The Rainbow Years by Rita Bradshaw Read Free Book Online Page A

where she is. If you can cope, that is.’
     
    ‘Cope?’ Muriel gazed at him, bleary-eyed. ‘Oh aye, Doctor. I can cope.’
     
    ‘Are you feeling all right, Mrs Shawe?’ Dr Boyce’s tired eyes narrowed. In spite of having been on his feet for nearly forty-eight hours, he still recognised the onset of sickness when he saw it.
     
    ‘Just a bit weary, Doctor.’
     
    ‘On second thoughts it might be better if I arrange for Bess to be admitted to the infirmary.’
     
    Muriel’s head came up with a jerk of protest. ‘No, no, Doctor,’ she said hastily.‘You said yourself she’s better off here. I’m all right. It’s just that the bairn’s been up the last night or two. Teethin’, she is.’ And then, in something of a rush, she added, ‘But she’s a good bairn, Doctor, an’ I don’t say that just because she’s our own. Happy as the day’s long, she is, an’ when I think of the time when our Bess was carryin’, that’s a miracle in itself. If ever a bairn shouldn’t have been born, this one shouldn’t, with all her mam had to put up with.’
     
    The doctor’s voice was gentle when he said, ‘There is a fine dividing line between life and death, Mrs Shawe, and I’m convinced it’s more to do with the spirit than it is with the body.’
     
    ‘Aye, I reckon you’re right there.’ Muriel nodded. ‘Our Bess has always been strong in herself - a fighter, you know?’
     
    The good doctor didn’t say what he was thinking, namely that however strong Bess might have been, Amy’s difficult delivery followed by the gruelling work in the munitions factory and her father’s continuing ill treatment had all taken their toll, body, soul and spirit. Instead he smiled and patted Muriel’s arm. ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
     
    ‘Oh, I’m not a strong person, Doctor.’ Pink with embarrassment, Muriel fiddled with her pinny. ‘Not like our Bess. She’ll rally round from this flu in a bit an’ be as right as rain, you mark my words.’
     
    ‘I hope you’re right, Mrs Shawe, but I shall pop in tomorrow about this time and have a look at her.’ Dr Boyce made his way to the front door, stepping down into the street beyond before saying, ‘Rest as much as you can, won’t you?’
     
    ‘Oh, I’m all right, Doctor, an’ thank you.’ Muriel did the curious little movement which was somewhere between a bob and genuflection, and which she kept for the priest and doctor alone, before shutting the front door.When she turned to face the stairs, everything swam for a moment and she put out a hand to the wall to steady herself. Ee, she’d better have something to eat. She’d skipped breakfast this morning because she hadn’t felt too good; likely that was the reason she felt a bit funny now. Whatever, she couldn’t be sick.Who’d look after Bess and the bairn if she was sick?
     
     
    When Dr Boyce returned to the house in Deptford Road the next morning, which was a Saturday, it was Kitty who opened the door to him, Amy in her arms. She explained how she’d called round to see Bess a little while before and found Muriel all but collapsed in the kitchen. ‘I’ve sent her to bed, Doctor,’ Kitty said earnestly. ‘I can take care of things over the weekend, and me mam’ll have Amy during the day come Monday when I’m at work. Just till Bess is on her feet again.’
     
    ‘How is Bess?’ the doctor asked, glancing up the stairs as he took off his coat.
     
    ‘Well . . .’ Kitty hesitated for a second before saying, her voice low, ‘She seems right poorly to me, Doctor.’
     
    A swift examination confirmed that further complications had set in, pneumonia being the biggest threat. And when Bess made only a token protest at being sent to the Sunderland infirmary, Dr Boyce knew she was aware of just how ill she was.
     
    Muriel was hot and feverish and barely coherent when he walked into the second bedroom, but on hearing he was proposing to send Bess to hospital, she struggled out of bed