A Broken Family (12 page)

Carol had no idea how long she had slept, but she awoke with agonising pain ripping through her stomach. She drew up her knees and clenched her teeth, fighting the need to cry out. At last it abated, but soon after it started again and perspiration soaked her body.

She bore wave after wave of pain that grew in intensity until at last, in fear and agony, sure that something was wrong and she was dying, Carol couldn’t stand it any more. ‘Mum! Mum!’ she yelled. ‘Help me!’

Her bedroom door flew open, but it was her father who turned on the light as he dashed into the room. ‘What is it! What’s wrong?’

‘Mum! I want Mum!’

‘She isn’t here.’

Agony again came tearing through her and Carol screamed, barely aware of her father rushing to her side as she felt something slithering from her body. She flung back the rumpled sheet, looked down, but saw only blood, soaking the sheets, unable to do anything but stare, transfixed, as the stain spread.

Her vision dimmed and she felt strange, her head swimming, but then Carol knew no more as darkness enclosed her.

Frank was barely able to comprehend what his eyes saw, but acting on impulse he bunched up the top sheet, frantically trying to stem the blood that was flowing from his daughter’s body.

Carol was unconscious, her face ashen and, sure that he could see her lips turning blue, Frank knew he had to get help. He fled the room and headed for the nearest telephone box, his hands shaking so much he could only just manage to dial the emergency service.

‘Ambulance,’ he cried when the call was answered.

He then gave the address, begged that they hurry, before he ran home again, relieved to find that though Carol was still unconscious, she was breathing.

Though almost overwhelmed with anxiety, Frank was no fool and could see what had happened. He just couldn’t believe it – couldn’t comprehend that Carol had just had a miscarriage.

Every minute felt like an hour as Frank waited in Carol’s bedroom for the ambulance to arrive, his mind reeling. He needed Daphne, his daughter needed her mother, but she wasn’t there and somehow he had to deal with this alone.

Frank went to the window over and over again until at last he saw an ambulance turning onto Lark Rise. In the early hours of the morning the bell was silent as it pulled up outside. He ran downstairs to let them in, urging the men to Carol’s bedroom where he watched their every move until his daughter was being carried to the ambulance. After a momentary hesitation, he climbed in too.

The ambulance sped off, and when they reached the hospital Carol was unloaded, still unconscious and deathly pale, her skin almost translucent. Frank looked up at the night sky and felt like howling his distress to the full moon, but instead he followed behind as they entered the hospital, his shoulders slumped like those of an old, broken man.

When Amy’s father had come home from the pub, he’d said that Rose hadn’t turned up for work. She had seen the look that passed between her parents and at last realised what would happen when Celia Frost found out that her husband had run off with Rose, a member of their family.

Amy had gone to bed, not only fearing Celia’s reaction, but Tommy’s too. She had lain awake for ages, finally drifting off to sleep after midnight, and woke to the sound of her father’s voice.

‘Come on, Amy, it’s time to get up.’

‘Wh … what?’ she murmured.

‘Amy, I’ll have to leave for work soon and you haven’t made my breakfast.’

Amy blinked her eyes, and at last her mind cleared. Not long after that she was downstairs and working as quickly as possible, finally putting her father’s breakfast in front of him. ‘Sorry, Dad, I had a bad night.’

‘Yeah, something disturbed me too. I heard what sounded like a car, doors banging, voices, but I managed to go back to sleep.’

‘I didn’t hear any of that,’ Amy said as her father quickly demolished his food.

He then gulped down his tea and rose to his feet. ‘Right, I’m off. See you later,’ he said, grabbing his coat before hurrying out.

Unusually, her mother hadn’t come home from her cleaning job by the time Amy was ready to leave, and she wondered what was holding her up. She hurried out to find her mother outside Mrs Povis’s house, the two of them deep in conversation. Was her mother telling her about Tommy’s dad and Rose? Amy hoped not, because once Mabel got to hear about it the gossip would spread like wildfire.

‘Amy,’ her mother said as she approached, ‘there’s no point in waiting for Carol. She isn’t in, nor is anyone else. We don’t know what’s going on, or who has been taken ill, but Mabel was disturbed in the early hours of this morning and got up just in time to see an ambulance pulling away. She knocked on the door fifteen minutes ago to see if they needed anything, but there was no answer.’

Amy’s heart skipped a beat as she recalled that Carol’s dad had been looking for her, and then he’d asked if Carol was with her mother. It had seemed a bit of an odd question, but with other things on her mind, Amy hadn’t given it much thought. It still didn’t make much sense, nor did it help to work out who had been taken so ill that an ambulance had been called. Amy didn’t know what to do. She’d be late for work if she didn’t get a move on, yet she couldn’t leave without knowing what had happened. ‘Mum, I think I’ll run to the telephone box. If I ring our local hospitals, one of them will be able to tell me if they admitted Carol or her parents, and if they’re all right.’

‘You haven’t got time to do that, and anyway, as you aren’t a relative I doubt they’d tell you anything. Go to work, love, and if there’s any news I promise I’ll ring the shop.’

Amy was about to protest, but then saw Frank Cole walking down the hill. All three of them went to meet him, and seeing that he looked dreadful Amy asked anxiously, ‘Mr Cole, what happened? Who was taken ill?’

‘Carol, but she’s going to be all right,’ he said.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Mabel asked.

‘I’ve been up all night and I’m in no mood for questions,’ he said tersely, brushing past them.

‘Well, that’s nice ain’t it,’ Mabel complained. ‘I only asked out of concern for Carol.’

Amy doubted that, but kept her opinion to herself, only saying, ‘Carol’s mum must still be at the hospital, and maybe I’ll be allowed to visit her this evening.’

‘Yes, I’m sure you will, love, but you’d best get a move on now or you’re going to be very late for work.’

‘All right, see you later,’ Amy called as she hurried up the hill thinking about her friend. If Carol had been suffering an underlying illness for some time, it explained why she hadn’t been herself lately. Poor Carol, but at least her dad said she was going to be all right.

She passed Tommy’s house, tensing as she imagined his mother flying out to confront her about Rose like a dragon breathing fire. Nothing happened, but for how long? How long before both Tommy and his mother found out the truth?

At first, Carol had barely been aware that she’d undergone emergency surgery to stop the bleeding, nor did she know that her father had refused to leave the hospital until he knew that she was going to be all right.

It was late afternoon before Carol fully realised that she had nearly died, yet when questioned she had refused to tell the doctor who had performed the abortion. She knew they were illegal and that no doctor would have performed one
–
it had been her choice to go to the woman, and though warned of the risks, she had paid the fee; sure that she had no other option. Carol had sensed the doctor’s annoyance, and though most of the nurses were kind, there was one who showed her obvious disapproval.

Carol still felt drained as she absentmindedly scanned the ward she’d been moved to, avoiding eye contact with any of the other occupants. They were all women, some pregnant, but she had no idea why they had been admitted. In one bed a young woman was crying softly, but Carol was too preoccupied with her own unhappiness to care.

Time dragged, but at last it was visiting time. She watched the door, looking out for her mother, but behind a stream of other visitors, she saw only her father. He looked dreadful; dishevelled, pale, and when he came to stand by her bed she blurted out, ‘Where’s Mum? Isn’t she with you?’

‘No, she ain’t.’

‘Dad, I can understand why she’s angry with me,’ Carol said as tears threatened. ‘She’s probably furious, but I was hoping she’d come so that I could explain why I did it.’

He pulled up a chair, sat down and said tersely, ‘You can explain it to me.’

Carol felt her father’s animosity and gulped, but she managed a stuttering start. He listened in silence until she got to the part about going up to Roy’s flat, but then his face reddened with fury. ‘You did what?’ he yelled, drawing looks from all over the ward.

‘Dad, please, I … I know it was stupid, but I didn’t expect him to … to rape me.’

‘He did what?’ he yelled again, this time jumping to his feet. ‘Where is he? I’ll kill him!’

‘I … I don’t know. He lied to me and the flat wasn’t his.’

‘Mr Cole,’ a nurse said as she hurried up to them. ‘I must ask you to keep your voice down. You’re disturbing the other patients and visitors.’

‘Yeah, yeah, sorry, nurse,’ he said, sitting down again, though his legs shook with suppressed agitation.

‘Dad, when … when I found out that I was pregnant, I didn’t know what to do. I knew you and Mum would go mad, and not only that, I … I couldn’t stand the thought that I was having his … his …’ Unable to carry on, Carol buried her face in her hands as tears now streamed down her cheeks.

She became aware of her father stroking her head, his soft murmurs that he understood, until at last she was able to stifle her soft sobs. ‘Dad, will … will you tell Mum what happened, tell her I’m sorry and … and ask her to come to see me?’

‘I can’t, love. Your mum’s gone and she left before we both came home from work. She doesn’t know that you had an abortion, or that you’re in hospital.’

‘What do you mean?’ Carol asked, confused. ‘Where has Mum gone and when is she coming back?’

He ran both hands over his face, and then said, ‘After you went to bed last night, I found a letter from your mother on the mantelpiece. It had fallen behind the clock, but I saw the edge of an envelope sticking out. Here, you might as well read it.’

Carol took the letter, frowning as she read.

Frank, I’m sorry. I am leaving you. I’ve been nothing but a wife and mother for so many years, but the children are adults now and no longer need me. I’m sick of just being used and want to make a new life for myself. Please don’t try to find me as it would be pointless. Nothing will persuade me to come back, but please tell the children that once I am settled I will write to them.

Carol expected more, but the letter was brief, unsigned, the words somehow cold and clipped. She looked at her father, saw the pain and hurt in his eyes as her hand reached out to grasp his. ‘I don’t know what
Mum
means by just being used, but she’ll come back, Dad. I’m sure she will.’

‘Maybe, I don’t know, but I’ll have to tell your brothers. Knowing those two, they’ll be more upset that your mother won’t be around to do their washing and ironing.’

Carol felt tired, emotional, and sank weakly back onto her pillows. ‘Dad, I’m sorry I let you down, but please, don’t tell the boys what happened to me, or about the abortion. I feel so ashamed and I don’t want them, or anyone else to know.’

For a moment he said nothing, but then he sighed. ‘All right, love. We’ll do our best to keep it a secret, but we’ll need a cover story. Amy collared me this morning along with her mum and that nosey cow Mabel. We’ll have to come up with something to put them off the scent.’

‘I’m sorry, Dad, but maybe you could say it’s my appendix or something,’ Carol suggested, fighting to keep her eyes open.

‘I’m not sure you’ll be in hospital long enough for that, but we could try something like food poisoning.’

‘Yes, good idea,’ Carol said wearily, her eyes closing.

Carol felt her father stroking her hair again as he said, ‘I can see you’re tired and I think it’s time I left. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Somehow she managed to open her eyes a slit, even managed a small smile, and seeing her father’s sad face she wanted to reassure him again that her mother would come back. She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger over her lips, saying softly, ‘It’s all right. Everything is going to be all right. Just go to sleep, love.’

Unable to fight it, Carol did.

Frank left the hospital again, his feelings still all over the place. He had been shocked, angry, then despairing after reading Daphne’s letter, but all those emotions had been overshadowed when he’d been in fear for his daughter’s life. He had spent the night at the hospital and it had been morning before a doctor told him that Carol was going to be all right. But, unable to see her, he had been advised to go home.

On Lark Rise, in no mood to speak to Amy, her mother, or that nosey mare Mabel he’d brushed them aside. Once inside his empty house Frank had drawn the curtains against the outside world and broken down, clutching the letter again. There had been no warning, no signs that Daphne was unhappy, yet everything around him had obviously been an illusion, his marriage nothing but a farce.

Unable to face turning up late for work, Frank had remained indoors all day as his mind twisted and turned, first dwelling on Daphne and then his daughter. Carol had been pregnant, then she’d gone to a back-street abortionist and it had nearly killed her. He had thought his daughter perfect, untouched, but that had turned out to be false too. Well that was it, Frank had decided. Like her mother, Carol could bugger off too – and good riddance to both of them.

By visiting time that evening, Frank’s mind was well and truly made up and he’d intended to tell Carol that he never wanted to see her face again, yet all that had changed when he’d heard his daughter’s story. She’d been raped, a bastard taking her innocence. He vowed that he’d find the bloke, and when he did, he’d make him suffer. Frank’s hands balled into fists at the thought.