Second Time Around (2 page)

Jess’s phone vibrated and she grabbed it, as always hoping for good news and dreading bad. She smiled when she saw that it was a text from Louis.

Katie’s eyes widened. ‘I know that smile. That’s from a man. Have you been holding out on me?’ she smirked.

Jess shook her head but couldn’t prevent the tell-tale blush. ‘The editor at the
Gazette
who’s been really sweet and supportive since Mum’s
accident.’

‘I sense romance in the air. Is he hot? When do I get to meet him?’

‘No romance,’ Jess said emphatically. ‘Mum’s my priority, you know that.’

‘Fair enough, but you need some downtime too. Keep the faith, yeah?’ Katie was looking at her with worried eyes.

Jess gave a weak smile and nodded. ‘Yeah.’

Suzie became conscious of a soft tapping, fingers on a keyboard, she realised. Jess! Always working, she thought affectionately. Suzie tried to reach out to her daughter and
call her name but nothing came out. After a few minutes, the effort of trying to attract attention proved too much for her and, weary and frustrated, Suzie slipped back into unconsciousness. Hang
on, Jess. Don’t give up on me yet.

The next time she became conscious of her surroundings, her eldest daughter was there again. You shouldn’t be here all the time, Suzie wanted to say, but, when she tried to speak, her
voice still wouldn’t obey her brain. Yet she was conscious now of people and smells and sounds. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it? She must be getting better. This time she let
herself drift off, wearing a smile that no one could see.

Suzie was woken by a crash and then giggling out in the corridor. There was only one light on over the bed. It hurt her eyes. She blinked. Was she dreaming? No, surely you didn’t dream of
long narrow clinical lights that highlighted a rather bad paint job. She gasped as she took in her surroundings, her eyes settling on her daughter’s head, resting on the edge of the bed, her
dark hair fanned out across the cover.

‘Jess,’ Suzie said but nothing came out. She tried again, concentrating as hard as she could. ‘Jess.’ The sound that emerged was a cross between a hiss and a croak. She
wondered if she could do anything else and tried flexing her fingers and toes. Holy shit! They were working! It was hard work but they were working. ‘Jess,’ she said again and this time
she was able to move her hand so it brushed off her daughter’s head.

Jess jerked up, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Suzie smiled, her heart ready to burst with happiness.

Her daughter looked up and met her eyes, gasping, her eyes wide in disbelief. ‘Mum? Mum, oh, Mum.’ Jess hugged her, before jumping up and running out into the corridor and calling
for the nurses. ‘She’s awake! My mum’s awake!’

Suzie lost track of time, drifting in and out of consciousness. She often woke during the night, when there was no one around to talk to or answer her questions. When she
opened her eyes, she sighed when she saw that the only light came from the corridor. ‘Feck it!’ she muttered, disappointed yet again.

‘Mum?’

She looked over to see her daughter in the chair. ‘You should be at home in bed,’ she croaked although she was delighted to see Jess.

Jess’s face lit up. ‘You can speak!’

‘Of course I can,’ Suzie retorted, although her words were little more than a whisper.

‘Who am I?’ Jess demanded, her eyes begging for recognition.

‘You’re Jess, my eldest daughter.’ Suzie smiled.

‘How many children do you have?’

Suzie blinked. Why was Jess asking such stupid questions? ‘Three. You, Sharon, Noel.’ She glanced around the room, taking in for the first time the machines by the bed and the drips
going into her arm. ‘What happened?’

‘You had an accident and you’re in the hospital, have been for weeks.’

Suzie tried to process this but her head hurt and she felt tired. She closed her eyes, weary. Thinking was a fierce, tiring business altogether.

Suzie had no idea how much time had passed before she opened her eyes to daylight and the sight of her family gathered around the bed. As usual, Jess was at her side. Sharon
sat in one of the chairs, Sharon’s husband, Keith, perched on the arm, reading a newspaper, and Suzie’s son, Noel, was sitting on the window ledge messing with his phone.

‘Mum?’ Jess was the first one to spot she was awake.

Suzie tried to smile. ‘Water?’ she whispered.

Jess gave a regretful shrug. ‘Sorry, not yet, but I can moisten your lips.’ She dipped a swab into a jug of water and ran it across her mother’s mouth. Suzie caught it in
between her teeth and sucked for all she was worth.

‘The doctors said to wait, Mum.’ Jess tugged the swab out and tossed it into the bin.

Suzie scowled. ‘Fuck them.’

‘Mum!’ Sharon raised her eyebrows.

There was a deep chuckle. ‘Hey, sis. How are you feeling?’

Suzie glanced down to see Mandy, draped across the end of the bed, showing an ample amount of toned, tanned thigh. ‘Oh, Christ. I haven’t seen a get-together like this since Uncle
Bill’s funeral,’ she croaked. ‘I’m dying, right?’

‘Nah. Pity, though,’ Noel said, grinning. ‘I’d planned to buy a round-the-world ticket out of the life assurance.’

Sharon glared at her brother and came to hug Suzie. ‘Welcome back, Mum. You scared the hell out of us.’ She perched on the edge of the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Shite. Tell me about this accident.’ Suzie had a feeling she’d already had this conversation with her family but she couldn’t remember the answer. She couldn’t
seem to retain anything in her head for more than a few hours. It scared her but the consultant said these things took time. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ were his exact words,
although what Rome had to do with anything Suzie had no idea.

‘We went along to the opening of the leisure centre in the hotel in Howth and, after a few glasses of bubbly, you climbed onto the treadmill, fell off and banged your head on the way
down,’ Mandy said, sounding bored.

‘Bollocks! What would I be doing in a health club?’

Her daughters exchanged a look and then Sharon scowled at her aunt. ‘Mandy dragged you along because they were doling out free drink.’

‘The equipment shouldn’t have been switched on,’ Keith said.

‘They were about to give us a demo,’ Mandy protested, ‘but your mother put paid to that.’

‘Still. I’ll get some legal advice on the matter.’

Suzie nodded in approval at her son-in-law, ‘Yeah, let’s sue the bastards.’

‘You don’t understand, Doctor,’ Sharon told the consultant. ‘My mother never swears. And as for blasphemy . . .’ She trailed off,
shaking her head. ‘It’s completely out of character. Even in her sleep she’s cursing.’

Jess bit her lip and avoided her little brother’s eyes.

‘Ms Connors—’

‘It’s Mulvey. Sharon Mulvey.’

The consultant looked weary. ‘It’s not uncommon for people who suffer traumatic brain injury to change.’

Jess frowned. ‘In what way, exactly?’

‘In any number of ways, but largely temperament. That said, it’s been known for some to even speak with a different accent or in another language. Or others, like your mum, forget
what’s expected of them in normal, social situations and can sometimes be insensitive. But I’m quite pleased with her progress. She’s awake, cognisant and, physically, as good as
new.’

‘Will she get better?’ Sharon asked, ignoring the positives.

He shrugged. ‘I’m afraid I can’t answer that. Some people revert to the way they were before the injury but it may take weeks, even months. Others don’t but, with help,
can learn how to fit in again.’

Jess looked at her sister in exasperation. ‘So, she swears. Does it matter? When will you discharge her, Doctor?’

‘In a few days.’

Jess beamed. ‘That’s wonderful, Doctor, thank you.’

‘Go home.’

‘That’s a lovely way to talk to your daughter.’ Jess pretended to look offended.

‘You’ve spent far too much time in that bloody chair. It’s a wonder you can still walk. What about your job?’

Jess pointed at her laptop. ‘Where I go, it goes. I can write anywhere, even in this place.’ Jess yawned and glanced at her watch. ‘But I will head off. I’m giving your
house a spring clean in the morning. God only knows what’s growing under Noel’s bed.’

Suzie chuckled. ‘I thought he might have become self-sufficient these last few weeks.’

‘Nah. Sharon did his ironing and kept the freezer stocked and I nipped in to clean and load the washing machine. If any woman is ever crazy enough to take him on, she won’t thank
us.’ She paused. ‘It’s great to be able to talk to you again, Mum. I’ve missed you.’

‘Likewise,’ Suzie said.

‘Sharon’s bringing Bobby in to see you tomorrow. He can’t wait to see his granny.’

Suzie snorted in disbelief. ‘Ha, pull the other one. Sharon’s probably had to promise him a fiver to come along. I wish she’d get him to call me something else. It’s not
very flattering being called a granny when you’re in your forties.’

Jess looked surprised and then shook her head, her smile sad.

‘What?’ Suzie frowned.

‘Nothing. Have a good night’s sleep, Mum. See you tomorrow.’ Jess hugged her once more and left.

Alone, Suzie found her thoughts turning to her luck in surviving this brush with death. She still had no memory of the accident and only vaguely knew the hotel where it had
taken place. It wasn’t the sort of place she hung out in. What on earth had made her go? And what was she doing climbing onto a treadmill? Suzie figured she must have been plastered, not that
she drank much; at least she didn’t think so.

She was glad she’d survived. It would have been such a humiliating way to die – she could imagine the sniggers at the funeral. But, she had, and here she was, eight weeks later, and
she seemed to be fine. What were the chances? It was like a sign, a warning, even. From what she could remember, she was an ordinary woman who’d lived an ordinary life, taking pleasure in
simple things, her life revolving round her family. Apart from the occasional outing to the cinema or dinner with her old mate, Nora, Suzie rarely went anywhere. How had she ended up in such a
rut?

When she’d married John Connors and moved to Limerick, Suzie had left behind her friends and her job and become a stay-at-home mum. Mind you, once Sharon and Noel came along, she’d
had her hands full. Moving to such a rural location was one hell of a shock for a Dublin girl who’d lived her life in a busy suburb just minutes from the city centre. Having been brought up
in a noisy, crowded house, nothing could have prepared Suzie for the silence and isolation of her new home.

Once Noel started school, she’d made noises about finding a part-time job, but John hadn’t been that keen. He worked for a meat-processing company and had reached the dizzy heights
of purchasing director. They didn’t need the money, he told her, and he didn’t like the idea of his family turning into latchkey kids. If she was honest, she hadn’t either but she
had often missed the camaraderie she’d enjoyed when she’d worked in CML.

She smiled as she thought of her one and only job. It had been the perfect position for her. Designing screen presentations had come as naturally to her as breathing.
Chrissie, her tutor, had urged her to go for this job in the large conference-management company, despite the fact that she’d no work experience and was pregnant. Suzie still remembered how
nervous she’d felt when she walked into the sumptuous offices of CML for the first time. She knew that Gina, her interviewer, had loved the mock presentation that she’d been asked to
prepare prior to their meeting. But she’d also seen her worried frown when Suzie had told her about her condition. And so it was a pleasant shock when she was called for a second interview
and subsequently got the job. It had taken her a while to settle into CML. The small staff seemed so close and she’d felt like an outsider. She had nothing in common with them and, as the
days passed, she became more and more self-conscious about her accent, education and background. What a chip on her shoulder she’d had, thinking her colleagues were judging her. The truth was
that she’d been the one guilty of that. They’d been great and become true friends, getting her through one of the most difficult points in her life. She’d lost touch with them, as
people do when their lives move in different directions. Sad, really. She should do something about that, maybe call Gina and meet up for coffee.

Her thoughts returned to Limerick and the frosty reception she’d got from John’s family and friends. His parents were quiet, stern people with little to say and
Maurice, John’s only brother, wasn’t much better. Where John had got his outgoing personality and sense of humour, Suzie couldn’t imagine. On arriving in the small community, she
had been a curiosity but after a few weeks, she was accepted as the Dubliner that John Connors had married and left to her own devices.

Her isolation ended the day she was coming back from the shop with Jess snuggled up warm in her buggy, oblivious of the bumpy ride down the narrow lane, and came across Nora Browne bent over the
engine of her car and muttering to herself.

‘Oh, come on, you can’t break down on me again. You’ve only just had a feckin’ service. What is it? Are you allergic to the bloody cold?’

Suzie burst out laughing and winced when the woman lifted her head and bashed it on the bonnet. ‘Ow!’

‘Oh, sorry.’

Nora grinned and rubbed her head. ‘I don’t suppose you know anything about cars?’

‘No, but I can make you a cuppa while you phone someone who does.’

The woman considered her for a moment and then slammed the bonnet shut and stuck her hand out. ‘That’s the best offer I’m likely to get. Nora Browne.’

‘Suzie Connors.’

‘Ah, John’s wife. You’re my neighbour!’

Suzie had frowned, glancing around at the acres of fields around them. ‘Neighbour?’

Nora laughed. ‘Absolutely. I’m only a ten-minute drive up the road.’

And they’d been best friends since.