Midnight Dolphin (13 page)

They sat in
silence for a while, sipping their tepid coffee.

‘
You know’
said Dad, ‘when Lucy was a baby Megan and I would sometimes lay her
down on our bed for a nap in the afternoon. It was a double-bed of
course, and so she was a long way from the edge. One afternoon when
Lucy was sleeping there in the middle of the duvet, her arms
splayed out, I had to go and answer the phone downstairs.’ Dad
paused and stroked his stubbly chin. ‘I was barely gone a minute
when I heard a thump and Lucy started crying her head off. I rushed
upstairs and of course she’d fallen off the bed flat on her face.
She was such a wee small thing I was convinced she’d been terribly
injured. She just wouldn’t stop crying so in the end I bundled her
into the car and drove like a madman to Accident & Emergency at
our local hospital.’

‘
What did the
doctors say?’ asked Bethany curiously.

‘
Oh, the
doctors looked her over and gave her a clean bill of health. She
had a bruise on her forehead but they didn’t seem worried about
that.’ Dad paused. ‘But I felt terribly guilty afterwards’ he said.
‘I thought I’d almost killed my baby daughter by carelessness. I
just looked away for a moment and….’

‘
But it’s not
like that now John’ said Bethany quietly. ‘You can’t keep your eye
on her all the time. She’s growing up you know. She’s finding her
own way in the world.’ Dad turned his head to look out of the
window as though he were trying to hide his emotions.

‘
Oh I know’ he
said eventually. ‘I’m just being stupid. Sitting here brings the
memories back to me you know. It’s the same hospital. Lucy was seen
just down the corridor last time.’ Bethany smiled and clutched her
knees. She looked at Lucy lying peacefully next to her. She wanted
to tell Dad that Lucy would be fine, but she simply didn’t
know.

Just then a
slim woman with grey hair in her fifties and wearing a white coat
appeared at the bedside.

‘
Mr and Mrs
Parr, I’m Natalie Goodman, a consultant neurologist at the
hospital. I’ve come to examine Lucy.’ Bethany suppressed a look of
embarrassment.

‘
It’s good to
see you Dr Goodman’ replied Dad, ‘but this is not my wife. This is
Lucy’s aunt Bethany. Her mother passed away just over a year
ago.’

‘
I’m sorry to
hear that’ said Dr Goodman sympathetically. She consulted Lucy’s
chart and monitor and then pulled the curtains round so that they
were in privacy.

‘
I’m just
going to do a few tests’ said Dr Goodman thoughtfully as she
glanced at Lucy’s scan results. They won’t take long. You’re quite
welcome to stay.

‘
It’s okay’
replied Dad. ‘I’ll just step outside. I’ll only get in the way
otherwise.’ Bethany followed him outside the curtain round Lucy’s
bed.

‘
Truth is I
feel nervous’ confessed Dad. ‘I’ll be happier if she just tells us
what’s wrong with Lucy after the examination.’ Bethany glanced
round the curtain. Dr Goodman was gently pressing the tip of her
pen into Lucy’s palm to see if there was any reaction. She nodded
to Dad.

‘
Probably for
the best’ she said. Presently Dr Goodman put her head round the
curtain.

‘
All done’ she
said, drawing the curtain back round. Dad and Bethany sat down.
‘Well I’m pleased to confirm the opinion of my colleagues that
there doesn’t appear to be anything that suggests abnormalities or
damage to the brain. I just carried out a few basic tests but the
real diagnostic tool is the scan that Lucy had last night. The
results are right here’ she said, holding up the print-out
briefly.

‘
The main
problems we commonly see in injuries of this type are swelling to
the brain or internal bleeding. Neither of those conditions are
revealed by Lucy’s scan. Nor is there any apparent damage to the
spinal column or brain stem which might suggest a condition such
as
cerebromedullospinal
disconnection, or
locked
in syndrome
. Brain activity is consistent
with someone who is conscious, but none of the attendant symptoms
are present.’ Both Dad and Bethany visibly brightened when they
heard the doctor’s prognosis.

‘
That’s the
good news’ the doctor continued. ‘The not-so-good news is that I
can offer no good reason as to why Lucy has not yet emerged from
her unconscious state. In layman’s terms, if she’s merely deeply
asleep and I give her a good old fashioned prod, I’d expect to see
a physical reaction to the stimulus. Lucy does not respond in that
manner. Concussion, or
mild traumatic
brain injury
as we call it nowadays,
should not result in loss of consciousness for this length of time.
Furthermore the brain activity we’ve picked up is not consistent
with MTBI.’

‘
So what’s
your best guess?’ asked Bethany.

‘
If anything
since we’ve excluded locked-in syndrome, the electrical activity in
the brain is most comparable to REM sleep. However as I said,
Lucy’s reactions are not consistent with a sleeping state.’ She
paused. ‘It’s almost as if…it’s almost as if Lucy’s brain is taking
a short holiday somewhere else.’ Dr Goodman smiled.

‘
At this stage
I can only suggest that we keep Lucy under close observation for a
few more hours. Unless she regains consciousness again by five pm
we’ll get her back for another scan to see if anything’s changed.’
She paused again. ‘Hang on in there you two. You both look like you
should go home and get a few hours sleep.’

‘
I think I’ll
just stick around here if that’s alright with you doctor’ said
Dad.

‘
Me too’ added
Bethany.

‘
Well that’s
not a problem for the time being’ replied Dr Goodman, but if we
transfer Lucy onto the general ward the nurses will evict you until
visiting time.’ She smiled just before walking off. ‘I’ll be back
in the afternoon.’

‘
But I don’t
want to go back’ said Lucy defiantly to Spirit. ‘I want to stay
here with you.’ Spirit glanced at his mother.

‘
Listen Lucy’
said Star-Gazer. ‘You know it’s wonderful to have you here, it’s
just that we’re worried about you. You need to go back.’

‘
You can’t
make me!’ exclaimed Lucy, gliding off away from them. Spirit swam
after her, but Star-Gazer stayed where she was. She knew that she’d
better ease off for a little and let Lucy and Spirit have their
time together. She’d speak to the young girl again later. Lucy had
helped save Star-Gazer’s life and she wanted to make sure this
slight human child didn’t do anything that might risk her
own.

Lucy skimmed
the waves alongside Spirit. Light played on the surface of the
water as they sped along.

‘
I can’t
believe they want me to go back’ she said. ‘I’ve barely got here.
I’ve never been able to remain here with you for so long, and
before my accident I thought I’d never see you again. Maybe it’s a
good thing I got knocked out like that. Maybe I’m meant to be here
with you.’

‘
You know
Star-Gazer just wants to make sure you’re okay’ replied Spirit.
‘But it is good to have you here next to me. I feel complete
somehow.’

‘
Then you
think I should stay too?’ asked Lucy eagerly.

‘
I’d like you
to stay’ replied Spirit, ‘but if your body’s sick, that’s not good
is it? Like I told you, I was able to use my mind to stretch out to
you in the same way that you reach out to me. You were in a big
white square place with other humans and stuff around you. I think
one of them was your father. You were lying on a flat thing and
there were different coloured lines connected to your body. There
was a beeping noise and you looked like you were
asleep.’

‘
From what you
said Spirit, it sounds like my body’s in hospital. They’ll take
good care of me there. I’ll be alright. Let’s swim.’

It felt so
good to be gliding free in the ocean with Spirit. It was so
effortless and natural. Lucy felt the sharp coldness of the salt
water against her face and skin but it just made her feel more
fresh and alive. All the worries of life in the human world seemed
to have dropped away from her. It was exhilarating to speed along
the tips of the waves together.

Later, as dusk
spread across the sea the dolphins settled down to rest. Only
Spirit, Dancer and Star-Gazer were able to speak to Lucy while
Storm and the rest of the pod could merely observe from a distance.
The sea was calm that night and the dolphins swam in slow lazy
circles as they talked amongst each other and told stories to
entertain themselves.

‘
Lucy, what do
humans say about the sun and stars?’ asked Star-Gazer, staring up
at the star-laden night sky. ‘Breeze over there thinks that stars
are just pricks of light that penetrate through a huge clam shell.
But I think they must be suns like ours, just a long way
away.’

‘
That’s what
scientists think’ replied Lucy in agreement. ‘There are millions of
stars out there, each of them like our sun, but far away. ‘They say
that there are planets circling those stars, and some people think
that they have life on them just like our world.’ Star-Gazer
nodded.

‘
And do humans
agree that the Moon goes around our planet?’ she asked.

‘
Yes that’s
right’ agreed Lucy. ‘Humans have been to the moon and put a flag
there.’

‘
But how is
that possible?’ asked Dancer incredulously.

‘
In spaceships
that go thousands of miles through space to get to their
destination’ replied Lucy. She only half-understood how it was
possible herself.

‘
Are those the
metal birds that we often see flying over the ocean?’ asked
Spirit.

‘
No those are
just aeroplanes. They just fly round the world. They don’t go off
into space. Only a few people have been to the moon.’

‘
Do you think
that dolphins could go to the moon?’ joked Dancer.

‘
Well in a way
you’d do better up there than we humans would’ laughed Lucy.
‘There’s no gravity up there, so everything floats
around.’

‘
What do you
mean by
gravity
?’
asked Star-Gazer seriously. She was far too interested in the
subject to joke about it.

‘
Well you know
for example the Moon exerts gravity on the Earth’ said Lucy,
thinking hard how to explain a concept like gravity that she so
took for granted. ‘It’s the moon that pulls the oceans and gives us
tides. If there was no Moon there would be no tides’ she went
on.

‘
But how can
the Moon pull the tides?’ asked Dancer still laughing. ‘They’re not
attached to each other.’

‘
Not in any
way that we can see perhaps’ broke in Star-Gazer, ‘but haven’t you
noticed how the tides are strongest when the Moon is full in the
sky. The Moon traces an arc in the heavens and the tides follow the
same pattern. That shows that perhaps the Moon and the tides are
linked somehow as Lucy says. I had noticed that the tides and the
Moon were connected, but I could never understand why. Humans have
figured out some things then’ she went on.

‘
Well you know
what Storm says’ said Dancer. ‘He thinks that humans are clever but
dangerous. He thinks we should stay away from all
humans.’

‘
Even me?’
asked Lucy, glancing warily around in the direction where Storm was
resting peacefully.

They continued
to talk idly as the night settled like a blanket over the sleepy
waters of the ocean. Sometimes dolphins hunt at night when their
echo-location allows them to see where their eyes cannot. Not
tonight though. The pod settled down to rest and one by one slipped
into their waking sleep. Lucy became more agitated and nervous
though as the others dozed off.

‘
What’s the
matter Lucy’ asked Spirit stifling a yawn. ‘You really ought to
rest you know.’ Lucy looked at him anxiously.

‘
I’m afraid
Spirit’ she replied. ‘I’m afraid that if I close my eyes, I’ll fade
away and that my mind will drift back into my body in that hospital
bed. I’m not ready to go Spirit. I’m just not ready. I want to stay
with you.’ Spirit nodded.

‘
I’ll watch
over you he said. I’ll keep you safe. If you start to fade again or
sink down in the water, I’ll wake you up straight away.’

‘
I wish I
could hug you Spirit’ she said, ‘or sleep on your back. I’d feel
safer if I could.’

‘
I wish you
could too’ Spirit replied. Gradually, Lucy’s eyelids fluttered
closed as sleep enveloped her. As her brain became clouded by
sleep, she was vaguely aware of a girl in a bonnet who seemed to be
looking at her with friendly concern. Try as she might though, Lucy
couldn’t quite make out the girl’s face.

Dad looked at
his watch. It was late afternoon. Lucy still hadn’t woken and lay
there as serenely as ever. As good as her word, Dr Goodman arranged
for Lucy to be taken down for a second scan. When the porter
arrived and the nurse began to disconnect Lucy’s cables, Dad turned
to speak to Bethany.

‘
You look
beat’ he said. ‘Here, take my keys. Go back to the house and have a
rest.’

‘
What about
you?’ asked Bethany dubiously. ‘You’re not exactly looking bright
eyed and bushy tailed yourself.’