In the end, not worrying about the extra expense, Alex and Sophie took a taxi back to the village. As the car ate up the miles between Bristol and Little Somerby, Sophie went through agonies of worry. Lily had been quite vague on the phone, merely saying that she’d had a fall on the street near her cottage and that the hospital suspected a broken hip. She knew that Lily hated talking on the phone, and wasn’t surprised at the lack of detail, but she still feared the worst. A badly broken hip could immobilise Lily for quite some time, and Sophie knew how restless her grandmother got when forced to slow down. Being put on bed rest would both irritate and depress her, Sophie was sure of it.
Stopping in at her grandmother’s cottage to grab a few necessary items, Sophie had almost forgotten about her near miss of a kiss with Alex on the park bench.
‘Will you be OK?’ he asked gently, seeing her set jaw and shaking hands.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Sophie said. ‘I just hope Gran will.’ She blinked furiously. ‘I’d better shoot straight to the hospital. Can you stay with Barney and walk him later?’
‘Sure,’ Alex said. They’d let Barney out into the back garden of the cottage when they arrived, and the Weimaraner was now stretched out on the warm paving stones, enjoying the sunshine and oblivious to the drama around him. ‘But call me when you know how Lily is, and let me know if there’s anything else I can do.’
‘I will.’ Sophie went to turn away, but Alex caught her arm.
‘Will you be OK to drive?’
‘Honestly, I’ll be all right,’ Sophie said. ‘And I’m glad you’re here to keep an eye on Barney. I just need to find out exactly what happened. It’s so unlike Gran to lose her footing like that. She prides herself on her sense of balance for someone her age.’ A shard of worry prickled in Sophie’s heart. What if Lily was finally starting to deteriorate? She’d been so strong for all of Sophie’s life; what if her grandmother was becoming too frail? Trying not to panic, she hurried to her car, grateful at least that she didn’t have to dash away later to get back to Barney. Alex lodging at Lily’s was certainly a godsend. It was only as she pulled away from Lily’s cottage and glanced back to see Alex in her rear view mirror that her heart lurched with longing again; she felt as though they’d been on the cusp of something.
*
‘Honestly, it’s all a fuss about nothing. I’m all right.’ Lily’s expression was verging on put out as she struggled to sit up in the hospital bed. ‘I can’t think why they want to keep me in. I’m more worried about Barney.’
‘Barney’s fine,’ Sophie said, passing Lily the glass of water she’d requested. ‘And he’ll continue to be fine. Alex is going to walk him in the morning and evening, and I’m going to pop in on my lunch break and let him out for a pee until you’re home. And probably for a while after that, too.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Lily said, taking a large sip of her water. ‘It’s just a bit of bruising; I’ll be back on my feet in no time.’
‘We need to wait and see what the result of the X-rays is,’ Sophie replied. ‘Hopefully the doctor will be here soon.’ She glanced at her watch.
‘Somewhere to be?’ Lily asked.
‘No, of course not,’ Sophie replied. ‘But I promised Mum I’d give her a call when we know what the prognosis is, and I want to be able to put her mind at rest.’
‘I’d just ring her anyway,’ Lily said. ‘They’ll probably let me out of here tonight.’ She sank back against the starched white hospital pillows. ‘I hope so, anyway. I loathe sleeping anywhere but my own bed.’
At that moment, the door to Lily’s private room opened and a stern looking doctor in his mid fifties entered the room. ‘Mrs Henderson? Good to see you’ve been made comfortable.’
‘As comfortable as can be expected,’ muttered Lily. ‘But not overly so. I’m hoping I won’t need to be too comfortable, since I’ll be going home tonight.’
The doctor glanced down at his notes. ‘I’m afraid not,’ he said crisply. ‘The X-ray shows a hairline fracture on your right hip where you hit the ground, so you’ll be staying with us on bed rest for a few days at least.’
‘Ridiculous!’ Lily snapped. ‘I’m as fit as a fiddle. There must be some mistake.’ She struggled to sit up, but couldn’t disguise a wince as she tried to swing her legs across the bed.
‘Just you stay put,’ the doctor said. ‘Or you’ll end up doing more damage.’ He glanced down at his notes. ‘If you rest up here for a day or two, take your pain medication as directed and promise to take things easily, we’ll discharge you. But if you overdo things, you run the risk of doing more damage.’
‘And then what?’ Lily said. ‘I’ve got a publishing deadline and a dog to walk.’ Lily’s legions of fans were already clamouring for a new story.
‘I’d encourage you to try to stay active,’ the doctor replied, ‘but not without the aid of crutches or a walking frame for six weeks. We can book you in for some physiotherapy sessions, which should help to keep you mobile.’
‘I’m not using a Zimmer frame,’ Lily said mutinously.
‘Gran,’ Sophie warned, ‘perhaps you should give it a go. It might help.’
‘I’m not on my last legs yet,’ Lily said, ‘and I’m buggered if I’m going to look as though I am by using one of those things.’
Unwilling to argue the point in front of the doctor, Sophie didn’t reply. So long as Lily agreed to stay put for a few days, she thought, it would be easier to pick her battles.
‘The pharmacy trolley will be around at six o’clock with your next dose of pain medication,’ the doctor said. ‘And I’ll see you again tomorrow morning. You’re not catheterised, so call the nurse when you need to use a bedpan, and tomorrow we’ll see about getting you up on your feet.’
‘Heaven forbid.’ Lily rolled her eyes.
Sophie felt a stab of sympathy for her bedridden grandmother. Lily was fiercely protective of her independence, and hated to rely on anyone. Sophie knew that being forced into bed was the worst thing in the world for her spirits. But at least she had a private room on the Waterside Suite, and so wouldn’t be kept awake by other patients on the ward.
‘I’ll go and phone Mum,’ she said. Then she paused. ‘Gran…’
‘Yes, darling?’
‘You said that Barney got into an altercation with another dog. Was it one he’d met before? I mean, it’s just not like him to respond like that.’ Weimaraners were known for their liveliness, especially when called upon to be protective of their owners, but not for impulsive acts of aggression. Sophie couldn’t remember the last time the dog had acted up in public. On or off the lead, he was the perfect gentleman.
Lily hesitated, and Sophie immediately clocked the expression that flickered across her face, although the instant it did, Lily attempted to hide it.
‘What is it, Gran?’ Sophie said gently. ‘You can tell me. If there was another dog involved, it ought to be reported.’
Lily shook her head. ‘If I thought anything would come of it, I’d do something. But it won’t. I know it won’t.’ She couldn’t quite meet Sophie’s gaze. ‘It’s better that it’s just left alone.’
‘How can you say that, when you’re lying here in a hospital bed?’ Sophie said more loudly than she meant. Seeing Lily’s most unaccustomed look of alarm, she apologised. ‘It’s just that I’m so angry that this caused you so much pain.’
‘It’s really not that bad,’ Lily replied, a trace of the old wryness back in her voice. ‘And you’ve been telling me I should slow down for ages.’
‘This isn’t quite what I meant,’ Sophie said, taking one of Lily’s cool hands in hers. ‘I was thinking about maybe having more holidays.’
‘Well, perhaps this’ll be just the break I need; no pun intended.’ Lily smiled.
‘But that still doesn’t change the fact that there’s a potentially aggressive dog out there who could do this to someone else,’ Sophie said, not to be derailed from her line of argument. ‘What if it’s even worse next time? What if you and Barney meet this dog again? Are you sure you’ll be able to hold him?’
‘Look, I know you think that Barney’s too strong for me these days, but he, like me, is getting on a bit now. This was completely out of character for him.’ Lily looked at her granddaughter again. ‘And I’m grateful that you and Alex are stepping in to help with him while I’m in this… mess.’
‘You know it’s no bother,’ Sophie said, wondering how she was supposed to feel about the you and Alex reference. It wasn’t as if they were a couple, after all, this afternoon on the bench notwithstanding. ‘I’m just worried about you, that’s all. And you still haven’t told me who the other owner was.’
The pause was so long that even between Lily and Sophie it verged on the uncomfortable. ‘Well,’ Lily said, when neither could bear it any longer, ‘I suppose you’ll find out through the grapevine soon enough anyway.’
‘Who was it, Gran?’ Sophie’s voice was gentler this time.
‘It was Mark, and his dog Jimmy.’
Sophie felt her stomach flip. ‘What?’
‘Now you can see why I’d rather we moved on,’ Lily said. ‘You’ve only just got him out of your life, and I’ve absolutely no desire to be the reason you come into contact with him again. So, I’m asking you nicely, Sophie, to let this go and move on.’
‘How can I let it go, Gran?’ Sophie asked incredulously. ‘When you’re lying in a hospital bed? What on earth happened?’
Lily heaved a huge sigh. ‘I’d taken Barney out for his usual midday walk, and we were just on our way back up the high street. He was pretty shattered, since Alex had taken him out early that morning anyway, but I wanted to get out and get some fresh air, so I thought I’d take him for a quick run up the Strawberry Line. Anyway, I was about a quarter of a mile from home when I saw Mark and Jimmy coming up the road. You know how small dogs can react to Barney.’ Jimmy was some strange mixture of several aggressive small breeds, and had the temper to match.
‘Like small men,’ Sophie said with a bleak smile. ‘Something to prove.’
Lily grinned briefly. ‘Something like that. Anyway, I was going to cross over to the other side of the road but traffic was busy and there were those blessed parked cars all along the side by the zebra crossing, so I couldn’t get over in time. Mark was jogging with Jimmy, who was off his lead, and he had his headphones in, so he didn’t spot us until he was nearly on top of us. Jimmy’s aggressive at the best of times, and as he got closer to Barney he started to snarl. Well, poor old Barney didn’t know what to do with himself. My fault really, I should have taken him straight out of the way, but I couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid him. Before I knew it, Jimmy had gone for Barney’s neck, and Barney was trying to shake him off. He totally forgot it was me and not Alex on the end of the lead, I think, and that was when I ended up on the pavement.’
‘And where was Mark during all this?’ Sophie asked.
‘He’d jogged past without batting an eyelid, but when he heard the commotion, he turned round, too late to see what had actually happened. He did come back and help me up, but he caught the tail end of the altercation, the part where Barney’s hackles were up and he was trying to pick Jimmy up by the scruff of the neck, and assumed it was Barney who’d started it. At the time I thought I was all right, but by the time I got home I realised I was hurt more badly than I’d thought, and that was when I phoned my GP, who immediately called an ambulance.’
‘So, Mark walks away, with that aggressive sod of a dog, thinking Barney caused it all.’ Sophie sighed. ‘Figures. He always blames everyone else for everything.’
‘I don’t want you to do anything,’ Lily said. She suddenly looked very old, and very, very tired. ‘You’ve only just moved on from what happened between you and Mark, and I won’t be the cause for you two having to speak again. There’s no major harm done. I’ll be back on my feet in a few days and Barney’s fine apart from a puncture wound on his neck. It’s not worth pursuing.’
‘You might think that now, but what if this happens again?’ Sophie asked.
‘We’ll worry about that some other time,’ Lily said. ‘But for the moment, my darling, I’m telling you to let it go.’
Sophie knew better than to argue with an elderly woman in a hospital bed, but inside she was seething. As if Mark hadn’t done enough to screw up her life, now he’d managed to hurt her grandmother, too. Why was it that some people could just sail through life, hurting others without a second thought, and those who were caught in the crossfire came off worst? Feeling angry with him, rather than hurt, for the first time, she thought again about what a lucky escape she’d had when they’d split up.