Chapter 22

Laurie looked bone tired when she came out of their father's room.

Aunt Trudy had gone in to take over from her, and whilst the nurse was hooking her up, and disconnecting Laurie, Iris took the opportunity to take a quick look at her father.

"He seems to have more colour now," she said hopefully to the nurse.

The nurse smiled at her, and nodded. "His breathing is much better too, and his heart and pulse rate."

"So you think it might be working?" Laurie whispered.

"Well it is still very early in his treatment, but all of my recordings of his stats, have seen a steady increase." She smiled at the three women. "You are all being very strong for him, and I believe that it will pay dividends in the end."

Iris helped Laurie down to the canteen, where she gently pushed her into a chair, before going to fetch her some hot food and a drink.

"They are still on breakfasts at the moment," she told her sister as she pushed a steaming mug in front of her. "They are just cooking some fresh bacon, and it will be with you in a bit. Drink your tea while you are waiting."

Laurie smiled tiredly and obediently picked up the mug to sip at the hot sweet drink.

"Urg!" she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Too much sugar!"

"I know, but you need the energy, and quickly," Iris soothed and encouraged.

As she sat watching her sister eating and drinking, she wondered idly where James had gone. She was still quite shaken by that glimpse of him earlier, that peek into another side of him that she had never even guessed at before.

Not for the first time, Iris began to wonder how ignorant she and her sister were about their own people.

James had sat with her and Trudy for a while, but he seemed preoccupied, and as the sun began to shine through the windows he stood up and turned to Iris.

"I have a couple of things I need to see too," he told her apologetically. "I should only be gone for a couple of hours ... but I will be back."

She smiled as she stood up too. "I'll walk with you to the exit."

The nurse came bundling in then. "Your sister is done for," she said briskly. "She needs some good cooked food, and a cup of hot, sweet tea."

"Is she all right?" Iris demanded in alarm.

The nurse smiled. "Yes, she has been a real soldier going on for longer than she should have really, she just needs to replenish what's she's given, whilst someone else takes over."

"That would be me," Trudy said calmly. "Iris, you take care of Laurie."

James bent to kiss her cheek. "I will come and find you when I get back," he promised huskily and then he was gone.

The nurse spared his parting figure a quick appreciative glance. "He's a strong one, will be a powerful pack leader – if he isn't one already," she murmured softly, almost to herself. "He must be one from the original lineage."

Iris opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but Trudy gave her hand a quick squeeze. "We will talk later – you and I – but do not betray your ignorance of our kind, especially not to strangers." she warned in a soft voice.

It was a conversation that in the end they never had.

The morning drifted on with the three women taking it in turns to sit by her father's bed, and give him some of their blood.

It was as the nurse had promised though, and it began to pay real dividends, as her father's breathing became less laboured, and the drawn deathly pallor began to ease, and just before dinner time, Iris's father suddenly opened his eyes and looked at his pale daughter.

"Iris?" he mumbled in a dry rasping voice.

"Dad!" she shot to her feet and pressed the button that she knew would bring the nurse. "Oh dad, we have been so worried about you!"

"What happened?" he demanded in confusion.

"Ah, so you are awake, Mr Beaumont," the nurse came bustling in and immediately pick up his hand and put her fingers to his wrist to check his pulse.

"Where am I?" he demanded in a dry irritable voice.

The nurse smiled down at him, and then picked up a beaker that was beside his bed. "Here, drink some of this water ... it will help, I promise."

She put the straw to his lips, and although he scowled he obediently sucked up some of the cold refreshing liquid.

Whilst he was drinking, Iris was aware of the nurse studying her father and gauging his reactions and responses.

After he had sat drinking for a while, he put his head back tiredly.

"Now, tell me," he ordered weakly and the colour that he had briefly had, was slowly fading to leave a grey complexion behind.

The nurse looked across at Iris, who simply shrugged.

"You have been very ill, Mr Beaumont," the nurse told him calmly. "A virus that was poisoning your system ... you would have died had your cleaning lady not found you when she did."

"But you have managed to cure it?" he asked through half closed eyes, and Iris was aware that he was almost unconscious again.

"Yes, Mr Beaumont, you shall be quite well again now ... and probably sooner than you should."

He gave a little grunt and then his breathing deepened, indicating that he was asleep again.

The nurse looked at Iris's pale worried face, and then smiled in reassurance. "He will be okay, his system is almost totally purged now, and all we need is a little more from each of you, to just strengthen his red cell count."

"I don't mind staying for that," Iris said stubbornly. "Poor Laurie is frail at the best of times, and Aunt Trudy..."

"Your sister is stronger than you give her credit for, and out of the two of you she is the one who is bouncing back faster."

That was true, as pale and drained as she had looked earlier, all it took was a cooked meal and a hot sweet tea, and she was back to her old self, even though she was still fretful of their father's health.

"She has had a good long rest, and is ready – more than ready to take over from you again."

"But a little longer could only be good for her."

"It honestly would not make any difference since she is back to full strength ... but you, Iris; you are putting your health, and possibly your life at risk by prolonging this."

"But..."

"Do as the nurse suggests, daughter of mine," her father suddenly said from the bed.

He had not opened his eyes, he didn't even open them whilst he was talking, but even in his weakened state, his authority was absolute ... well almost absolute.

"Yes, dad," she sighed in supplication.

"Good," the nurse said with a nod. "Right, I shall just go and fetch your sister and then we can swap you over."

"I love you, daughter," her father murmured gruffly, and Iris reached out to stroke his hand.

"I love you too, daddy," she whispered tearfully.

The day drifted on its course and there was no sign of James.

Iris and her aunt were sitting back in the waiting area, and neither of them seemed to want to talk much.

It had been a draining day – with the hanging around, or being hooked up to give blood, and Iris rubbed absently at the vein in her arm, where the drip had been fixed.

"Don't mess with it, child," Trudy advised, and Iris grinned across at her.

"You remind me of when I was younger; you were always saying things like that to me!"

Trudy chuckled. "And you almost never listened."

"No, much to my regret afterwards ... But you were always there to pick up the pieces, Trudy; and I don't think that I ever said thank you to you."

Trudy reached out to pat her hand. "No, I don't think that you did either, but it wasn't necessary anyway, because that is what family does for each other – being strong when another is feeling weak."

"Do you ever feel weak?" Iris asked curiously, as she thought of the steely woman and all that she had accomplished in her life. Iris could never imagine Aunt Trudy ever being vulnerable.

"More times than I can remember, Iris," she sighed now.

"So who was strong for you when you were feeling weak?"

"Who else ... your father of course."

"Of course!" Iris said a little tearfully. She wasn't sure why, whether it was the stress and worry for her father, or whether it was her weakened state from the blood that she had been giving, but Iris was aware that she feeling very emotional today, more emotional than she could ever remember feeling in her life before.