CHAPTER 29
I was out of the door as soon as one of the boys could fit my bike into the back of a carrier and drive me round. Steph was at the door waiting.

“Naomi’s gone with him, of course. It’s Darren I’m worried about, if you see what I mean. I need to get down the hospital, and, well…”

“No problem, Steph. Have you called Eric? No? Two seconds.”

I dug out my phone. “Eric, love? Bad news. Albert has been taken in, he should be there by now”

I looked up at Steph, and she nodded. “Stroke, we think”

“Eric? Sounds like a stroke. Naomi’s with him, Steph is on her way, I’m going to stay with the boy, aye? Let me know”

He was as calm as he always is, but you don’t sleep with someone without picking up at least some of their tells. I turned to Steph once more.

“Told anyone else yet?”

“Not yet”

“You get down there, then, and I will make a few calls. Where’s Darren?”

“Conservatory. He was with Albert when…”

“Go. I will sort, aye?”

She went, and I walked through to the back of the Woods’ house. Darren was on the wicker sofa, curled into a ball and sobbing. I sat beside him, and put a hand on his shoulder, and the flinch was instantaneous, as if he was expecting a blow to follow. He could hardly string the words together, but he tried.

“I killed him, din I?”

“No, love, you didn’t. Sometimes things just happen, aye? What were you doing?”

He was shaking like a flag in a gale, short tremors that came with his sobs, and I dragged him up to hold him properly, as his arms went round me and his tears soaked my blouse. Gradually, too slowly, he got out the story. Playing some shoot ’em up or other, lying on the floor in front of the screen, laughing and joking as Albert for once surpassed Darren’s score, and then the sudden slump, the thud as Albert’s forehead struck the floor. Panic, shouting for his Nan, and then the calls, the ambulance, Naomi icily calm throughout apart from when she swore at the ambulance dispatcher for not listening as she repeated the address.

That was Darren’s fear.

“She so angry, she must blame me! An’ it must be me, yeah, it was me who was playing with him, lahk, an’ he get all worked up, my fault, she gonna hate me, an’ he gonna die…”

There was more, but I had my arms full of a boy smaller than he would ever admit, shaking with fear that the people who had done so much to let him grow were going to suffer or die because of him. That fragility, that constant worry and self-doubt, how I knew that, from inside.

“Darren, I just need to move a little, aye, got to make a few calls. Just remember a couple of things, aye? What was your granddad doing just before, you know?”

“Laughing…”

“And your Nan, she immediately got Steph round to see to you, aye?”

“Yeah…”

“Sound like they hate you? Don’t think so. Look, let me get to the phone, aye?”

With Darren cuddled into my side, his sobs easing, I worked my way down the list, calling Ginny, Polly, Sally and Simon, who said he would let Merry know. Ginny was upbeat, in an odd way.

“Can I speak to Daz?”

I passed him the phone, and left them to it for a few minutes while I brewed some tea. My mobile rang as I did so, and it was Simon.

“I have let Merry know, and she will be over at the weekend, she says, if you have room for her. I am on my way to the hospital as soon as I hang up. Let me know if anything is needed, OK?”

“Thanks, Simon. Darren’s a wreck, but that’s to be expected. I will be by the phone.”

I carried two mugs in, and Darren was looking better, the tears still flowing but the sobs throttled back.

“Ginny’s coming up on the train, with Shan”

“Good. See how many friends you have? Simon is on his way to the hospital, and Merry’s coming over in a couple of days. So it will be busy, and I will need help. That’s where you will be strong, aye? Your Nan will be relying on you to be the man we all know you are. Now, the thing about your granddad’s illness is that if it is caught quickly, they can do all sorts of things, and because you were there, and you acted so quickly, he’s got the best chance he can have, aye? Now, drink your tea and we will wait for Ginny and Shan”

An hour later, and Ginny was there, having ridden with Shan on solos from the station. I was almost knocked out of the way as the smaller woman threw herself at Darren, and we older ones left them to it as I led Ginny back to the kitchen. Ginny was straight to the point.

“Kate’s happy, if that’s the right word, that he was picked up so quickly. She says it’s the first few hours that are the worry. Fucking hell, Annie. How is Naomi?”

“No idea yet. Steph packed her off with the ambulance. Simon’s gone in, he’ll give us a call when they know something”

“Right. Shan wants to go and see him, but I told her it would be out of the question, too fucking busy and shit. She said, yeah, she knows, but could she send a friend instead?”

“Eh?”

“We got Tabby with us, she wants her to watch over Albert”

That did it, and my own dam burst. Ginny took me into her arms until I had some control back, but it took a while, and I was still crying when the doorbell rang and Shan let Polly in. She took one look at how the two kids were cuddled together, and then drew me out to the kitchen again.

“I have to be blunt, Annie, but it’s priority time. Albert is in the hospital? Stupid question…look, I have to sort the kids. Chantelle is clearly in the right place, but there is no way Darren…is that expression what I think it is?”

I was already nodding. “As long as he needs, Polly, as long as necessary, aye? I assume that is what you were going to ask”

She nodded. “I had the paperwork teed up ready, just in case, but it is Naomi’s call in the end. She may want to keep him with her for the support”

My mobile rang again.

“Annie? You OK?”

“Oh, Eric, absolutely torn apart. Got any word? Ginny’s here with Shan, looking after Darren”

“Got the word from a mate in the ICU. They’ve stabilised him, he’s not going to die unless something else happens, she said. I’ve got Steph with me, Naomi’s with her man”

“Polly’s here, I have offered to take Darren if needed, but I’m worried about her”

His answer was as immediately generous as I knew it would be. I mean, there are reasons I love him.

“Take them both in, if they want. Simon says Merry will be down at the weekend, but we’ll cope”

I started to giggle. “Plenty of room in the vicarage…”

The giggles turned into sobs again, and Polly’s was the next pair of arms to hold me till I could breathe sensibly again. BLOODY hormones!

“Eric love, you still there?”

“Yes love”

“Could Ginny drop by? She has something for Albert”

“Send her down, I’ll sort it”

“Love you…”

“And you. Got to go, will call as soon as I have more news.”

I gave Ginny the nod, and she was off out the door like a shot, Tabby in her Barley saddlebag. Shan followed me and Polly into the kitchen, towing Darren along hand in hand.

“He got a question to ask, yeah?”

Darren looked ill, grief hollowing his face and shadowing his eyes.

“Mizz Armitage, I got to go away now?”

Polly sighed, and gave me a quick glance before answering.

“We were talking about that, Darren, and the short answer is it all depends on what Mrs Woods wants. Annie here…”

She indicated me with her eyes, and I went over to him.

“Darren, if Naomi wants, we can take you in, both of you. The only place you will be going away to is with family, aye?”

There was a grin hiding in Shan’s face, as she clearly knew what he was building up to. Darren looked at me with eyes red-rimmed from crying.

“Why, Annie? Why you keep doing this for me?”

“Darren, it’s not just for you, it’s for Albert, and Naomi, well, for me and Eric too, aye? Simple: you are family”

He was crumbling again, but I had to say it.

“And we love you”