CHAPTER 2
‘Te digo para mi el te desea.’
‘De Ninguna manera. No Puedo creerte.......’
The bright lights were out of focus, the words she could faintly hear didn’t make any sense. ‘What’s going on?’ she thought. It only took a second for everything to come flooding back.
‘Alex, Dan?’ she tried to call out but her voice was barely audible. The nurses writing her chart were startled by her.
‘Puede llamar al doctor,’ one said to the other.
Kate called again, but her cries were no more than whispers. Her throat felt raw. Her arms were laden down with drips.
‘Aqua senorita?’
‘Yes, water please’ she whispered. The dark haired nurse leaned over and placed a hand behind Kate’s head, gently lifting it, she brought the glass to her mouth. Kate sipped the water.
‘What happened?’ she croaked.
‘There were many bombs in the airport senorita. Many people were killed. It was so terrible. You are one of the lucky ones.’
‘Where’s my family?’ she enquired hoarsely.
‘They are outside waiting for you to wake up, the doctor sees you, then they can come in. They have been looking after you very well.’
‘Thank God,’ thought Kate, shaking the feeling of dread which had enveloped her. When the doctor arrived he began examining her and explained what had happened.
‘You had us worried for a while senorita. You are a very strong young lady. You received some serious injuries, but nothing which can’t heal in time. You have been in a coma for nearly three weeks ….’
‘…three weeks? Oh my God…’ Kate strained to talk, shocked at the news.
The doctor patted her hand and continued.
‘Unfortunately your spleen had to be removed, your right leg was very badly broken, but we set it well and it will heal in time. The pain you feel here,’ he placed his hand just below her breast bone, ‘is because of three broken ribs. You also had some nasty cuts to your head which we managed to stitch quite nicely, minimal scarring.’
He moved to examine the cuts to her head.
‘You have 14 stitches over your right ear and seven above your right eye. Everything that could be repaired has been and once I have completed some more tests, you should be able to head home very soon.’
The doctor looked at her sternly but the affection was obvious behind his deep set brown eyes. ‘Senorita, you are still fragile and very weak so you must get lots of rest when you go home. You must be very gentle with yourself. You understand, heh?’
‘Yes, yes Doctor, thank you, I understand. I would like to see my family now, my son, my husband. The nurse says they are outside.’
‘Senorita, your parents are waiting for you, I will bring them in,’ he turned to the nurse.
‘Por favor infermera, puede llamar Mrs Maguires padres?’
The nurse nodded curtly.
‘Si doctor,’ and left the room.
The uneasy feeling enveloped her again. Kate couldn't seem to keep the panic from rising. She could feel her chest constrict and her heart beat faster. ‘Where’s my son Doctor, my husband? Are they somewhere else in the hospital? Are they ok….?’ Kate was growing more anxious by the minute, her voice barely audible straining under the building panic.
‘Senorita, you must wait for your parents they will explain everything to you.’
The took her hand but even as he did so she tried to pull away. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. She saw pity in his eyes.
He gently patted her hand, ‘Please, you must calm down, it is very important you do not stress yourself.’
He moved away from the bed as her parents arrived in the door. Her mother rushed to her side.
‘Oh darling,’ Rose bent and hugged her awkwardly because of all the wires and tubes around.
‘You had us so worried. I couldn’t bear losing you after all this mess.’
Jack had made his way around the other side of the bed, blocking some of the light coming through the frosted hospital window. He took her hand in his and bent to kiss her forehead.
‘Katie, my sweet little girl.’ He patted her hand around the entry for her drip. Kate saw the tears in her fathers’ eyes.
‘It’s ok Dad. I’m ok. The doctor said no permanent damage. Have you seen Alex and Dan? Are they in the same hospital? How bad are their injuries?’
She turned to her Mother and noticed she too was crying.
‘I can handle it Mum, I’m a big girl, just tell me,’ rasped Kate hoarsely.
‘Katie’ her Dad spoke, she turned towards him. ‘I’m so sorry sweetie, Dan and Alex didn’t make it,’ he stumbled over his words, ‘they died Katie.’
Kate looked puzzled and turned to her Mother and back again.
‘No, no, you’ve got it wrong. You have to be wrong. Not my baby and Dan. Please Dad, No.’
‘I’m sorry it’s true sweetie. Jack paused to give Kate time to take in the earth shattering news he had just delivered.
'Like the doctor said, you’ve been in a coma for nearly three weeks. You’re in a hospital in Marbella. There were four bombs in Malaga airport the day you, Dan and Alex were meant to be coming home. The local detectives have pieced together what happened with the help of some survivors. The first two bombs you would have heard were in the east of the airport terminal. The next one was the one that killed Alex and Dan, we think,’ Kate squeezed her eyes shut to block out what he was saying, ‘and the fourth did the most damage because it was a car bomb at the remaining exits when those left alive and able to were running for safety out of the building. We think the reason you survived was because you were knocked out by the third blast so you weren’t trying to leave the building. Altogether three hundred and ninety seven people were killed and many more hundreds injured.’
Kate was starring at her dad as if he was speaking a language she didn’t understand. She couldn’t say anything, her body was trembling. Shock was setting in.
‘They said you were very lucky to get away with the injuries you did.’
Rose leaned in to hold her only child close. All she wanted to do was take away the pain she knew she must be ravaged with right now.
‘No mum’, Kate feebly attempted to push her mother away and said angrily.
‘You’re wrong, you’re both wrong. I won’t believe it, where are their bodies? If I survived it maybe they did too. Are you sure they searched properly? What if they’re still in there? Who said they’re dead?’
She became more hysterical with every passing second as what her Dad had told her started to reach every part of her broken body. The doctor moved closer to her now and gently touched Roses’ arm to move her from the edge of the bed. He had explained to them that he would have to do this, the pain would be too great for Kate to handle and hamper her own recovery. He moved to administer the propofol.
‘What are you doing?’ she tried to scream as loudly as her wrecked voice would allow.
‘Don’t give me any more drugs, I don’t want any.’
‘Senorita, what you need right now is to be calm and relaxed and that is not possible with the news you have just received. This will help you feel less pain.’
‘God damn it, I don’t want to feel less pain. I want to feel my little boy’s arms around my neck and my husband’s kisses on my lips.’ She broke down and the tears flowed, ‘this can’t be happening to me.’ she cried ‘Why me? Everything was perfect’, she hadn’t noticed the doctor administering the drugs and she started to feel drowsy.
‘My baby, mum, I want my baby back,’ she mumbled as she fell into a drug induced sleep. Jack reached Rose as she broke down in tears beside the hospital bed. He held her tight to him, kissing her fine, grey hair and rubbing her back.
‘There there darling. I know this is absolutely horrendous. We knew it would be hard to tell her. We’re going to come through this and our Katie will too. She’s a strong lass, she takes after her Mum you know,’ Jack said affectionately, ‘and we’ll be there with her every step of the way.’ Rose lifted her head and through her tears kissed her husband tenderly on the lips.
‘You are the strong one love but thank you. I love you.’
‘And I love you too darling with all my heart and this sweet angel will have so much love and support she will get through this, I promise,’ he looking lovingly at Kate.
‘I don’t know Jack. I keep thinking if it had happened to me, I don’t think I would be able to cope.’
‘You would because you’d have to and Katie will too Rose, mark my words. It won’t be easy, we know that, but she will survive this. Those bastards have taken her family from her they damned well won’t take the rest of her life as well. I won’t let that happen.’ Jack’s emotions got the better of him. But the anger inside him was so great he felt he could explode at any moment. ‘Who the hell did those damn people think they were anyway?’ he thought. ‘What gives them the right to snuff out all those lives amongst which were his darling grandson whose life was only starting and his loving son-in-law?’ It was a question he knew he would never have an answer to.
‘De Ninguna manera. No Puedo creerte.......’
The bright lights were out of focus, the words she could faintly hear didn’t make any sense. ‘What’s going on?’ she thought. It only took a second for everything to come flooding back.
‘Alex, Dan?’ she tried to call out but her voice was barely audible. The nurses writing her chart were startled by her.
‘Puede llamar al doctor,’ one said to the other.
Kate called again, but her cries were no more than whispers. Her throat felt raw. Her arms were laden down with drips.
‘Aqua senorita?’
‘Yes, water please’ she whispered. The dark haired nurse leaned over and placed a hand behind Kate’s head, gently lifting it, she brought the glass to her mouth. Kate sipped the water.
‘What happened?’ she croaked.
‘There were many bombs in the airport senorita. Many people were killed. It was so terrible. You are one of the lucky ones.’
‘Where’s my family?’ she enquired hoarsely.
‘They are outside waiting for you to wake up, the doctor sees you, then they can come in. They have been looking after you very well.’
‘Thank God,’ thought Kate, shaking the feeling of dread which had enveloped her. When the doctor arrived he began examining her and explained what had happened.
‘You had us worried for a while senorita. You are a very strong young lady. You received some serious injuries, but nothing which can’t heal in time. You have been in a coma for nearly three weeks ….’
‘…three weeks? Oh my God…’ Kate strained to talk, shocked at the news.
The doctor patted her hand and continued.
‘Unfortunately your spleen had to be removed, your right leg was very badly broken, but we set it well and it will heal in time. The pain you feel here,’ he placed his hand just below her breast bone, ‘is because of three broken ribs. You also had some nasty cuts to your head which we managed to stitch quite nicely, minimal scarring.’
He moved to examine the cuts to her head.
‘You have 14 stitches over your right ear and seven above your right eye. Everything that could be repaired has been and once I have completed some more tests, you should be able to head home very soon.’
The doctor looked at her sternly but the affection was obvious behind his deep set brown eyes. ‘Senorita, you are still fragile and very weak so you must get lots of rest when you go home. You must be very gentle with yourself. You understand, heh?’
‘Yes, yes Doctor, thank you, I understand. I would like to see my family now, my son, my husband. The nurse says they are outside.’
‘Senorita, your parents are waiting for you, I will bring them in,’ he turned to the nurse.
‘Por favor infermera, puede llamar Mrs Maguires padres?’
The nurse nodded curtly.
‘Si doctor,’ and left the room.
The uneasy feeling enveloped her again. Kate couldn't seem to keep the panic from rising. She could feel her chest constrict and her heart beat faster. ‘Where’s my son Doctor, my husband? Are they somewhere else in the hospital? Are they ok….?’ Kate was growing more anxious by the minute, her voice barely audible straining under the building panic.
‘Senorita, you must wait for your parents they will explain everything to you.’
The took her hand but even as he did so she tried to pull away. She didn't like the way he was looking at her. She saw pity in his eyes.
He gently patted her hand, ‘Please, you must calm down, it is very important you do not stress yourself.’
He moved away from the bed as her parents arrived in the door. Her mother rushed to her side.
‘Oh darling,’ Rose bent and hugged her awkwardly because of all the wires and tubes around.
‘You had us so worried. I couldn’t bear losing you after all this mess.’
Jack had made his way around the other side of the bed, blocking some of the light coming through the frosted hospital window. He took her hand in his and bent to kiss her forehead.
‘Katie, my sweet little girl.’ He patted her hand around the entry for her drip. Kate saw the tears in her fathers’ eyes.
‘It’s ok Dad. I’m ok. The doctor said no permanent damage. Have you seen Alex and Dan? Are they in the same hospital? How bad are their injuries?’
She turned to her Mother and noticed she too was crying.
‘I can handle it Mum, I’m a big girl, just tell me,’ rasped Kate hoarsely.
‘Katie’ her Dad spoke, she turned towards him. ‘I’m so sorry sweetie, Dan and Alex didn’t make it,’ he stumbled over his words, ‘they died Katie.’
Kate looked puzzled and turned to her Mother and back again.
‘No, no, you’ve got it wrong. You have to be wrong. Not my baby and Dan. Please Dad, No.’
‘I’m sorry it’s true sweetie. Jack paused to give Kate time to take in the earth shattering news he had just delivered.
'Like the doctor said, you’ve been in a coma for nearly three weeks. You’re in a hospital in Marbella. There were four bombs in Malaga airport the day you, Dan and Alex were meant to be coming home. The local detectives have pieced together what happened with the help of some survivors. The first two bombs you would have heard were in the east of the airport terminal. The next one was the one that killed Alex and Dan, we think,’ Kate squeezed her eyes shut to block out what he was saying, ‘and the fourth did the most damage because it was a car bomb at the remaining exits when those left alive and able to were running for safety out of the building. We think the reason you survived was because you were knocked out by the third blast so you weren’t trying to leave the building. Altogether three hundred and ninety seven people were killed and many more hundreds injured.’
Kate was starring at her dad as if he was speaking a language she didn’t understand. She couldn’t say anything, her body was trembling. Shock was setting in.
‘They said you were very lucky to get away with the injuries you did.’
Rose leaned in to hold her only child close. All she wanted to do was take away the pain she knew she must be ravaged with right now.
‘No mum’, Kate feebly attempted to push her mother away and said angrily.
‘You’re wrong, you’re both wrong. I won’t believe it, where are their bodies? If I survived it maybe they did too. Are you sure they searched properly? What if they’re still in there? Who said they’re dead?’
She became more hysterical with every passing second as what her Dad had told her started to reach every part of her broken body. The doctor moved closer to her now and gently touched Roses’ arm to move her from the edge of the bed. He had explained to them that he would have to do this, the pain would be too great for Kate to handle and hamper her own recovery. He moved to administer the propofol.
‘What are you doing?’ she tried to scream as loudly as her wrecked voice would allow.
‘Don’t give me any more drugs, I don’t want any.’
‘Senorita, what you need right now is to be calm and relaxed and that is not possible with the news you have just received. This will help you feel less pain.’
‘God damn it, I don’t want to feel less pain. I want to feel my little boy’s arms around my neck and my husband’s kisses on my lips.’ She broke down and the tears flowed, ‘this can’t be happening to me.’ she cried ‘Why me? Everything was perfect’, she hadn’t noticed the doctor administering the drugs and she started to feel drowsy.
‘My baby, mum, I want my baby back,’ she mumbled as she fell into a drug induced sleep. Jack reached Rose as she broke down in tears beside the hospital bed. He held her tight to him, kissing her fine, grey hair and rubbing her back.
‘There there darling. I know this is absolutely horrendous. We knew it would be hard to tell her. We’re going to come through this and our Katie will too. She’s a strong lass, she takes after her Mum you know,’ Jack said affectionately, ‘and we’ll be there with her every step of the way.’ Rose lifted her head and through her tears kissed her husband tenderly on the lips.
‘You are the strong one love but thank you. I love you.’
‘And I love you too darling with all my heart and this sweet angel will have so much love and support she will get through this, I promise,’ he looking lovingly at Kate.
‘I don’t know Jack. I keep thinking if it had happened to me, I don’t think I would be able to cope.’
‘You would because you’d have to and Katie will too Rose, mark my words. It won’t be easy, we know that, but she will survive this. Those bastards have taken her family from her they damned well won’t take the rest of her life as well. I won’t let that happen.’ Jack’s emotions got the better of him. But the anger inside him was so great he felt he could explode at any moment. ‘Who the hell did those damn people think they were anyway?’ he thought. ‘What gives them the right to snuff out all those lives amongst which were his darling grandson whose life was only starting and his loving son-in-law?’ It was a question he knew he would never have an answer to.
***
The following day Jack was in the hospital room with Kate.
‘I don’t understand Dad.’
Kate was resting her head against the sterile white pillows which her father had fluffed up behind her.
‘I know love, I don’t quite understand it myself. They said that the ECF have accepted responsibility for the bombings, they had surveillance on them at the time, yet they missed this. They had the wrong intelligence obviously and they said they are investigating that.’
‘That won’t bring Dan or Alex back to me though, will it?’
‘It hurts so much,’ Kate whispered into the silent room as she whimpered softly, ‘it just hurts so much.’
Jack thought his heart would break for the millionth time since he had heard the news. Reaching out he stroked Kate’s hand all the while trying to sooth her with words of comfort which he knew wouldn’t help but he didn’t know what else to do.
‘It will be alright Katie, it will darling. But for right now just let it out, because it will do you more harm if you keep it inside. Let it out darling and the ache may ease just a little in your heart.’
The loving words Jack spoke made Kate feel sadder still. It brought back vivid memories of her in the casualty department of Mary Immaculate Hospital. She was wiping away Alex’s tears when he had broken his arm after falling from the tree house. She had told him the very same thing. She remembered the words, everything would be ok and the pain would go away. She had warned him not to launch himself from the watchtower, but as usual he hadn’t listened to her. He didn’t want to use the rope ladder Dan had put up for him either. Alex was so determined to do things his way. I wonder if he knew what was happening?
‘I hope he didn’t feel anything,’ she thought.
The doctors had assured her he wouldn’t have felt a thing. Everything would have happened so quickly, but what would they know? They hadn’t been there. They couldn’t say for sure. Kate wished with all her heart that she could have at least held Alex one last time, told him everything was going to be okay, soothed his fears away and kissed his beautiful face. As she lay there thinking of her son fresh tears streamed down her face and she buried her head against the sheets of the bed.
Jack let her cry. He sat silently at the edge of the bed, lost in his own thoughts.
‘How are we ever going to come through this? What is our life going to be like now?’ he thought. All their lives revolved around Kate and her family. With Kate being an only child they were very close and once Dan had been diagnosed with the cancer and Kate and he knew they weren’t going to be able to have any more children Alex had become even more special, if that were possible, and treasured by Rose and himself. He shook his head in despair and closed his eyes against the keening sound of pain coming from his precious daughter.
‘God help us all,’ he thought to himself.
‘I don’t understand Dad.’
Kate was resting her head against the sterile white pillows which her father had fluffed up behind her.
‘I know love, I don’t quite understand it myself. They said that the ECF have accepted responsibility for the bombings, they had surveillance on them at the time, yet they missed this. They had the wrong intelligence obviously and they said they are investigating that.’
‘That won’t bring Dan or Alex back to me though, will it?’
‘It hurts so much,’ Kate whispered into the silent room as she whimpered softly, ‘it just hurts so much.’
Jack thought his heart would break for the millionth time since he had heard the news. Reaching out he stroked Kate’s hand all the while trying to sooth her with words of comfort which he knew wouldn’t help but he didn’t know what else to do.
‘It will be alright Katie, it will darling. But for right now just let it out, because it will do you more harm if you keep it inside. Let it out darling and the ache may ease just a little in your heart.’
The loving words Jack spoke made Kate feel sadder still. It brought back vivid memories of her in the casualty department of Mary Immaculate Hospital. She was wiping away Alex’s tears when he had broken his arm after falling from the tree house. She had told him the very same thing. She remembered the words, everything would be ok and the pain would go away. She had warned him not to launch himself from the watchtower, but as usual he hadn’t listened to her. He didn’t want to use the rope ladder Dan had put up for him either. Alex was so determined to do things his way. I wonder if he knew what was happening?
‘I hope he didn’t feel anything,’ she thought.
The doctors had assured her he wouldn’t have felt a thing. Everything would have happened so quickly, but what would they know? They hadn’t been there. They couldn’t say for sure. Kate wished with all her heart that she could have at least held Alex one last time, told him everything was going to be okay, soothed his fears away and kissed his beautiful face. As she lay there thinking of her son fresh tears streamed down her face and she buried her head against the sheets of the bed.
Jack let her cry. He sat silently at the edge of the bed, lost in his own thoughts.
‘How are we ever going to come through this? What is our life going to be like now?’ he thought. All their lives revolved around Kate and her family. With Kate being an only child they were very close and once Dan had been diagnosed with the cancer and Kate and he knew they weren’t going to be able to have any more children Alex had become even more special, if that were possible, and treasured by Rose and himself. He shook his head in despair and closed his eyes against the keening sound of pain coming from his precious daughter.
‘God help us all,’ he thought to himself.
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