I
was all in when I went up to bed, it had been a long and difficult
day, Rosie was having problems readjusting to being back in the
orphanage and I was finding it hard doing what I was told to do. I
am used to being my own boss, following protocols and filling in
paper work wasn’t easy, especially when it went against what I
thought was the right thing to do. Enid would have been amazed to
see me do what I was told, without too many questions. I think you
are allowed to ask why things are done that way, but if it comes to
“that’s the way we do them”, you just have to live with it.
Then again, Enid may have been watching me and having a laugh at my
expense, I wouldn’t put it past her.
Anyway,
when I went up to my room the only thought had been to sleep, earlier
I had had visions of soaking in a nice hot bath, easing all the aches
and pains away, but by the end of the day all I could think of was
crashing out. Then Enid gave me Rosie/Ella’s file and all
thoughts of sleep went from my head. I read every single word of
the file, backwards, forwards and upside down, which ever way I
looked at it, it didn’t make good reading.
There
was no work in the town Ella’s parents lived in, so they had to
look further afield. There was nothing within a suitable commuting
distance, so they had to look further afield. Eventually Ella’s
Father got a job, he travelled down to the work and stayed in a guest
house during the week, then came home for the weekend. It wasn’t
easy, but eventually they saved up the money for a deposit on a
rental house, which meant that the family could be together. Then
Ella’s Mum started looking for child care and a part time job that
would fit in with family life. Things were looking up, until Ella’s
Father had an accident, fell off a ladder or something, the tooth
fairy was strangely vague on that. He was rushed to hospital and
his wife was informed, she grabbed Ella and headed to the hospital.
She was in a panic, probably not paying a great deal of attention to
where she was going or what was around her. A van veered of the
road, she had time just enough time to push Ella out of the way
before the van hit her and then drove off down the road as if nothing
had happened. A crowd quickly gathered round Ella’s mother, but
none of them noticed little Ella. She stood and watched her mother
being taken away in an ambulance and then waited and waited, till
someone finally asked where her parents were, but by that time she
had stopped talking, so they took her into care.
When
her Father finally got out of hospital and went home he found the
landlord busy emptying their things from the house in preparation for
another tenant to move in. No one knew where his wife and child
were. He contacted his wife’s parents, they didn’t know where
she was, so he went to the Police and reported them missing. He
arranged a removal van for their things and went back home to his
parents.
No
one knew whose van had run Ella’s Mum over. No one knew who
Ella’s Mum was and that included Ella’s Mum when she came out of
the comma. Meanwhile, Ella was now Rosie and not talking to anyone.
“What
a mess,” I muttered as I sat back on my bed. “But solvable for
all that. A walk in the park for your average Fairy Godmother.”
It
was a week after Enid had given me the file. The anniversary of the
day things all went wrong for Ella’s family. I was taking
Rosie/Ella to the hospital for a check up.
Meanwhile
someone, a student on a media course, had heard about Ella’s
Father’s accident and wanted to do a programme about his miraculous
recovery and his return to health. He persuaded Ella’s Father to
go back to the hospital and thank the people who had worked so hard
to get him well again. The hospital was happy for the positive
publicity. Just took a few words in the right ears, it didn’t
take much organising.
Ella’s
Mum was in a hostel, they had called her Carol for want of something
to call her. She was sue a check-up at the hospital.
Everything
was lined up for a chance meeting that would reunite the family.
“Come
on Rosie, you don’t want to miss your appointment,” I said when
Rosie refused to get out of bed. She pulled the duvet over her
head. This was going to be difficult.
“I
generally find that children are quiet open to bribery,” said Enid
from the other side of the bed.
“I
don’t want to start down that road,” I hissed.
“Why?
Should everything go to plan you wont have to worry about it setting
up a bad president,” she replied. “And you do want her to be
there, don’t you?”
“Of
course I do,” I hissed at Enid.
“Rosie,”
I said. “We could get an ice-cream on the way back, if you are
good.”
The
duvet was pulled back.
“Would
you like an ice-cream?” I asked.
She
nodded vigorously.
“Right,”
I said. “I am going to brush my hair. I shall be back in five
minutes, if you aren’t ready to go downstairs for breakfast, there
will be no ice-cream for you. Do you understand?”
Again
she nodded her head.
As
I walked out of the room I heard her jump out of bed.
“Told
you bribery works,” Enid said when I nearly bumped into her on the
other side of the door.
“Thank-you,”
I said. “And to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I
found your plan interesting and I just wanted to make sure it didn’t
fall at the first hurdle,” she replied.
“So,
are you going to hang around all day or leave me to it?” I asked.
“I’m
going to make sure the other two get to the hospital on time,” she
smiled. “I’ll see you there.” With that she slowly merged
into the back-ground, the last thing to vanish was her smile, which
passed on the impression that things were going to go wrong and she
wanted to be there to see it happen.
There
was a tug on my sleeve and I turned to find Rosie smiling up at me.
“Breakfast,”
I said. “We don’t want the Doctor to say we are starving you
now do we?”
I
could see the student busy filming as soon as we arrived at the
reception. I didn’t know what they were saying, the student had
co-opted someone to do the talking whilst he did the filming.
Rosie was fascinated, her eyes glued to the scene.
Then
her Mum walked in and for a moment she was lit up by a stray shaft of
sun light.
“Mummy!”
yelled Rosie/Ella, pulling away from me and running across the
reception towards her.
“My
baby!” she yelled and ran to meet Ella.
“Jessie!
Ella!” he yelled joining in a mass hug in the middle of the
reception.
I
was pleased that the student managed to stay calm and carry on
filming the whole thing.
“Could
you explain?” he asked.
“Before
the accident, I was a happily married Father of one daughter. Then
the accident happened and I couldn’t remember who I was, but seeing
them here, it all came back,” he smiled, totally unwilling to let
either of them go. “The staff at this hospital healed my body,
without them I would be dead, but I always felt that there was
something missing, something that I couldn’t remember. Now I
can.”
“I
was told that you’d had an accident,” said Jessie. “I took
Ella and dashed here, I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.”
“It
must have been terrible,” he said, hugging her. “But I don’t
remember seeing you here.”
“I
was crossing a road and a van came speeding down it, I didn’t see
it till the last minute, I pushed Ella out of the way and then
nothing. I woke up in hospital, in bed and I couldn’t remember
who I was or anything. I’ve been living in limbo ever since,”
said Jessie.
“It’s
time to leave,” said Enid.
“I
have a job to do, looking after Rosie,” I reminded her. “Along
with several other children. I can’t just vanish.”
“Of
course not,” said Enid.
“And
they aren’t going to just hand her over to two people just because
they say they are her parents. They will have to prove it,” I
said.
“That
can be done,” said Enid.
“A
DNA check should provide prof,” I replied.
“And
when that’s done?” asked Enid.
“I’ll
ring you,” I said.
“I’ll
be waiting,” she smiled.
by
Janice Nye ©
2020
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