She jumps on the sofa beside me. I pull her into a hug. ‘I know, darling, I got up early today.’ I kiss her forehead. ‘Was Daddy still asleep?’
She nods and giggles. ‘He was snoring.’
Typical Nick. He never has any trouble sleeping, but then he doesn’t have a guilty conscience like me, does he?
‘I’m hungry, Mummy,’ Grace says.
‘Let’s have some breakfast then, shall we? Is Isaac awake?’
‘Yes, he’s playing on his iPad.’
I worry about the time Isaac spends playing on his iPad. Though we have safe settings, and he mainly plays educational games, I don’t like him or Grace having too much screen time. We don’t normally allow them to take it out with them, but relaxed the rule yesterday as we thought the wedding would be a long day, and the last thing we wanted was for them to be bored and restless.
‘Can you go and ask him to come down for breakfast, and I’ll get the cereal out?’
Grace nods and races up the stairs, yelling at the top of her voice. ‘Isaac! You’ve got to come down for breakfast!’
Well, I doubt if Nick will be still asleep now, I think as I go into the kitchen and get the cereal bowls out of the cupboard.
Isaac and Grace come charging down the stairs at the same time as a message pings in from Nick.
Just having a shower and I’ll be with you.
It seems crazy to message each other when we’re in the same house, but we both often do if we’re in different rooms. The kids yell enough without us doing it.
I put the kettle on for a coffee, we both like instant first thing, and sit down at the table as the kids tuck into their breakfast. I try to remember what time Mum and George are catching the plane, I want to phone her and wish her a safe journey before they go, but I don’t want to wake them up, yesterday was a full day for them. Then, just as Nick comes in, hair wet from the shower and wrapped in his dressing gown, George phones.
‘Hi, George, I was about to—’ I start to say but he cuts me short.
‘Lizzie, love, I’m so sorry but your mum’s had an accident.’
I can hear the quiver in his voice and my hand flies to my mouth.Oh God, Mum!I grip my mobile tight as I stammer. ‘What sort of accident? Is she…?’ I can’t utter the words that are swimming in my mind.Please God, don’t let her die.I throw a panicky look at Nick and motion to let him know I’m going out of the room.
‘It’s not serious, fortunately, but she’s fractured her ankle. She went a bit dizzy last night and fell over. Thank goodness Alison was here, we persuaded her to stay over so we could travel to the airport together. She knew exactly what to do. She drove us to A&E and stayed with us. She’s cancelled her flight too sothat she can stop and look after Judith. I’ve told her that I can manage but she insists.’
Last night? ‘Why didn’t you let me know last night? I would have come straight over.’
‘We didn’t want to trouble you, love. We knew it wasn’t serious and Alison was here to help. She is a nurse after all.’
But she’s my mother. I should have been told straight away. The words are screaming in my head but I force them back. I’m overreacting. They didn’t want to worry me late at night, that’s understandable.
‘Are you sure she’s okay? Have the doctors checked her out thoroughly?’
‘Yes, Alison insisted. Judith’s ankle is a bit swollen but the fracture doesn’t require surgery, so they have given her a surgical boot and she’ll have to walk with the aid of a front-wheeled walker for a while, as the hospital didn’t think she’d be safe using crutches. Obviously we’ve had to cancel the honeymoon. We’ll go later when your mum’s ankle is better.’
That makes sense. I feel sorry for them both though, they’d been looking forward to their short trip to Prague. ‘I’ll be right over,’ I tell him.
‘There’s no need, dear, Judith is having a rest right now. It was a long night. And Alison is here so Judith is being well looked after. Come along this afternoon when we’ve all had a bit of shut eye. I promise you that your mum is okay.’
I swallow back my protest that I want to see my mum, make sure for myself that she is all right. I’m being selfish, of course they all need to rest. They were probably in A&E for hours. They must be exhausted.
‘I’ll come over later then. Please give Mum my love.’
Nick comes in as I end the call and puts his arm around my waist. ‘What’s up?’
I tell him what’s happened. ‘Luckily Mum was only halfway up the stairs when she went dizzy, what if she was almost at the top? Or had hit her head on something?’ I tremble as I realise how this could have all been a lot worse. I could have lost my mum forever. No one knows more than me how fragile life is.
Nick holds me in his arms and caresses the back of my head as I nestle against his shoulders. ‘I understand that you’re worried, but George has assured you that Judith is okay so please don’t get yourself in a state. Leave the kids with me when you go and see her later. I wouldn’t think your mum is up to them bouncing around just yet.’
