Fenton's Winter Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked embarrassed and had a sense
of foreboding.
    "I'm sorry," said the
registrar, as if unable to believe what he was about to say, "We've
lost her."
    Fenton felt pins and needles
break out all over his skin. 'We've lost her.' That's what they had
said on that awful night when Louise had died. The words echoed
inside his head rekindling every second of that hellish
moment.After the phone call he had run through the streets in the
pouring rain desperately trying to wave down a taxi but the weather
had made sure that they were all occupied. He had ended up running
the entire three miles to the hospital to stand there, dripping wet
under the daylight glare of the lights in casualty to be told that
his wife and child were dead. He remembered every pore on the face
of the house officer who had told him, the way he had touched the
frame of his glasses, the way he had looked at his feet. Now he
waited for the next line, 'We did all we could,' but it didn't
come. Instead, Tyson's voice broke the spell. "What do you mean,
'lost her'?" he asked hoarsely.
    The registrar had gone a little
red in the face, "I'm sorry," he said, making a gesture with open
palms. "We couldn't stop the bleeding in time. It's as simple and
as awful as that."
    "But why not?" insisted
Tyson.
    The registrar made another
helpless gesture with his hands. "I'm afraid we really won't know
the answer to that until after the post-mortem.
    Tyson got slowly to his feet
and walked past the registrar into the treatment room; Fenton
followed. The nurses melted back from the table to reveal the body
of Susan Daniels, very still and very white. Fenton thought that
she looked more beautiful than he had ever realised, like a pale
delicate flower that had been cut and left lying on its side. Soon
it would wither and fade. He was filled with grief and looked for
some mundane object to focus his eyes on while he regained control
of his emotions. He settled his gaze on a steel instrument tray and
kept it there.
    On looking up he saw tears
running down the face of one of the nurses. He squeezed the girl's
shoulder gently and indicated to her that she should leave the
room. He himself followed a few moments later. He pretended to look
at one of the Disney posters while he waited for Tyson.
    In the background Fenton could
hear Tyson and the registrar discussing the post-mortem
arrangements then he had the feeling that he was no longer alone.
He looked down to see a little boy dressed in pyjamas staring up at
him. His nose was running. The child did not say anything but had a
questioning look on his face. Fenton said, "Now where did you come
from?"
    The child continued to stare at
him then said, "I want my mummy."
    Fenton gently asked the boy his
name but before he could answer a distraught nurse appeared on the
scene. "Timothy Watson! So there you are!" She swept the child up
into her arms and said to Fenton, "You just can't turn your back on
this one for a moment or he's off!" The boy put his thumb in his
mouth and snuggled down on the nurse's shoulder."
    "Good-bye Timothy," said Fenton
as the nurse walked away. He decided to walk back to the lab on his
own without waiting any longer for Tyson who was still deep in
discussion with the Casualty registrar.
    It was already dark outside and
the sodium street lights glistened in the puddles of rain water as
he walked back towards the old villa. As he drew nearer he saw
three figures standing in the bay window of the main lab and knew
that they were waiting for news of Susan. One of them, Ian
Ferguson, came to the door to meet him. "How is she?" he asked.
Fenton stepped inside the hallway and saw everyone standing there.
"Susan's dead," he said softly, "She bled to death."
    Ferguson and Alex Ross, the
chief technician, followed Fenton into the 'front room', closing
the door and leaving the others out in the hall. Fenton crossed the
floor and put his hands on the radiator by the window. "God, it's
cold."
    "Did they say what it was?"
Ross