Chapter Twenty Eight

The morning after the night before brings devastating news to Emily.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

I awoke to the sound of rain scouring the bedroom window. A strong wind was howling, battering the house, but the pitch, the timbre was somewhat skewed. The noise was coming from the wrong direction. This was not my room. The light was all wrong; the bed was too comfortable, and there was no roar of traffic out in the street. I felt groggy; a faint memory rose to the surface of my foggy mind, involving a very late night and too much booze.

There was a new problem gnawing at my subconscious, one I could not quite get a hold of, something to do with my sister. Then I recalled the events of the previous evening, just after I had returned from Yewell Memorial.

My elder sister Cassandra, had arrived from London, and informed me that she had left her husband. It seemed that Christopher had taken Cassandra to task over her irresponsible spending sprees. He had shaken her by the elbows and told her to stop being so self-centred and to think of others for once in her life. Most especially her Great Aunt Jennifer. This was Cassie's interpretation of the argument, and she had over reacted, as usual, come running back to Yewell, and dumped the whole lot on my shoulders. Cassie always expected me to sort out her messes; me, the younger sister. As if I gave a damn! Well, of course I did, but now was not the time.

In my just-woken-up haze I was in no mood to face her troubles now. The party last night had been fun, in parts, like the curate's egg. It had made Cassie forget her woes for a while. Lady Cecilia had held the party to celebrate her fiftieth birthday and I was Dolly's 'official date'. Lady Cecilia had kindly added my sister as a last minute guest. She was wonderful that way.

The evening came back to me in pieces. Lady Cecilia was as welcoming and gracious as ever. Her husband, Sir Dickie, started over-promoting Dolly as his heir from the get-go, wondering all the while the where-a bouts of the latest addition to his entourage, (or so he thought), one Mr Daniel Cooper. I, alone, knew that he had left Yewell, but his absence at the soirée irked Sir Dickie no end.

For my part, much as I wanted to help Lady Cecilia to celebrate, I found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm, on the inside; but I kept a smile plastered on my face so no one would ever know.

I had tried, and failed to apologise to Daniel. I had tried, and failed, to persuade my sister to return home to her husband. Dolly and I had also had words. Long familiar with running interference between Dolly and his uncle, I had felt this was once too often. I was fed up by being used as a crutch by my elder sister, as well as my best friend. It was time for the worm to turn. But I had kept my feelings to myself, and done what I always tried to avoid at parties �" I drank too much.

My phone rang, shattering my reverie. My bleary eyes struggled to focus on the caller ID �" unknown number. I was tempted to ignore it, but swiped the green phone icon anyway.

“Emily Jackson? I'm Philip Cooper.” The voice sounded like Daniel's, only older and held a note of stress. It made my heart flip, but not in a good way. “May I call you Emily?”

I was wide awake now. “Yes, Mr Cooper.”

“I'm calling about Daniel”, Philip Cooper began, then clearing his throat, “he's been involved in a car crash.”

The world imploded around me, crushing me at its core, as a thousand images flitted across my mind. Daniel lying broken, the car a ball of flames, Daniel dead. I dared not ask for details.

“Daniel was driving too fast, on the motorway. He was on his way here so he could be at his sister's bedside when she came out of surgery. The car turned over.”

“Robyn's had surgery?” I gasped.

“Did Dan not tell you?”

“We're not actually together, at the moment” I said quietly.

The line went quiet for a moment then Mr Cooper began to tell me what had happened.

“Robyn's transport was blown up by an IED; they flew her home. She's going to be okay but they had to amputate part of her leg. Daniel's unconscious, he's broken both legs and cracked two ribs. The doctor says he was lucky”. He paused to clear his throat, emotion finally getting the better of him. “We thought you'd want to know. He's at Ravenswood University Hospital.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Mr Cooper. Will you call me if there's any change?”

“Of course I will, Emily” he assured me, “ and if you can make it here, give me a call.”

As I hung up there was a knock at the door. Dolly breezed in, fully dressed, bright as a button, as usual. Nothing ever seemed to faze Dolly; he is one of life's 'sunshine' people. He can stay up partying till way past the 'witching hour', and still be full of vim and vigour the next morning. Dolly is both a lark and an owl, something I would love to emulate, but always fail to achieve. Most importantly, he had forgiven, or forgotten, our falling out of the previous evening.

Seeing me distraught Dolly rushed over to offer comfort. Not my sister; she hadn't even shown her face yet. Cassie had drunk as much as me last night, but whilst I lapse into melancholia, Big Sister just gets sillier. So Dolly is the one I can rely on for moral support, a shoulder to cry on, the consoling cupcakes.

“You knew Jen was going to go sometime” he said, grief muting his words. “I guess breaking a leg was the twig that broke the llamas back.”

Typical Dolly; he never could get an idiom right, but I was in no mood for levity.

I wanted to answer Dolly, to reassure him Jen was okay, but I was still processing what had happened to Daniel. And my hangover wasn't helping much either. My mouth was dry, and my head felt stuffed with a bean-bag. I poured a glass of water from the carafe on the bedside table; took a couple of gulps, a deep breath.

“It's not Jen” I managed to say, my hands shaking around the glass. “Daniel rolled the Lotus on the way to see his sister”.

“I thought she was overseas.”

“Robyn's been injured. They flew her back for surgery; had to amputate her leg. Daniel was on his way to see her.” I could see the anguish in Dolly's eyes. Daniel was his friend too.

“Is he....?” Dolly left the question hanging.

I shook my head. “He's unconscious, but he'll be okay once his cracked ribs and broken legs heal.”

“You must go to him” Dolly insisted. “I can look after Mrs B, and Cassie.”

I had forgotten Cassandra for a minute. She'd not be much help if I went away.

“What good will I be until Daniel comes round? Mr Cooper promised to call me if there is any change in his condition.” But even so, knowing I would be leaving Aunt Jen in good hands did nothing to relieve my heartache.