Patrick was hoping to find his son either in the big bed or on the settee, safe in the knowledge Shelagh was in Timothy's bed. He was pretty certain that wasn't what he was going to find.
The living room door was ajar, the telly was still on and showing the test card. The silver light from the screen picked out an array of books, school jotters, plates, cups and glasses on the floor. Shelagh was laid on her right hand side on his settee. A thought fluttered through his mind, was this how she normally slept? or had the furniture forced her position.
Timothy was laid in front of her and they were covered in a collection of blankets from the airing cupboard. He saw a snippet of the bright red of the Nonnatus cardigan among them. Shelagh had one arm around the child and one scrunched into a ball holding the edge of the woolly.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed her hair was down and her glasses were on the floor resting on a book. He could see the collar of one his pyjama tops poking out the top of the covers encircling her throat.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable, he should not be looking at her in her sleep, no one had seen her like this, not for years, not maybe since she was a child. He should leave, but he couldn't. The silver light flickered across her face and hair making it look darker than he imagined it to be, from what he had seen today. It was wavy and thick and rested on her shoulders.
His observations were interrupted at the sound of the telephone. Patrick rushed to the hall table to silence it.
"Turner," he almost whispered.
"Doc? 'Allo, I am sorry to ring so late, it's just I'd heard nothing sees and so as not to disturb Nonnatus. I rangs the hospital see and they said as I wasn't proper family they couldn't tell me nuffin'. But as you 'ad just not long left with the constable, to maybies give you a bell."
It took Patrick a while to realize it was the Nonnatus handyman on the other end of the call. It took him slightly longer to remember he and Chummy ran Tim's cub pack and had formed quite a bond.
He stared into the living room. Shelagh had stirred at the sound of the bell, but was trapped under a still sleeping Timothy. She was fidgeting, Patrick suddenly realized she would be unsure of her whereabouts and remembered her poor vision. He flicked a switch in the hall to give her more light.
She stilled and tried to focus on him, a smile blossomed across her face. He understood she was able to see him, at least in part. He wanted to help her, but Fred was still wittering on. She found her spectacles and put them back where they had use. That simple task seemed to bring her relief, the observer thought.
Shelagh looked inquiringly at Patrick, sitting up as much as she could under Tim's weight. Patrick gazed at his sleeping son, peaceful and unburdened and suddenly felt a shot of something he could easily mistake for envy. "Are you OK?" He mouthed at her and winked. Shelagh's eyes did the opposite in response and widened, she nodded.
"So Doc, if you can just tell me 'ow she is?" the intrusive voice in his ear.
Patrick looked at a stirring Timothy, who was being hushed and soothed by Shelagh, he could see his pyjama top more clearly. She had draped the signature Nonnatun knitwear around her shoulders, her cheeks were peony pink rather than the clammy alabaster he had witnessed earlier. Her hair in the extra light was all shades of a cornfield waiting for harvest. The mixture of different light sources kept catching her eyes, moving them through the spectrum from sapphire to azure at each turn of her head.
She was humming something to Tim as she stroked his matted hair. He recognised it as a song he had heard on the wireless and somewhere else more recently, much more recently. The humming occasionally gave way to song...put it in your pocket...never..fade away...some starless night...pocket full of starlight...love may come...want to hold her...they just might...
A now forgotten voice at the other end of the telephone invaded his consciousness,
"Doc, your killing me 'ere, just tell me straight. How are they doing?"
Patrick smiled, "Mother and child are doing well, they are doing just fine."
Thank you for reading it means so much and to all who have took time to comment I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this playful look at a wonderful episode as much as I did. It's been a long day. See you soon.