Continued... [not worried were you? ;)]
Chapter 5
Cora exited out of the car in front of the hospital and looked around casually. Her driver asked if he should wait but she let him go with instructions to pick her back up in a few hours. She wasn't sure how long her appointment would be. She was early and supposed she could have a look around before George arrived for them to speak with the Doctor about the condition of her Cousin Isobel.
It was a flurry of activity in front of the hospital. There was an ambulance parked in front of the main door and a doctor was speaking with the paramedic. Two others were lifting a stretcher out of the back door and Cora noticed the blonde hair of a young girl beneath a bloody sheet that covered her to her neck. The girl had a mask over her face and she looked very pale. Lady Grantham looked away quickly. Her heart broke a bit for the family of the little girl who was clearly hurt very badly. How terrible.
She looked back to the street to see another ambulance pull up behind the first one and a rush of nurses and doctors came pouring out the main doors of the hospital. Not wanting to be caught in the middle of what was clearly a major catastrophe happening, she quietly went around to the side door and made her way inside. At the main reception desk she waited for a nurse to return so she could let the doctor know she was there and to leave instructions for George to know where to find her when he arrived. Hopefully there was a cup of tea somewhere on the premises that she could enjoy while she waited. She waited patiently but no one arrived. She rang the bell and waited again.
Some time passed before a flustered looking nurse finally answered the ringing bell.
"Lady Grantham! How did you get here so fast, we just telephoned the estate..."
"I'm sure I don't understand. I have an appointment with Doctor Hartman for a consultation. It's not for another hour, but I thought I would let him know I was here. And my Grandson will be arriving shortly," Cora stopped speaking when she saw the look on the nurse's face.
"I'm sorry? Your Grandson just arrived."
"Oh good. Can you bring him to me, I'd like to speak to him before the appointment."
"You don't know do you?" The nurse had a dawning realization. Lady Grantham was here by coincidence.
"Know what my dear? Whatever do you mean?"
"There's been an accident... Involving young Master Crawley," The nurse watched as Cora realized what was happening. Somehow the woman's pallor went even whiter than she normally was.
"Is he alright?"
"We're not sure yet. Sybil Branson was just brought in as well. I'll take you to the waiting room, but you shouldn't see them quite yet. I'll send a Doctor out as soon as we know their status. We just spoke to your husband and he is on his way here right now. He's going to locate Mr. Branson as well"
Cora wordlessly wandered into the room where the nurse was pointing. Completely in shock. At the last second she deviated her course and headed back into the main hallway in time to see a stretcher being wheeled through. She could tell it was Sybbie from the shape of the body and her long dark hair but her face was covered in blood and swollen beyond recognition. The nurses wheeled the stretcher past her and she could only watch in horror as her Granddaughter was taken behind a swinging door and away from her sight. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Sybbie did not look well at all. Cora was really not sure if she could handle if anything were to happen to her only grandchild by her youngest daughter.
As she was standing there worrying about Sybbie, another stretcher went past very quickly and she barely registered that it was George flayed out upon it. It was too surreal. She ran towards him and tried to hold his hand and talk to him but one of the attendants physically held her back from her Grandson and heir to the Grantham estate.
"We've got to stabilize him your Ladyship. We have to go quickly, You can wait here, one of the Doctors will be out as soon as possible to update you."
Lady Cora just stood there in shock. She looked down and saw that there was blood on her hand. The tears flowed freely as she just stared at it. Shock and disbelief fighting with the reality of what she had just seen.
She couldn't help but think of Mary and how she would react to this. If anything were to happen to George, it would destroy her. And poor Tom. He couldn't handle the loss either. He had died a little himself the night Sybil had died and might never have recovered if it had not been for their daughter.
Cora was very confused by what was happening and was forced to wait by herself with the ignorance that was tearing her up. She stood in the centre of the room and stared at the blood on her hand while desperately wishing away the circumstances that were unfolding. Eventually she sat down, unsure of how to formulate any thoughts of what to do next.
It seemed like only a minute or two, but in reality she had no idea how much time had passed before she heard the familiar voice of her oldest daughter at the nurse's desk. She could overhear the raised, panicked voice from where she was and quickly went out to help her daughter.
"I demand to see my son!" Mary had the poor nurse looking scared when Cora approached her from behind and placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
Mary turned around and was shocked to see her mother standing there. Her own face melted in grief when she saw the familiar face.
"Oh Mama! It's George and Sybbie!"
"I know my dear. I'm so, so sorry that this has happened."
Mary turned towards her mother fully, let her head fall to the matriarch's shoulder and let a few sobs erupt but seemingly contained herself within a minute or two.
"Do you know what happened? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to arrive until this afternoon." Cora asked.
"We took the early train. And I telephoned and spoke to Barrow this morning about picking us up from the train station earlier. I wanted to surprise you. We came across the accident on our way back to the Abbey. Oh Mama, it was such a terrible thing to see."
Cora stood tall, wiped the tears off her daughter's cheeks and brushed a piece of errant hair back behind Mary's ear.
"Oh Mary." Was all she could muster to say in comfort. "Where are Tony and the girls?"
"They went ahead to Downton. I rode in the ambulance with O'Malley on the way here. They told me George, Emma and Sybbie had already been brought in. Oh Mama. George must be alright. He just must. I couldn't bear it to lose him. They don't think O'Malley is going to make it. His chest was crushed..."
Cora just held her daughter until she realized something that Mary had said.
"Did you say Emma? Bates and Mrs. Bates' daughter?" The little blonde head she had seen on the stretcher suddenly seemed incredibly familiar. Unfortunately.
"Yes, Lena was there as well but she ran off to get help after the accident. They think the car may have struck the girl and swerved off the road into a tree. George was thrown out of the car. Oh! I must see him!" She kept the 'even just to say good bye' bit to herself.
Mary turned back to where the nurse had been standing behind the desk but she was gone. Both of the Crawley women looked around but saw no sign of any sort of physician or aide. The four serious cases that had just been brought in were occupying everyone's attention. Mary started to pace nervously.
A short time later, Robert came barrelling in and looked as shocked and hurt as his wife felt. He immediately found the two women, surprised to see Mary there, and they filled him in on everything that they knew at that point. Which wasn't very much at all. As much as it pained him to see Mary in her current predicament, he was glad that she had found out already. The whole trip into the village, he had been dreading having to tell her about her son being in an auto accident. He had been down that path already once in his life, and had no wish to duplicate the scenario. He prayed that George and Sybbie would be alright. And poor little Emma too. At that point, he was so livid with O'Malley that he didn't even want to hear the man's name. He had always seemed such a responsible driver until then.
The three of them stood there unsure of what to do or say for what seemed like an hour. It wasn't really that long, but it felt like it to them.
A doctor came through the swinging doors and immediately sought out the three standing there.
"Lady Mary, I understand you would like to see your son?"
"Yes! Tell me, how is he?" Mary looked pleadingly at the Doctor.
"He is very bashed about the head, and looks like he sustained some intense bruising and scrapes. We're treating a serious head wound right now, but I don't see any reason to be alarmed. He took a nasty blow to the head, but he's awake and he knows who and where he is so we are very optimistic." The Doctor noticed that May seemed to be absorbing the information rapidly, but she still looked panicked. "The nurse can take you in to him, but only if you have a strong stomach. They're tending the wound on his head right now..."
Mary eagerly followed the nurse who had crept up behind the doctor while he was speaking and the two of them disappeared behind the doors.
The Doctor then turned to Lord and Lady Grantham.
"Is Miss Branson's father here?"
The older couple shook their heads. A voice called out from the door way,
"I'm here! How is she?"
Tom ran up to the conversation remarkably out of breath, but distressed all the same.
"She is quite serious Mr. Branson. We think we can treat her but I must let you know there is a worst case scenario in play right now. She is injured about the ribs. Many are broken, and her breathing is congested. She has sustained serious trauma of her facial bones. We will need some time to work on her, but right now, she is breathing though unconscious. And I'm sorry, I must get back, you understand. I just wanted to update you..."
Robert and Cora watched the man they had loved for so many years, even though it was a very rocky relationship to start with, fall to his knees. They heard him murmur something that sounded like 'Sybil' before he buried his face into his hands. Cora knelt down beside him in a fretfully unlady-like manner to comfort the man who had been such a wonderful father to her grand-daughter. They could both see his heart breaking.
"She's strong Tom. She'll rally through" Robert wasn't sure how to handle the emotional outburst of the man who had once been his chauffeur. And then his son-in-law. And whom he now considered a very dear friend.
They managed to get Tom up and seated on a chair in the lounge and as they did so two policemen accompanied a very frightened looking Mrs. Bates and a very angry looking Mr. Bates into the hospital.
A nurse appeared out of nowhere and spoke quickly and quietly to the couple about their daughter. Anna turned to her husband and said something but it wasn't overheard. He closed his eyes tightly and hung his head.
Cora felt her heart leap into her throat. She started towards them but they rushed off in the other direction with another nurse who had arrived to escort them to their child.
The remaining nurse approached Robert, Cora and Tom carefully.
"I hate to have to ask this, but do any of you know your blood type? The little girl has lost a tremendous amount of blood... and we're just a small hospital. We're not prepared for this..." The nurse looked stressed. She had not imagined anything like this ever happening.
"If any of you would be willing to be tested, we might save the girl..."
Tom was the first to volunteer. Lord and Lady Grantham were not far behind.
They had to do something...
To be continued...