A warm glow that being in love and being loved in return, is always Ruth's overriding emotion when she opens her eyes these days. This morning it comes with a feeling of deep relief, that she's finally told the man who is still sleeping beside her, that Paris and the rest of her solitary exile, had only served to increase those feelings.
Pulling a heavy sweater over her head, she uses the bathroom and then potters through to the kitchen, where she flicks the switch to up the heating and then puts the kettle on. Now fully awake, her thoughts return to the reason she hadn't pressed Harry for answers, when he'd talked about going into work. For what she presumes will be a face-to -face chat with Ros, as opposed to the current arrangement where she rings him and from what she's overheard, asks him for advice. For the simple reason that he'd side tracked her, by suggesting that they ask Malcolm to have lunch with them. Dear sweet Malcolm who had flown to Paris to find her and now she's back and has no intension of reclaiming her job as an analyst, strictly speaking she shouldn't have contact with. Something which had temporarily caused her to ignore her concerns as to how they're going to manage their lives, when Harry finally resumes his position as Section Head. Firstly, are they going to live in his house in London during the week and hers at the weekends, because surely the time will come when one or the other of them will get sick of the constant upheaval? And secondly, when the local kids go back to what she views as a normal school, that she's forgotten to tell Harry that she's signed up to give those who are struggling with language subjects, extra tuition.
Not that going to a boarding school, which is what Adam and Fiona had chosen for Wes and Harry has agreed should continue, rather than attend as a day boy, is necessarily a bad thing. Wes's obvious love of water related activities, as opposed to being crushed to death by the opposition during a rugby match, being a case in point. As is the thought that he'll be coming home every weekend, which confirms how in the space of a few weeks, Wes without any effort on his part has captured her heart.
'What are you thinking?' asks the child in question, who has materialised behind her with all the attributes that his father had possessed, making her jump.
'How nice this is, us being on holiday together,' she tells him. Knowing that if she says she's been wondering how she can be in two places at the same time, it will provoke further questions.
'Uncle Harry says that you're always thinking. Dad used to say that as well. I'm thinking about Christmas and going on a boat trip. Can I have a cup of tea please?'
Trying and failing to imagine how Wes in the same sentence, has asked her if he can have a cup of tea in a perfectly calm voice, having not only mentioned his father, but Christmas and the boat trip that has been booked for Christmas Eve, is Ruth concludes, a good reason for her to stop over thinking things. Doing it though, might not be that simple.
.
Through the kitchen garden and the gate in the wall and you'll find yourself on the towpath, is just one of many suggestions which are listed in the visitor's book, under the heading of 'a day out without using the car'. The reality, is that they find themselves with a landscape that is so at odds with the almost manicured estate that they've left behind them, that it's as though they've stepped into an entirely different world.
That they're not alone in enjoying the scenery, or are they the only family who are out walking, is no longer something that surprises Harry, when a couple with a dog, stand back to let them pass and a lone canoeist briefly stops paddling and waves to them. The why, is because he's got used to Ruth's morning walks on the beach that come with the certain knowledge that he'll feel better for a walk in the fresh air before breakfast. Breakfast which this morning their planning to enjoy at The Boatyard Café which is about half a mile from what is a small bend in the river. Thoughts which are the reason that he's not concentrating and why what happens next, takes him by surprise.
The bike and its young rider come out of nowhere and slam into his legs, causing him to pitch forwards and grab hold of an overhanging branch to save himself from falling. What he can't prevent from happening, is the domino effect that with him struggling to hold on, results in Michael cannoning into Wes, who unable to keep his balance falls backwards into the freezing water.
Telling him to wait as he lets go of the branch, kicks off his shoes and unbuttons his jacket preparing to jump in, is a man far younger than he is. Not that he can hear him, or takes any notice of Ruth who is also shouting 'don't'. All he can see is the car exploding and how even a minute might have saved Adams's life. That the river isn't fast moving and Wes appears to be holding his own as he swims towards him, isn't the reason that he feels as though he's treading water. It's the temperature that he can't ignore and how his clothing is making it difficult to coordinate his movements and close the gap between them. Only another few more meters he tells himself, taking a huge breath which allows himself to tell Wes to hold on. Only to realise that by doing so, he's swallowed more water than is good for him.
What he can't see, when he finally reaches Wes, is that on the towpath where a terrified Ruth is standing with Michael, a crowd of people have appeared out of nowhere. Or can he hear the shouts of encouragement, when with one arm around Wes and the other which he's using as a paddle, sees them edging, albeit slowly, nearer to the bank. Because he's starting to get cramp in his legs and he knows if he gives into that, it will be all over for both of them. Which is the moment when the man who has waged war against terrorists, tells himself that he's buggered if he's going to let a few metres of freezing water get the better of him, when he's been gifted this second chance of a life that he plans will be filled with love and laughter. Only to feel his grip on Wes diminish as the rest of his body goes into spasm.
.
Having followed the ambulance to the hospital, Ruth thanks the couple who she doesn't know, other than they offered to give her and Michael a lift and their phone number, asking her to call and let them know how Harry and Wes are, before she runs as fast as her legs will carry her towards the front door. It's here and only because Michael is now crying, that she adopts what she hopes is a look of reassurance, as they follow the arrows in the direction of the accident and emergency department. Both words resonating in her head, sending her the message that what had happened was an accident she can cope with, but not until she sees both Harry and Wes breathing normally, will this horror revert to being anything other than an emergency of life - threatening proportions.
She's also very aware that neither she and Michael have eaten breakfast which is probably why she's feeling dizzy, and when they arrive at the information desk to find a long queue of people, she prays she's not going to be sick.
Only to be told by a nurse who introduces herself as Ashley, that 'they need to go to the relative's room which is next to the cafeteria and that someone will come and tell them when there's any news.'
Several more corridors later, by which time she's walked past people who look just as confused as she feels, and more than once, she finally reaches her destination. The calm and organised Ruth having now deserted her, she calls Angela.
Leaving Michael to explain the finer details to his mother, having told Angela, 'where they are and that she'll get back to her as soon as she has any news and no, she doesn't need her to abandoned her course and drive over, she just needed to hear a friendly voice,' she walks over to the counter and picks up a tray. Any chance of there being something as simple as toast which is what she really fancies at what is now approaching lunchtime is long gone, so she settles for sandwiches for both of them.
'You're a good lad, she tells Michael who insists that he carry the tray, while she heads for a table that overlooks the carpark, on a day that had started out with so much promise. Knowing that because she has Michael with her, that she can't give into the emotion of helplessness that she's feeling, or make the hands on the clock on the wall go any faster.
The same applying when they've finished eating and have decamped to the relative's room. Where on chairs that look equally uncomfortable, if not more so than the one she's occupying, are an elderly man and a woman who she presumes is his daughter. Both of whom look as though they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. She follows their gaze, until the three of them are concentrating on Michael who is rifling through the magazines. Until the door opens and a doctor tells her fellow sufferers, that they can see Mrs. Simmonds now.
About to be left on her own with Michael, Ruth who has a million and one questions going through her own head just nods at them, as they leave to be confronted by what she can only imagine. Whereas she who has watched enough medical dramas to know that people suffering from hypothermia, need to be, for the want of a better expression, warmed up slowly to avoid suffering a cardiac arrest, is something which fails to stop her imagining the rest of her life without Harry. And as if that's not bad enough, what if Harry survives and Wes doesn't? The guilt alone she knows will be enough to kill him.
.
On the periphery of the drama, the force which is Angela is ignoring all the speed limits to get to the hospital as soon as she can. Her course abandoned, with an explanation that had consisted of few words, after which she'd thrown her clothes into her suitcase and driven out of the car park, with one thought only on her mind. Ruth needed her support and she was damn well going to get it and was why when she walked into the relative's room, her first words after she'd asked if there was, 'any news', were 'don't you dare tell me that I shouldn't have come.'
Not that her visit to reception speeds things up, because less than half an hour later, sirens from several ambulances and the air ambulance thundering overhead, announce the arrival of victims of what they are told has been a major pile up on the main road outside Ipswich. Minor injuries have been diverted to a smaller hospital whilst the major ones are being triaged to determine what if anything can be done. Does that mean that Harry and Wes are being side lined, while they treat what one poor woman describes as her husband whose legs have been crushed, Ruth doesn't have the heart to ask. Whilst still hanging on to the belief that no news is good news and that the overworked and underpaid NHS are doing their best.
Which means that it isn't until it's getting dark, by which time and Ruth has given Angela the keys to the cabin and told her to make herself at home, because Michael was being subjected to conversations that were upsetting, even to her as an adult, that the door opens and Ashley singles her out.
.
'I'm so sorry that you've been kept waiting, but as I'm sure you know there's been a major incident. Our A&E simply isn't large enough to ensure that people don't see what's going on around them, so given that your son is so young, we moved him and your husband to somewhere quieter. It's a bit of a hike I'm afraid, but the good news is that they're both improving.'
'Thank you,' says Ruth. The presumption that Harry is her husband and Wes her son, barely registering having heard the word improving.
A bit of a hike, isn't an exaggeration, as she follows Ashley down yet another maze of corridors and then up in the lift to the first floor. Although nothing prepares her for the overwhelming sense of relief that she feels, when she's ushered into the small room where they lie side by side. Harry's bed looking far too small for him and Wes's far too large.
'Thank you,' she says again, but this time to the nurse who is sitting by Wes's bed and holding his hand. A junior nurse who introduces herself as Chloe. 'We never leave little ones on their own, especially now when Christmas is only a few days away,' she tells Ruth. Before nodding in Harry's direction, as much as if to say, well what are you waiting for?
