Lucy's Rainbow by Hopkins Judy;

Author:Hopkins, Judy;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012010, book
ISBN: 4573194
Publisher: Authentic Media
Published: 2011-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

13

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH

When we arrived at Cheltenham hospital the medical staff had a quick look at Russ and realized he was seriously ill. They admitted him as they wanted to start treatment immediately and not spend over an hour getting him to Bristol. They began to make arrangements to move him to intensive care.

While they did this, he was put into one of a series of single rooms around a central desk. The staff made several calls to Bristol to ascertain exactly what had been happening to Russ before his discharge. His Bristol consultant was away, but the registrar was very helpful. Russ was quickly started on medication, but it had to be given slowly and each administration seemed to me to take ages. I stared intently at the fine tube carrying the drugs into his body, as if I could somehow speed it up with the force of my gaze by willing it to go faster. It seemed like a couple of hours until a bed was ready in intensive care.

I asked permission to use the phone and had to keep making calls from the central desk outside Russ’s room. I called Russ’s mum first. She was planting winter pansies in the garden when his stepfather took the phone out to her. I was too diplomatic, doing such a good job of trying not to alarm her that she asked if she needed to come. I told her she most certainly did, and she left the border half completed as she hurried to get the car ready. I phoned Phil and asked him to contact Eira. Next I rang my parents. My father picked up the phone to hear me begin, ‘It’s serious, Dad.’

In retrospect, I could have asked someone to ring around but this didn’t occur to me at the time. I spoke to Rachel and Lucy on the phone and arranged night cover for them. They seemed happy and enjoying themselves.

‘What a relief!’ I thought.

Between each call I rushed back to Russ and often had to ring for the nurse, as I could see him deteriorating minute by minute. Once, I said, ‘I nearly called the crash team!’ and she replied, ‘It won’t be necessary this time.’ Her words shocked me, as it seemed she somehow expected him to deteriorate further. I couldn’t believe my ears – and I began to take it in that Russ really was dangerously ill.

Our vicar, Stephen, arrived, with a friend from the lay reader course. I was surprised and relieved that Russ came round sufficiently to remove his oxygen mask and jokingly ask if he was supposed to be preaching on Sunday. He then launched into quoting from the Bible, Romans 5:3,4: ‘suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope’ (RSV). He was certainly my Russ, and I thought how marvellous it was that he knew the Lord and had spent time dwelling on these words from the Bible which were helping him now. Although he said them with a glint in his eye, I knew that he was holding on to them and that his faith was very deep.

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