Emma's Duty: (Emma Trilogy 3) by Rosie Clarke

Author:Rosie Clarke [Clarke, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Sagas
ISBN: 9781448177141
Google: CJSmCQAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00Y78X8XM
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2015-09-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

We had been home a few hours when Mum telephoned.

‘Thank God you are there,’ she said, and I heard the note of distress in her voice. ‘Can you catch a train straight away, Emma? It’s Jon – he’s ill. Very ill. I would have rung you earlier if I’d known how to contact you. He didn’t want me to worry you, but I think you should come. If you don’t leave at once … well, the way things are, you might not see him again. At least, not alive.’

Her words had shocked me. How could Jon be that ill? I clung on to the receiver, feeling breathless.

‘What happened? I rang him before we went away. He seemed fine then … at least, he was in a hurry to put the phone down, but he didn’t mention feeling ill.’

‘He wouldn’t,’ Mum said. ‘Surely you know Jon by now? You were going to Paris for a holiday with the children. He wouldn’t say anything to stop you. Besides, it came on very suddenly. One minute he was laughing, the next he was clutching at himself and complaining of the pain …’

‘I’ll get a taxi straight away. I think there is a train in about an hour’s time. Tell Jon I’ll be there as soon as I can …’

‘He doesn’t know I’ve phoned you. Just come, Emma. He needs you. He was delirious a little while ago. He kept calling for you over and over again.’

‘Delirious …’ I caught my breath as I finally understood how serious it was. ‘How is he now?’

‘The doctor came and gave him something to calm him. He seems to be a little more sensible at the moment. I just wish you hadn’t been away … I would have telephoned yesterday but I knew you wouldn’t be home until late last night. I thought he might be better, but if anything he is worse this morning.’

‘I’m putting the phone down now,’ I said. ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell him I’m coming – please?’

I replaced the receiver before she could answer. I was shaking, feeling almost stunned by the suddenness of Jon’s illness. He had seemed so well at Christmas … but then so had Bert.

I should have been more aware of Jon’s health. The doctors had warned me that he would not live to reach middle age. If we had been living together, I might have realized that something was going wrong sooner. My mother was right. I should have gone down to visit long before this.

It was a nightmare journey down to Torquay and seemed to take forever. Why had Jon chosen a house so far away? The fear caught at my heart as I stared out of the train window for mile after mile. Would I ever get there? Would I be in time?

It was dark when I finally got to the house. I paid my taxi and went inside. My mother came down the stairs as I reached them.

‘Thank God you’re here,’ she said, and stifled a sob.

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