‘Oh, Annie, I’m so sorry! How awful, poor Ma.’ His deep voice had been filled with concern, for both Dotty and Annabel. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re there with her, thank you. I’m afraid I’m not much use at the moment, still stuck in hospital myself!’ he scoffed. ‘Are you alright to hold the fort? I’ll ring William, maybe he can get down to help out, too.’
‘No, it’s alright, Dad,’ she reassured him, using the end of her sleeve to dry her eyes. ‘Don’t disturb Will, it’s a long way to come and there’s not much point until we know what’s going to happen next. I’ll be fine, honestly. Just a bit tired.’
‘Well, if you’re sure? Thanks so much, darling. And remember, I’m only at the end of the phone; ring me any time. Keep in touch.’
Annabel bought another coffee and a chocolate bar then returned to the ward. Caffeine and sugar were going to get her through today. There was no change when she got back to Dotty’s bedside, the old lady was still sleeping peacefully.Please wake up, Annabel silently willed her grandmother as she held her hand,please don’t leave me, Dotty, not yet.
A tap on the shoulder startled her and she looked up into Nurse Sue’s kind green eyes. The doctor wanted to see her, she said, then led her down the corridor and into a consulting room.
‘Ah, Ms Penrose, I’m Stephanie Underwood, one of the doctors here. Please’ – she gestured to the chair opposite her – ‘have a seat.’
Dr Underwood was an efficient-looking woman in her early forties. She had neat black hair in a bob and a clipped, well-spoken accent. Annabel thanked her and told her to use her first name.
‘Is she going to be alright?’ she asked.
The doctor smiled before replying, ‘Yes, I should think so. She’ll be rather sore for a while with the broken wrist, and the rib will take a bit of time to heal. But it’s not the injuries from the fall that I’m concerned about.’
‘Oh?’ Annabel was surprised. ‘Do you think she’s not safe at home anymore? Is it time for a nursing home, do you think?’
‘No, no; nothing like that. She’ll need more help while she recovers from the injuries, obviously, and you’ll probably want to think about arranging carers, if she chooses to stay in her own home, that is. But that’s not my main concern.’
The doctor paused for a moment as she referred to the papers on her desk.
‘I see on your grandmother’s notes that you and your brother William are named as her next of kin while your father is out of the country.’
Annabel nodded in agreement.
‘In that case, I can share more with you and give you the full picture.’
Another pause.
‘We did a scan when your grandmother came in; standard procedure when the patient’s had a fall. It showed a cyst.’
Annabel looked confused. ‘A cyst?’ she repeated.
‘Yes, but not just any cyst. It was the biggest cyst that any of us here had ever seen.’ The doctor’s brow furrowed. ‘To give you some idea of scale, it was around the size of a rugby ball.’
Annabel’s mouth dropped open.
‘Did your grandmother ever complain of being in any pain? Any breathlessness or stomach pain ever?’
Annabel cast her mind back to the last time she had seen Dotty, on her birthday weekend. She racked her brain but couldn’t think of anything, so mutely shook her head.
‘Incredible! That generation really was made of stern stuff!’ The doctor’s eyes widened, as if in admiration, then she continued, ‘The cyst looks ovarian in origin and it has been pressing on all her major organs for quite some time. It’s a wonder that she hasn’t been suffering from it.’
Annabel pictured her dainty grandmother and imagined the size of a rugby ball. She winced. It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘The scan also showed a malformation of the uterus; “uterine septum” is the technical term. Strange really, it doesn’t rule out conception, but I’d say nine times out of ten it would make carrying a foetus to full term almost impossible. Your mother or father wasn’t adopted?’ the doctor asked in a clipped, business-like tone.
‘My father,’ Annabel clarified. ‘And no . . . ’ She paused, her brow furrowed in confusion. ‘He wasn’t adopted, he’s her son.’
‘Ah, there we are then.’ Dr Underwood gave a tight smile. ‘Your grandmother was obviously the lucky one!’ She looked a little uncomfortable, then moved on quickly to explain how they would take care of Dotty. At her age, surgery to remove the cyst could result in further complications, so unless the family felt strongly, they would leave it alone and focus on keeping her as comfortable as possible.
A few minutes later, Annabel escaped the disinfectant-scented corridors of the hospital for some fresh air. The consultation had left her feeling confused and emotional and she needed time to process what she had just heard. The sun was emergingfrom a cloudy sky as she found a bench in the small hospital garden. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, tilting her face up to enjoy the sun’s warm rays.
There was something about the way the doctor had raised the question of adoption that had left her feeling unsettled. The look in her eye as she’d said that Dotty must have been the ‘lucky one’ had unnerved Annabel. Never in her life had she questioned her father’s parentage; why would she? But the conversation with the doctor had introduced an element of doubt which Annabel was now struggling to shake off.
She leaned back against the bench and gave a sigh. It was the first time she had stopped today and she felt exhausted. After the conversation with Luke the previous evening, she had struggled to sleep and the drive had tired her out. Her stomach rumbled and she made a mental note to find something more substantial than hospital coffee and chocolate bars later on. The staff seemed confident that Dotty would be alright, but it had shaken Annabel. Dotty had been her rock her whole life and this was a very real reminder that she wasn’t going to be around forever. Tears began to flow as she spent a moment imagining a world without her grandmother. She couldn’t face the thought of losing her. And what if she lost Luke as well? She had to stop that thought process, she would just torment herself.
