A Taste for Love Read online

  Then the sounds changed as the Friday night shift began to end and the new Saturday daytime staff came on. The tea trolley trundled along with the patients’ breakfasts, the cleaning staff came up and down on the lift, and the teams of new junior doctors and trainees waited to start their rounds.

  ‘You go and have some breakfast,’ urged Alice. ‘I’ll stay here.’

  Conor took Lisa down to the cafeteria for breakfast, and they brought Alice back a piping hot bacon roll. Joy went down then, to have some breakfast with Jenny and Dylan.

  Alice stretched and went off to the nearby bathroom to freshen up a bit. She looked awful. There were grey circles under her eyes, and her mouth and lips were dry. She had aged ten years overnight, and she just prayed that soon there would be good news.

  She threw water up in her face, and reapplied her lipstick, and dragged her tiny hairbrush through her hair. She had just emerged from the bathroom when she spotted Liam. He looked equally exhausted, and she knew he hadn’t slept a wink either. The two of them automatically put their arms around each other.

  ‘He might die,’ she gulped. ‘Sean could be brain-damaged, Liam, they just don’t know how bad it is or if he’ll come out of this!’

  ‘Ssshhhhh,’ he murmured, holding her close. ‘It’s all right, I’m here, Alice. I’m here.’

  The new day-shift nurse took them both into intensive care and asked for the registrar to come up to talk to Sean Kinsella’s parents.

  ‘The fact that there is no change might seem bad to you,’ explained the serious young woman doctor with the glasses. ‘But to us it shows that at least Sean is stable. He’s had a good night and all his vital signs are fairly normal. Head injuries are slow to heal. They are never quick, as the brain needs time to repair and recover, which is what we all want.’

  ‘Can he hear us?’ asked Liam, holding Sean’s hand.

  ‘You should assume he can. Talk to him when you are visiting him. It’s reassuring for Sean to hear familiar voices around him.’

  ‘Buddy, Dad’s here,’ said Liam, putting his arm around their youngest son. ‘Mum and I are together and Jenny and Conor are here, too. We’re all here, all wanting you to get better and wake up and talk to us.’

  ‘I’m around all day, Mr and Mrs Kinsella, if you need me. My boss Professor Murray will be around to see Sean later.’

  ‘Thank you, Doctor Collins,’ said Alice, reading the young doctor’s name badge.

  They sat with Sean for a while and then went back to the waiting room, Jenny flinging herself into Liam’s arms.

  ‘Oh, Dad, thank God you’re here!’ she said, breaking down. ‘Sean would want you to be here.’

  ‘It’s OK, Jenny. I’m not going anywhere,’ Liam promised.

  She introduced him to Dylan, and Alice had to suppress a smile, as even in the circumstances they were in she could see Liam trying to make an assessment of the tall gangly young student that his daughter was dating.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Mr Kinsella,’ said Dylan politely. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’

  At least Jenny had the good grace to blush, thought Alice. God knows what she had told Dylan about her father’s love affair.

  Lisa hugged Liam, too, and Alice could see she was relieved that Conor’s dad hadn’t let them down.

  ‘Thanks for coming,’ said Conor quietly.

  ‘As if I wouldn’t come immediately to see my own boy!’ Liam protested. ‘I came as fast as I bloody well could, Conor, you know that … don’t you?’

  ‘Yeah, Dad, I know you did,’ said Conor, standing up and putting his arms around his father.

  ‘It’s OK, Conor,’ said Liam huskily, patting his shoulders.

  *

  Joy disappeared off to get coffee for everyone.

  ‘Alice, I think I’ll head home now. Unless you need me to stay?’ she said as she passed around the plastic cups of coffee.

  ‘Joy, thanks for being so good – for bringing me here and staying all night. You must be wrecked.’

  ‘Nothing a few hours in my own bed won’t cure!’ Joy insisted. ‘If there is any news about Sean will you let me know? I’ll come back in if you need me.’

  ‘Go home and get some sleep,’ ordered Alice. ‘And I promise if there is any change I’ll be in touch.’

  It was mid-morning before the consultant came to see Sean. He talked to Liam and Alice afterwards.

  ‘I’m sorry, but there is no change … so we are just going to have to play a waiting game for the moment, and see what happens with your son.’

  ‘Will he get better?’ asked Liam.

  ‘I cannot guarantee that,’ Professor Murray said cautiously. ‘But I would be hopeful. In these kinds of cases young men will often take days to regain proper consciousness. We all just have to be patient and to take care of his other obvious injuries. He’s had a major shock, and his body and brain need time to adjust.’

  ‘What about the ventilator? When will he be able to come off that?’ asked Alice.

  ‘That’s a tricky one. We could try taking him off it now, and hopefully he might do OK, but what I don’t want is for your son to get distressed and us to have to put him back on it. I know it looks awful and uncomfortable, but Sean is not aware of it. We have him sedated so that he is not in pain. Doctor Collins and the team are here to look after Sean, and I know it is an awful time for the family, but everyone is doing their very best for your son.’

  ‘Thank you, Professor Murray,’ said Liam, shaking his hand. ‘We know that, and we really appreciate it.’

  Back in the waiting room, Alice felt like a wet rag. No one could tell them what was going to happen.

  ‘Mum, why don’t you go home for a bit?’ suggested Conor. ‘You look exhausted.’

  ‘We all do!’ she admitted. ‘But, Conor, I’d prefer you and Lisa and Jenny and Dylan to go home now and your dad and I will keep watch here. Then when you’ve had a rest you can come back in later.’

  ‘Anyway, your mum and I would like a bit of time together here,’ insisted Liam, taking Alice’s hand.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  The next few days were a blur to Alice as they all took turns staying in the Mater Hospital to be near Sean, watching and hoping for some sign of recovery.

  Liam, to give him credit, rarely left their son’s bedside. None of them could face the prospect of something happening to Sean. When they were beside him they talked about all his favourite things: music, pizza, rugby, his friends, Lizzy Nolan, his first girlfriend, himself getting expelled from Irish college for speaking in English, himself going to Paris for two months to learn French, his computer and all his games … anything that might bring him back to them. As the hours and days passed Alice tried to stay positive, and believe that Sean would come back. The neurology team were regularly checking Sean and ensuring that he was getting adequate fluids and nutrition intravenously and maintaining a good circulation.

  Having Jenny and Dylan staying for a few days was great, and she could see the strong bond that had developed between her daughter and her boyfriend. Conor and Lisa had been wonderful, too, and were bending over backwards to help and support her. Her dad and her brother Tim and his wife Patsy, Liam’s family and Sean’s close friend Becky had all visited the hospital and stayed constantly in touch; even Elaine had come discreetly with Liam to visit Sean at a time when Alice was not around. All her friends were praying for him and sending messages and texts. Jack and Molly Cassidy next door had even volunteered to take over minding the dog.

  She had called over to Catherine O’Loughlin to ask about Dara. ‘We’re waiting, too … waiting to see about his liver. They say he may need a liver transplant,’ Catherine said, breaking down in the kitchen. ‘He keeps asking about Sean, wanting to see him. We told him Sean can’t walk, and is too sick to come and see him. Dara looks awful: he has a collapsed lung and they had to remove his spleen, and he’s in a lot of pain. His liver was badly lacerated and torn. I just can’t believe the two of them … they
always did things together … even being in a bloody accident!’

  ‘Will you let me know, Catherine, if there is any news?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Catherine. ‘Please God, the two of them will recover and get up to their old antics.’

  It was early on Sunday morning and Alice was at home asleep in bed when Conor phoned her with the good news that the doctors felt that Sean’s coma was easing, and that he was beginning to show some reactions.

  Alice got dressed immediately, and she and Jenny went to the hospital.

  ‘On the Glasgow Coma Scale he is showing more responses,’ explained the doctor on duty. ‘He opened his eyes when the nurse called him loudly. She had noticed he seemed to be reacting when she was changing the dressings on the cuts on his knee, so she tested him. It is a small sign but it is a good one.’

  Alice and Liam tried not to get too excited about it, but felt like they had been given a present. Within twenty-four hours Sean was opening his eyes for a few minutes at a time, and seemed to be trying to pull at his IV drip.

  On Monday Professor Murray told them Sean’s coma was definitely lifting.

  ‘We will be monitoring him very carefully,’ he explained, ‘but my hope is that by the end of the week Sean may be out of intensive care. A lot will depend on his respiration, though.’

  Alice cancelled the Tuesday night class, and got get-well messages for Sean from everyone in the class.

  ‘We’re all still going to meet up, so we’re going to the pub in Monkstown,’ Lucy texted her, ‘and we’ll all be thinking of Sean.’

  They really were such a great group of people!

  On Wednesday night Sean tried to talk. He was agitated and moving, trying to ask about Dara.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Liam assured him. ‘Dara is all right.’

  Professor Murray and Doctor Collins both came to the unit to examine Sean, and the next time Alice saw him he had been taken off the respirator.

  ‘What will happen if he stops breathing?’ she said, concerned, frightened now if he wasn’t on the machine.

  ‘Well, we’ll know all about it because the alarm will sound,’ explained Doctor Collins, ‘and then we will have to reconnect him to it. But let’s hope that won’t happen!’

  *

  Twenty-four hours later Sean had been moved out of the intensive care unit and into a small four-bedded room beside the nurses’ station.

  ‘We want to be able to keep a good eye on him,’ the staff nurse explained.

  He sounded hoarse, and sometimes a bit like he was drunk, but Sean was finally out of his coma and able to see his family around him and – with difficulty – talk a little.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ cried Alice. ‘We got him back!’

  ‘Take things easy and slow with him,’ advised Doctor Collins, ‘but you should see a difference every day.’

  Alice was content to sit by Sean’s bed and simply hold his hand. He was getting better. They had been given a second chance.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Kitty changed quickly, pulling on her good camel-coloured trousers, a white top, and her new red cardigan. Checking her hair, she put on a little make-up. She was knackered tired after minding her little grandson Danny all day, but going out to meet Rob, Tessa, Lucy and the rest of ‘the class’ was probably just what she needed.

  Clodagh had been delayed at work so Kitty had given two-year-old Danny some of the egg, sausage and chips they were having for his tea before he was collected.

  ‘Bye, Nana,’ he called, getting into the car.

  ‘Bye, pet!’

  ‘Are you not going out to your cookery class tonight?’ Larry had asked, disappointed, when he surveyed the fried egg, sausage and chips on his plate. He was getting used to the fancy fare she cooked on a Tuesday night, and the past few weeks had waited to eat until she came home from her cookery class. They had enjoyed some delicious meals: lamb, beef, fish, tarts, pies and cakes. The last few weeks Larry had even opened a bottle of wine as they sat in the kitchen, and complimented her on the food and chatted just like the old days when they had first got married.

  When they were younger she remembered she used to cook all kinds of things! Larry’s stomach would be rumbling with hunger for all the lovely dishes she’d serve up. Back then, she had tested out recipes from the big cookbook she got for a wedding present, and from magazines. Then, of course, the kids had come along, and it was all about what they wanted: burgers and chips, spaghetti, lasagne, stew, roast chicken, fish fingers and bloody mince. Plain food. She had just gone along with it, the only treat being the big Sunday roast with all the trimmings that she still cooked.

  ‘There’s no class on today,’ she had explained. ‘Alice’s youngest boy was in a car accident and is in a coma. We’ve all been praying for him. It’s awful for poor Alice and her family. Sean’s a nice boy, I met him a few times, so tonight we’re all still meeting up and going to the pub in Monkstown for a drink instead of having our class.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that! I hope the young lad gets better.’

  ‘So do we all! Anyway, I’d better get going. We’re just going to have a drink or two.’

  ‘Listen, Kitty, do you want me to drive you? That way you can have all the vodka you want and not worry about drink-driving.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ she had asked, gobsmacked. Despite all her pleading, Larry had point-blank refused to come to the party a few weeks ago, and yet now here he was offering to bring her!

  ‘Yes, and I’ll come back and get you when you’re finished. Just give me about fifteen minutes’ warning.’

  *

  The others were all sitting near the back of the pub and Lucy, whose mum, Nina, was a friend of Alice’s, was able to update them on Sean’s progress.

  ‘At least he’s stable and the doctors are pleased with him,’ said Kitty, who didn’t know what Larry and herself would have done if any of their brood had been badly injured like that.

  Rob had gone up to the bar and got the order in for everyone.

  Gemma and Paul were still delighted at the success of their party, and couldn’t believe how many people had turned up.

  ‘Maybe we’ll have a barbecue later in the summer!’

  ‘Count us in,’ called Leah and Rachel.

  Lucy had got a ‘Get Well’ card for Sean, and a ‘Thinking of You’ one for Alice, and they all signed them, also putting in some money to buy some flowers for Alice.

  ‘I’ll buy some really nice ones and drop them around when she’s home,’ promised Lucy.

  ‘Everything OK, Kerrie?’ Kitty asked. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something up with that young one. She could always tell with her own girls, and something about Kerrie’s strained face and tense, thin body told her that all was not well with the young bride-to-be. ‘How are the wedding plans coming?’ she asked gently.

  ‘We’re still on track for September in France,’ Kerrie said. ‘There’s just a few of us flying over, but it will be lovely. Who wants a big wedding these days? The restaurant we are using has a Michelin star, and the food there is just wonderful. They’re doing a very special menu for us.’

  Kitty thought of her own girls’ weddings, the big family parties they’d been, and felt sorry for the poor little thing. Food and menus were the last things people remembered about weddings, but she couldn’t very well tell Kerrie that.

  Sometimes at home she got out the DVD of Clodagh’s wedding, or Niamh’s and Shane’s, and put them on in the machine, and just sat down and cried and laughed for the hour or so at the special days that were there. There was her dad on film, Lord be good to him, waving as he went into the church the day of Clodagh’s wedding, chatting to everyone, messing and playing to the camera. He’d died about six months later of bowel cancer. There was Auntie Rose and her cousin Gerald, all gone now, but still there for them all to see in their finery on film. Clodagh was all-out pregnant with Danny at Niamh’s wedding, squashed into her bridesmaid
dress. Danny always laughed when Kitty told him that he’d been in Mammy’s tummy at Auntie Niamh’s wedding. She even noticed how well Sheila had looked then, in that gorgeous fuchsia-pink outfit. Sheila and herself doing a little dance and drinking champagne … Sheila well and healthy and happy then, only months before they found the lump that was killing her now.

  ‘We want our wedding to be perfect, simple and a bit sophisticated and low-key, the kind of event that Matt and I prefer,’ confided Kerrie. ‘We’re not into crowds or fuss or any of that kind of thing! So that’s why we’ve chosen to have it in France, with just a few people there.’

  ‘Every bride must have the kind of wedding they want! It’s yours and Matt’s day after all,’ encouraged Kitty. ‘Anyway, I’m sure that you and your mum and sisters must be having a lovely time organizing it all, just as I had with my girls.’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘And we’ll all be dying to see the photographs!’ joked Kitty as she ordered another glass of vodka and orange and joined in the chat with Rachel and the rest of them.

  ‘It was so embarrassing!’ laughed Rachel. ‘There’s me going to a cookery school and asking all Pete’s family over for dinner to celebrate his mam and dad’s anniversary, and going to show off and do that lovely stuffed fillet of pork Alice taught us, and the gratin potatoes. I followed everything step by step exactly. There I was, the table set, candles and everything ready, and Pete topping everyone up with champagne, when I realized that there was something missing. You know in Alice’s you always get that lovely smell when we’re all cooking? I suddenly realized that there was not a whiff of a cooking smell! Nothing! I was mortified. Everyone starving and waiting to eat, and I had forgotten to put on the stupid oven!’