A Very Special Child

‘Hello?’ she answered, tugging the hem of the T-shirt down as far as it would go. She’d had no choice but to help herself to one of Mark’s T-shirts to sleep in, and hoped he wouldn’t mind. She made a note to take it home with her to wash before it hit her that she might not be going home that day if her house was in such a bad state. The thought of what she and Robbie would do if it turned out to be uninhabitable filled her with panic. Accepting Mark’s hospitality for one night, that was all well and good, but she really couldn’t put upon him for any longer!

‘Laura, it’s me. Are you all right?’ Mark’s voice brought her back to the present with a rush and she took a steadying breath. Once she had time to think things through she would come up with a solution, she told herself firmly.

‘Fine, thanks. How are things at the hospital?’

‘Pretty grim. It’s been a rough night, as you can imagine. We’ve got three of the children in Intensive Care and four others on the ward. The rest were able to be taken home by their parents.’

‘But no fatalities?’ she queried hopefully.

‘The teacher who was driving the minibus, I’m afraid. She didn’t make it.’ Mark’s tone was filled with regret. ‘It was Rachel Hart’s sister, too.’

‘No! Oh, poor Rachel. How awful for her. Is she there at the hospital?’ Laura exclaimed in dismay.

‘We finally persuaded her to go home about an hour ago. Tom Hartley, the surgical reg, took her.’ Mark sighed heavily. ‘Her niece, Bethany, is one of the injured children. She’s had the lower part of her right leg amputated.’

‘I don’t know what to say.’ Laura felt her eyes fill with tears at the thought of what her colleague must be going through. It put her own problems very much into perspective. ‘Poor Rachel. She’s going to find it very hard to come to terms with what’s happened.’

‘She is. The fact that Rachel’s sister was divorced and has had no contact with her ex-husband for several years means that Rachel is going to have to find the strength to help Bethany through all this as well. It isn’t going to be easy either.’

Mark paused reflectively, before getting down to the reason he was phoning. ‘Look, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to get back to drive you into work. One of the kids is still causing us some concern and I need to be here.’

‘That’s all right,’ Laura hurriedly assured him, although she couldn’t help wondering how she was going to get Robbie to school and herself to the hospital. Not for the first time she wished she had a car, but the cost of running one was just too much for her limited budget.

‘We can catch the bus if you tell me where it stops—’ she began, but Mark interrupted.

‘There’s no need. I’ve booked a taxi to pick you up at a quarter to eight. You’ll probably need to collect some stuff from your house so just tell the driver where to take you. He can drop you off at the hospital after you’ve taken Robbie and Ben to school.’

Laura’s heart quailed at the thought of how much it would cost to make such a lengthy trip by taxi. However, before she could tell Mark that she preferred to go by public transport someone called him.

‘I have to go,’ he said quickly. ‘I’ll see you later.’

The line went dead. Laura slowly replaced the receiver, trying not to think how the pounds were going to add up as the taxi’s meter ticked away. It had been kind of Mark to think about ordering her a cab, especially as he must have been rushed off his feet all night long. She couldn’t ignore the warm feeling it gave her to know that he’d been thinking about her…

She made her way swiftly back to the bedroom, refusing to let that thought take root. Robbie was awake and happily bouncing up and down on the bed as though it were a trampoline. He gave a cry of delight as he saw Laura and hurled himself towards her.

‘Me jump, Mummy!’

She kissed his sleep-flushed cheek. ‘I can see that! But I don’t think Mark would appreciate you bouncing all over his bed, young man. Come on, down you get.’

She swung him down onto the floor, taking hold of his hand as he went to scramble back on the bed. ‘No, Robbie. That’s enough,’ she said firmly. ‘We are guests in Mark’s house and we have to treat his things carefully.’

Robbie eyed her consideringly, obviously trying to decide how far he could push her, but in the end he accepted that she was serious and nodded gravely. ‘Carefully,’ he parroted.

‘That’s right. So come along, let’s go and have some breakfast then we can get ready for school.’ She led the child out of the room and soon had him happily settled with a bowl of cereal. The cat came in as she was putting the milk away in the fridge and began curling hopefully around her ankles, making odd little mewing noises.

‘Do you want some milk, too, Lucy?’ she asked, then grinned at her own foolishness. However, it was obvious that the cat had a very good idea what was being offered. She ran to where her dish and water bowl were kept and waited patiently while Laura poured a little milk into the dish. Robbie crowed with delight as he watched the cat lapping up the milk.

‘Clever pussy-cat,’ he declared, scrambling down from the stool to go to her. Laura just managed to stop him as he reached out to stroke the animal.

‘Remember what Mark told you last night? You must make sure that Lucy can see you before you stroke her. If you scare her she might scratch you,’ she warned.

‘Uh-huh.’ Robbie crouched down, waiting patiently until the cat looked up and saw him. Only then did he gently run his hand over her fur, earning himself another odd little murmur, which was what obviously passed for a purr.

Leaving them playing together, Laura went and had a quick shower, wishing that she could spend longer under the powerful jets. Mark’s bathroom was a vast improvement on her own. She and Ian hadn’t got round to updating the antiquated fitments before his death, and since then she hadn’t had the money to spend on any improvements.

She sighed as she turned off the water and picked up a towel. It seemed unlikely that she would be able to afford them now in view of the damage the burst pipe had caused!

By a quarter to nine that morning, Laura was in the staffroom, taking off her coat. The taxi had arrived promptly and had ferried her around, making what would otherwise have been a very stressful journey relatively straightforward. The snow was several inches thick in most areas of the town, and buses were running only along selected routes.

Laura had no idea how she would have managed if Mark hadn’t ordered the taxi for her, and was grateful for his thoughtfulness. However, the fact that he’d apparently paid for it himself in advance was something she intended to sort out with him. She didn’t want to be in his debt any more than she already was!

Conditions at her house had been no better or worse than she’d expected. The carpets were ruined and it was going to take a lot of work to get the place straight. Given the choice, she would have loved to have moved out while someone else sorted out the mess but that just wasn’t possible.

Claire had immediately offered to have Robbie to stay when Laura had explained what had happened. She’d urged Laura to stay as well, but she’d refused. Someone had to do the clearing-up, although she quailed at the thought of setting to after a hard day at work. Still, at least she had some of the problem solved, which was a relief. So long as Robbie was taken care of then she would manage well enough herself.