Chapter 24
‘I’ve got good news and bad news,’ the consultant said as he spoke to Juliette standing in the corridor. Juliette nodded and wished that either she or Luke knew this consultant, but both working in maternity they were in a completely different department of the hospital.
‘The good news is I’ve spoken to the orthopaedic surgeon in Pettacombe Valley Hospital and there’s a bed in the foot and ankle unit.’
Juliette clasped her hands in front of her and let out a sigh. ‘And the bad news? She’s going to lose a toe?’
‘The bad news is that I don’t know the answer to that at this stage. You need a specialist to advise you, I’m afraid.’
‘I know, sorry,’ Juliette replied wringing her hands in front of her.
‘The patient transport etcetera is all being arranged now. As you know there’s also the concern with it being an accident in the water. Obviously, there’s a risk of soft tissue infections with the broad array of microorganisms involved and she’ll need intravenous antibiotics. It’s really a case of seeing how she responds to all of that too.’
‘So, basically, we won’t know much more until she’s transferred to Pettacombe?’ Juliette asked, trying to ascertain the situation.
‘Yes. That is correct.’ The consultant nodded gravely.
‘And when do you think that is going to be?’
‘I’ll have all the answers for you soon. If she can be reasonably transferred this evening, we’ll go for that option. If not, it will be in the morning.’
A couple of hours later after various discussions and talks regarding transferring Bella, it had been decided that she would stay in Newport Reef overnight and was booked in to be taken to Pettacombe Valley in the morning.
Juliette and Luke walked down the corridor and turned into a room where Bella was sitting up in bed in a small ward. Juliette tried not to gasp as she looked at Bella who looked tiny and frail in the grey metal bed surrounded by equipment. The dull sickly green walls, electric blue curtains, and huge purple wing-back chair seemed to make everything feel a million times worse. Juliette had never noticed the colours in the hospital before, never noticed the dullness of the decor, the drabness of everything all around, but now it all seemed suffocating. The air felt too hot, the floor didn’t look clean, and the bed seemed too high. Everything felt alien.
As Juliette moved around the bed and sat down an extremely round tea lady wearing a floral tunic came in. Luke looked up and smiled in recognition.
‘Oh Juliette! Luke! Whatever are you doing here? What has happened, my lovelies? Is this one of your lovely daughters? You don’t look in a good way,’ The tea lady said and looked over at Bella. ‘What have you gone and done to yourself?’ the lady crooned.
‘An accident on the water,’ Bella replied and smiled faintly.
‘Hello Glenda. So nice to see a familiar face. We’ve not really seen anyone we know at this end of the hospital. Yep, we’ve had a boating accident.’ Juliette replied with a small, sad smile.
‘You poor things. Rightio. Cup of tea? A nice cup of tea may just cheer you all up a tiny bit.’
Juliette smiled weakly, Bella nodded yes to the offer of a cup of tea and Glenda poured tea from a huge pot and then continued around the ward with her trolley.
Bella sipped on her tea and looked at Luke, her huge eyes wider than normal. All her hair piled up on the top of her head.
‘Luke, do you think I’m going to lose my toes?’
Chapter 25
It was a few days after Bella’s transfer to Pettacombe Valley Hospital and her first surgery. Pettacombe was several stops along the line on the fast train from Pretty Beach and getting to Pettacombe Valley Hospital was quick and efficient via the train. As Juliette sat on the train on the way to the hospital everything looked drab and grim. Thick grey clouds moved overhead as the train sped along and Juliette stared out of the window at the fields saturated with rain. She’d known there had been something about to happen all along and here she was now living the reality of it.
She checked her phone for messages, put her phone back in her bag, crossed her legs and continued to stare out of the window. A woman got up from the seat opposite and went to the loo and it reminded Juliette of when she had seen Luke’s ex-wife on the very same train back in the Spring. That seemed almost a world away now. Everything in her mind now was either before the accident or after the accident. Everything was now black and white.
The train usually felt like it flew along at a million miles per hour, but today, desperate to get to the hospital, it felt like it was crawling along like a snail.
As the train finally arrived in Pettacombe Juliette gathered up her bag and raincoat when her text pinged with a message from Luke.
How are you getting on? How are you feeling?
Good. The train is just about to arrive at Pettacombe.
OK. Let me know when you get there.
Juliette got off the train, tapped her card on the pad at the gate at the end of the platform, and hurried along towards the bus stop in the drizzling rain. She felt exhausted from the past few days. The ups and downs. The different medical staff. The transfer to Pettacombe with the specialist foot unit. It had all been draining and pushing all sorts of her buttons.
At least she knew that Bella was in good hands. The specialist orthopaedic foot and ankle consultant who had performed Bella’s surgery was one of the best in the country and had received numerous awards for her work. The move to Pettacombe to the foot unit and under the care of Davina Robertson had, they all believed, saved Bella’s toes.
Juliette felt as if her whole body was consumed
