The weeks that followed were difficult for Gordon. He found each day a struggle and just getting out of bed was a task in itself but he knew he had to carry on for the sake of their kids. Tom and Katie were well aware of Jill's absence and were deeply affected by her passing but Jonathon was mostly ignorant to her disappearance. There had been several times when Jonathon had cried for hours on end during the night but nothing would sooth him; Gordon could only guess that he was missing his mother's loving touch.
Everyday tasks now seemed strange to Gordon without Jill besides him; drying the dishes whilst she washed them, cuddling on the sofa at night, hearing her sing in the morning and so on. Jill's belongings still lay around the house; Gordon didn't have the heart to store then away, not yet anyway. Her tooth brush was still next to his in their en-suite, her half of the wardrobe still full of her clothes and her medical magazines lay on the coffee table in the living room just as she'd left them. It felt that if none of that ever changed, if her things still surrounded them, then he'd never really have to face up to the fact that she was gone.
But of course deep down he knew she was gone, that Jill was never coming back. Gordon found it hard to face up to the facts but it was important if he and his family were ever going to move on from the tragic event. He'd taken the brave move to go back to work; a move that some thought was too soon after the tragic happenings but Gordon felt it was the right decision. It gave them, as a family, some sort of normality and routine.
The new routine was hard to adjust to, there was just one adult in the house now trying to cope with three children; getting them up and ready for school before Gordon himself had to dash off to work but somehow it worked. Tom & Katie behaved as best they could and had been co-operating rather well since Jill's funeral. They didn't have the heart to misbehave and cause trouble; it was just Jonathon that Gordon struggled with. Jonathon didn't understand what had happened therefore he made no allowances for a missing parent; he kept Gordon up at night crying, he refused to eat and do as his told. And whilst Jonathon did these things Gordon couldn't help but realise that they were the things Jill usually dealt with. Jill used to sit up with him for hours in the night trying to get him off to sleep; she did the funny aeroplane sounds to get him to eat and gave him the motherly love that he so badly needed. They were things that Gordon could do but wasn't as talented an it made Gordon realise what a big part of the Ormerod family they had lost.
Jill's car still sat in the drive way, Gordon had returned it back to where it belonged several days after Jill's passing. Her diary still sat in the glove compartment along with a torch and map, her coat and a bag of spare clothing and shoes in the boot. Gordon didn't know what he was going to do with it but he knew it was too soon to get rid of it, it was a part of Jill that he wanted to keep for as long as possible. Whilst he'd always driven the larger family car, Jill had always stuck with her trustworthy classic mini. It was big enough for her and the children when Gordon wasn't at home but small enough for her to do her house calls during working hours.
It may not have been obvious to them yet but in the long run they'd manage okay without Jill. Yes there'd always be part of them missing without her; a spare place at the table, nobody to call mum... but they'd manage because Gordon was determined to do her proud and raise their three children as she'd wanted. Dr Jill Weatherill lived on in them.