Rabid dogs and Frankenstein Chapter 4

So one day into our Harrogate trip and it was evident it had been a big mistake ⚡️ coming here with my leg in such pain.  Although getting into  town was fairly easy,  I was walking like  Frankenstein 🧟‍♂️ and it was not a good look – I had to get rid of the crutches.

Shopping  🛍 and eating🍱  out are among my guilty pleasures in life, so sair leg or not  I wasn’t prepared to forgoe either,  and  the crutches weren’t going to hinder me so I ditched them. However by 2pm my leg was throbbing so the promise of  fine dining was deserted for a reduced price Tesco Egg 🥚 sandwich. This decision of course gained maximum kudos from my husband as it   saved him  money💷.    By some miracle I stumbled and hobbled my way back to the hotel clinging to lampposts and moaning incoherently like a jakey despite the lack or pleasure of any wine🍷!   I immediately launched myself into the bath when we returned and  I  noticed extensive  purple bruising had started to appear on my leg😈.

By Wednesday I couldn’t sit  at all so tried to book a train home a day early.  Although possible it was costly 🤑.  Pondering this  in light of the egg sandwich decision, I  considered we could wait one more day since we already had first class tickets 🚞and all the comforts and extras  those promised.  In a strange twist of fate the  hotel owner noticed I was in agony and shared that she had slipped in the kitchen a few years ago and ripped her hamstring in two.  She’d spent 6 days in hospital and it took 9 months to heal. How bloody awful I declared, ha little did I know!🤪

On Thursday we set off home,  and I made a Doctors appointment en route because the pain 💊💊 was now as bad as it had been when I fell. We boarded the on-time ⏰  first train to York  but our luck  🍀 didn’t last. Because of Storm Ali the previous days trains  had been cancelled and now our train was over 2 hours late,  burgeoned with extra  passengers  and  devoid of  any seats and refreshments.  🙀

By now I was I was barking and snarling like a rabid dog  👹 trying to contain the pain.  All the money I had saved did little to endear me in this state to my husband who was wishing this particular trip to Harrogate had never happened. He was unable to provide any meaningful assistance and his best efforts failed to return me to the even tempered puppy 🐶 he started out with.

When the train arrived every seat, suitcase and  corridor floor space in first class was occupied. Despite hobbling among the crowds trying to look needy to the very important businessmen they  avoided my gaze 👩‍💻, perhaps my best Frankenstein impression scared them off.  The offer of a seat was eventually  provided by an elderly lady 😇 who availed me of my misery as we hurtled toward Edinburgh and home and I took it 🤭 (forgive me).  I just  hoped our train would get in on time.

My husband loves travelling by train but he had no seat until Newcastle and we were delayed a further hour on route.  We had nothing to eat or drink until we arrived in Berwick and suddenly the loaves and five fishes 🐟  appeared in the guise of bacon 🐖 sandwiches for those of us brave enough to be travelling on to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. Not long now until I saw the doctor and all my problems would be resolved. I was salivating 🤤  like Pavlov’s dog at the thought of that ….