And then she felt Nick’s arms encircle her and she turned to bury her face in his chest, allowing herself to feel the pain and fear.
‘They’ll do everything they can,’ he said as he stroked her hair and held her close. ‘Your Gran’s tough – don’t forget that.’
She gathered herself and reluctantly pulled herself away from his shirt.
‘I’ve ruined your shirt,’ she said to him, looking at the mess she’d left on his chest.
‘I’ve had worse,’ he said with a grin and she laughed despite herself.
He handed her a tissue and she wiped her eyes. ‘I need to call my parents,’ she said, trying to think clearly. ‘And then I need to go to the hospital.’
‘Why don’t I drive us up to St Vincent’s, and you can call your parents from the car?’
‘Don’t you have to work?’ she asked him but he shook his head. ‘This is my work, Lily. This is what I do.’
She nodded and grabbed her bag from the cottage, locked up and met Nick in the car, where he had Gran’s overnight bag on the back seat.
‘I just grabbed some nightgowns and some things from the bathroom and some smalls,’ he said. ‘We can get anything else she needs in town. And I left some food and fresh water for the cat.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, meaning it. ‘I don’t know if I’m very good in a crisis. I seem to panic.’
‘It’s not panic, and it’s not about being good or bad. It’s happening and you called me and this is what I do, so call your parents and we can be on our way,’ he said as he started the car and took off.
Lily’s fingers were shaking as she dialled her mother’s number and on the second ring, Denise answered.
‘Oh you’ve finally decided to call have you? I’ve been asking Gran where you are and she said you are busy but no one can tell me with what. Are you coming back? There are auditions forWickedat the end of September.’
‘Mum,’ Lily said, her voice breaking slightly. ‘It’s Gran. They think she’s in heart failure. She’s been taken to hospital.’
Denise gasped. ‘What happened? Did you wake up and find her like that? Did you call the ambulance?’
Lily paused. This was it; she would have to tell her mother what she had been doing.
‘No, I was at work,’ she said.
‘Work? Where are you working? You’re supposed to be with Gran.’
Lily swallowed. ‘I’m teaching music three days a week in Silverton.’
‘Teaching? Why? You’re not a teacher,’ Denise screeched.
‘Mum, this isn’t the time to have this conversation. Gran’s really unwell, so I’m telling you and Dad to get to the hospital as soon as you can and we can talk about the other stuff later. We are just driving behind the ambulance now.’
‘Who is we?’ Denise snapped.
‘My friend Nick, who has also been looking after Gran. He’s a district nurse.’
Denise made a dismissive sound. ‘I don’t know what has been going on there but it seems like you have lost your mind and have left Gran to fend for herself. Your father and I are coming and whether she likes it or not, Gran will be moving into care and you will be moving back to London, where your real career is.’
Denise ended the call and Lily looked at Nick.
‘How was that?’ he asked.
‘It went as expected,’ Lily said shaking her head. ‘But there’s one thing my mother doesn’t realise about me and it’s something I just recently realised.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Nick, glancing at her as he drove.
‘That I’m more like Violet Baxter than she knows and neither of us will be easily persuaded to do anything we don’t want to.’
