Well the wedding itself was as most are. Planned, executed
and enjoyed by all to a T. The fact the original location of the gardens was
unavailable due to weather did not dampen spirits at all. In fact, as we now
had moved the ceremony to the reception function centre, spirits were in the
hands of many of the guests thru the nuptials. Mostly Scotch and coke I think.
The ceremony was recorded by the local TV station and aired on TV as one of the
‘prime’ functions of the weekend. I was introduced to Veuve Clicquot by my
elder brother and the table wine was an exceptionally good red, thanks to my
father-in-law’s taste and generosity. All in all it was a sensational wedding
with of course the most beautiful bride I ever saw.
The final ‘goodbye’ as we circled all our guests was a
chance to whisper those interested in kicking on were to meet at the night club
on the next floor up. We were so why not everyone else. Being in a nightclub in
your wedding attire was unusual but workable in a very romantic way. 2 young
people just married, surrounded by friends and family. Life was never going to
be the same and we were excited. Very excited at our life opening up before us.
To say we got drunk is well an overstatement. We had
consumed numerous cocktails provided by our friends but were still walking
upright. We were piled into the back of a cab for the short ride to our hotel.
I was to have driven in plan A, but the disabling of my car and my blood
alcohol both were conditions regarded as too large to overcome at the time of
our departure.
The hotel was a good name, it was not the best one on the
water but it was the best CBD one. The room was large with a spa and all the
honeymoon suite extras one would expect. It was about 3am I think, we had
sobered up a little and decided a spa before bed would be the thing to relax
after such a long and exhausting day. The spa was in the far corner of the
ensuite and after the water had covered the base, we got in side by side but
facing each other. Me against the wall and Jane on the bathroom side facing the
taps. The water was gathering depth and once at full depth, I turned off the
faucets and there we sat in a bubbling hot spa, letting our aches subside and
just enjoying the first few hours of married life.
As first it was just hot and steaming and I wasn‘t entirely
sure what was happening but Jane was screaming and kicking her legs up in the
air and it struck me something was wrong. The blast of mains pressure hot water
coming from the wall beside my head was spurting directly out across the bath
and striking my wife. I more or less shovelled her out and over the side of the
spa and followed her thru the stream of scolding hot water. We were in
shock pretty instantly. Jane went out and sat on the bed, looking down at her
painful legs and then we saw what the damage was. Jane's scold on the neck was
defended by Jane putting her legs up and so the fronts of both her shins was
raw and red. The skin fell away as we looked. It was horrific. The pain was
starting to come too. We had no idea what to do but we needed relief quickly. I
knew enough about first aid to know we needed to cool the skin and stop the
burns from deepening. I rushed into the bathroom and grabbed towels and held
them under the bathroom sink tap and returned to Jane. Placing them over her
burns gave no immediate relief and when we removed them to see what was what,
another layer of skin came off with them. Jane was now in extreme pain,
excruciating pain and I was in automatic I think. I used the phone to call
reception for an ambulance and went back to Jane. More cold things, she wanted
more cold. I grabbed more towels and rewetted them but by this stage the amount
of hot water blasting from the wall had filled the bath to overflowing and was
now cascading across the tiled floor into the room. Stepping through the water
was burning my feet too so I called back to reception and screamed to shut off
the hot water to the room. Things seemed to take forever but eventually the
spray was turned off and I was able to get back into the bathroom. When I
turned the cold water tap to wet more towels, there was none. They had turned
off all the water. Jane was sobbing and screaming and crying and it was just
the most horrible experience ever. I grabbed the pillows and stuffed them in
the toilet and flushed, it was the last cold water we had in the room. Every
application of cool to the wounds was welcome but because the skin was so
burnt, the coolness lasted only moments before it reignited. We had no more
water, I forget how many calls I made to reception during this time but no one
was coming. We were still alone and struggling. I had burnt myself too across
the back as I went thru the stream after Jane but without being able to see it,
was distracted for it not to hurt too much. Jane begged for more cold and I
raised the mini bar, soda waters and then when they were gone, I started with a
dry ginger ale but that stung. There is only 2 things of our wedding night that
Jane and I can even smile or joke about, and when she said “ooh no, that
stings” I think we both were so in shock and pain we giggled.
The night manager came to the room and well was pretty much
useless. I had a burnt bride draped in a sheet sitting on the end of the bed
with skin falling off her legs and he stood there in worse panic than she. He
left and was to return with the ambulance.
Where were they???? It was minutes and minutes and still no
ambo’s came to the room. “Where the fuck are they?” Was what we were both
chanting at each other. I needed air. The steam filled room was claustrophobic
now and Jane crying and in pain and me with a burnt back and scolded feet, I
needed to just open a window. The floor to ceiling curtains were heavy and dark
and I wrenched one back to access the windows concealed behind only to walk
bang into the glass brick wall behind. (the second giggle for us upon
reflection) I banged my head quite hard and just stood there looking up and
this expanse of glass brick above me. There was no air to be had.
Eventually there was help at the door. The ambos brought in
the stretcher and upon assessing and seeing Jane's burns, took steps to rush her
to hospital. They were nice and efficient and Jane was very quickly moving
towards the lifts but as they had discovered on the way up, the stretcher
trolley could not fit in the lift unfolded so Jane was lifted off and had to
half stand half lean against the gurney the trip back down. The pain now was
insufferable for her. I can still see every ounce of pain in her eyes that
night. The night manager was the target of her rage and I’m not sure he would
ever be able to look another person in the eye after her verbal savaging him on
the way out the door. The ambulance took us to hospital where we were drugged
and our wounds dressed and we sat there holding each other hands on our wedding
night, naked and draped in a sheet, it was both horrible and one of the most
beautiful moments in our lives. I knew I had the right girl that night. I doubt
I would be able to function like that for anyone else in the world but her.
There is a part 2 to this, the next day and coming weeks.
Yet to be penned.
