Lucy - Now Completed!

Part 40 - August 4th 1970 (cont'd)

"Of course."

"And my brother Mike will turn up. Tell him what's happened."

"I will."

Once he arrived at the hospital Paul was taken to a small room and told to wait. He sat wringing his hands, desperate for news. 

"Mr McCartney?"

Paul got up from the hard plastic chair and looked at the doctor. "Please, how's my wife? How's Lucy?"

The doctor gave him a reassuring smile. "She's stable and comfortable at present Mr McCartney."

Paul sighed deeply. "Is she badly hurt? The police said she had serious injuries!"

The doctor gestured to Paul to sit down. He immediately braced himself for bad news. "Lucy's injuries are common with the type of impact her car suffered. They are painful but not, I can assure you, life threatening!" He smiled at Paul, "However, because of the type of injuries she has, it is likely that she will have to spend several weeks in hospital."

"What are her injuries? The police said they were really serious!" Paul asked anxiously.

The doctor shook his head. "Often the police tell families  that in order to prepare them when they don't have all the information for the family concerned. Lucy's car was hit on the right hand side. As a result she has suffered broken bones on that side of her body."

"Bones? More than one?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes. Her collar bone, her right arm, her right leg and several ribs on the same side."

"Poor Lucy!" He shook his head sadly, "Can I see her?"

"Of course but Mr McCartney, Lucy is in a great deal of pain from her injuries, so we have sedated her for the present. We've set the breaks that we can but unfortunately both ribs and the collar bone are impossible to set. By sedating Lucy, those can begin to heal without causing her unnecessary pain."

The doctor lead Paul into a side room. Lucy was lying motionless in the bed, her face deathly white against the sheets. Paul immediately went to her and took her left hand in his. He kissed it softly.

"Hey baby, It's me!" he told her.

"It's unlikely she can hear you Mr McCartney." said the doctor gently, "The sedation."

"I don't care." said Paul, sitting by the bed, still holding her hand. He turned to the doctor once more. "You're she'll make a full recovery?"

"Yes. She may need some physiotherapy once the bones are healed, but yes, she will recover."

"And the baby?"

"Baby?"

"My wife is almost four months pregnant doctor. Has the accident harmed the baby?"

The doctor looked most apologetic. "Mr McCartney, we weren't aware of your wife's condition. I'm afraid we have been focusing on her injuries. Without running tests I cannot tell you if the accident has affected the pregnancy. I am sorry."

Strangely Paul understood how the pregnancy was overlooked, "How soon will you be able to carry out the tests?" he asked.

"We'll get onto that straight away sir."

Left alone, Paul sat by Lucy, willing her to open her eyes so that he could tell her he was sorry for thinking the worst about her. Despite the fact that she couldn't hear him, he talked to her constantly about how sorry he was and how much he loved her.