Forgotten
Bailey was crawling the walls in the medical wing. She could not remember the last time she had been away from work for this long. She had worked consistently since college, never really needing a break and always striving to do and achieve more. She had organised with Patsy to drop off fresh clothes, Bailey was done with wearing nothing but hospital underwear and a nightgown. Patsy, her friend and partner in crime when necessary, had hidden her clothes in the small cabinet beside her bed.
Bailey had set an alarm extra early in order to get out before the nurses did their first round of checks for the day. She threw on her clothes, and laughed at what Patsy had picked out. It was as if she was picturing Bailey escaping the country rather than her doctor, she had packed an all black, non-suspicious outfit: leggings, an oversized t-shirt, a old unbranded hoodie, and plain trainers. There were even a pair of sunglasses at the bottom of the bag. Patsy had taken her task very seriously.
She managed to make her way out of the building without anyone noticing her as the head of psych and stopping her to chat. Bailey called a cab to take her to her destination, she was too weak and tired to walk to the subway since she had barely used her muscles all week. She was still a little achy and hated the thought of the bruise she would have on her back.
Her cab driver wasn't so chatty, to be expected at this time of the morning but he kept peering at her in the review mirror. Bailey sat staring out the window onto the city trying to ignore him, her mind wandered to her Grandmother. She felt so guilty for not being able to see her this week, she hoped she would forgive her.
The cab pulled up outside of the hospital, Bailey got out her purse and sat forward to pay the driver. He held out his palm for the cash she placed in it, "Nice gloves." He commented on her leather pair.
This made Bailey uncomfortable, she sensed he meant it in a strange, sex kind of way. She made an audible repulsed noise and swiftly left the car, slamming the door behind her.
Walking down the corridor of the ward, she stopped to wash her hands, she could hear commotion from the room at the bottom. She turned her pace from a steady walk to a jog.
Two nurses by the bedside sighed a breath of relief and stepped out of the way when Bailey appeared in the doorway.
"Grandma, what's going on?" She asked loudly.
Sat up in bed, armed with a rolled up magazine was Grandma Josie. She was looking incredibly agitated.
"They're trying to poison me!" She shouted.
Bailey tilted her head to the side and smiled at her elderly grandmother sadly. She thanked the nurses for their efforts as she took a bowl of porridge from them. Now the nurses had left, Grandma Josephine put down her weapon of Good Housekeeping Magazine and relaxed a little.
Bailey took the seat next to her, and shuffled it closer. She spooned out a small amount of her breakfast and held it in front of her mouth. Grandma Josie had her lips pressed tight.
"Grandma, it's not poisoned, I promise you. Watch." Bailey, as much as she did not like the texture porridge had, ate the bit of the spoon. "See? Tasty." She lied and fought the urge to gag.
Bailey was amused by the look on her grandmother's face, she was stubborn but it was a look of defeat, she let her granddaughter feed her.
"Have you missed me this week?" She asked as she fed her the last spoon then wiped around her mouth.
Josie frowned, "Where have you been? Out with your mother?"
Bailey's heart stopped, it physically hurt her when she forgets things like this. She tried to brush it off, "No, no. I've been hard at work. I'm super busy at the moment. I have a new case."
She got up from the chair and started to fiddle with things, she propped up Grandma Josie's pillow for her, rearranged her little desk and then threw some rubbish in the bin, hoping she wouldn't mention her mother again.
"I hope that Mr Michaels isn't giving you hell." Grandma Josie said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Bailey laughed and rolled her eyes, "Isn't he always."
"I've never liked that man.. and I have always been good at reading people's character. Keep keeping your distance dear." She continued.
Bailey relaxed and returned to her visitor's chair, "I know you have Grandma, you've always told me which boys were no good when I was in college."
"When is your mother stopping by? I haven't seen Nancy in oh-so long." She pressed.
Bailey clenched her jaw and swallowed, "Nancy won't be coming to see you Grandma."
She pouted like a little girl that was told no, "And why is that? Have I upset her? I know I say silly things sometimes but I don't mean it, I just, I just get confused is all."
She took her hand, "You haven't seen her since I was 8 Grandma."
Josie was now frowning and stuttered over her words, "But but, she came last month. Last month, she came by to see me and said she would come back." Bailey shook her head. "Well why would she say that, why would she say that she would come back if she wasn't going to?"
Bailey sighed, "It's not her fault Grandma."
"What's going on Bailey, where is my Nancy?" She demanded.
It was becoming more and more regular that Josie would forget that Nancy died nearly 20 years ago. It broke Bailey's heart every time she had to remind her.
She took her hand, "She's gone Grandma.."
It took a moment for it to click, but Bailey's tone of voice confirmed what Josie suspected. Bailey had thought about twisting the truth with her many times before. In some ways it would be less painful to say her mum was either; 'just popping by soon,' 'she visited yesterday silly,' 'remember, she's on holiday Grandma,' anything that meant it would be a little while before she saw her again. Bailey would have hoped that her Grandma would have forgotten about the last lie if she were to tell it, but Bailey felt it would be wrong not to tell her the truth.
"Gone." Bailey said again.
Josie began to cry and wail, "Oh no, oh dear. My poor Nancy, my Nancy."
Bailey wiped tears from her own eyes, then stroked her grandmother's hair.
"It was him wasn't it?" She asked.
Bailey nodded.
"I knew he would be the end of her." She said and continued to cry.
Bailey let her take this in and wrap her mind around it, even if she only knew this truth for a short while and have to be told again, but something was different today. Previously, Grandma Josie would cry for a little as she remembered what happened all those years ago, but she was crying harder and harder like this was the first time she heard the news. Josie started pulling at her wires and took out the oxygen tubes from her nose that aided her.
"What are you doing Grandma, where are you going?" Bailey asked, alarmed at Josie's sudden movements.
Bailey's hands that hovered above her, but she batted them out of the way, "I need to go see her, I need to say goodbye."
"You're not well enough to go anywhere Grandma, not today, please, get back into bed. I'll take you another day." She begged.
"Out of the way, I need to see my daughter." She tossed her covers back as far as her fragile arms could attempt and started to shuffle to the edge of the bed.
Grandma Josie was much too ill and vulnerable to be going anywhere, she wasn't physically strong enough visit her daughter's grave and it would be detrimental to her health if she caught a bug when out in public. To stop her from hurting herself as she struggled to make it off of the bed, Bailey knew what she had to do. She quickly pulled off her gloves, threw them to the ground and took Josie's hand. Her hazel eyes transformed into a glowing white; her Grandma's sobs grew quieter and quieter as she eased her grief and calmed her down.
Josie closed her eyes and nodded slowly, she pulled her legs back onto the bed, Bailey covered them with her free hand.
Josie rubbed her thumb on the back of her granddaughter's bare hand, "Let me see her again please Bails."
Bailey took a deep breath to concentrate, she closed her eyes.
The room was small and cosy, it held memories that spanned decades. The carpet was tan underneath two very statement pieces of furniture, a two seater beige sofa with an intricate floral pattern, there other was a single arm chair in a rusty orange. The mahogany coffee table was low in the middle of the room, it held countless cups over the years with the stains and scuffs to prove it. On the walls were plenty of mismatched photo frames displaying Josie's wedding to her beloved Ralph, the first photo ever taken of their only daughter Nancy, and the christening photo of their granddaughter Bailey. Underneath this display was a turntable which Josie had playing as she baked in the kitchen.
Josie heard the cranky noise of her daughter's old car pull up outside. She turned off the gas, took out the cake and left it to rest on the side. She untied her apron and set it on the kitchen counter. Josie met them on the doorstep, she opened up just in time as Bailey ran across her garden and through the door, straight into her legs. She gripped tightly onto her skirt.
"Hello Bailey my love," she said and stroked her hair, she pushed her thick black hair out of her face.
Nancy tugged two overly stuffed bags out of the boot and slammed it shut. She slung them over her shoulder and made her way over to her mother and daughter who were still embracing.
"Can we stay here for a little bit?" She asked as she dropped her bags on the step.
Josie took her hand from Bailey's head and held Nancy's blushed cheek, "You can stay forever if you wish."
___
Nancy and Josie sat on either sofa, Bailey sat crossed legs on the floor at the coffee table. She had just finished off a large piece of Victoria sponge. Nancy laughed, she held the chin of her little girl to keep her still as she wiped the cream from the corners of her mouth.
The music cut as the record came to an end.
"Which one next Bails?" Grandma Josie asked.
She skipped over to the shelf that held the classics.
"Mum, you know you're probably the only one on this street that still has a turntable. Everyone has a Walkman now." Nancy laughed.
"But you can't share the music with people when you have a Walkman dear." She replied as she helped Bailey put on her favourite album.
Nancy rolled her eyes as ABBA's self titled album began to play, of course, they were Bailey's favourite at Grandma's house. Bailey started jumping around and dancing. Josie clapped along.
"See you can't do this with a walkman on!" She slapped her knees and jumped up to join her granddaughter.
"Noooo mum," Nancy said, embarrassed.
Josie ignored her and pulled her up by her hands. She pushed the coffee table out of the way to create a dancefloor in the living room.
"Come on Nancy, dance with us!" She urged.
Bailey giggled, "Dance mummy dance!"
Nancy gave in and started to dance too, Josie took her hands and started to spin her in and out of her arm. The three laughed and laughed until the end of the song.
"Thank you." Grandma Josie smiled as she patted the back of Bailey's hand.
Bailey wiped away her tears once again.
"I'll see you soon," She said and leaned forward to kiss her grandma's forehead.