Part 3:- Love and Marriage. (Part 3. Complete.)

Chapter 12

Once Christmas was over, Jo found herself exhausted. A tiredness she simply couldn't shake off. After nearly 4 days of her doing very little but sleeping, Paul wanted to call a doctor, worried in case it was linked to her cancer. Jo managed to calm his fears, promising to go to the doctors once New Year had passed if she didn't feel any better. New Year came and went, thankfully a much quieter affair than Christmas had been. Paul watched Jo like a hawk and seemed relieved as she started to perk up. By mid January she seemed like her usual self, confirmed by the fact she had made plans to spend the day shopping in the sales with Helena.

The pair shopped like demons! Helena found bargain after bargain. Jo became bag carrier whilst her friend queued to pay. FInally, they headed for some lunch. After standing in an even longer queue they finally got a seat and ordered.

"You OK Jo?" Helena asked her suddenly, "You've gone very flushed!"

"I'm just hot," replied Jo standing up to take her jumper off.

Helena described later that it was like slow motion. One minute Jo was talking to her as she took her jumper off, the next she was sliding gracefully to the floor.  Helena had lept out of her seat, intent on helping her friend. As she had lifted Jo's head slightly and used the menu to fan her hot face, Helena found blood. It seemed that Jo had hit her head on the corner of the table as she went down. An ambulance was called. Jo was taken to A and E. Helena had to contact Paul then wait for news of her friend.

"Hi Jo my lovely. Having a good time?"

"Paul, it's Helena. I've got Jo's phone."

"Where's Jo?"

"She's here Paul." she paused.

"Helena, what's wrong?"

"Paul, I'm at the hospital. It's Jo...she fainted. She was too hot and where we were was really crowded. She hit her head as she fell down. It's cut but not too seriously the paramedics said. Jo's with the doctors now."

After getting the details of where she was, Paul rang off. Helena knew he would arrive very soon, out of his mind with worry. Moments later a nurse appeared and asked Helena if she wanted to see her friend. Helena followed her eagerly. Jo was now awake and sat up. She had a bandage round her head and was looking pale.

"Hey you," said Helena, "You're a sight for sore eyes! You gave me such a fright!"

Jo gave her a slight smile. "Sorry," she whispered, "I just felt so rough!"

"What have the doctors said?"

Before Jo could speak, Helena could hear Paul's worried voice.  "One minute, that sounds like Paul!"

She put her head outside the curtain and saw him. She gestured to him and he came into the cubicle.

"Jo!" He swamped her with a hug. She winced

"I'm OK. Just watch my head!"

"What have the doctors said my love?"

"They've agreed I fainted. They've taken some blood tests to see if there's a reason why. I've had 6 stitches in my head and they want to keep me in overnight in case of concussion. Apparently I was out cold for several minutes after the paramedics arrived."

Suddenly the curtain of the cubicle opened and a young doctor came in.

"Mrs McCartney, we have you're blood results back. Everything is clear except your iron levels are very low. You're aneamic. I think that gives us the cause of your fainting spell."

Jo looked relieved. "I've been really tired lately too."

"No doubt the same cause." He smiled at her, "Ok, so we'll be keeping you in overnight as I explained. We'll be tranferring you to  a ward as soon as possible."