A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
Chapter 3: What is Going to Happen
As soon as Onslow and Daisy ran inside the church hall, they immediately got the crowd of people there to quieten down.
"Everybody, there's something we have to tell you, and it's bad news. It's very, very bad," said Onslow.
"Does it have anything to do with the terrible car accident that just happened outside?" asked Richard.
"Yes, it does," Daisy replied.
"I know the vicar and his wife and several other people are out there now, seeing if there's anybody they can pray for. I suppose we all ought to be doing that right now," said Emmet, and in that moment, it took every ounce of inner-strength Onslow and Daisy could muster to keep from completely breaking down into sobs right then and there.
After a very long pause, Onslow finally looked Emmet in the eye and told him, "Emmet, you need to come over here and sit down."
"Why do I need to sit down, Onslow?" Emmet asked. But in that next moment, it began to hit him what was going on, and his heart started racing, and he started feeling hot and cold and sick all over. "Where's Elizabeth?" he asked then with pure dread. "I know Liz is on her way here to the potluck supper now. Did she get stuck in traffic because of the car wreck or something? Where is she? Where's my sister?"
"Emmet, please, there's something we have to tell you, and you need to be sitting down when we do. You too, Hyacinth," Daisy told them as silent tears began streaming down her cheeks.
Emmet shook his head and said, "No, I don't want to sit down. Just tell me what's going on. Just tell me where my sister is."
"Yes, do tell us where Elizabeth is and what is going on," Hyacinth demanded.
In that instant, Onslow took a deep breath, and while maintaining eye contact with Emmet, he told him, "Emmet, while Elizabeth was on her way here tonight, she was hit in a head-on collision by a drunk driver, who was driving a much larger vehicle than hers. Your sister's hurt, Emmet, and she's hurt very, very badly."
"How badly?" asked Hyacinth, who was now feeling every bit as sick as Emmet was.
"Her left arm has been completely severed," Onslow replied while Emmet, Hyacinth, and everyone else gasped in horror. "The paramedics have got it on ice, and they're hoping the doctors will be able to reattach it at the hospital. But right now, there's something even more serious than her arm, and that's her heart."
"Her heart? What's the matter with her heart?" Emmet gasped.
"The last Onslow and I saw, the paramedics had Elizabeth on a stretcher, and they were performing CPR to try and restart her heart," Daisy explained as shocked cries and screams of horror from Hyacinth and everybody else filled the church hall.
As soon as Daisy said that, Emmet began to collapse, and Richard, who was standing the closest to him, immediately reached out and caught him. "Easy, Emmet. Easy; easy. You need to sit," said Richard as he helped Emmet into the nearest chair.
Emmet shook his head then and gasped, "No. No. I don't believe it. I don't. This is impossible. I was talking and joking with Liz…just this morning. Just this morning. She was fine. She was perfectly fine. She was happy. She was smiling. She was teasing me and giving me a good kick in the rear for staying cooped up in the house all the time, feeling sorry for myself after my divorce. She said she thought it was time I started dating again. She said I needed to pick myself up and dust myself off and get back in the saddle. This can't be happening. It just can't be. Liz, she…we were talking just this morning."
"The helicopter's on its way here now," said Onslow. "They're taking her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham."
"My sister works as a nurse in that hospital," said a young, slim, blonde lady there named Hazel for her hazel eyes. "It's the best. It's the very best. They'll give Elizabeth the very best of care. As long as they're taking her to that hospital, you can all rest assured that Elizabeth will have a fighting chance."
"The cops are outside now, clearing the road for when the helicopter arrives," said Daisy.
"This isn't real. This isn't happening. It can't be," Emmet gasped.
"How could something like this happen to a lady as kind and caring and wonderful as Elizabeth?" asked Mrs. Drummond. "How could she be here one moment and gone the next, just like that?" she asked while snapping her fingers.
"As tragic as it is, as unthinkable as it is, my sister sees things like this in her line of work every single day," said Hazel. "It's crazy how many people in this world still get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol."
"Just thinking about it terrifies me right down to the core," said Sonia Barker-Finch. "The thought of a human life being taken so very suddenly, without a moment of warning. And out of all people, why, why did it have to be Elizabeth? Elizabeth's such a pure, sweet soul. One of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever met. If we lose her, it'll be such a great tragedy for us all. And God help us, we really could lose her now. What if they can't get Elizabeth's heart started again? It'll just kill me if she doesn't make it."
"It'll kill me, too," said Mrs. Lomax. "Liz is an angel. Such an angel. She doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to die this way."
Hyacinth then walked to the middle of the room and said in a very loud voice, "THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, AND I WILL NOT LISTEN TO ONE MORE MOMENT OF THIS KIND OF TALK! NOT ONE MORE MOMENT! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
Then in a (somewhat) calmer voice, she said to them, "I'll tell you all, right here and now, what is going to happen. The paramedics are going to get Elizabeth's heart started again, and as soon as the helicopter arrives, it will take her to the hospital in Birmingham. And as soon as Elizabeth gets there, the doctors will operate on her and repair every last trace of damage that this terrible car accident has done to her heart and to her arm, and they will reattach her arm successfully. And when the doctors are through operating on her, Elizabeth will begin her journey down the road to recovery. And as she recovers, we are all going to be right there by her side, walking this hard road with her, every single moment, every single step of the way. Every single step that Elizabeth has to take, we will take it with her. We are going to see to it that Elizabeth has everything she needs every second throughout all of this, and we are going to believe in her with all our hearts, and we are going to spend every waking moment of this journey pouring as much love and support into her as we can muster, for as long as it takes, regardless if it's weeks or months…or even years. We are going to wear our kneecaps to dust praying for her, if that's what it takes. And while we'll be trusting in Jesus to give Elizabeth all the miracles she will need along the way to get well, we'll be taking care of her and looking out for her and doing all the things for her that we are able to do on our end. We're going to work together with the Almighty, and with His divine help and assistance, we will get Elizabeth through this. And when that wonderful day finally arrives when she's fully recovered, Elizabeth will walk through those doors," said Hyacinth while pointing to the double doors of the church hall, "and she will walk through them healthier and stronger than ever before. THAT is what is going to happen. And if I EVER catch any of you crying like this in front of Elizabeth, with this pathetic attitude of defeat, causing her even the tiniest moment of doubt and discouragement on her road to recovery, YOU WILL ANSWER DIRECTLY TO ME. And that includes you, Emmet. Now do you all understand?"
"Message received and understood, Mrs. B.," said the vicar, who had just come into the church hall with his wife a few moments before, and had heard every word Hyacinth had said.
In the next moment, the helicopter arrived and took Elizabeth off to the hospital in Birmingham, and as soon as it was gone, the vicar's wife told everyone, "They got her heart going again."
Naturally, they all let out a huge collective sigh of relief as soon as they heard that, and then the vicar suggested that they have a word of prayer before leaving for the hospital. And after taking a couple of minutes to pray together with the vicar and his wife for Elizabeth, they all began heading out to their cars to go to the hospital in Birmingham, and Hyacinth told Emmet that she and Richard would take him there. And then Hyacinth walked over to Emmet, who had sat down again.
"On your feet, Emmet," she said in a gentler tone, and Emmet rose from his seat. Hyacinth then brushed the tears from his eyes with her thumbs, and she told him in the same gentle tone, "No tears. You're not going to let Liz see you cry, and I'm not going to let her see me cry, either. I might not be related to Elizabeth by blood, and I might not have grown up together with her like you did, but as far as I'm concerned, Elizabeth is one of my baby sisters. There is no difference to me between Elizabeth and Daisy and Violet and Rose. She's my baby sister just the same, and as her older sister, it's my job to protect her and look after her. And protect her and look after her I shall. And so shall you. She needs us both to protect her and care for her and look out for her through all this. And the last thing on earth she needs right now is to see us cry. If she sees us crying, she might think that there's no hope and give up, and we cannot allow that. Not for one fraction of one second. Liz needs to turn to us for the strength she needs now, and we need to be the ones helping her to feel better, not the other way around. Do you understand?"
Emmet nodded and replied, "I understand, Hyacinth. You're right. You're one hundred percent right about everything you just said. Even though I'm a man, Liz has always been the stronger one of the two of us. But I know that I need to start being the strong one now. Liz has been there for me and looked out for me my whole life. Now, it's my turn."
"That's right," said Hyacinth. "And it's my turn as well. Elizabeth isn't just my next-door neighbor; she's my dearest and closest friend. Every time I've ever needed her for anything over the years, no matter how big or small, she has always been there. Always. Without a moment of complaint. And now, Elizabeth is the one who needs me, and I won't let her down for a moment, Emmet. Not for one single moment."
"I know you won't, Hyacinth. I know if there was ever anyone Liz and I could count on now, it's you," Emmet told Hyacinth truthfully. Up until now, he had never seen Hyacinth Bucket as anything more than an irritating, obnoxious nuisance, but in those moments, he began to realize just how big Hyacinth's heart actually was. He began to realize that underneath all her bluster, she really did have a very kind heart, and she really did love Elizabeth very much.
In that moment, Emmet found himself embracing the last woman on earth he would ever touch under ordinary circumstances. And after the embrace ended, Hyacinth told him, "Let's go now. Let's get into the car and go to the hospital so we can be by our sister's side. Let's start getting her well so we can bring her home again, with us, where she belongs."
"Yes, ma'am," Emmet said in an emotional whisper. And then, both Hyacinth and Richard put their arms around him and walked out of the church hall, with him in between them, to their car, with Onslow, Daisy, and Rose following in their car behind them.