Love in Tuscany Pt. 03

She collapsed on his chest, their arms wrapped around each other, neither wanting the moment to end. Both enjoying the aftershocks of their pleasure as they lay panting listening to the river and the cicadas above them.

They held each other in the shade of the tree for a while until Jake saw his watch.

"I hate to have to move but our final destination awaits."

She groaned and they slowly packed up and got back in the car. The afternoon was wearing on and it was nearly five o'clock before they got back on the road. Thankfully the journey didn't take long. After only twenty minutes Jake turned off the main road and they drove slightly up hill. The view was amazing with the Chianti valley stretching out below them.

They soon arrived at an open gate. The stone pillars on either side were topped off by figurines and the gravel road twisted through a tree lined drive that ended in front of the most magnificent old villa.

Stunning formal gardens were laid out in front of it and the beautiful architecture of the old building was unmistakable to someone that had seen the film of Much Ado About Nothing as many times as Catherine had.

"Oh Jake, how did you know? It's magnificent!"

He looked over at her joyous expression and his heart swelled to see her so happy. He went to open the door of his car but was beaten to it by the smartly dressed valet. Catherine's door was also being opened as they were welcomed to the hotel.

"Welcome to Villa Vignanaggio, signore."

They were ushered inside and made their way through the great doors and into the famous courtyard. The valet led them through to reception, Catherine trailing behind, her sheer delight at being there rubbing off even on the men carrying their bags.

"Buona sera," said Jake to the receptionist. She smiled at him, and then, taking in the delighted young woman looking around the courtyard, her smile fell.

"Signore Armstrong?" she asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Yes," he said uncertainly, picking up at once on her tone. Surely, they hadn't screwed up the reservation?

"Signore, there is an urgent message for you."

"Really? But only my father knows I'm here. What's the message?"

"You are please to call this number. The lady said it was most urgent."

"The lady?" He was puzzled now.

He looked at the number and the receptionist gestured to a phone over by a bench looking out on to the courtyard.

"Is everything alright?" asked Catherine.

"I don't know. There's a message to call home but I don't know who it's from."

Catherine heard the worry in his voice and came over to sit beside him.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Jake, though his voice didn't carry the same conviction as his words. "Why don't you go and get us checked in while I figure out what's going on?"

He picked up the phone and dialled the number as Catherine headed over to the reception desk.

"Hallo," said the female voice.

"Hallo?"

"Oh, Jake is that you?"

"Aunt Susan? Yes, it's me. Is everything alright? I was told to call you urgently."

"Oh thank god!"

"What's wrong? How did you know I was here?"

"It's your father, Jake. There's been an accident."

= = = = = = = = = = = =

The next few hours passed in a fog for Jake.

The details of what his aunt relayed to him were quite distant. The accident on the motorway, the phone call late at night as the police tried to track down a next of kin. Her rushed drive from the south coast up to the hospital in Birmingham and the last two days spent trying to get in touch with Jake.

Catherine heard his anguished sob as she handed across their passports to the desk clerk. She dropped them and rushed over to him as he slumped into her arms. A voice was talking on the phone, but Jake was oblivious.

Catherine took charge. She picked up the phone, introduced herself and was soon immersed in plans to get them both home as soon as possible. The desk clerk was incredibly helpful, calling the airline, changing their flight reservations and giving them somewhere private. They managed to get booked on to the last flight home from Pisa. She turned her full attention to Jake.

He was in a total funk. The news of his father lying on life support over a thousand miles away was too much for him piled on top of the trauma of losing his mother. He sat rocking back and forth in his own little world. If Catherine did get his attention it was only for a short while. Then the tears would start followed by heart-rending sobs.

She realised that she would have to drive them back to the airport. Jake was certainly in no condition to do it. She had passed her driving test more as something for her CV than anything else. She was not an experienced driver and to be faced with driving a car at night on the wrong side of the road in this situation was almost too much.

Just an hour after they'd arrived at her dream location, with the love of her life, she was setting off in the other direction, heart in her mouth towards Pisa. Her concern for Jake was all consuming. The journey was massively stressful for her but only an hour and a half passed before she pulled into the car hire centre at Pisa airport.

She didn't allow herself to relax until they were sitting in the front row seats on the plane and the flight was levelling off after take-off. The cabin crew were all aware of the situation and were constantly on hand. She found their pity almost too much to bear and sighed with relief when she realised that Jake, totally emotionally drained, had fallen asleep. She leaned in to him, head whirling, her thoughts flying faster than the plane until she was awoken by the wheels touching down at Heathrow airport.

The Italian desk clerk had worked wonders for them, and the car valet was waiting for them holding up a sign with Jake's name on. They were taken out to find his car waiting for them. The valet loaded the car with their luggage and she drove them off into the night.

The drive back to Birmingham was a complete blur. At that time of night the traffic was mercifully light and Catherine made full use of the car's performance. They pulled into the hospital car park at 2.35am.

Jake had partly recovered and was silent and grim faced for most of the journey, desperately trying to hold it together. He flinched slightly when she reached for his hand but then held on to her with the grip of a drowning man.

They rushed from the car into the hospital and then had a frustrating delay trying to find the right department and the right ward.

Finally, they were allowed into his father's room. There were machines everywhere and it was difficult to see any part of him that wasn't attached to something or wrapped in bandages.

Jake slumped into the chair beside his father. The nurse that had drawn night duty was fresh out of training and really wasn't ready to deal with this situation. She couldn't or wouldn't tell them what the prognosis was, and Catherine eventually bullied her into beeping the on-call doctor.

Dr Corrigan knocked gently on the door forty minutes later.

"I apologise for the delay. There was rather a nasty case that needed me down in A&E.

Catherine's anger on behalf of Jake at the delay was mollified as she looked at the exhausted man who was obviously being pulled from pillar to post by the needs of his patients.

Jake looked up and seemed to be all there for the first time since he'd heard the news of his father's accident.

"Thank you for coming doctor. Forgive me for being short but no one will tell us anything and I have to know what's happened and what the prognosis is."

The doctor sighed and sat down on the end of the bed opposite Jake.

"Forgive me but...you're his son Jake?"

"Yes."

"And this is?"

"My girlfriend, Catherine."

"Thank you. Jake, your father was involved in a very serious car accident. A lorry ran into the back of his car at the end of a queue of stationary traffic. The paramedics and fire service got to him as quickly as they could amongst the other casualties, and he was brought to A&E. He had lost a great deal of blood and had significant injuries to...well, it's quicker to list where he wasn't injured to be honest. He spent fourteen hours in surgery to stabilise his injuries, but I have to be honest with you, the only thing keeping him alive right now are these machines.

"I'm very sorry Jake but between the head trauma, the punctured lungs and damage to his spine..." he trailed off as Jake's face drained of all blood and he started to shake.

Catherine rushed to his side and held him.

"Is there any hope at all doctor?" she asked.

He sadly shook his head.

"While we have stopped most of the internal bleeding the brain damage alone is catastrophic. We did everything that we could, everything in our power. Even if a miracle occurred and somehow he was able to breath by himself, he has lost all motor functions because of the spinal damage and..."

"Enough doctor." Jake rasped. "Enough."

"I'm very sorry Mr Armstrong."

He excused himself and quietly got up and left.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The next two days were hideous.

After the trauma of switching off the life support machines, a disturbing sight that Catherine fervently wished she never had to see ever again, Jake withdrew into himself. Catherine took a leave of absence from work. She organised the funeral, she fielded all the phone calls, she arranged the invitations and the wake. In short, she managed all the things that Jake simply wasn't capable of.

The funeral was held a week later.

At the funeral she was the one that was strong. She was the one that had to write and then read the eulogy for a man that she'd never met. It was entirely pieced together from conversations with friends and colleagues, from phone calls with people calling with their condolences.

As she stood up in front of the two-hundred people that crowded the room at the crematorium, she felt like an imposter. All the stress and anguish of the last few weeks almost bubbled over, she felt so out of place and lacking in support. But she spoke from the heart. She spoke of the man that she wished she'd met and the memories of the people that had come together to celebrate his life. She spoke of the difference that a person can make in your life. She spoke of how you should cherish every moment.

As she spoke, Jake's head came up and for the first time in weeks his eyes were clear of the fog of grief, and he really saw her. She saw him mouth the words "I love you". She almost dissolved there and then but managed to finish the eulogy before returning to her seat.

"Thank you," he croaked, his voice almost unrecognisable from the melting baritone that she'd fallen in love with. He kissed her on the cheek and held her against him as she began to sob with sheer relief.

After the ceremony it was Jake who was finally able to shake hands and speak to the people that had come to remember his father with him. Without fail they all complimented Catherine on her speech, her support and her unstinting help throughout such a difficult time. Jake's heart swelled with love and pride hearing what she'd done for him.

That night they were finally alone. They ordered a curry from their local takeaway but in truth neither had the appetite for it.

They talked the evening away, enjoying the simple joy of one another's company without the stresses and emotions of the past few weeks. They went to bed and just held one another, drifting off to an exhausted sleep.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The next day was a Saturday. They slept late, their minds and bodies beginning to recover from the emotional battering that they'd taken.

They'd just started their second pot of coffee when the phone rang. Jake looked pleadingly at Catherine. She nodded and went to answer the call.

"Hallo?"

"'Allo? Is Signore Armstrong there please?"

"Can I ask who's calling?"

"It's Maria from Villa Vignanaggio."

"He's not really up to speaking right at the moment. We've only just had the funeral. Can I take a message?"

She saw Jake start to stand and she waved him to sit down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to have disturbed you. Please can you ask Signore Armstrong to call us back? The jeweller would like to know what to do with the ring."

"The what?"

"Oh -- is that Signorina Johnson?"

"Yes...?"

"Oh, forgive me. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... Please ask him to call us back."

"Of course."

Catherine put the phone down, her eyes welling up. Jake stood up and moved round the kitchen table. He'd heard every word. He took both of her hands in his and kissed her lightly.

"When I imagined proposing to you, I didn't think that someone else would end up doing it for me."

Catherine was speechless, her hand in front of her mouth and tears in her eyes.

He reached behind her and pulled a ring pull off a can of Coke. Without letting go of her hand he sank to one knee.

"Catherine. You are without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. I knew that when we left to go to Italy. I had no idea just how much I'd underestimated how lucky I am to have you in my life. I was so proud listening to everyone sing your praises yesterday and I wish that I'd been able to introduce you to them as my fiancée. Catherine, can you...will you marry me?"

She looked down through her tears into his eyes and saw the doubt, the hope and the anxiety there.

"Jake, I've loved you since the moment I opened the door when you collected me for our first date. I can't imagine a life without you. Nothing could make me happier than being your wife!"

Her words wiped away the warring emotions that she'd seen in his eyes and he pushed the ridiculous ring pull on to the ring finger of her left hand.

She sat down on his knee and felt his strong arms wrap around her. They kissed and held each other for a long time.

She stood up and held her hands out to him. She looked at him as he stood up, bending to rub life back into his sore knee with a droll smile and said, "You do realise that we have to go back and get the ring?"

"Yes Mrs Armstrong. Yes, we do!"

- - - The End - - -