Going Home I

Inspired by delaneygibbons.substack.com

THE ORIGINS OF THIS STORY

The cover illustration by Delaney Gibbons aka Dronk, who describes herself as a 'illuswriter', prompted me to sit down, her drawing

in hand, and wait for something to happen. The result is 'Going Home I' but another voice could have told me to go somewhere else.

I now have it in my head to write a collection of paperbag stories around Dronk's lady on a bus, which she shared on her substack NOTES page on 18 July 2024.  It was simply headed 'Something different this morning'. Nothing else. So I asked Delaney if I could use it to illustrate a paperbag story and she kindly gave me permission.

I started  two days later whilst map making and doing other things, then I lost control and instead of eight pages it became 44! I hope you enjoy.

Robert aka One Lucky Old Bunny. 5 Oct 2024.

LET THE STORY BEGIN…

It was a no brainer. 'I'll take the slow coach' Lisa Fraser said to the ticket clerk.

'Look on the bright side, you'll be there two hours before the next Express and you'll save £3 on the price of the ticket.'

Lisa wanted to say 'He might be dead by the time I get there' but she didn't.

It was the call from her sister Bev that had Lisa heading home. Her dad was in hospital, a car had hit him on a pedestrian crossing of all places, nor had the driver stopped.

'Dad has multiple injuries. He was in the operating theatre three hours, so they've put him into an induced coma in the hope that they can stabilise him. The good news is that when I talk to Dad he squeezes my hand. The nurse says that members of the family or close friends holding a hand and talking to him can make  a big difference when it comes to recovery...'

'Please come Sis.'

Lisa had not been home for Christmas last year. She excused her behaviour by telling herself that she had gone home for Bev's 21st birthday in the February, when she promised her father that she would try and get home for this Christmas, whilst qualifying her promise with a 'You know how it is Dad. I earn my best money over the holidays. I'll be with you for The Millennium I promise'.

What a shit time for this to happen! A week before Christmas and The Millennium! With luck Lisa would be back in London on the 23rd, then it would be work for seven days solid or, as she liked to see it, a lot of extra money in the bank.

Gloria Santos, the Hospital's Director of Surgery, tried to persuade her to cover over The Millennium as well, but Lisa held firm. 'I'll cover either Christmas or the New Year, but I can't do both. I promised my father. He's still getting over the death of my mother.'

Lisa wanted to add, but she didn't, that despite his brave face and, in his words, 'a lady friend', Mattie, she was sure that her father was still struggling.

As she sat on the coach, which after an hour was still trying to escape London's jammed streets, not helped by the heavy winter drizzle, she was lulled into a slumber by the Christmas lights and tableaux which adorned every road, shop, and many of the houses, all given extra sparkle by the rain.

It was the coach driver saying 'Wakey wakey. We've arrived' into her left ear which brought Lisa back to the world. On its way into town, the coach passed the hospital and the driver had kindly agreed to drop her off. It was still raining. She wished she had a fiver to hand to give the man for his kindness, but there was no time, so he had to make do with a 'Thank you.'

Lisa wasn't sure why she still called the small town 'Home'. She had left twenty years before to go to London to continue her training as a nurse and had worked her way up to become a top flight peripatetic trauma nurse tutor manager, much in demand. She doubted if anyone in her family really understood what she did.

Lisa's sister Bev had been a very late arrival. Her mother had thought the menopause was the reason why her periods had stopped and her putting on weight around her middle was all part of  'The Change.' She saw herself as no different to her mother and her grandmother. It was only when she felt a kick that she instantly knew that it was not The Change!

A visit to the family doctor confirmed that she was pregnant. 'Six months' he said. 'At your age, 48, Mrs Fraser, we are going to wrap you in cotton wool. It's a good job you work for the Co-op because I'm signing you off now. They'll understand' and they did.

Lisa's dad was happy as Larry with the news. She was bemused. They had explained her own late arrival, when her mother was 28 and her father 26, as their reward 'for years of trying.' That they were still at it twenty years later made Lisa see her parents in a whole new light and that physical love might not have an ending after all. At the time, there she was twenty, about to become a qualified nurse (as you did in those days) and taking every opportunity she got to have a hump. She was of the view that her mum was licky to have sex 'on tap' so to speak and a father ever eager. She was glad when she left home. She no longer had to listen to her parents across the landing. Instead she was the one now being listened to by her flat mates. She couldn't help herself. All that was a long time ago.

It had been a year since the last time. She had a reputation and it was only the money that kept her in London. She had promised herself that when she reached fifty she would bail out, find a small hospital somewhere and, in her own words, 'settle down and get a cat.'

She had her own, small end of terrace house in Kensil Rise with a fifty foot garden and was close to paying the mortgage off well ahead of time. When she wasn't at work all she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't take holidays. She hated the hassle. As far as Bev and her dad were concerned she was happy living a busy life in London. Lisa saw herself as a recluse, well almost, who was good at her job because she gave it all her attention. A few of her medical colleagues, in her words, 'owed her.'

Junior Doctor Jasper Massingham had been one of those Lisa had rescued. He was a snip away from losing a patient in the operating theatre. He had walked out of the theatre that day saying  'I can't do this any more.' The woman on the table would have died had Lisa not stepped in and clamped the bowel leak. The surgeon who arrived a few minutes later and took over was the top man.  24 hours later the woman was discharged as if nothing had happened' his only comment being to Lisa. 'We're lucky to have you.' Coming from him it was high praise in deed.

As they left the theatre, he had said to Lisa 'The young man needs telling that his days in surgery and at this hospital are numbered. I wouldn't trust him with my cat. Don't tell him that. Get him to go quietly and he'll hear no more of this.' She had heard that a good few times over the years and, on occasions, she had been the messenger, tasked with doing management's dirty work because they knew Lisa was more than just 'a bloody good nurse.'

Lisa had found Jacob in the hospital's staff canteen shielded from view by a trellis screen covered in plastic roses and ivy. Like so much of the hospital's decor the canteen was, in a word, 'naff.' She stood and watched him, stirring whatever beverage he had before him  with a spoon. Endlessly. The other hand seemed to be holding his head up.

Lisa went across the table and sat down beside him uninvited. 'Well, the good news is that Page (one of the hospital's top surgeons) came to the rescue and the patient is fine. She'll probably go home tomorrow unaware of the moment of high drama back there' she said, with a nod of her head in the direction of the theatre suite.

'If it's any help I think you'll make a good GP. It's one think removing and suturing a mole. Another carrying out a repair to the pancreas and gallbladder  complicated by a dodgy bileduct. You had a lucky escape. It could have gone terribly wrong. If you choose to walk away, the powers that be will understand.'

'And where will I go? I live here.'

Lisa surprised herself, saying  'I have a spare room you can have until you get yourself sorted. Moved in tonight if you want and collect your things tomorrow. Kensil Rise. That's where I live.'

'You live alone?'

'Yes.'

'Are you sure about this?'

'Jasper, if I can call you that, I have seen you at work for a good while now and I know you are a good doctor. I can say now that the part of the job you have shown no enthusiasm for is surgery, so why push yourself to do it?'

Jacob looked at Lisa. 'You're the best nurse this hospital has. Why didn't you become a doctor?'

'Class' she replied. 'Wrong class, so I trained as a nurse and saw that practice nurses were trusted by both doctors and patients, and as the NHS grows, it will need more and more of us. Helping make you a good doctor is part of my job and, besides, I like you.' The last few words were unintended but Lisa saw how Jacob responded to them.

Jacob pushed himself straight. 'Well, Kensil Rise it is. Perhaps you can help me make it into general practice?'

And that is what Lisa did for two years. He was now in a place called Tipton in Staffordshire, not far from his family home in Ludlow.

They had developed a relationship quickly which was, in Lisa's words, 'mutually beneficial'.  His mother had guessed and thanked her more than once. 'It is a pity about the years. You make a good couple.'

Jacob had left a year ago and she missed him. They had a met up a couple of times when he visited London and he stayed overnight. There had never been anything rushed in their relationship and Lisa knew that she enjoyed sex far more when there was an urgency to it, taking place during stolen moments, the chance of being caught. And that had happened more than once! The trouble was that her compatriots, like herself, were all getting older and slowed down by family responsibilities.

Angus Downing had been a junior doctor when they had their first quick hump. He was now a professor in the hospital's university wing. He was the one who made her realize. 'Lisa, I don't know where the time goes anymore. John is off to Durham next month, Alice is pregnant and Julia has delegated the shopping to me. I really don't get five minutes to myself and, yes, once that would have been enough, but I can't do it anymore. I'm so sorry my lovely lovely woman.'

Once asking a man would have brought a smile to his face. Now, all her invitations got were apologies. She never seen him as a Lethario, nor any of the other many men in her life.

Lisa  smiled to herself as she remembered a note in her 'Blue Book' from a piece written by The Guardian columnist, Suzanne Moore, in 1992, who wrote 'It is not that men have affairs that bothers me; it's their complete laziness that is so disappointing. They do not actively seek "another woman" but if one is available then the flesh is inevitably weak. The motivating force of male sexuality often seems to be proximity rather than passion.'  And in truth, she thought the description applied as much to her as any man. The need for sex was mutual and sex with a married man was a lot less trouble than sex with a young male wanting a mate.

When word got out about Jasper living with her, Lisa overheard a colleague describe her as 'a cougar'. He was the first man younger than herself she had ever been to bed with and that, in itself, was a rarity.

Lisa stepped off the coach, thanking the driver as she did, and walked across the road and up the path through a small area of green encircled by trees all decorated with fairy lights towards the hospital entrance, through which she walked with a  confidence few others could have. It was time for different thoughts.

Bev had told her their father was in the Recovery Ward,  about half-way down corridor B, beyond which the sign said was the 'Surgical Suite', all of which made perfect sense. She realised that she had never been in the hospital before.

Her dad was coping okay and was on his way to visit his 'lady friend' Mattie Heron when he got hit on the crossing, so there was every chance she would be with Bev in the ward. They had only met twice, but it was clear that Mattie and her dad were close. 'Big blue eyes like your mum. I haven't told her that' and he was right about that, otherwise they were as different as chalk and cheese. Her mum tall and pencil thin like Bev and herself. Mattie dumpy like her dad.

Lisa was right about Mattie. She was there with Bev, one on either side of the hospital bed, each holding a hand. She was pleased that it was Bev facing her as she walked into the ward, having announced herself to the nurses' station as she did. Bev heard the scrape of a chair echo though the small ward of four beds and her sister almost shouting 'Lisa. You've made it!'

Mattie turned and had to look twice at Lisa to comprehend who it was before giving a little wave and rising from her chair and offering it to Lisa, but Lisa beckoned to her to sit down and went across to the empty bay opposite her father and retrieved a chair.

Lisa leaned over her father and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Then she turned her attention to the array of monitors behind him before sitting down.

They sat together silently, Bev and Mattie both knowing without a word being spoken that she was assessing her father. It seemed like an age before she said 'He'll live.'

It was Mattie who asked 'How do you know?'

'The monitors tell me he's going to be alright' said Lisa. If one of the doctors hasn't told you that already, they soon will.'

One the nurses from the station was coming towards them. 'Excuse me, you do know that patients are allowed only  two visitors at any one time?'

It was Lisa who replied 'Yes. I was about to come and ask if I could see my father's notes?'

'Well, I'm not sure about that and the doctors are very busy. It is Christmas you know', the nurse's voice sounding a little defensive as she spoke the words.

Lisa looked at the young nurse, her posture and voice slipping into manager mode. 'Let's go and speak with your colleague', who Lisa guessed from the belt she was wearing was a ward sister, though the term 'manager', which she didn't like, had begun to to become the fashion. St. Walt's had already changed her designation from that of 'Team Leader' to 'Trauma Team Nurse Manager.' Her bosses did love their job titles.  Her response had been to ask if a pay rise came with the change? And it did, together with more time in the lecture theatre, of which she was not a great fan. Lisa remained convinced that nursing skills were better improved by watching and practice. There was a place for the classroom when it came to preparation, but nothing trumped working in a hospital 24-7. What worried her most though was the trend towards fewer, larger, hospitals, often quite isolated from the communities they were meant to be serving. She worked across three large central London hospitals. She could see that before she retired there would be just one, but so far every location the  Hospital Board identified had been lost to property developers.

In the few footsteps it took them to reach the ward sister, her badge showing the name 'Vera Hallett', Lisa was asking herself the question 'Perhaps the time to get a cat has arrived?' 'Maybe more?' was a fleeting after-thought. What Lisa craved was some personal attention after years of giving all her attention to others, be they colleagues or patients hanging onto life with a little help from her. Her Dad and Bev had lost out as well.

'Yes Angie, what is it now?' Vera asked, as if another interruption was the last thing she needed.

'This is Mr. Fraser's daughter. She would like to see his notes.'

'X-rays actually' Lisa interrupted in a voice that clearly dismissed Angie.

'It will be tomorrow morning early before Mr Fraser sees a doctor again, unless something untoward occurs and that is unlikely, given that he is heavily sedated.'

Lisa looked Vera Hallett directly. 'I well understand the pressure you and your colleagues are under. My own colleagues are under extra pressure themselves because I am here and I want to get back to them ASAP, but first I want understand my father's situation before I do that'.

Vera Hallett was looking at Lisa as if she was staring at a blank wall. She wanted to say 'What the fuck does all that mean?'

Lisa reached inside her jacket pocket and removed her hospital lanyard and placed it on the counter before all three of them and turned it towards Vera Hallett. The lanyard had 'ST. WALTS HOSPITAL TRAUMA UNIT' repeated down its length and the identity card showed the name Lisa Fraser, beneath which were the words 'Trauma Team Nurse Manager.'

'You do have Mr. Fraser's x-rays here?' Lisa asked.

'Somewhere' came back Vera and Lisa could hear in the voice that replied someone who was close to being overwhelmed.

'Our ward clerk has been off sick for a fortnight and we have had no cover, and today we are a nurse down - just Angie and me plus Lila, who is changing a dressing right now in one of the other bays. We have sixteen beds and the only empty one here has just been taken by A&E, so in the absence of an emergency searching for your father's x-rays is not a priority.'

Vera Hallett then looked at Lisa again and said 'If it were not for the fact that this is also your area of expertise, I would not have explained the situation we are in today in such detail. We are a small provincial hospital with none of the resources of a world-class London hospital.'

'Who hires cover when you are short staffed?'

'Admin, but they have to get it signed off by the Teasurer.'

'And who is that?'

'He is on leave until the New Year.'

'So, who does it in his absence?'

'The Matron. You'll have to speak to Admin first. That's the way it works. She okay once you get to her.'

Lisa found herself wondering just how many other hospitals were like this? In the stone age when it came to management.

'Sister Hallett' came back Lisa, certain that she could hear the exasperation. 'How does one get a job around here? You can have me for the next six days free-of-charge, but I have to go back to London on the 23rd. I have three hospitals to cover until the 29th, when I will be coming back to spend The Millennium with my father and sister, by which time I hope my father will be at home.'

'Well...' began Vera and this time it was hesitancy that Lisa heard. It obviously wasn't that simple. There were the rotas and she had no idea as to how the hospital's recovery ward was staffed or managed. She assumed they worked 12½ hour shifts, but she was guessing. Maybe things were not as bad as Vera Hallett's body language was suggesting. Perhaps Lisa had caught the woman on a bad day.

It was Angie, the young nurse, who broke the silence. 'The Matron's office is across from the main entrance, next to the pharmacy.'

'Thank you for that. I'll go and have a word now. No complaining I promise. Just that I can see how stretched you are and since I am going to be here with my dad, I would like to be useful. I am not very good at sitting around.'

As Lisa walked down the hospital corridor, away from Recovery towards the Matron's office, she pondered how her language differed place to place. Here she slipped into the English she grew up with, whilst in London she spoke jargon laden professional English. There were times when she had to think about what she was going to say. The occasional patient or colleague picked up on her accent, especially those hearing her speak for the first time, though, for 999% of the people she came into contact with she sounded more London than North Lincolnshire.

When Lisa reached the main entrance and looked across towards the pharmacy she saw a pair of wide doors, above which there was no signage. That was where she was going to find the Matron she was sure, but then she caught sight of a row of public telephone kiosks. It was a spur of the moment thing and just a couple of minutes later she was talking to her boss, Gloria Santos.

'Hi Lisa, how's your father?'

'Still out of it. Heavily sedated, but from what I can see he is on the mend.'

'Good news then. Does it mean you'll be back with us sooner than you expected?'

'Afraid not' came back Lisa. 'The 23rd it still is', then she paused and took a deep breath...'The thing is the team looking after him are short handed now and for the foreseeable future. This is not an easy place to get staff. It's a town people still want to escape. My sister is talking of leaving. The bank she works for is downsizing its branch here and she's been offered a post  in Doncaster, where the regional office is, so I am about to see the matron to see if I can volunteer my services over the next few days, so I can get Dad back home. He has a lady friend who's keen to help, but as things stand he's going to be in hospital for Christmas and that means the new year as well. You know how it works. I am sure I can get him out. Will you tell the matron, if  she contacts you, how wonderful I am. Just for a few days I promise.'

There was a long pause at the other end of the telephone before Gloria Santos spoke. 'You will be back for the 23rd? You promise?'

Lisa guessed that Gloria could hear the smile in her voice when she said 'Yes. I promise. It could all come to nothing in the next few minutes, but it's worth a try.'

'Good luck Lisa. Let me know how you get on.'

'I will. Thanks Gloria. You're a star.'

The last word Lisa heard Gloria utter was 'Huh' before she put the telephone down.

She was standing in a small office with two middle-aged women, one hammering away on a typewriter who did not notice Lisa enter the room. The other, holding papers in one hand and a pencil in the other looked up from her desk and said 'Yes. Can I help you?' at which point the typist stopped and turned her attention to Lisa.

'I am hoping if the Matron is here she can give me a few minutes of her time.'

'What's this about?'

'I am Lisa Fraser, I work at St. Walt's Hospital in London as the Trauma Team Nurse Manager and I am here for a few days and would like to volunteer my services.' By now she had handed her lanyard to the woman. 'What I say is easy enough to check. I have just spoken to my superior, so if you contact her for confirmation of who I say I am, she won't be surprised.'

The woman looked at the lanyard a second time, more closely than she did the first. Lisa thought that the woman's reading glasses sitting on the end of her nose, together with her thin lips and bun gave her an imperious look. She pulled herself up and said 'I will go and see if Matron can see you.' And with those words she turned her back on Lisa and opened the door behind her, from where a voice said 'Yes Monica. What is it?' before the door closed and all was silent.

The typist sat staring at Lisa, as if she was from another planet. People never came into the Matron's office uninvited.

After what seemed an age, the imperious woman returned and at the door behind her, stood a silver haired pear-shaped woman wearing a dark navy blue trouser suit, beneath the jacket of which she could see a blue check shirt and a blue pullover, and on her feet were a pair of navy Comfie Shoes. Had it been an office day for Lisa, she would have been dressed the same, except Lisa preferred black everything.

'Come in Ms. Fraser' were the first words Delia Collier said to Lisa and once she had closed her office door behind them she gestured Lisa to one of two sofas on one side of the room. 'Please sit down. You don't know how fortuitous this is. I remember your name from your COHSE* days, when I was active too. I sometimes wondered what happened to you? Now I know. Like me, you progressed, in part due to being a trade unionist I'm sure.'

Lisa recognised a kindred spirit. 'You know how it is. If you're a leftie and you challenge the management you have to be the best at your job, then they promote you in the hope that more money will persuade you to change sides. Not me, I got lucky with my choice of bosses.'

'Thank you for remembering me' Lisa continued. 'I am a member of UNISON and encourage all nurses I work with to join them as well the College.'

'Ditto' came back Delia. 'Now, what brings you to see me today.'

'I came up from London this morning by coach. My father is in Recovery under heavy sedation after being knocked down on a Pelican crossing  on Foundry Road by a driver who didn't stop. He has multiple fractures, but the team are clearly under a lot of pressure. My reading of the monitors is that he is stable and that his injuries may not be as bad as they are being portrayed, but I need to see his x-rays to be certain. I am here until the 23rd, when I have to go back to St. Walts, where I am overseeing three trauma teams 24/7 until the 29th, when I will be coming back here to see The Millennium in with my father and sister. So,  instead of sitting around. I thought I might go back to being a good nurse for a few days. I understand that on the present shift there is no clerical support and a nurse short. So, can I help?'

Lisa looked at Delia Collier and watched as she pursed her lips, before saying  'Lisa, if I may, you don't need telling that there are procedures to be followed. Application forms, CVs, references, criminal checks. Here, we double-check everything after we took on a bogus pathologist a few years back. She's gone into local folklore.'

It was then Lisa remembered. 'Ah, the Zombie Hospital with cadavers leaving the mortuary and walking the wards.'

'Yes that's the one. I sometimes think it's one of the reasons we find it difficult to recruit staff, even get agency workers, because there are those who would like to see the hospital closed.'

'Like that?' Lisa said in reply, adding 'I suspect it's more a case of location, location, location. Why should agency nurses travel miles to get here when there are other hospitals closer to home? With all the empty houses, perhaps the hospital should go into the mortgage business with Nationwide? It's why I didn't stay and my sister is going to leave in the new year, though closing this hospital would be a drastic step, given the pits and heavy industry there is here. The nearest A&E would be fifteen miles at least.'

'Yes' said Delia Collier. 'I argue we need to rise our profile', then she said the totally unexpected. 'I retire at the end of June. That's confidential until the new year, when my job will be advertised. Perhaps you would like to apply? I can see the headline: "Top London nurse goes back to her roots". A few years down the line, you could be running the show.'

Lisa looked at Delia Collier nonplussed. 'You mean it don't you?'

'Yes.'

Lisa was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say, but she had to say something. 'Right now my I want to get my dad out of hospital and home for Christmas, where I can take care of him. Perhaps that would be the better option and I have a chat with the consultant tomorrow morning. What's his or her name, do you know?'

Well, Recovery is Mr Muccawallah's domain, but these days it's more than likely to be a member of his team.'

'Mr Muccawallah? I met him a few years back when he came to St. Walt's. "Ghandi in a suit" we called him. Demure and thoughtful. Radiates charisma. I remember hanging onto every word he said.'

'You got him in one'. He will be on the panel appointing my successor. Everyone loves him.'

Lisa saw Delia look at the large old station-like clock on the wall.

'I think we could talk all day, but I have a meeting with the Patients' Council in thirty minutes, so let me phone Recovery and see if we can't move things along.'

Delia went across to her desk, where she picked up the receiver on a telephone, hit a few buttons and waited... 'Vera, I have Lisa Fraser with me' and it was obvious to Lisa that before Delia could say another word Vera Hallett was bending her ear. She put the palm of her free hand over the mouthpiece and mouthed 'We go back.'

Then Delia was speaking again. 'Vera, let her help you with the records. Unofficial of course. That way she should find her father's notes and, hopefully, x-rays, with the added bonus that you will hand over a cleared desk to Brenda when she comes on and early tomorrow morning Lisa can speak to whoever is doing the rounds...'

Again, there was a pause. 'Joss Hunter. Okay' was all Delia said, which Lisa took to mean that it would not be Mr Muccawallah.

There was another pause and as Delia listened to Vera Hallett she gave Lisa the thumbs up. When she put the receiver down she said 'Sorted. That's the best I can do. By the time you get back to Recovery I will have filled Vera in on who you are.'

Lisa stood up and extended a hand, realising that they had by-passed the ritual when she entered Delia's office. 'Thank you Matron for your help, and thank you Delia. I look forward to meeting you in better circumstances next time.'

'Your two day interview I hope' she said with a wink. 'You will get one I promise, not that you heard me say that.'

Lisa looked the four-sided clock suspended from the dome which provided the entrance area with plenty of light, under which there was the information desk manned, Lisa guessed, by volunteers and realised that when she got back the Recovery Ward she should first encourage Bev and Mattie to get a bite to eat whilst she sat with her dad before going to help put the records into some kind of order.

Vera Hallett saw Lisa and stopped what she was doing and waited... 'Matron has given the okay for you to help us best you can, and for that I am grateful. She told me that you were active in COHSE and remain a member of UNISON, and that you run a top team.

'I do' Lisa said 'and I think it helps when your colleagues know where your loyalties are. There can be no misunderstandings then. Hence I am of the view that when a team is short good managers roll up their sleeves and help. Their desk will still be there tomorrow.'

'Well, I am very glad that you are rolling up your sleeves for us today. I much appreciate it.'

First, Vera, if I can call you by your name, I am Lisa by the way, I just want to go and relieve my sister and my father's partner. Whatever the notes say, Mrs Heron is regarded as a close member of our family.'

'Of course. We aren't going anywhere are we Angie? I've sent Lila to the canteen to get us all a sandwich. You can say "Hello" when she gets back.'

When Lisa walked the twelve steps it took to reach her dad' s bed it was like a scene frozen in time. Nothing seemed to have changed in the fifty minutes she was absent.

Mattie smiled and said 'We thought you had got lost, didn't we Bev?'

'I suspect Sis knows this hospital inside out and has explored every inch. Isn't that so' Bev said looking at Lisa.

'Not quite but close. I have had a chat with the matron and after you two have taken a rest break and had a sandwich, I am going to help out on the desk there, sorting records. That way I should find Dad's x-rays and his notes. Don't worry, we will be in plain sight of one another. I can come in at seven tomorrow morning and meet the consultant. Unless I have got everything wrong, I think there's a  good chance 'Mr Fraser' here will be home for Christmas, but you will have to cover for me if it happens.'

'We are all ears' said Mattie.

'Let me find his records first. Now go and get a sandwich and a drink.'

'If you get Dad home for Christmas, you will be as good as running this hospital' Bev joked, who didn't know how prescient the remark was.

Lis sat down by her Dad and took hold of a hand and said 'Well Dad, this is unexpected, but I am beginning to think that the gods are on our side. In London it's all about aspiration. Getting ahead. The next job more important than the one to hand and, Dad, I am getting close to breaking point. I have had enough of picking up the pieces for as good as no reward. I hate taking holidays for fear of what I will find when I return. It is no way to live. The matron here, a nice woman called Delia, has told me the powers want to close the hospital and has appealed to my vanity by telling me, ME, I might be the person to save it. That I have all the credentials. What do you think of that Dad?'

It was Bev who steamed into view, Mattie trailing a little behind looking puffed, and announced 'We're back' in a voice full of enthusiasm. Mattie has bought Dad a Magnum. His favourite. Says she'll feed it to him a spoonful at a time so it melts in his mouth before he swallows it.'

'Very clever. Well done you' Lisa said to Mattie. 'Just don't let anyone see you.'

'I always carry a small spoon in my bag. And a penknife' she replied, showing the small spoon to Lisa.

It didn't take Lisa long to find her dad's file in which she also found the x-rays.

Her dad had a broken ankle, a dislocated shoulder, a fractured elbow,  concussion and lots of bruising. He looked far worse than he was. A couple of black eyes didn't help. Keeping him sedated was someone's way of ensuring that he didn't start trying to move about on his own unaided and Lisa could imagine her father doing just that!

Lisa knew her dad would rather die than use a bedpan with the help of almost anyone, including someone as pretty as Lila King, the auxiliary nurse who seemed to spend all her time helping patients with their ablutions and bodily functions. 'The poor woman' thought Lisa. What were the chances that she had been stuck in the job for years. Time and again those seen as good skivvies were never promoted and the lowest paid, rarely complaining. She had argued in her days as a shop steward that those who did the jobs no manager would ever want to do should be the best paid. Tongue-in-cheek of course but, at the time, she was making a point. She was of the opinion that clean toilets and communal areas mattered more than domestics having to give priority to managers' offices and private 'facilities.'

Lisa still rolled up her sleeves at times and put on an apron. If she did it, no member of her team could refuse to help out when asked. After her last promotion, St. Walt's Executive Director had taken her to one side and said 'Ms Fraser, you now have a key to the Managers' Suite. If you have any complaints please come to me. Elsewhere is none of your business. Understand?'

She had not replied. The contract culture was creeping into every corner of St. Walt's and its two satellite hospitals. She wanted to say 'Fuck you' but she didn't.

It took Lisa an hour to organise the records and another to go through a pile of papers on the clerical officer's desk, putting them into date order then by reply date if there was a deadline of some kind.

Vera had already thanked Lisa a couple of times after delving into the records and finding the notes that she wanted in an instant, but she wise enough not to interrupt. Lila brought her two cups of tea. She seemed to know instinctively that Lisa preferred tea to coffee. She made a mental note that Lila was good at watching and hearing.

When Lisa asked Vera if she had ten minutes to go through what she had done and, perhaps, look at the more urgent paperwork, Vera's first question to Lisa was 'How have you done this so quickly?' Lisa replied in a word, 'Practice,' adding 'In the absence of the clerk, I will do this again tomorrow and until I have to go back to London. I could also give Lila help with the bedpans and bedding. The woman is close to exhausted.'

'If you think this bad, you should be here during school holidays when half the staff disappear' Vera said.

Lisa looked at the clock and said 'I'm close to exhausted myself. It's been a long day and it isn't over yet and I do want to spend time with my dad before visiting hours come to an end.'

Lisa had a number of questions for Vera but decided they could wait. The only one she did ask was 'Are you here tomorrow?' to which Vera replied 'My last day shift tomorrow, then I come back  in a week's time to do a fortnight of nights. We work two weeks  on, then one week off. It's what we voted for.' It was as if Vera was telling Lisa she knew about her union connections. Lisa made another mental note.

It was Lila Lisa asked about home aids. 'Does the hospital lend home aids?'

Go and see Jim, the Head Porter. It's all unofficial but he has collection of aids patients and families can borrow. If he's not there, one of the porters will help you I 'm sure. They're a good lot.'

'Thanks Lila.'

Lisa fell asleep holding her Dad's hand and came to with a bell ringing in her ear.

'It's time to go. We have ten minutes to get out of here' she heard her sister say.

Lisa raised her arms above her head and stretched. 'Really? Have I been asleep that long?'

And as the three of them gathered their things together and, in turn, each gave her dad a kiss on the forehead, ensuring that Mattie got to go last, they left the Recovery Ward, walking past the new Sister, exchanging 'Goodnights' as they did. Lisa could see no other nurses.

They didn't have to wait long for their bus which would take them home. It was close to full, so they had to go upstairs and every window was covered in condensation caused by all the cold outside and all the warm bodies inside.

Lisa smiled to herself as she sat on the seat behind Dev and Mattie, with her overnight bag beside her.

Her day was ending as it had begun. On a 52 bus. There had been the coach too, and her bottom was numb from all the sitting down. Sometimes she wished she had learned to drive but living in London there seemed little point. Perhaps if she came home she would finally learn to drive. Then again not.

Lisa was already thinking about tomorrow and Mr. Muccawallah. Somehow, she was 99% sure she would see him if Delia had had a word.

Her head dropped and, again, she was gone. This time it was Mattie who prodded her. 'Our stop' she said. 'We're nearly home' and, somehow, Lisa knew she was speaking the truth...

THE END

© Robert Howard aka OLO Bunny, 2024

NOTE. This story is a work of fiction. The names and characters are all mine unless I say otherwise. Place names and locations are a mix of the real and imagined.

My main character Lisa remembered some words written by then Guardian columnist Suzanne Moore dating from 28 August 1992. They are part of the story.

Also the abbreviations: COHSE = Confederation of Health Service Employees and 'UNISON', its successor trade union created in 1993 by the merger of three unions including COHSE.