Take a Chance (11 page)

“I’ll tell Cherie to arrange flooring to be put down before the tables and chairs go in
,” Mark countered.

“I don’t know about this,” Jem said. “It’s not my house and my sister and brother-in-law aren’t exactly available to get their permission.”

“You won’t even know it’s been there. It’ll only be there two nights, tops. Not long enough to kill the grass and being covered by flooring will protect the lawn anyway.  Besides, I’m doing myself a disservice having you save the day; just think how many brownie points this will be towards that promotion,” he cajoled.

I’m out of my mind.

“Alright,” Jem said reluctantly and glanced towards the sink.

She saw the water narrowing the swan’s neck and looked at Eben in alarm. Aidan chose that moment to pull free, snapping the swan’s neck off. She missed what Mark was saying as she covered her mouth with her hand and looked on in horror. Oblivious to her distress Mark continued.

“Be in for Cherie to drop supplies off later today.”

“Ahh,” said Jem through her fingers wondering how to explain the latest disaster.

Mark took her response for a yes.

“Great. Look, I’ve gotta go. I’ll catch up with you later.”

He hung up without waiting for a response.

Aidan slipped off the bench to “
Oh’s
” from Jeremy and Daisy upon seeing the swan’s head in Eben’s hand. Eben handed Jem the liberated head and told the children to go and brush their teeth.

“I’ll drop the kids off,” he told her. “Somehow I think you will want to sort something out here.”

“How am I going to fix this?” Jem asked as she waved the head at Eben as he quickly put the lunchboxes in the bags.

He looked up and shrugged.

Aidan reappeared with his toothbrush which he handed to Eben. He looked at the swan’s head in Jem’s hand.

“Duck?”

Jem handed the swan’s head to Eben once he had finished brushing Aidan’s teeth.

“You broke it, you fix it.”

She gathered up the school bags and called to the children to get in the car.

Eben looked at her retreating form.

“You still love me, right?” he called.

Jem smiled back at him and kept going.

At the hospital
Jess was sleeping when she arrived. Jem sat Aidan on her lap with a notepad and pen in the hope of keeping him occupied. She took Jess’s hand and noticed the ventilator had been removed and replaced with a smaller mask over Jess’s face. She listened to the sounds of the equipment attached to Jess and was reassured by the regular rhythm of them.

A nurse
entered the bay and filled in the chart at the foot of the bed. After pocketing his pen he smiled at Jem.

“You’ll be glad to know she was awake earlier this morning,” he said.

“She’s going to be alright?” Jem asked.

He tilted his head towards Jess lying on the bed to remind Jem of the possibility of Jess hearing their conversation.

“All the signs are good,” he said cautiously.

“Is that what the tests you did this morning indicated?” she asked.

“She needs to be awake for longer before we start doing those. Maybe in another day or so. At the moment the best thing she can do is sleep.”

Jem
nodded in agreement as he left then looked down to see that Aidan had got tired of using the paper and was busy scribbling on his hands. As far as Aidan went that was a benign activity. Happy to allow him to continue, she rummaged through her bag until she found two more pens in different colours. He immediately dropped the one he was holding to take the other two. The pen bounced on the floor and went under the bed.

Feeling a little annoyed with herself for not considering what he would do with the pen he had been holding,
Jem sat Aidan on the seat then got on her hands and knees to retrieve it. After grasping the pen she crawled backwards and dumped it in her shoulder bag. She put her hands on the edge of the bed to help her lift up and realised how close she was to her sister’s face.

Jess chose that moment to blink.

Jem took hold of Jess’s hand excitedly and watched as Jess blinked again. She watched her sister’s eyes focus on the room then shift to see her standing there.

“
Jess, you can’t believe how glad I am to have you back with us,” Jem said, fighting back tears.

“Jase?”
Jess croaked after turning her head to the side where Jem was standing.

“
We insisted he stay in Fiji to finish the job. He knows about the accident and rings every time he gets cell phone coverage. I’ve been texting him your progress so he won’t panic and try and swim home.”

Jess spent
several moments processing what she had been told.

“Kids?”
she then rasped.

“Don’t worry. Eben and I are staying at your place and looking after them. They’re taking everything very well considering.
”

Jem mentally kicked herself for saying something that could ma
ke Jess worry.

I should have said they were all happy
.

“I have Aidan with me.
Would you like me to hold him up so you can see him?” she quickly added.

Jess’s hand twitched in hers so Jem took that to mean yes. Jem turned back to pick up Aidan who was surprisingly still where she left him. She had to suppress a groan upon seeing he had scribbled over one cheek with both pens.

She picked him up, taking care to ensure his undecorated side was the one Jess would see then turned around. Jess’s eyes slowly moved over her son and Jem thought she detected a small smile under the oxygen mask.

“I’ll let you get a bit better before I subject you to all three of them at once,” Jem teased.

Jess’s hand squeezed Jem’s and she tried to say something.

“Do you want something?” Jem asked.

“Hurts,” groaned Jess.

“Sha
ll I get a nurse?” Jem asked.

Jess squeezed her hand again.

“I’ll just be a moment,” Jem promised.

She only got as far as the edge of the bay when she spotted the nurse she had been speaking to earlier walking
in her direction. He picked up his pace when he saw Jem away from her sister’s bedside so soon after arriving.

“My sister says she is in pain. Is there anything you can give her?” Jem asked him.

He gave Jess a reassuring smile as he entered the bay and picked up the chart attached to the foot of the bed.

“Is the pain bothering you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jess groaned.

“Would you like something for it?”

Jess nodded slightly and winced.

The nurse looked down at the chart in his hands.

“We’re in luck. The consultant charted something when she did the ward round this morning. It’s going to make you sleepy though,” he warned Jess.

“I don’t think you mind, do you?” Jem asked her sister.

Jess blinked.

“She doesn’t mind,” Jem assured him.

Jem watched as he removed a pre-loaded syringe from a drawer in a cabinet against the wall opposite the foot of the bed. He checked the details on it then slowly injected the contents into a valve on a drip taped to the back of Jess’s hand.

Moments after the nurse withdrew the syringe, Jess’s eyes drifted shut.

“She’s going to be asleep for a few hours now,” he said as he started to copy the details onto the chart.

“That’s okay,” said Jem as she settled back in the chair with Aidan on her lap. “I’ll just stay a few more minutes just in case.”

When they got home from collecting Daisy from kindy Jem was surprised to see Mark standing on the front doorstep holding onto a large box. Attached to his car was a large enclosed trailer.

He watched the car go into the garage and waited for Jem to open the front door.

“You said you’d be home,” he accused as he brushed past her with the box and headed towards the kitchen.

“I had to collect Daisy from kindy,” she told him and followed him through.

Invite yourself in, make yourself at home. I’ve obviously got time to spare and nothing better to do.

Mark took his baseball cap off and dropped it beside the box he’d placed on the bench. Catching sight of his reflection in the microwave door he finger combed where the cap had flattened his hair.

Jem rolled her eyes. Next to Eben’s take-me-as-I-am presence she now found Mark’s vanity annoying.

Daisy took the opportunity to put Mark’s cap on her head. It sported the emblem of the exclusive high school he had attended. Jem knew he had got it at a school reunion and used it to proclaim he was a
have
, not a
have-not
. If he hadn’t dropped out of university she bet he would be sporting one in his university colours.

“What’s in the box?” Daisy asked.

Mark drew his attention away from his grooming and frowned at the presumption Daisy showed to take his precious cap without asking.

“Bottles of wine for the p
resentation,” he told her and looked at Jem.

“Cherie found out I was going to be on the Shore for a meeting this afternoon so asked me to
drop everything off to you. It was out of my way but I thought I’d see how you are doing. Is your sister feeling any better?”

“She’s awake now so things are looking good,” Jem told him.

“That will be a relief to everyone.”

His eyes skimmed the collection of toys in the family room, the moderate pile of ironing left on the couch in the lounge and the general untidiness that can be attributed to most households containing young children. He patted Jem’s hand.

“I bet you can’t wait to be back at work instead of being a housefrau,” Mark commented.

Jem frowned.

In the beginning she had felt guilty for feeling resentful about having to look after the children at such a critical time in her career. Although trying to keep up with her work around the children’s needs was difficult, with Eben’s help she was managing.

When things settled back to norma
l she would miss the children’s lively antics and it would feel strange to be completely in control of her life again.

“
We’ve had our moments,” Jem admitted “but the kids are great and I’ll miss their mischief. Going back to work with such strong competition for that promotion will be easy after this.”

Mark grinned.

“That’s good to hear. It means I won’t have to go easy on you.”

Jem laughed.

“Does that mean I’ve softened you up enough to give you the bad news?” Mark asked.

“What bad news?” Jem asked quickly
.

“I’
d better give the good news first,” said Mark. “Cherie managed to get a marquee for tomorrow night but because of the short notice the closest hire place she could get was in Pukekohe. The marquee is currently being packed up from an event and will soon be on its way here.”

“Then what is the bad news?” Jem asked, thinking that Cherie would be ready to chew nails after having to
look as far south as Pukekohe to find a marquee, not to mention organise other paraphernalia hire for this presentation on top of everything else she had to do for it.

“The bad news is that with the distance they have to travel to get the marquee here they’ll only have time to erect it.
You’ll need to install the flooring, the lighting, furniture and so forth.”

“That’s not so bad,” Jem told him.

“That’s not quite all,” Mark said, taking her hand in a melodramatic gesture.

“
The trailer out front has stuff in it for the presentation but the hire place needs the trailer back in another…” Mark glanced at his watch “hour. I’m sorry I won’t be able to help unload everything as my appointment is so soon but I can save you the hassle of returning the trailer by collecting it on my way back.”

“Are you going to
come back afterwards and help set things up?”

Both Mark and Jem turned to see Eben in the kitchen doorway. Neither of them had heard him come in.

“I don’t believe we have met,” said Mark, his fingers tightening on Jem’s hand.

“That’s Uncle Eben,” said Daisy who was now patting Drongo while he devoured a tin of cat food she had spooned into his bowl.

“Is he staying here too?” Mark asked Jem as Eben crossed the room and rested his arm around Jem’s shoulders in a possessive stance.

“Yes. He sleeps with Aunty Jem,” Daisy answered, oblivious to the red flush creeping across Jem’s face at the way her statement was interpreted.

“It’s not what you th-”

“Thought you’d
get, an additional helping hand when time is so short. Luckily enough I’ll be around. After you return that trailer can we count on you to help set up now that Jem knows she has that much more to do?” asked Eben.

He smiled at Mark, all teeth and insincere. Mark got the message and removed his hand from Jem’s. He made a show of looking at his expensive watch. “I’d love to but I’ve got a lot on this afternoon and tonight Nate wanted
to meet and have me go over the presentation material with him. I would say that I’d come afterwards but you know how these dinner meetings can drag on and I don’t want to commit myself and then let you down because of circumstances beyond my control.”

Like a few too many scotch on the rocks with Nate as part of the
old boys’ networking
, Jem thought.

The tension in the room was interrupted by the sound of Drongo heaving.

“What’s that noise?” Mark asked.

“The cat’s bulimic,” Jem told him as Eben picked up Drongo to take him outside and hopefully make it in time to prevent having to spot mop the floor. Daisy followed him.

Seconds after they were out of sight they heard Daisy’s wail.

“Eeeeew!
He puked on my shoe!”

“Wipe your shoe on the grass,”
they heard Eben tell her through the open door.

“It’s raining. I’ll get wet.”

“Would you rather smell like cat puke?”

Instead of looking disgusted as Jem had expected, Mark smiled. Shortly after that Daisy came in and Drongo snaked past Eben to return to his cat bowl.

Mark lifted his baseball cap off Daisy’s head as she passed him and settled it back on his own head.

“I’d better be going”. He nodded at Eben. “It’s nice to finally meet the man in Jem’s life. See you tomorrow night.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Jem said.

By the front door Mark looked out at the wind driven rain and paused.