Page 3 of Finding Love at Roseford Blooms
‘Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure I’ll be fine,’ Lizzie replied. ‘I mean, I’ll have to learn to cope sometime, won’t I?’
‘And in the meantime?’ Cordelia said, and for a moment Lizzie saw genuine concern in her eyes. It knocked her off balance a bit, especially in her medicated state.
‘I’ll be fine, Mum, honestly,’ Lizzie said softly. ‘I live in London, remember? I don’t have to drive anywhere if I don’t want to.’
‘Thank goodness for that,’ Cordelia said. ‘After all, it was driving that got you into this mess in the first place!’
Lizzie suddenly felt like the twenty-year-old who couldn’t pass her driving test, even after six attempts and hundreds of hours of lessons. That sense of failure still stung, especially because Georgina had, naturally, passed first time. ‘Perfect’ Georgina, who’d made such a success of everything. Lizzie winced as she gritted her teeth, and tried hard to relax again.
‘Well, I don’t think I’ll be getting back behind the wheel any time soon.’ Lizzie gazed down at the substantial cuff that led to a foam loop around her neck. She couldn’t feel the pain now, but she knew it would be a different matter once the painkillers wore off.
‘Six weeks, the doctor said,’ Cordelia replied. ‘But if you’re a good girl, they’ll let you out of here tomorrow.’
Lizzie was relieved. She hated being inactive, and the thought of staying in hospital any longer than she had to was filling her with a great deal of anxiety. Although what she intended to do when she escaped the Royal Surrey, she honestly had no idea. The idea of an empty flat, from which Paul had effectively removed any trace of his existence, filled her with a mixture of sadness and anger. In one fell swoop, their decision to split had taken away her career and relationship. And although she’d had months to come to terms with both, in her vulnerable state, the emotional wounds had burst open again.
To her mother, she simply replied, ‘That’s great.’ But inside, she was starting to quake. She didn’t want to go back to her parents’ place in Surrey, but she didn’t want to be alone either. At the moment, though, these seemed to be her only escape routes from the hospital. Her father and mother had always tried to micro-manage her life, under the guise of guiding her in the ‘right’ direction: a ‘good’ school, a ‘good’ university and even an influence on where she got her first job. At the time, Lizzie had been grateful, but as she’d got older she had found their interference more and more restrictive. With the Warner family, there had been one way: their way. If you expressed an interest in doing things differently, you were quietly and studiously ignored.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to rest,’ Cordelia said after a slight pause. ‘Text me if you need anything.’
‘I don’t have my phone,’ Lizzie said. As she realised this, her anxiety ratcheted up a notch. ‘Did anyone tell Emma and Seb what happened? I’d hate them to think that I stood them up.’
‘Oh, will you stop worrying about your stupid clients?’ For the first time, Cordelia seemed to lose her careful composure, and Lizzie couldn’t help feeling surprised. It was so unlike her mother. ‘Paul phoned and told them. You don’t need to worry.’
At least that was something, Lizzie thought. She barely even registered her mother also saying that her phone was in the bedside locker. The paramedics had collected it, and her laptop bag, from the car when they’d got her out.
Cordelia leaned over and kissed Lizzie’s forehead. Her lips felt cool, although that could have been just Lizzie’s perception. A fleeting thought that, if it had been Georgina in the hospital bed, her mother would have been far more effusive flitted across Lizzie’s mind before she could stop it. It wasfartoo late to open that can of worms again. And pointless.
‘Can I think about coming back with you?’ Lizzie said.
‘Of course,’ Cordelia replied. Rather stiffly, she took Lizzie’s uninjured hand. ‘I know you’ve had a horrible time lately, darling, but things will get better.’ Then, seemingly embarrassed that she’d allowed herself a moment of unguarded emotion, she dropped Lizzie’s hand again.
‘Bye, Mum,’ Lizzie said. ‘And thanks for being here for me.’
Cordelia nodded. ‘See you soon.’
As she watched her mother leave the small private room, Lizzie turned her head to one side to look out of the window, which had a rather unedifying view across the car park. She couldn’t wait to get out of here, but she still didn’t know where to go. Leaning over, rather precariously, to retrieve her phone from the locker by her bed, she saw that the vase of flowers on top had a card that hadn’t been opened. She’d just assumed they were from her parents, but, on reflection, they seemed a little too wild an arrangement to be her mother’s choice of blooms, being a mix of fragrant freesias, love-in-the-mist and sweet peas. Risking a fall, she grabbed the card and, somehow, managed to rip open the small envelope by jamming it under the cuff of her sling.
Inside was a small card, with an expression of sympathy and a sweet message from the last person she’d expected to hear from. And in that moment, Lizzie wondered if she had a third alternative to her unwelcoming flat or her parents’ house. The card simply said:
Sorry about your accident. Would love to see you soon. Bee.
Next to the name was a small, perfectly formed doodle of a bumblebee. And as Lizzie gazed at the card, she felt her spirits lift a fraction, despite the situation she found herself in. Then she remembered exactly why she hadn’t seen Bee in such a long time, and her heart sank through the floor once again.
4
The next morning, after being given the all-clear from the consultant and the medical team, Lizzie prepared to leave hospital. Her mother had travelled up to Lizzie’s flat and gathered up some bits and pieces for her, so at least Lizzie didn’t have to leave the Royal Surrey in the clothes she’d come in with. Dressing herself proved to be a bit of a challenge, but thankfully a nurse was on hand to help with the top button of her jeans and to sling the dark blue hoodie around her shoulders. A baggy vest top underneath covered the essentials but was the most sensible thing to wear with a collar and cuff sling in the equation. Tying her trainers was going to be an ongoing challenge, though, and Lizzie made a mental note to sort out ballet flats for the next few weeks.
The car journey back to her flat was just about bearable, and after her mother had made them both a cup of tea, the inevitable discussion, begun yesterday, continued, much to Lizzie’s annoyance.
‘I’ll be fine now I’m home, Mum, honestly. And you don’t need to stay with me. I know how you hate being away from Dad. I’ve got everything I need here.’
‘But I don’t like the idea of you being lonely here all by yourself,’ Cordelia replied.
Lizzie only just stopped herself from snapping back that she’d be just as lonely stuck in her parents’ house in the back end of Surrey, far away from everything and everyone she knew, but she knew it wouldn’t go down well. Her mother, in her own way, was trying to help, and, despite herself, she was grateful.
‘Just promise me you’ll call if you need anything,’ Cordelia said as Lizzie saw her to the door of the flat.
‘I will,’ Lizzie said, and forced a smile. But even as she received a slightly awkward hug from her departing mother, she knew she wouldn’t. She’d kept her parents at arm’s length for years, now, and a car accident wasn’t going to change that. Apart from the obligatory Christmas and Easter visits, and a duty phone call once a week, she limited how often she saw them. One of the few things she could thank Paul for was that he’d never tried to pressure her into seeing them more often. It wasn’t as though they were terrible people, but, after a lifetime of doing everything that had been ‘expected’ of her, in her mid-thirties she’d needed some distance. Unlike her sister, Georgina, of course, who even now lived only half a mile from their parents’ place with her husband and two children. But that was Georgina. Dutiful. Compliant. She couldn’t compete with that. She knew. She’d tried.
