Wall Dower (aka Bike) Part 630 by Angharad

“Oh my God! I’ve made an awful mistake, haven’t I?” I felt tears form and start dribbling down my cheeks.

“Only you will know that, my girl.”

“Do you know where Simon is?”

“I could probably find him.”

“Could you?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I need to apologise to him.”

“What if it’s too late, Cathy?”

“Then I have to accept the consequences, don’t I?”

“I’m not at all happy about all of this, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’m not trying to wriggle out of any of my responsibility, but he was a bit snotty about last week.”

“What, about your abduction?”

“Yes, he seemed disappointed, yes disappointed, that I’d hurt or killed people.”

“I wonder what he’d have done in the circumstances. Once this is over, I shall take him to task over that for you.”

“It did put me on the back foot, and he was so evasive about who the mystery woman was.”

“Well, unless I’m very much mistaken, it’s who I said it was. Once again, I’ll do some surreptitious investigation on that front. Does that sound too Irish? Surreptitious and front?”

Despite my sadness, I chuckled at Henry teasing himself. “You are funny, Henry.”

“Yeah, so Monica keeps telling me–only she calls me a joke at times.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Look, I’ll see if I can find out where he’s holed up.”

“Thanks, Henry, I do love him.”

“I didn’t say you didn’t.”

“No, you didn’t.”

He rang off and I put down the receiver and felt so stupid. I wanted to beat my head against a wall or something, I deserved to be punished for this. I banged my hand on the table and jolted my shoulder–a pain shot through it and made my eyes water.

I had to learn to be less judgemental–I know I keep telling myself this, but maybe it’s something Simon needs to learn as well. Loving someone isn’t enough, it takes more than that–as we both know, now.

I was deep in my reverie when the phoned peeped and I jumped. “Hello?”

“Hi, lassie, it’s Tom, we’ll be back in an ‘oor or twa. Just thought I’d best touch base wi’ ye.”

“Okay, are the girls all right?” What a stupid question.

“Aye, course they are, ye want tae speak wi’ them?”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll see them later. I seem to have made a horrible mistake with Simon and I’m trying to sort it. I don’t know if he’ll want me back now.”

“I hope so. Talk tae ye later.”

“Thanks, Daddy, and I’m sorry about this morning.”

“Ye can wash thon wall doon later.”

“Okay.”

I replaced the handset and it almost immediately rang. “Simon’s in the hospital, he’s taken an overdose of pills. They just phoned me.”

“Oh no!” I gasped. “I’m on my way.” I grabbed my bag then remembered the broken side window on my car. I ran in, got some clear plastic sheeting and some duct tape, and in twenty minutes I’d sealed it as well as I could. The garage would fix it tomorrow.

I absolutely hammered to the hospital. It was amazing that I didn’t have an accident en route, but more amazing, all the lights were at green. Maybe there is a G.., nah let’s not go there.

Henry was seated near the door waiting for me. I rushed up to him and we embraced. “How is he?” I asked after catching my breath.

“He’s unconscious, which is never a good sign, so they say. They don’t know what he took, but he drank a bottle of wine with it.”

“This is all my fault.”

“Cathy, we can deal with the recrimination after all this is sorted. Let’s get him off the critical list first.”

“Okay,” I sat next to him and he put his arm around me. I leaned into his shoulder. My eyes were still dribbling tears, but I felt better for the physical contact with someone with whom I felt safe.

“You have to be strong, Cathy, we need you to help him get over this.”

“Of course, I’ll do anything.”

“I know, sweetheart, I know.” He kissed me on top of the head.

I suddenly remembered Tom and the girls. I sent him a text. ’@ QA hosp Si very ill. Will call when I can. Love C.xxx

Ten minutes later Tom texted me back, All under c’trol here. We send our love 2 both of ye. T xxx.

“Good man, Tom, reminds me of my old headmaster. Very straight and to the point,” Henry said to the top of my head, as I’d snuggled back into his shoulder again.

“Mine was a thug. Called me a pansy because I wasn’t much good at football.”

“And your father stood for that?”

“I didn’t tell him, but I won the cross country a couple of months later. Shut the old bastard up. It nearly choked him when he announced it in assembly. He had to check first when he saw my name on it. Left me alone after that.”

“Didn’t he encourage you to run for the school?”

“I told him I wouldn’t, as I was such a pansy.”

“What did he say to that?”

“He turned purple with rage and told me, I was in deep shit. I replied, 'That’s okay, it’ll make me grow.' He practically exploded on the spot and stormed off, probably before he hit me.”

“You do seem to have this ability to bring out the best in people,” said Henry. I pulled away and pouted, then noticed his eyes sparkling and we both smiled.

“Mr Cameron,” called a nurse.

“Here,” called Henry back to her–we both stood up and walked towards the nurse.

“You can go in, now.”

“How is he?” I asked.

“And you are?” she asked.

“His fiancée,” I said, feeling a sense of dread.

“Was he taking any tablets?” she asked me.

“Not as far as I know. No, I’m sure he wasn’t.”

“We’re not sure what he took, so we’re treating it very carefully. It’s probably paracetamol, in which case we have to wait for a liver function test. We’ve given him methionine, just in case.”

“What’s methio wotsit?”

“The antidote for paracetamol. Any idea when he did this?”

“We rowed last night, and I went to bed. I have no idea what happened after that.”

“Okay, be careful what you say to him. He might be unconscious, but we don’t know he can’t hear you.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful with him.”

I followed Henry into the room. There was my Simon, lying absolutely still with all these drips and machines attached to him. I felt physically sick. This was all my fault. I took a deep breath and walked up to him.

“Hello, Simon,” I took his hand and rubbed it between mine, “It’s Cathy, I’ve come to take you home. I love you so much, and the girls are waiting for you. Please get better, we all need you.” Then I knelt by his bedside and prayed.