Page 7 of Merrily Ever After
‘You did have a blue van a long time ago.’ Emily squeezed his hand, remembering the man he’d been: irreverent, fun and completely unpredictable. ‘But you haven’t been driving since you moved back to Bakewell.’
‘But I’m sure I …’ Ray drifted off, scratching his chin.
‘That’s probably a good thing in the circumstances. Your father came to the station on foot to report the car missing, wearing only pyjamas and slippers,’ said PC Bright. ‘We gave him some thick socks and wrapped him up. He had a hot drink while we were getting in touch with you.’
‘Thank you. Again. He’s never done anything like this before.’ As far as she knew at least. Apprehension fluttered in her chest; how long could he carry on living alone? He was safe this time, but what about the next?
‘Here you are, Mr Meadows.’ PC James placed a mug of tea at her dad’s side. ‘Not sure how you like it, but this is warm and wet.’
Ray jumped. ‘Where the bloody hell have you just sprung from?’
‘This is PC James,’ Emily explained patiently. ‘He brought you home.’
‘He did no such thing?’ Ray spluttered.
‘I made one for you too, Emily,’ the officer said kindly. ‘You look like you need it.’
‘Thanks. I do. I don’t know if I’m shivering with the cold or shock.’ Emily stood up to accept the mug from him.
‘A call from the police station does that to a person,’ remarked PC Bright. ‘Thankfully, there was no harm done.’
‘We’ll leave you in peace in a moment,’ said PC James, resuming his spot in front of the fire. He hadn’t made tea for himself, or his colleague, Emily noticed, so hopefully,this wasn’t going to take too long. ‘Mr Meadows wasn’t too happy about getting in the patrol car. Put up quite a bit of resistance. He knocked his right arm on the car door. He’ll probably have quite a bruise.’
‘Oh Dad.’ Emily could have wept. She knew exactly how that would have gone. He had never hurt her, but she’d witnessed him panic when he didn’t understand what was happening to him. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s OK. He didn’t strike anyone.’ PC Bright held Emily’s gaze. ‘Has he been violent before?’
Emily shook her head, tears filling her eyes. ‘He’s an old hippy at heart. Soft as butter. He’d be mortified if he realised …’ She broke off before she said too much.
Her greatest fear was that social services would intervene and he’d be deemed too vulnerable to be living independently. What if he was put in a home without her being able to do anything about it?
She took a deep breath. Not long until Christmas. Then she’d put a plan together. She just needed to get him safely to the holidays.
‘And I’d already told you about the wound to his left arm,’ PC James continued. ‘We’ve cleaned it up, but you might want to let his GP know, so they can send a nurse round to change his dressing.’
‘Will do,’ Emily promised.
‘This lad makes a pretty decent cuppa.’ Ray Meadows slurped his tea and grinned at PC James. ‘You should give my Emily some tips. Hers are always like tar. I just like to show the water the teabag, get two or three uses out of it.’
Emily felt the tension drain from her body. Just like that, he was himself again, thank goodness.
‘Cheeky!’ she said. ‘You can make your own next time then.’
‘Thank you, Mr, er …?’ PC James prompted, clearly testing him.
‘Meadows, Ray Meadows.’ Her dad extended a hand. ‘Look at me, still in my pyjamas. If you don’t mind, I’m going to have a bath and then get my breakfast.’
The officers exchanged glances, clearly amazed at the transformation in the man who less than an hour ago couldn’t remember his own name.
‘We’ll get out of your way,’ said PC Bright, putting her notebook back in the pocket of her overcoat. ‘Look after that arm.’
‘Arm?’ Ray stared at his forearm as if noticing the plaster for the first time. ‘Oh yes, caught it on the back gate. Just a scratch.’
‘I’m sorry to have taken up your day.’ Emily showed the officers to the door.
‘Our duty is to keep the public safe. That includes Ray,’ said PC James. ‘Do social services know that your father has dementia?’
Emily hesitated. ‘They do, but he’s deteriorated a lot in the last couple of months.’
