Chapter Four
It was 10am and neither Aaron nor Jackson had gone to work. There was no way either of them could concentrate until they knew what was happening. Even though Jackson didn't have the same history with Paddy as Aaron did he'd been welcomed into the family with open arms and was as desperately worried. Rhona had text them a few times overnight to let them know that things were ok, but for the past couple of hours...nothing. Aaron had tried to ring and text both of them but their phones were off. Neither of them had slept the previous night. Marlon had kept Leo at his place. He knew that an anxious Aaron and an out of sorts little boy wouldn't be a good mix.
Aaron and Jackson sat at the kitchen table, mugs full of cold tea in front of them. They'd hardly said a word to each other since they got back from the hospital the night before. Aaron didn't need people talking at him at times like this, he was grateful to have Jackson with him though. He didn't want to be alone at a time like this.
They were abruptly pulled from their thoughts by the sound of a key in the door. They leapt to their feet as Paddy and Rhona entered looking absolutely shattered.
"What's happened, are you ok, you didn't ring us" Aaron and Jackson's roles were reversed. Aaron was falling over himself to speak while Jackson was afraid to open his mouth in case he said the wrong thing.
Rhona turned to Paddy "Why don't you get ready for bed love. I'll talk to the boys."
"No we'll do this together. Can you two sit down we need to talk to you"
The four of them sat down. Jackson and Aaron were afraid to ask any questions. They hardly even wanted to hear what Paddy had to say to them. It was obvious that it wasn't good news.
Paddy started to speak, never lifting his eyes from the kitchen table "You know that I had another seizure yesterday. It was worse than last time so they did an MRI scan on me when I got to the hospital. Apparently it picks up on things that a CT might not."
Rhona had begun to cry beside him. He avoided looking at her as he had to get through this "Anyway they found something on the scan. A large growth. From what they can tell so far it's been there for quite a while but it's very slow growing. That's why it's only started to effect me recently."
"A tumor?" Aaron asked.
"Aaron" Jackson didn't want to hear that word.
"He's right Jackson" Paddy continued "I'm going to have surgery on it next week. They don't know how much of it they'll be able to remove yet, if any. We'll know more about what going to happen after that. I don't think they know themselves to be honest" without meaning to Paddy laughed nervously. "That's all we know right now, honestly."
"Can we do anything?" Jackson asked. He knew they couldn't but he had to break the silence.
"No, just don't say it to anyone yet. We'll tell Marlon and Jessica when they bring Leo home but we want to try and get our heads around it ourselves first. Plus we need to get some kip."
They all got up together, Aaron and Jackson decided that they'd better go to work. There was no point in all of them hanging around the house all day. Rhona text Marlon and asked him to keep Leo for another few hours. She then made something to eat for herself and Paddy before they went to bed. Aaron came running down the stairs in his overalls just as Paddy came out of the living room into the hall. They met at the foot of the stairs. They didn't speak but they could both see the tears welling up in the others eyes. Paddy didn't know how he should approach Aaron at a time like this. The young man wasn't great in emotional situations. He need not have worried though. Aaron pulled the man he'd come to think of as his father towards him and held him close. That gesture meant more to Paddy than a thousand words.
The next week was a blur for everyone. Paddy and Rhona had to go through their story dozens of times. Marlon and Jessica were obviously the first to be told. Marlon was devastated. He wasn't able to speak and it was left to Paddy to make tasteless jokes about his condition to try to lighten the mood. They wanted to be honest with people from day one. They preferred to tell people themselves rather than have rumours about him doing the rounds of the village. The phone was constantly ringing and there was a trail of people to the front door.
They all coped in their own ways. Paddy was his usual jovial self when there was anyone around but the other 3 residents of the house could tell that he was deeply worried, as were they. Rhona kept herself busy organising cover for the surgery and suddenly discovered the domestic goddess within. She scrubbed, brushed and polished everything in her path. She felt as though she'd go mad if she didn't keep busy. Little Leo was still oblivious to anything being wrong and this was of some comfort to herself and Paddy. They were both careful to avoid any conversations about the operation in front of him. He wouldn't have understood them anyway but they didn't want to take any chances. Most of their deepest conversations took place when it was just the two of them in bed at night. Rhona didn't want to but Paddy insisted that they talk through the various scenarios.
Aaron went to work every day, bit off heads left right and centre, then came home and made himself scarce. He felt like a coward for avoiding everyone but he didn't want to fall apart and the only way he could do this was to pull away from everyone until he could get his head round it. Jackson tried to continue with his routine but it was incredibly difficult to keep his mind on the job. He made a point of spending a little time with Paddy and Rhona in the evenings but he didn't want to intrude so made his excuses and went to bed early most nights. Although Aaron was as yet unable to talk to anyone about how he was feeling, when it was just him and Jackson in bed he held him closer than ever before. He never felt more grateful than he did now to have him in his life.
Paddy was due to go into hospital the afternoon before his operation. That morning he sat in his dressing gown in the kitchen. He heard footsteps on the stairs. He knew Rhona wasn't working and Jackson had left an hour earlier so it had to be Aaron. The young man entered the kitchen and was shocked to see Paddy waiting for him.
"Hey" Aaron wished he could turn around and walk back out.
"Hi ya. Aaron I need to talk to you."
"Look Paddy I'm kind of late for work."
"Please, it won't take long"
Aaron didn't have the heart to walk away from Paddy. He could see the fear in his eyes and the least he could do is spare a few minutes to talk to him.
"I wanted to talk to you before I went to the hospital."
"Yeah but me and Jackson are going to see you later anyway."
"No I mean I wanted to talk to you on my own"
Aaron shifted nervously. He knew where this was going.
"If anything happens to me..."
"I can't do this" Aaron leapt from his seat and tried to make a bolt for the front door but was pulled back by Paddy.
"Please Aaron, I have to do this. Don't let me down now."
At this stage they were both close to tears. With Paddy's arm around him they walked back into the kitchen and sat down. Paddy continued.
"If anything was to happen to me, and we all know that it's a possibility, I want you to promise to look after Rhona and Leo."
Aaron could hardly speak "Me? I can hardly look after myself. What makes you think I could take care of someone else?"
"You should give yourself more credit. You and Jackson make quite some team you know. I'm so proud of both of you and I need to know that if the worst happens Rhona won't be on her own. Can you do that for me? Please."
All Aaron could do was nod. If he looked at Paddy he'd cry and for once in his life he was going to be strong for someone else.
"There's one other thing" Paddy reached into the pocket of his dressing gown and pulled out £100. "It's Rhona's birthday in a few of weeks and one way or another I might not be able to get something for her. Would you and Jackson do the honours for me?"
Aaron took the money "Sure, but you can give it to her yourself. I don't do presents."
"Deal. Now get to work you. I'll see you later."
Aaron finally looked at Paddy and with just the hint of a smile got up and went to work. Paddy stayed where he was for a while. He felt strangely calm about what was to come now. It was out of his hands.
To be continued