Chapter 31
The bright spring weather continued and Robin and Jack were keen to finish slating the roof of the warehouse whilst it lasted. They also wanted to get all the new windows installed, thus making the building completely watertight. Once that had been completed, they could start to look at reconfiguring the inside.
Robin, always eager to press on, was pleased with the progress they’d made so far. Jack too was impressed with what they had managed to achieve, especially given the size of the place.
‘We’ll be able to get rid of the scaffolding by tomorrow,’ said Jack, looking up at the front of the warehouse, his hand blocking out the sun.
‘That’ll save us a fortune,’ replied Robin, ever mindful of the cost. They’d had to hire far more scaffolding than they owned, again because of the sheer size it had to cover. Not for the first time, he began to have reservations about taking on such a massive project. It was by far the biggest one they’d ever tackled, but more importantly it was the timing. Never before had he been under such pressure. Not that anyone was pressing him, both Jack and Jasmine kept telling him not to worry; but he was stressing himself. About to become a father to twins whilst still having this ongoing renovation filled him with anxiety. So much so, Jack was starting to worry about his friend. Seeing his face etched in angst, he nudged him.
‘Listen, mate, calm down. Everything’s going to work out fine.’
‘Will it though? The twins are due in July,’ said Robin, scraping his hand through his hair.
‘Look, I’ve put the feelers out, we’ll get help, stop worrying.’
Robin nodded, but remained quiet.
‘Anyway. There’s no rush to finish, is there? You’ve sold your flat, so there’s no money problems.’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ conceded Robin.
‘And you have as much paternity leave as necessary,’ assured Jack again.
‘Thanks, mate,’ replied Robin, blowing out a breath. He suddenly realised how lucky he was to have Jack. He was so fortunate to work with his best friend. He couldn’t imagine other business partners being so understanding.
‘Right, let’s start to get the glazing in,’ said Jack, pointing to the sheets of glass waiting to be inserted into the new window frames.
They carefully lifted the first piece lent against the wall. They were using the ground floor room to store all the building equipment, so needed to carry the glass outside. On doing so, Jack tripped on some rubble on the concrete floor and the glass went crashing down. A shard of it landed in the back of his hand, slicing it. Blood poured out as Jack’s face twisted in agony.
‘Jack!’ cried Robin, rushing to see the damage. An ugly, deep incision had been made. He quickly took off his jacket and yanked off his T-shirt, then wrapped it round Jack’s hand. ‘We need to try and stop the blood flow,’ he told him. Then after tying it as tightly as possible, and slinging his jacket back on, he ushered Jack, who was looking extremely pale by now, into the van and headed at breakneck speed to A&E.
‘You OK, Jack?’ Robin was trying to keep his eyes on the road and him at the same time.
‘Yeah, think so,’ he replied while wincing in pain.
When they arrived at Lancaster hospital, Robin parked near the A&E department and they both hurried inside. The nurse, on seeing the amount of blood oozing from Jack’s hand, immediately took them into a nearby room. After gingerly taking off the blood-drenched T-shirt wrapped round the wound, she declared he’d need stitches. Jack, still white as a ghost, just nodded dumbly.
‘Do you want me to stay?’ asked Robin.
‘No, you go back and lock up,’ Jack told him. In their haste to get to the hospital the warehouse had been left un-locked, with all their equipment inside.
‘Sure?’
‘Yea, I’ll be fine, thanks.’
‘OK, ring when you’re ready to go,’ said Robin and left.
The nurse cleaned Jack’s hand as best she could before the doctor entered the room. Jack’s eyes widened at seeing the very attractive, red-haired woman dressed in royal blue scrubs lean over him to inspect his cut.
‘Eww, nasty,’ she squinted to get a closer look, while Jack was getting a closer look at her. She had flawless, fair skin, dotted with a sprinkle of freckles across the nose. Her eyes observantly assessed him, two green orbs, dark-ringed, with russet flecks. Jack’s pain began to vanish as his attention was diverted to this extraordinary creature before him. ‘A few stitches will soon sort this out,’ she smiled.
Jack sat motionless staring at her.
‘Hmm?’ he finally replied, when realising the doctor was waiting for some kind of response from him.
‘I said, you’ll need it stitched up, but don’t worry, I’m pretty handy with a needle and thread,’ she grinned.
‘Oh, yes, fine. Thanks,’ he said, still gazing at her.
