Minerva Ch. 09 of 10

"Possibly most of the day as well!" The doctor added.

"Will she be alright?" I asked.

"I'm not sure Mr Jameson. She was in a sanatorium remember. I know that the Carpenters' and yourself think that... But it's very possible that Minerva does have some problems, you know. We won't be able to tell that one way or the other, until she wakes-up and my colleague can examine her properly.

But if she does have any of those sort of problems, then she's been given some very unconventional treatment, if you understand me. From those notes, your assumption that she was being quietly kept 'out of the way', would seem the most likely scenario. But don't quote me on that; not just yet.

Tanya and Helen joined me in the waiting room about half an hour later. They told me that all hell had broken out at the sanatorium shortly after we had left in the ambulance. It appeared that Ronnie Mackintosh and John Carpenter were still there, helping the police with their enquiries.

"Who?" Lady Tanya replied with a smile, when I asked about Bernie and Marco. I kind-a gathered that our two large friends had made themselves scarce before the police arrived.

The police did come to the hospital later, but they did not question any of the three of us. They did talk to the two doctors though, and appeared to be satisfied with what they told them. Most of the police left quite quickly, just one stationing himself where he could keep an eye on the entrance to the room Kylie was in.

He was a nice guy who drank tea with us later, but he very purposely avoided asking us about what had actually happened.

"I'm here as extra security." He smiled at me. "Not to stick my nose into anything. This one sounds like a real mess to me, I'll leave that for the CID guys to sort out."

Sometime later Kylie was moved up to a private room, where a nurse monitored her fulltime. Tanya, Helen and myself were allowed to stay in the room with her. Our officer friend stationed himself outside the door.

It was a long night and well into the following morning -- the police guard had been relieved twice -- before the nurse declared that Kylie was beginning to come out of her trance like sleep. But it took another hour or so before her eyes opened.

For a few seconds she stared up at the ceiling -- on reflection I realised trying to work out where she was -- and then slowly she turned her head to look straight into my eyes. For a few moments she was obviously struggling to focus. But then a confused expression came over her face and I noticed a tear form in the corner of her eye; finally running down her cheek. Instinctively I reached out, and gently wiped it away.

But my sudden movement obviously surprised her, because she flinched, and then her eyes opened wider and she whispered,

"JG?"

"Yes, its me Kylie. How are you feeling?" I asked.

"My god, I'm not dreaming; it really is you!"

"Sure is girl. Your aunt Tanya is here as well!"

"I'm free?" she asked with a half smile.

"As you want to be Kylie!" I grinned back at her, and then I planted a kiss on her forehead, before moving away so that Lady Tanya could take my place.

Tanya kissed her as I had done, and said "Hello Min!" Which I was to discover was her pet name for Kylie. But after that the two women didn't speak. Well, not loud enough for me to hear, anyway. Tanya put her head very close to Minerva's, so she might well have been whispering to her; possibly assuring her that she was now in safe hands.

Then eventually, Tanya sat back into her chair, and Minerva closed her eyes again. For a long time Tanya just sat there, holding Minerva's hand.

A little later, half-a-dozen doctors arrived -- one of them our man -- and they stood around looking at all the monitors attached to Minerva, consulting medical notes and having discussions about her condition in low voices.

Eventually one of them signalled to Tanya that she should follow him outside. Tanya in turn signalled to me that I should accompany her.

The guy -- who turned out to be a big wig consultant -- led the way into an empty room next door. Also present was our tame doctor by the way, but he added little to the discussion that followed.

At first the consultant queried my presence, but in her inimitable style, lady Tanya overruled him; explaining that I was Lady Minerva's intended. As folks usually do when Tanya starts laying the law down, the guy capitulated quite quickly.

Then the consultant guy reiterated that Minerva had been pumped full of a rather odd collection of drugs. He actually did spell out what each of them was, and even in what circumstances they were usually used. But I can't claim to have kept-up with him on all that. Far too many long chemical names, for me to follow!

The point he did keep making, was that it was highly unusual for some of those drugs to be used in combination; even more so over an extended period of time.

When he finally got down to the nitty-gritty, he had to admit that he and his colleagues had little or no idea what long-term effects that particular combination of drugs, would have on Minerva's mental or physical condition. He didn't even know how long it would take for their combined effect to wear off, or even if it would.

"I'm sorry but I have to give you the worst-case scenario here. We honestly don't know what your niece's long-term prognosis is, Lady Simpson.

"We suspect that Minerva will have short periods of... clarity, interspersed with long periods of confusion or even... well her conscious mind will not be with us, if you understand me. She'll be awake, but her conscious mind will be in a place of its own. We'll have to keep her here, in the psychiatric department, under observation for some time, I'm afraid."

"You will do no such thing doctor." Tanya ranted back at him. "Minerva will be moved to Tarrent Hall, as soon as she is stable enough to travel."

Then she turned to our tame doctor.

"Doctor, you and your colleague will arrange to lay on all that is necessary at Tarrent Hall as soon as possible. Please arrange any nurses, equipment... or anything else that you need, money is no object, to be in place there as soon as possible. See Mr Mackintosh about finances and if there are any legal ramifications. If Minerva is going to recover, the poor girl needs to be somewhere she can feel safe. And have her loved ones around her!" Tanya added, looking me right in the eyes. Then she added, "I really don't think that a hospital psychiatric wing qualifies in that respect."

I've got to say that the consultant guy looked somewhat relieved, possibly because a problem was being removed from his hands. But I can't say that our doctor friend, looked very enamoured about the idea. However he didn't throw up any verbal objections. Maybe the financial rewards, he could look forward to played a part there.

When we returned to Kylie's room, she was fast asleep again, so the three of us went down to the hospital's cafeteria to go find something to eat. It had been a long time since any of us had partaken of nourishment.

End of chapter 09.