Disclaimer: All names, places, scenarios, etc etc are fictional.
My name is Joe Wellings I am aged 27, and for my sins I still live with my mum Ann who is 50 in two months time. My dad and my sister no longer live with us, a complicated divorce saw to that. Becky my younger sister thinks my dad is the bees and ees, and chose to live with hum, I think he is an arsehole. The trouble is I'm not that fond of my mum either, she can be such a selfish cow, but she is better than my dad Mike.
I suppose I could move out and get myself a flat, but working as a full time trainer in a gym doesn't pay that well, unless you are like my boss and has loads of preferred clients. The more of these you get, the higher your wages. I'm second on the list but still way behind him.
If I moved out, all my money would go on rent etc and I would have to say goodbye to my pride and joy, my Harley Chopper motorbike. That is not something I am willing to do, so I am still at home. It doesn't have an effect on my love life, mum is very good that way and has let my girlfriends stay over when they want.
Things were running really smooth, life was pretty good until my latest girlfriend of 4 months decided she wanted more out of our relationship, more being babies.
It was an age thing she was 30, as she put it her clock was ticking on and if I wasn't willing to commit to having a baby now, then it was time to go our separate ways. I wanted time to think and she wanted an answer now, reasonable maybe but when she told me, I also needed to get a proper job and sell the fucking bike, her words mot mine. I didn't choose her, on reflection that was one hell of a mistake.
It took me four weeks to realise it, my life without her was nothing, so I tried to get her back. Unfortunately she had already moved on and was seeing a guy from her work.
Back at home things then got really complicated, there was an chemical incident at mums works. It resulted in 8 people in the lab she worked in getting various injuries. Some minor burns mostly, but mum got fragments of glass in both her eyes and slight chemical burns.
After 4 days in hospital she had had enough and wanted to go home, she could look after herself, according to her. Anything that she couldn't do, her mum would help her. That came as one hell of a surprise to me, because they hadn't spoken to my knowledge for a least 10 years. Even though we lived only 5 miles from her house in Lewis. It took another two days of her harrassing the doctors before they agreed to let her go home. I was to pick her up after lunch on Saturday, because her mother couldn't drive and she would meet us at our house, to take care of her.
It wasn't much to do, put a cream on her face around her eyes and drops in her eyes 4 times a day. Then recover for the next two weeks, once she had been back to have her examination on Friday the 20th June, they could look at removing the bandages for a few hours a day. She had also asked me to take a couple of weeks off work to help gran, with the shopping, cooking and cleaning etc. Which I thought was reasonable and my bosses were ok with it.
Saturday lunch I turned up as requested and went through all the stuff with the doctors again and they wheeled her to the door. I took her over to her car and we went home. I was expecting to see gran arrive about 3pm as mum had told the nurses by 3.30 she still hadn't arrived. This is when mum dropped her bombshell, she had made it up to get out of the hospital, they said she needed constant care and bed rest. They had offered to let a nurse come round to wash her etc, but she wasn't having someone coming into her home, she didn't know and couldn't see, what they were upto. At first she thought about saying I could do it, then she told them her mother was a retired nurse and she would do it. What gran was a nurse, she worked at the chicken factory making nuggets of something didn't she, was my response.
Yes, but they didn't know that, did they. Anyway I can wash myself, you can do the creams and drops. I will rest in my own bed, you can do the rest. She said she would live on sandwiches for a fortnight. That lasted 3 days, then I was spoon feeding her twice a day, toast for breakfast was the easiest meal.
Cooking meals wasn't a problem, I am a good cook thanks to her, thats one of the things she learnt me and Becky to do. The cleaning a different story, what she couldn't see she couldn't complain about. The shopping was no problem either, a visit to the supermarket isn't that hard, you buy what you want to eat, its not rocket science.
She had her own en suite and could wash herself if she wanted, when she wanted. Luckily she had one of them bidet things, there was no way I was wiping her bum. The eye drops and cream was nothing to worry about, I had seen the nurses do it, it took 5 minutes max.
Day one, a few minor problems all mine to solve, it was like working in a bloody cafe, or a hotel doing room service.
Too much butter on her toast, the tea was too hot, I put more milk in, now its too cold. Joe sorry I have spilt tea all over the bed, you need to change it.
Is it time for my drops and cream, can you run me a bath, can you do this can you that. I was grateful when it ws time for her to finally go to sleep, at least when she was asleep, I could relax.