THOSE AWAKE...

THOSE AWAKE...  By Tessa Harvey      Gray sat with his arm around Yvonne, his wife and, listening to the young stranger talk, wondered how much his father had known and how.     Turning his focus back to his guest, he tried to pay closer attention to something that sounded so bizarre and unreal.     The man's name was Vahid - he refused to give his surname. Imelda had kindly offered to check both children and entered the quiet room. Glancing at the somewhat tidier stranger, she gasped. He smiled wryly. "I look like your father, yes?" For the first time his expression softened. "Do you remember anything of what happened when the terror-makers came?"     "Yes?" - Imelda hesitated, "my mother, she was in pain in the bedroom with a friend. My father tried to hold the door. He was...he was shot. There was fire, flames everywhere. The smoke was bad. I tried to find mama. Then auntie came and grabbed me away. She said...." tears pooled down Ime...

THOSE AWAKE...  By Tessa Harvey Imelda sighed happily. It was six months since her accident, and she was well healed. She was lifting Yvonne's baby, George back into his crib when a frenzied knocking rattled the front door.     Leaving the startled, screaming baby, she hastily went downstairs, almost tripping but catching herself just in time from falling headlong. Cautiously, Imelda opened the door. A stranger was supporting a frail old lady who was very white and looked utterly spent. Imelda was speechless. :Don't just stand there, woman. Help, damn you and get us in! We don't have the virus, just get us in and out of view and call your doctor." The male voice was strong and demanding.     Imelda did as she was ordered, helping the frail elderly lady, feeling a deep pity as she helped hold her. Her bones were tiny, like a bird's.     The man slammed the door, looked around, and hefted the older lady into his arms onto a nearby downstairs bed. "I said...

THOSE AWAKE...   By Tessa Harvey      Lady Rosemary was annoyed, which was not unusual for her, but a little puzzled and afraid, which was out of character. Her husband was away philandering, she presumed, while pursuing questionable business deals. So she no longer had to walk stiffly to hide her bruises. One or two staff sometimes glanced at her a little sharply, as if they knew or guessed something of her husband's strange predilection for other men, but she held her head high.     Being married as a social convenience had been as deep a betrayal as most most and had hurt immeasurably. To think about it would be to fail and fall into some depthless pit. So Rosie worked her staff hard and herself harder.     Imelda - was that her name? - had to go. She could not afford useless sympathy, but in some strange way she missed her and her honesty. The replacement was slatternly, almost openly mocking, dressing carelessly, doing as little as possible. ...

THOSE AWAKE...  By Tessa Harvey "Hey, why all the tears?" a cheerful male voice interrupted. Imelda smiled as Grayson and Yvonne walked in.     "Where is Alison?" queried Imelda, struggling to rise. Quickly, Yvonne went to help, her long hair flowing down.     "Alison is in day care in the hospital. She wasn't very happy, but she can't jump all over you as you are so battered."     Imelda giggled, brightening. Loneliness and fatigue were not conducive to a very positive outlook. Grayson was looking at her, puzzled. "It's naive of me," he remarked bluntly, "but I thought Christians were always well, you know, er happy," he finished lamely.     Imelda sighed. "I was upset over losing my job and my room and I don't like being helpless," she added, defensively.     "By the way, I heard Lady Rosemary plotting to steal your Bible!" "She did," Grayson added grimly.     Yvonne joined into the conver...

THOSE AWAKE...  By Tessa Harvey Ava paused in the doorway of the big store, trying to remember what she was meant to be shopping for, and sighed.     Usually she could just dismiss the concerns of her patients, but something about a woman she had seen this morning tugged at her heart.     People jostled past her impatiently or good-naturedly, some saying "excuse me." Apologising and moving away from the busy door, Ava paused near some toys you pressed to hear a popping noise. They were very popular at the moment and shaped like unicorns, squares, circles in every imaginable colour combination.  Trying to choose a bracelet toy for her granddaughter cleared her mind of the very sick and weeping patient. An elderly woman was explaining the meaning of the toys to her husband. Ava noticed the way his eyebrows wiggled like grey and white bristly caterpillars. He looked disapproving, frowning. "If children these days need toys like this to keep their brains active...

 THOSE AWAKE... By Tessa Harvey "Well now then," he boomed in what was for him a sonic whisper, "arguing with truck drivers, are you?"      Despite her tension, Yvonne laughed. "I'm not the patient! Err.....Imelda. Sorry, just getting to know her name." She turned to gesture towards the older lady, but then paused in shock. Imelda lay white and still.     Immediately, despite his girth, the doctor was by her side, checking his patient. The twinkle had gone. "Call the ambulance, Grayson," the man called authoritatively.     Imelda awoke to white walls and curtains of a vague cream colour around the bed. Her arm was tightly bound, strapped in a sling. She tried to move her head and felt nauseating pain.     Sickness was despicable. Imelda felt ashamed. The bed was stained, she had been unable to move to the side of the bed. The smell made her feel worse and tears of weakness and pain poured down her cheeks.

THOSE AWAKE...   By Tessa Harvey     Outside Gray's flat, a young woman with a small child watched from across the road. The traffic was particularly heavy but Yvonne had found out Grayson was due home today. She felt on edge and uncertain. Why had she come?     Another woman, older and of foreign appearance also stood near his door. Yvonne's heart sank. He had another woman. Turning to leave, heavy-hearted and sad, Gray suddenly appeared around the corner.     He seemed fraught and sad to her. Perhaps he had missed her after all.     Yvonne paused and at that moment, a little girl's voice called "Daddy, oh my daddy!" She slipped from Yvonne's grasp and darted across the busy road. At once, Yvonne tried to follow her, weaving between cars stopped at the corner lights.     Tears ran down her cheeks. Her precious child was too small to be clearly seen. A truck hurtled by, trying to catch the lights as they changed. Grabbing Alison, Yv...