Episode
4/12 One for sorrow

Review
A tragedy occurs and the hospitals future is under threat.

Cast list
Robert Daws, Amy Robbins, Paul Fox, Wendy Craig, Ian Carmichael, Michelle Hardwick.

It was Thursday, 7am and Mr Middleditch was already in his office, yesterday on his way home Mr Harper had dumped on his desk, such an amount of paperwork that several trees must have been cut down to provide enough paper to print it on.

He'd gotten rid of as much as he could last night, staying in his office until well after everybody else that wasn't on night duty had gone home, still more than half of it was still sitting on his desk, he had lunch with the board at 12.30, he had to brief them in on some minor administrative changes the district health authority wanted, so he had those papers to sort out. Also this afternoon he had the hospital budget to present to the council, and he hadn't even started on the speech he had to give tonight, he was presenting an award.

He didn't know if as the days went on he had more and more work to do, or if it just seemed like it. He tried to concentrate on the work but he had a nagging headache, he really didn't feel well at all, he knew he shouldn't be here, he knew he should tell one of the doctors, but he had too much work to do, Mr Harper was supposed to be here to sort out hospitals, make them better, but all he seemed to do was get more and more paperwork for all members of staff to do, he knew it wasn't just him, that's why he couldn't give up, if everybody else could do it, so could he.

A couple of hours later Mr Middleditch got up to go to reception, he stumbled a bit but put it down to early morning stiffness.

He stepped out into reception, everything was flashing in and out of focus, he blinked hard trying to clear his vision. He turned to look at Lizzy, he wanted to ask her where the admission records papers were, but no words came out. He raised his right hand as if to point at something and staggered backwards slightly before he regained his balance.

"Mr Middleditch, are you ok?" Lizzy asked, her voice sounded so far away. He knew what was coming now, knew he'd been stupid to ignore it. He staggered backwards again and collapsed on the floor. Lizzy let out a silent scream and rushed to his side, that wasn't what she should have done, been told to do, but this wasn't some stranger, this was Mr Middleditch. Luckily Gordon had just come to get the patient notes for his next lot of patients.

"What happened?" Gordon asked while checking for a pulse, there wasn't one, he started CPR, Lizzy was in to much shock to say anything. After a few minutes Gordon stopped, there was no point in continuing, too much blood was on the floor. He looked at Lizzy, he didn't need to say anything, she knew, they both did.

The funeral was scheduled for the following week, on the Sunday. The reason why it could happen as quickly as that was because the cause of death hadn't been in question. Mr Middleditch had been a hypertensive, with 30 years of only taking his blood-pressure medication when he'd remembered. This had let to a blood clot in the brain, then a gradual build-up of pressure, also he had been under a lot of stress recently. All these factors contributed to what amounted to a cerebral haemorrhage, in layman's terms a stroke.

Of all the staff in the hospital Matron took it the hardest, they'd been colleagues and friends for nearly 40 years. There wasn't anyone who either upon hearing the news or later in private didn't shed a few tears. Mr Middleditch had been loved and respected by everyone who'd ever known him, he was that kind of person. Of everybody Sister Bridget probably had the easiest time of it, this wasn't because she didn't care or wasn't sad, it was just she had her faith and believed that he'd gone to a better place.

The day of the funeral Mr Middleditch's son Simon turned up. He hadn't come earlier because of 'pressing business', he was an investment banker. He worked the European markets much the same as his counterparts worked wall street. This left Matron and Gordon to arrange the funeral between them, for this they enlisted the services of Bernie Scripps.
"Hello I'm looking for Matron, Simon Middleditch." Simon told Lizzy, in a cultured tone you normally would expect to hear from a Harvard business school graduate, he must have copied it in London because he hadn't left Elsinby with it.

"Follow me." Lizzy said, heading down the corridor to the room that used to be Mr Middleditch's office, there Matron and Gordon were waiting for him.

"Simon" Matron got up to great him, she remembered when he'd been a baby, so small and vulnerable, now he stood six feet off the ground and radiated power.

"Matron" Simon kissed her cheek politely and then turned to shake hands with Gordon. Matron frowned, something in Simon had changed, he was different. She put that thought out of her head, it was probably just that his father had just died.

At the funeral the usual songs were sung, the vicar gave his sermon, then it was time for the eulogies. There was only going to be one, Simon didn't want to give one and neither did Matron, so the task had fallen to Gordon.

"Mr Middleditch was a remarkable man. Over the years he's done so much for the local community, he gave us the hospital, I can't tell you how many lives that's save over the years. He fought in both world wars, first as a Captain, then later as a Major. He was there on D-Day, he was there on the beaches of Dunkirk. So not only has he saved lives here, he's helped saved the whole country. He gave so much as anyone who ever knew him would testify. There will only ever be one Mr Middleditch and we were lucky enough to know him." It was a short statement really, to commemorate a life so full of success and goodness, but what else was there left to say except for, "May he rest in peace."

Now for the first time since Mr Middleditch's death, did the staff allow themselves to think of their own futures. Mr Middleditch had owned the hospital building, now that he was dead what would happen to it. Would Simon keep the building or would he sell it. Everybody deep down hoped that Mr Middleditch's kindness and goodness ran in the family. A few people for example Jill rather suspected it didn't. They would all find out for sure one way or the other by that evening, the lawyer was coming to read the will.

So straight after the funeral Simon, Matron and Gordon went back to the hospital where the lawyer was waiting for them, it was the moment of truth time.