Moving On (17 page)

The fire broke out in Merseyside Mansions on the Thursday night, two days before Tom and Jenny were due to be married.

They had been in Jenny’s flat going over all their arrangements when the fire alarm went off with a deafening screech that made conversing almost impossible.

‘It’s probably only a false alarm, it has happened before,’ Tom said sanguinely as he took another sip of the brandy and soda Jenny had poured out for him.

‘According to the fire drill we’re supposed to assemble in the car park,’ Jenny reminded him.

‘You go out there if you want to but I’m staying here where it’s warm and comfortable; it’s freezing outside.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ Jenny agreed as they heard the loud clanging of a bell as the fire-engine drew up outside.

Almost at once there was a noisy hammering on the door of Jenny’s flat and when she went to answer it a fireman was there demanding to know if she had been cooking that evening and asking to be allowed in to check the kitchen.

‘You’re clear,’ he told them. ‘The fire must be up on the next floor.’

‘You haven’t left anything cooking on the stove, Tom, have you?’ Jenny asked.

‘Not a thing,’ he said quickly.

‘Nevertheless, we’d like to check out your flat, sir,’ the fireman told him.

‘OK. I’ll come up with you,’ Tom said obligingly. ‘I’ll be right back, Jenny,’ he added as he stood up and accompanied the fireman out of the room.

Twenty minutes later when Tom had still not returned Jenny went out into the passageway to find out what was happening. She found it full of people, all chattering excitedly.

‘What’s happened? Have they found out where the fire is?’ she asked.

‘On the next floor.’

‘It’s in old Mrs Parsons’s flat and what’s more it seems she’s still in there.’

‘You can hear her screaming.’

‘Poor old soul; she’s probably frightened to death.’

‘How did the fire start in there?’ Jenny asked.

‘No one is sure, but apparently she was frying sausages.’

‘She probably set fire to a newspaper left too near the cooker or to her own clothes while she was cooking.’

‘It seems that her door is double locked and that she can’t get to it to open it so they can’t get in to her.’

‘The fire brigade are going to put up a ladder outside and break in through the window.’

‘They’re too late,’ Sandra Roberts interrupted. ‘Her flat is next to mine and she has already been rescued. Someone has sent for an ambulance so that they can take her to hospital and have her checked over. She’s in a right state.’

‘Who was it that rescued her?’ Dan and Mavis Grey asked in unison.

‘Tom Fieldman. When he heard her screaming he put his shoulder to the door and burst the lock open and then he dashed in, grabbed Mrs Parsons up in his arms and brought her out on to the landing well away from her burning flat. He’s still up there.’

‘Let me pass, I must go to him,’ Jenny said, pushing her way towards the stairs.

‘I’m afraid not, ma’am.’ A fireman stood at the foot of the staircase. ‘No one can go up there, the fire is spreading.’

‘I must; my friend Tom Fieldman has just this minute gone up there. And …’

‘You mean the man who’s rescued the old lady?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Well, I’m sorry but you can’t go up. Wait here and you might manage to have a quick word with him before they take him off to hospital.’

‘Hospital? Why does he have to go to hospital?’ Jenny asked, her voice shaking.

‘His hands and arms are pretty badly burned,’ he explained. ‘He most certainly needs hospital attention.’

‘Then I’ll go with him,’ Jenny stated. ‘I’ll go and collect my coat. I’ll be back in a minute or two.’

‘I’m not sure they will let you go in the ambulance,’ the fireman warned, but Jenny wasn’t listening. She was trembling and her knees felt like water as she rushed back to her flat, slipped on her coat and picked up a warm scarf and her handbag.

She locked the door to her flat and was back in reception just as two paramedics were passing through the reception area with a stretcher on which old Mrs Parsons lay huddled under a blanket. She was breathing noisily and with some difficulty as they made their way out to one of the ambulances parked outside.

Almost immediately two other paramedics brought Tom down the stairs and into the reception area. He was strapped into a chair and people moved aside to let them through.

Jenny’s heart drummed in her chest as she saw how ashen his face was and noticed how very carefully the ambulance men carried him towards the door. Both his arms were covered by protective green cloth.

‘No, you must let me come with you,’ Jenny protested as one of the paramedics firmly moved her to one side. ‘He needs me to be there with him.’

‘Are you his wife?’

‘Not yet, but I will be in two days’ time,’ she told them.

He hesitated, looking at his colleague for confirmation that it would be in order, and then telling her she could come with them when the other man nodded in agreement.

As they drove through the darkness to Liverpool Infirmary Jenny longed to be able to hold Tom’s hand, but they were far too red and sore for her to do that. Enormous blisters had already formed on them and in between trying to speak to her he was making full use of the gas and air that the paramedic had offered him to help ease the pain.

The hospital was very busy and there were rows of people waiting to be attended to, but they were seen almost immediately. Tom was wheeled away by a porter and Jenny was left to give the man on the reception desk as much information as she could. When he had finished taking down Tom’s name, address, age and as many other personal details as Jenny could provide, he told her where to sit and wait.

She felt sick with worry as she sat on the hard metal chair. The air was full of the smell of antiseptic. Her head was in a whirl because she had no idea how long it would be before she would be able to take Tom home.

She wasn’t even sure how badly hurt he was because she hadn’t really had an opportunity to talk to him since it happened, but she remembered the pain she’d been in only a short time ago when she’d scalded her hands.

Twice she went up to the desk and asked the middle-aged man sitting there booking in new arrivals if there was any news concerning Mr Fieldman.

‘No, I’m afraid there isn’t. Why don’t you go and get yourself a cup of coffee, you look as though you need it.’

‘I’m afraid to leave here in case he is discharged or there is a message from him for me.’

‘Don’t worry about that. I’ll be here until six in the morning and I know where you are going so I’ll send a porter to fetch you if there is any message for you or if you are needed.’

The coffee and a round of hot toast did much to restore Jenny’s equilibrium. She realized that it was useless to worry; far better to plan how they were going to manage over the next couple of days. She wondered if Tom would be fit enough to go through with the wedding or whether they would have to cancel it.

Karen and Bill were due to arrive the following evening; at least she would have them there to support her, she thought thankfully. She’d do nothing about changing any of the wedding arrangements until she’d had a chance to talk things over with them both.

It was well after midnight when a nurse came to tell Jenny that Tom had been sedated, his burns dressed and that he was in a side ward.

‘Can I see him?’

‘He may not be fully conscious. As I told you, he had to be sedated so that his burns could be dressed. Why don’t you go home and get some rest and come back tomorrow afternoon.’

‘I‘d like to see him now, before I go home,’ Jenny persisted stubbornly.

The nurse frowned and peered at her fob watch. ‘Only for a couple of minutes, and if he is asleep, then you must not waken him,’ she said grudgingly.

‘I promise,’ Jenny told her.

Tom was in a small room in a single iron bed and was propped up into a half-sitting position with a mound of pillows. Both his arms and hands were encased in gauze and bandages right down to his fingertips. There were also blisters on his face and forehead and the front of his hair was singed.

He opened his eyes drowsily as she approached the bed and stared almost unseeingly.

‘Oh, Tom, my darling, what have you done to yourself,’ she whispered. ‘You were so brave.’

His eyelids fluttered but it was as if they were too heavy for him to open them.

Remembering the nurse’s instructions about not waking him she simply whispered his name again.

He managed a lopsided smile then drifted back into a deep sleep.

She wanted to kiss him before she left but was afraid to do so for fear of hurting him; she wanted to hold his hand but she could see that that was also impossible.

All she could do was repeat his name softly, over and over again before the nurse came and asked her to leave.

Jenny didn’t tell Karen and Bill about the fire or what had happened to Tom until they arrived on the Friday, the day before the wedding was to take place.

‘You should have telephoned and I would have come right away,’ Karen told Jenny as she hugged her and sympathized with her. ‘How dreadful that it should happen and that Tom is so badly hurt. I should have been here to help you deal with it. I feel terrible that you did it all on your own, Gran.’

‘We’re here now, so what can we do?’ Bill cut in briskly. ‘Can we go and visit Tom?’

‘No, there’s no point at the moment because they won’t let you see him. He’s still in intensive care. They only let me in for a few minutes and he wasn’t awake while I was there. He’s in terrible pain so they’ve sedated him.’

Bill nodded his head. ‘I understand, but is there anything else we can do for you?’

‘What you can do is help me decide what we are going to do about the party we planned to have here tomorrow night,’ Jenny told him.

‘You’ll have to call the wedding off, won’t you?’ Karen mused.

‘Oh yes, I know that. I phoned the registrar right away and let them know that our arrangement at the town hall had to be called off. They were most understanding and said to let them know when he was better and then we could fix a new date.’

‘Well, that’s one problem dealt with,’ Karen said brightly. ‘What’s next?’

‘I don’t know whether to call off the party we’d planned to hold here or not,’ Jenny said worriedly.

‘If you do then there’s going to be an awful lot of people disappointed,’ Bill said thoughtfully.

‘That’s what I thought, but I don’t really feel like the idea of partying at the moment, not with Tom lying so ill in hospital,’ Jenny said with a deep sigh.

‘It might help to take your mind off how badly hurt poor Tom is,’ Karen told her. ‘Come on, let’s go ahead with it. We’ll do all we can to help, Gran. That’s right, isn’t it, Bill?’

‘Yes, of course we will, but I do understand what you mean, Jenny, about not feeling you want to do it.’

‘Why not sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning,’ Karen suggested.

‘I know that’s a good idea but it’s not really fair on the residents here,’ Jenny said thoughtfully. ‘If we are not going ahead with the party then we should let everyone know so that they can make alternative arrangements if they wish.’

The three of them were silent for a few minutes, then Jenny squared her shoulders and stated firmly, ‘We’ll go ahead with it. I’m sure that’s what Tom would want us to do.’

Karen said nothing but jumped up and hugged Jenny. Bill’s handsome face broadened in a warm smile as he nodded his head in agreement.

‘First thing tomorrow morning we’ll go over all the details and I’ll take over any of the jobs you were relying on Tom to do. We’ll manage between the three of us. You’re in charge, Jenny, so remember to delegate as much as you wish.’

The evening was a great success. The only person who made any deprecating comments was Jane Phillips.

‘You and your family certainly seem to know how to draw attention to yourselves,’ she commented in a sneering voice as she came into the community room and stared around at the decorations and lavish display of food and wine.

One or two other people expressed mild surprise that the party was still being held but Jenny noticed that like Jane they ate and drank their fill along with everybody else.

The room buzzed with chatter and laughter. Bill excelled at making sure that glasses were topped up and Karen did her share by handing around plates of food.

People seemed to welcome the opportunity to relate their own experiences of what happened on the night of the fire. One and all they were high in their praise of Tom’s courage and bravery in rescuing old Mrs Parsons.

‘She’s not been badly burned because Tom shielded her with his body and he got her out so quickly. Even so, her family have decided that the time has come for her to have constant care of some kind,’ Lorna Hill told them.

‘I was told that one of her daughters was taking her to live with them until after Christmas to help her get over the shock of what happened. Then in the new year they would be making arrangements for her to go into a residential nursing home,’ Mavis Grey added.

‘She certainly won’t be coming back to Merseyside Mansions,’ Lorna Hill confirmed.

The evening ended shortly before midnight with Bill asking them all to drink a toast to Tom and send him best wishes for his speedy recovery.

Jenny felt exhausted but strangely happy at having kept their promise of giving a party and knowing that all those who attended had enjoyed the occasion.

Christmas celebrations a few days later were rather muted for Jenny, Karen and Bill. Tom was improving and was now allowed visitors, which meant they could see him each day. By Boxing Day he was so much better and obviously making such good progress that they asked him if he knew when he would be allowed home.

‘They are going to do some plastic surgery on my arms before they let me come home,’ he told them. ‘I’ll probably always have scars but other than that they will be as good as ever.’

Bill and Karen stayed on with Jenny until New Year’s Eve, then they went back to their own home in Wiltshire. They wanted Jenny to go with them for a few days but were understanding when she refused because it would mean leaving Tom.

‘Promise you’ll phone if you need any help with nursing Tom when he comes home,’ Karen insisted.

‘I’m sure I’ll be able to cope.’ Jenny smiled. ‘Thank you both so much for coming and for all your support. Thank you also for helping to make such a wonderful success of the party. I could never have managed it all on my own. I’ll telephone and let you know the moment Tom comes out of hospital.’

It was the first week in January before Tom was allowed to come home. He looked thinner and he was rather pale, but he was in good spirits.

It was a bitterly cold day with a grey overcast sky and a threat of snow in the air. Jenny rushed him indoors and into his flat because she was fearful that after the warmth in the hospital he might catch a chill if he stood around talking to people.

The journey home had exhausted him and for the next couple of days Tom was content to be waited on and fussed over. He had looked thin so Jenny was determined to build him up with good nourishing meals.

Jenny telephoned Karen and Bill and assured them that she was managing quite well and that Tom was fine apart from the fact that he had lost so much weight that his clothes hung on him.

‘I’m feeding him up so he’ll soon put the weight back on,’ she told Karen.

When she invited them to come for the weekend they declined saying that they’d had some heavy falls of snow and the roads nearby were so bad that unless they were really needed they would rather leave it for the moment and asked if Jenny and Tom would come to them at half term instead.

Jenny agreed that this would be best for all of them. Although Tom was making good progress he had not fully regained his strength. He tired easily and most days took a nap after his midday meal.

Later in the week when Tom suggested going out for a walk Jenny vetoed the idea. She was adamant that it was far too cold.

‘You’ve only to look at the river and you can see that there’s a gale blowing. If you tried to walk along the promenade you’d probably get blown away,’ she told him.

‘We don’t have to go along the prom, we could walk up Victoria Road to the shops,’ he suggested.

‘Why? What do you need to buy? Tell me what it is and I’ll get it for you.’

‘Nothing except to get some flowers for you,’ he told her mildly. ‘It would be nice to have a walk and get some fresh air. I haven’t been for a walk for weeks and I feel I need to stretch my legs.’

‘You probably do, but not today,’ she told him firmly. ‘If you go out and catch a cold you’ll be right back where you were when you came out of hospital.’

When they went to the coffee morning the following Wednesday Tom was welcomed back warmly by everybody there.

They were loud in their praise for what he had done in rescuing old Mrs Parsons and confirmed that she had now been moved permanently into a residential home where she could be looked after right around the clock.

They also expressed commiserations that all Jenny and Tom’s plans for their wedding had had to be postponed.

‘Yes, I’m afraid we will have to fix a new date for our wedding,’ Tom said with a smile.

‘We’ll probably leave it until Easter now,’ Jenny confirmed. ‘Easter is very late this year, not until the middle of April, so it will be warmer by then,’ she added.

‘Perhaps you should take the fire as a warning,’ Jane Phillips mused cryptically. ‘We don’t want to have another disaster at Merseyside Mansions and things do seem to go wrong for you and your family,’ she added, her mouth pursing up into a tight grimace.

‘Yes, Jenny, you are quite right. Easter is not until the twentieth April so you should get some sunshine by then,’ Lorna Hill agreed quickly as if hoping no one would take any notice of Jane Phillips’s rather pointed comment.

‘So we can expect to have another party?’ Jane commented in a rather acid tone.

‘Party? What party?’ Tom said, winking at Jenny and pretending to be surprised.

‘Oh, didn’t she tell you that while you were in hospital she went ahead and held the party you had planned for your wedding celebrations,’ Jane said triumphantly.

‘You did! You mean you partied without me!’ Tom exclaimed in mock horror.

‘That will teach you that you can’t trust her; you never know what she will get up to,’ said Jane with a disapproving sniff.

Several people jumped in to support Jenny’s decision to hold the party and to say how well it had all been organized.

‘Did you all have a good time?’ Tom asked.

‘That’s all that matters then,’ he said with a big smile when they all assured him that they had enjoyed it immensely.

‘So does that mean we’ll have another party then in April?’ Clare Green’s voice boomed.

‘We’ll certainly think about it,’ Tom agreed. ‘Let’s fix a new date for our wedding first and then we’ll go into the other details more thoroughly. A party here will be top priority I can assure you.’