Visiting Time
-------------

"Mum!", cried a voice from the kitchen. It was the high pitched
squeak of Constance, Mary's five year old daughter. Slowly Mary raised her
head from her wet pillow and dried her eyes with a small handkerchief her
daughter had made at school the week before. "MUM!", Constance bellowed
impatiently from the bottom of the stairs. Mary checked her face in the
mirror and went to see what was wanted of her.

"I'm coming darling.",she called as she started walking down the
flight of stairs. "What is it dear?"

Constance, who had also been crying, held out a bloody finger and
waved it towards the kitchen. "Come here darling," Mary said as she sat on
the bottom stair, "show mummy your finger and tell me all about it."
"Mummy! The cat bit me." Constance had stopped crying. Mary took
out the damp handkerchief, wet it on her tongue and wiped the tears from
her daughters face and wiped the blood from her finger. There was only a
small nick where the cat had scratched her.

"Don't worry mummy's made it all better now. Constance, do you
remember what I told you about playing with the cat?"
"NO!", came the defiant reply.
"You can play with the cat but don't be so rough with him. Okay?"
"Okay mummy." Mary had expected something like this to happen as
Constance was always rough with their not too patient cat.

"Wait here darling while mummy goes and gets a plaster for your
finger." As Mary climbed the stairs she reflected on her tears, her fiance
had died in a tragic accident six years ago when she was expecting her
daughter. A film had brought back so many happy memories and so many
unhappy tears. She wished that Constance could have seen her father, but
she could never bring herself to mention him, to even think his name. She
was dreading the day when she would have to tell Constance about him.
Mary felt a strange sensation pass through her body.
"MUMMY, MUMMY, please wake up mummy. Help me mummy. I don't know
what to do."

"Nurse, she's waking up." Mary heard a  distant  voice say. "Miss
Hollingsworth, don't worry. You're in hospital. I'm Doctor Johnson."
Mary could feel a dull ache throughout her body. She felt tired and
hungry. She opened her eyes as a sudden awareness came over her. She
opened her eyes. "Where's Constance? Where is she? Is she all right? What
happened?" Mary began to feel very confused, the last thing she could
remember was that she was going to get something for her daughter.

"Miss Hollingsworth, may I call you Mary?", Mary nodded,
"Thank-you. You fell down the stairs. A passer-by heard your daughter and
went to see what had happened. You were very lucky, Constance let him in
and he called for an ambulance."

"Where is she?", Mary was becoming increasingly worried. 'Why
hasn't he told me anything? Please God, let her be okay.', she thought.
"He called your sister, her number was by the telephone. Constance
is with her now. She's okay." His voice was warm and caring and reassured
her completely of both her and her daughter's safety.

'Thank-you God.' Mary felt relieved. Everything came into focus now
and for the first time she looked into the deep blue eyes of Doctor
Johnson. His handsome face  was clean shaven and well defined.
"Your sister packed some things for you. She will be coming to
visit you later. And not forgetting you, nothing was broken but you got a
nasty knock to the head and I want you to stay here overnight,
arrangements have been made for your daughter to stay at your sister's
house tonight."

Mary ate and slept, she dreamed about the accident, about the
unknown stranger and the doctor, a myriad of confused images coming into
focus only for brief moments. She was woken by the familiar squeak of her
daughter. It seemed, to Mary that she had only just closed her eyes a
moment before although she knew by the dark sky that it had been many
hours.

Constance approached her and accepted the hand she offered. "Mummy!
I thought you were asleep but you wouldn't wake up. I'm sorry mummy, I
didn't mean to hurt you mummy."

"Constance, don't worry, it wasn't your fault. Mummy's okay it
wasn't your fault." She wasn't sure what Constance had thought at the time
of the accident and how badly the accident may have affected her. However,
it was late in the day and already past her daughter's bed time so she
kissed her on the cheek and said goodbye.
She slept, her dreams yet again invaded by images of the passer-by,
the stranger who may have saved her life. Would his identity be forever
unknown?

Slowly the dreams faded from her mind and she woke up. The cool
morning light filtering through the curtains. "How are you feeling on this
fine morning?", it was the familiar voice of Doctor Johnson.
"I..I'm fine." she replied, "What time is it?"
"A little after eight-thirty. Would you like something to eat?"
'Constance should be at school now, I hope she's okay.', Mary
thought. "Mary?", came the voice of the doctor.

"Just something light please, I'm not very hungry." A few moments
later a porter brought her some toast and a glass of orange juice. As she
ate she pondered the identity of the stranger, would she ever know him?
"Can I use the telephone please? I just want to ask my sister to give me a
lift home."

"Mary...", the doctor faltered as he spoke, "I'm just about to go
home myself and I could give you a lift."
"If you don't mind. I'll meet you at the cafeteria in ten
minutes.", she finished her breakfast and dressed. After she had said
goodbye to the nurses she went to the cafe, Doctor Johnson was standing at
the back finishing his drink. As he walked towards her, Mary noticed that
he was carrying her handbag in his hand.

"Where did you get that?", she asked, puzzled.
"Oh, I picked it up just after I called the ambulance. I thought you
might need it..."

By Jon Ripley Copyright 1994