The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2449 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Trish was sitting next to Sammi’s bed, eating all the grapes Simon had taken her. “How come I didn’t get any grapes?” I complained.

“Those were yours, she ate one bag on the way here.” Trish grinned at us nodding at her father’s summary of events.

“Someone’s going to have a tummy ache later,” I said causing the smile to fade a little. “Nor any room for lunch.”

“Don’t care.”

“Well neither do I,” I said moving towards Sammi. “Hello, sweetheart, how d’you feel.”

“I’ve been better. They tell me my heart stopped for nearly ten minutes. Does that mean brain damage?”

I held my hand out to her and she touched it with hers, grimacing as she did so. “No, you’re fine.”

“How can you know?”

“Trust me.”

“I do implicitly.”

“Good.”

“Ooh, I feel sick,” declared Trish before throwing up in the washbasin.

“You can clean her up,” I instructed Simon, “as you allowed her eat all those grapes.”

“Oh god,” declared Simon going very pale and he too threw up in the sink.

“Excuse me,” I said to Sammi. I then grabbed Si and sat him in the chair before he passed out, then I collared Trish, who was looking as green as the grapes she’d been eating. She upchucked again only this time I held her over the sink and wiped her when she’d finished. A nurse hearing the noise looked in and gave me a disgusted look.

“Who’s going to clear up the mess?”

“I suppose I’ll have to.”

“You shouldn’t bring sick children into hospital.”

“She wasn’t sick until she ate all the grapes.”

“Well whose fault is that?”

“Let me see—the devil, because he told her to do it.”

“I think the blame may lay nearer to home than imaginary mythologies.”

“Quite right, but he’s temporarily handicapped by her illness.”

“Eh?”

“He passes out at the sight or smell of vomit, or poo,” I added.

“Wonderful,” she shook her head and walked off returning a moment later with some nitrile gloves and an orange bag. I thanked her and after pulling on the blue plastic gloves cleared the solid waste into the bag, washed the sink out and then dumped the gloves in the bag, which went into the clinical waste bag in Sammi’s room. Trish was sitting on a small stool looking sorry for herself.

I went and spoke with Sammi while the other two groaned quietly to themselves. “You know, Mummy, I had this weird dream while they were trying to get my heart going again.”

“Hardly surprising, given what’s going on in a brain which is suddenly starved of oxygen.”

“But I can recall it so clearly. I came to see you and you sent me away back to my body which started to recover. If you hadn’t done that, I’d be in the morgue now, wouldn’t I?”

“If it was a dream caused by anoxia or chemicals created by a distressed brain such as endorphins or enkephalins, then I suspect you were trying to deal with all that.”

“But I was gone for ten minutes.”

“So they say.”

“A nurse was here when I arrested.”

“So? In the excitement time would be distorted.”

“You think?”

“I know, been there done it. Look, you’re going to make a full recovery.”

“Am I?”

“Promise.”

“Thanks, Mummy.”

“Thank you for saving my life.”

“What?” she gasped.

“Pulling me out of the way when Cortez fired.”

“Did I? I can’t remember.”

“I can and you did.”

“Does that make me a heroine?”

“In my book, definitely.”

“Oh wow.” She yawned and I dragged the two invalids out of the room while she went off to sleep. It meant I got to drive Simon’s F type coupe, which is a two plus two. They moaned all the way home and after we got there. Needless to say, they took to their beds instead of having lunch. Pity, they missed out on some delicious soup made by David.

“Any sign of James?” I asked Daddy, who’d decoded to stay at home in case Cortez showed up. Daddy’s shot gun wasn’t far from his side wherever he went in the house.

“He’s been here.”

“That it, he’s been here?”

“Aye.”

“You aren’t normally so taciturn.”

“I’m gettin’ tae auld for takin’ on gangsters.”

“D’you want us to go?”

“Och no, whit wid I dae on ma ain?”

“Live happily ever after in peace and quiet?”

“Nae I widnae. Ye’ve brocht yer problems but ye’ve also brocht yer love, and that wis worth it, ten times o’er. I’ve lived mair in thae past seven years that thae previous twenty, thanks tae ye.”

“As long as you think it’s worthwhile.”

“Aye it is.”

“And, you’ve been more of a father figure to me than my biological parent, for which I’m really grateful, and privileged to call you Daddy.”

“Aye, well put thon kettle on and make us a brew.”

While I was making the tea we were visited by a superintendent of police. He informed me that my house was guarded by two armed police officers twenty four seven. They were all firearms trained and nothing would get past them.

I ignored much of what he said because I was pretty sure we had two of Jim’s friends nearby, and I knew nothing would get past them at the same time they’d stay in the background and let the police deal with things unless they failed to cope in which case they’d take over. I hated to think what it was costing but at least it gave me some peace of mind.

The pompous but well meaning super of police left after drinking a cup of Earl Grey and eating one of David’s homemade biscuits. I said nothing about the two elite special forces men hiding in or near the garden in case he got funny about it. Some people do, apparently.

Whilst the police busied walking about outside making only the most desperate of hoodlums to want to try anything, the various mugs of tea and sandwiches I made and left by the backdoor always disappeared and came back a little later empty. I did leave a note asking if they wanted anything else to eat or drink but scribbled on the paper was the word, ‘no’ followed by ‘thank you’. The police also received drinks and snacks from us but I took them theirs so as not to encourage them to hang about by the back door.

The headmistress of the convent did call me the next morning to say they had a duty to inform me that my girls were missing their schooling. On asking if she preferred me to send the girls but only if she could undertake to have armed police patrolling the school while my girls were there; she told me she understood but still had the legal obligation to point out their absence to me. I thanked her for doing so and said the girls would be back as quickly as possible once we’d dealt with the threat posed to them.