Jessica I was ready to tell her what I thought of her and not speak to her ever again.

We arrived and called Gary who was about half an hour away so we decided to have a coffee and a snack. My tummy was turning over and I was desperate for the loo so Julie got the drinks and looked after the bags and Sally and I went to find the loo.

There was a queue that irritated me since I never had this problem in the mens loo. Why can’t ladies facilities be bigger and have more cubicles? It seems so stupid that nobody made any protests. Maybe it is because women learn to put up with the inconvenience from an early age.

Julie bought us each a Mocha and we shared a piece of cake. I can’t recall if it tasted good or not it was just to put us on and I’d no appetite.
As Gary approached the station he called Julie and we headed for the exit. I suppose we looked sad because two guys said to cheer up and asked if we wanted to go with them for a drink. We ignored them of course.

We jumped into the car and then Julie sent another text to mum and within 5 minutes she called back.

Gran was stable but poorly and hadn’t been able to speak. She was half awake and had just smiled and held mums hand.

She asked us to hurry just in case and Gary said he’d do the best he could. None of us had much to say for a while and Sally held my hand and squeezed it. I felt the ring on my finger that Gran had given me and looked at it with a tear in my eye. I’d not had chance to talk properly to her or thank her and I wished and prayed that she would recover so I could make up for the lost years. I knew that mum must be really upset.

As we arrived at the hospital Gary pulled up at the front door of A&E even though there were some restrictions. He said he’d look after Sally and that they’d come and find us soon.
It was strange walkin

g down the corridor with our heels clicking on the hard wood floor. Julie hooked her arm in mine and said we needed to be strong and support mum. Neither of us had any experience of family bereavements or serious illness and nobody to guide us.

We went to the reception and a middle aged lady asked for details of the patient we were looking for. We were escorted through to a waiting room where we found mum who immediately burst into tears setting off both Julie and I.

Mum said that she was going to stay with Gran and that there had been a slight improvement but the next 24 hours were critical. She said that we might be able to see her if we waited and so Julie said she’d get some tea for us from a vending machine.

Mum hugged me and said’ Sorry to spoil your weekend Chris and sorry to hear about your credit card problem’ I just said not to worry and that we were a family that needed to stick together.

Mum said that she would tell me something later about the reason that Gran had given me the ring and the necklace but that really she hoped that Gran would recover enough to tell me herself.

Julie arrived with the tea and whilst it wasn’t very good I think it was nice to sit together and sip it whilst we talked a little bit. Julie said that if mum wanted to stay all night she would stay too but then I interjected and said I was older and it was my responsibility. Julie seemed surprised that I was so adamant and she agreed to take Sally with them if they went home. That prompted her to call Gary who was waiting anxiously for news. He came to find us with Sally and Julie met them down the hall.

I was with mum when a nurse came into the room. It was Angela Hemingway from my class at school. She said hello to mum and introduced herself and then turned to me and said ‘Is that you Chris’. My you’ve changed a lot and you do look very nice.

After that she updated mum on Grans progress and said that the doctor would like to talk to us if we’d follow her.

I waived to Julie and she came back so that we could all go in together.
He told us that Gran needed to stay in intensive care whilst they monitored her but that she had a good chance of recovering if she didn’t have another stroke in the next few hours.

There was no sign of loss of use of limbs and she’d drifted in and out of consciousness. She’d been lucky that she’d had the presence of mind to press an alarm before she’d blacked out and luckily she hadn’t banged her heads as she fell.

He asked who Judith was and said that she’d cried out for her. Mum told him that it was her sister who had been killed in a car crash many years ago.

He said when she’d opened her eyes and seen him that she’d said ‘please get Judith I need to talk to her.’

To be continued……..