Richards himself watched but showed no emotion as a grown man bawled his heart out and sobbed uncontrollably in front of him. Sorrow turned to anger once again as Wyre kicked one of the low wooden coffee tables across the room causing it to crash into the small book case tipping it onto the floor sending the books skidding everywhere. Richards didn’t show any intent to stop him and thought it better for him to let it out so his focus would be on Oliver who was lay in a room down the corridor. The door flew open and a concerned nurse stood surveying the damage.
“Is everything ok……what happened in here?”
“It’s ok we’ve just had a bit of an accident. We’ll tidy it up straight away” replied Richards apologetically.
The obviously busy nurse shut the door and quickly disappeared back into the direction from where she had come from. Her entering the room seemed to have disturbed Wyre from his anguish for a second or two but it was long enough for Alex to seize the opportunity to guide him out through the door and back towards Oliver’s room. Wyre wiped the tear stains from his face and grabbed Alex’s arm.
“Thank you for getting my son back Alex……I’m still struggling to deal with what I have been involved in the last few days…..I just don’t know…….” said Wyre shaking his head and looking drained. Oliver shouldn’t be seeing me like this”
Wyre took a deep breath and pushed the door to Oliver’s room open as Richards left him to it. A look of concern filled Wyre’s face at the sight of Andy leaning over Oliver almost like he was checking him or tending to him.
“Is everything ok Andy, is there anything wrong with him?”
“No..no everything is fine Wyre!” said Andy quietly.
“What were you doing?” asked Wyre sounding concerned.
“I was just checking his temperature, he looked a bit hot, red looking” said Andy reassuringly.
Wyre placed Oliver’s hand inside his as the boy slept, obviously making up for being unable to sleep properly whilst he was being held prisoner. As Andy drifted slowly away from the bed Wyre just stared at his son whom he really thought he would not see again. As much as his heart remained strong and would not accept that he had lost him, deep down after hearing what type of bastard Bostock was, Wyre had started to think that they were actually looking for a body rather than Oliver. This attitude had helped him in a very small way to prepare his self but he still remained shocked that Susan was no longer here. He would never see her again and could not even begin to even think about her funeral and telling family members. Oliver would become a good point to focus on whilst Wyre’s mind adjusted accordingly. Wyre’s only hope was that the whole traumatic experience had not shortened Oliver’s already fragile life. However Wyre felt at the moment, he knew he had yet to tell Oliver about his mother but decided he would wait until he thought the time was right although he knew it never would be. Andy slipped out of the room quietly to leave father and son together but watched through the small glass window in the door as Wyre leant in close to whisper something quietly to Oliver.
“There’s no need to be scared anymore Oliver. I’m here for you now”
*
TWO WEEKS LATER.
“Come on Oliver otherwise we will be late” said Wyre smiling as they both crossed the road that wound its way between the two hospital car parks.
“I’m Optimus Prime Daddy let’s go!” Oliver shouted pretending to chase someone or something
“Well just be careful I don’t want you getting tired remember you’re having more tests today just as soon as we get the first set of results back”
“I’m ok Daddy I don’t feel tired, we have to find Megatron!”
“I’m pretty sure he will be in there” replied Wyre pointing to the entrance to the hospital hoping it might get Oliver in there quicker.
It had been two weeks since they had found Oliver in the building where Bostock had been holding him and Wyre could not hide his bewilderment at how Oliver had come alive since being there. No matter how much he looked at Oliver and tried to deny it, he seemed a totally different young boy than when he had been taken. He was showing signs and evidence of what he had been through by not wanting to be left alone and Wyre having to leave the bedroom light on at night. Oliver was also very untrusting of strangers and people he did not know but the tiredness seemed to be less evident as his energy grew every day. Today could not come quick enough because he would be told some of the results of the tests that had been performed on him. Wyre had been told by the doctors that he must still take his medication for his Leukaemia but whereas before Oliver wanted it, he now seemed to forget about it and just carry on as normal. They reached the waiting room to find there were no seats left only standing space, meaning they would most likely have to wait at least thirty minutes to an hour to be seen. The receptionist lifted her head and indicated that Wyre approach the desk to give her the required personal information.
“Name sir!”
“Oliver Davis…..we’re here for some results”
The receptionist didn’t even look at the screen on her computer, instead she handed Wyre a card.
“You need to go straight through please sir! Dr Montgomery is waiting for you”
“Oh right!” said Wyre seeming slightly confused as he waved at Oliver who had already started playing with the small box of toys in the corner with a handful of other children.
“This way Oliver!” he called then waited as Oliver came running over and they made their way through to examination rooms down the corridor but not before receiving a few disgruntled looks from the rest of the waiting room.
Wyre seemed confused as the nurse guided them past all the rooms and down another cream coloured corridor to a door at the end. On the door it read DR MONTGOMERY as the nurse pushed it open without even knocking. Wyre’s heart began to sink as surely this could mean only one thing. They were in here because the test results were bad and they needed to be alone.
“Come in, come in……its Wyre and Oliver isn’t it!” said the doctor who was sat at his desk in a tweed suit.
“Yes that’s right!” answered Wyre as he sat Oliver down on the chair.
Oliver was now more subdued as though he knew where they were. He seemed nervous and his eyes darted around the room but he wouldn’t look at the doctor. A typical child’s intuition told them when to feel scared or even intimidated and he was no different especially after what he had been through. He knew the doctor was someone of importance and maybe it was because he could sense the apprehension coming from his father who was sitting next to him.
“How are you Oliver? How do you feel today?”
Oliver didn’t answer but just shook his head and frowned at the doctor.
“Well young man you certainly look fine. A little bird told me that your favourite robot or should I say transformer is Optimus Prime”
Oliver’s eyes lit up and all of a sudden the big man who a second ago seemed scary and unfriendly was now speaking his language. Oliver nodded nervously but now seemed more interested.
“Well nurse Zoe is going to take you next door and you’re going to show her inside your mouth and the colour of your eyes but you have to do something for me”
“What?” whispered Oliver who now seemed more intrigued.
“When she has finished could you help her look for Optimus Prime. I know he is in the room somewhere because I can hear him but I need you to help her find him. Can you do that?”
Oliver glanced at his father for reassurance who smiled and nodded back at him letting him know it was ok. Oliver seemed to pause for a moment not sure what to do. Since he was taken Wyre had noticed that he rarely left his father’s side due to fear and distrust and quite rightly so. He would only be in the room next door but to Oliver it was a world away. The doctor and Wyre waited and watched as Oliver made up his mind first glancing at the door then back to Wyre. His father nodded in approval.
“It’s ok Oliver you can go but only if you want to”
“O
k!” whispered Oliver as Zoe the nurse held his hand and walked towards the door.
“Can I leave the door open?” asked a still nervous Oliver.
“Yes of course we can!” replied Zoe.
Wyre’s smile disappeared as soon as Oliver was out of sight and then Dr Montgomery’s demeanour immediately changed.
“So what do you need to tell me and believe me what I have been through the last few weeks don’t worry about upsetting me. I don’t mind what it is as long as it’s not bullshit”
“Firstly Wyre I must ask how has Oliver been?”
“He has been better than I expected. He has not slept in his own bed since and wakes up crying and sometimes screaming which is to be expected I suppose”
“Does he know about his mother yet?” asked a sympathetic Dr Montgomery.
Wyre shook his head and blew out a sigh.
“Don’t get me wrong he knows he’s not going to see her for a while but……but I can’t tell him yet”
“No I understand Wyre. Well I don’t know how to put this but we have looked at the results of the tests and it seems Oliver, well………”
Dr Montgomery was now rubbing his chin with his hand as Wyre took a deep breath. Oliver was all Wyre had left and the thought of anything happening to him tore Wyre apart. He had got used to Oliver’s health deteriorating slowly and knew it was inevitable that at some point he would most likely lose him but after all that had happened, Wyre’s mind set had changed. He was desperate to hold onto him for as long as possible and if what had happened to him over the last few weeks had shortened his time with his only child then Wyre was not sure how he was going to cope. The sound of Oliver talking in the next room to nurse Zoe had Wyre shaking his head in dismay. Dr Montgomery continued.
“……Well Wyre it seems Oliver’s symptoms for whatever reason have improved. I can’t explain it and neither can my colleagues but it seems the disease in Oliver’s system is being held at bay by something else. We have yet to find out what is, let’s say it’s strengthening Oliver’s resistance because we have to do more tests if that is ok with you of course?”
“I don’t understand!” said a stunned Wyre.
“Oliver’s leukaemia seems to have come against something that is prepared to fight it face on, make it weaker, I apologise if I can’t use the correct terms but I’m unsure if there is a term”
“I was told by Dr Williams that Oliver’s condition was irreversible” replied an astounded and confused Wyre.
“It is irreversible” replied a more serious looking Dr Montgomery.
Wyre nodded as the doctor stood up and pulled the lamp on the desk nearer so they could both read the paperwork he was now placing in front of Wyre.
“Here is a read-out of Oliver’s blood samples from the past few months. Here you can see the difference in the amount of red cells compared to the amount of white cells. Now look here, this is after we did the blood tests two weeks ago. Now we are both doctors Wyre so I don’t need to explain any further how impossible or even strange this is”
“It’s totally changed” replied Wyre trying to take in what he was being told. “How can this be? What would change it so quickly? The needle marks are evidence they injected something into him but would that be the reason?”
Montgomery shrugged his shoulders then seemed to glance at someone stood behind Wyre forcing Wyre to turn around.
“Alex what the hell are you doing here?”
“Myself and Alex go back a long way Wyre and he is here to help us get to the bottom of this” said Montgomery walking towards a cabinet to pull out a bottle of whisky. “Would you like one?” he asked both of them as he poured himself a glass.
“How did you know I was here?” asked Wyre feeling uncomfortable once again, thinking that for the time being he had left the life of being followed and sneaking around behind.
Richards walked up to Wyre and pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket. Using the special tool the iphone has, Alex popped the tiny sleeve open where the sim card was sat.
“I put the bug on you Wyre because I wanted to know who you spoke to and where you were going every hour of the day”
“You bastard and you didn’t think to tell me after all what has happened!”
“I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary Wyre but after listening to your conversations with Oliver and how well his condition was improving my suspicions were beginning to be proved right”
“What suspicions?” asked Wyre now pacing the room feeling the anger building up inside him masking the fear.
“Listen Wyre we have to find out what Bostock pumped into Oliver because let’s face it, compare him to the other unfortunates in that building and something doesn’t sit right”
Wyre realised that what Alex was saying was true but up until now his emotions had betrayed him. Pointing his finger, Wyre let rip at the detective, a man he had seen kill at will without a blink of an eye but he didn’t care.
“Wait let’s take this one step at a time. You still think Oliver and my-self are still targets for Bostock?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?” replied Richards.
“That’s why you left us alone and disappeared in the hope that Bostock would turn up and it would be your chance to take him out……you fucking used us like bait….Jesus Christ you son of a bitch!” said Wyre, almost in a whisper so Oliver would not hear the heated discussion.
“I think we need to get back to the issue of finding out what Oliver has in his system” said Montgomery sipping his whisky.
Wyre stood staring out through the window, his mind spinning around uncontrollably.
“Listen Wyre I know you have been through a lot but my instinct tells me something doesn’t sit right with this. As much as you don’t want to hear this I honestly thought we would find Oliver dead or worse. It just isn’t Bostock to let this happen. Why did he take him and why did he kill Susan and not him. The only possible explanation I can find is that he still needs both you and Oliver and we need to find out why? The fact you witnessed the murder in the library now seems irrelevant”
“I just don’t want to put Oliver through anymore trauma Alex” said Wyre almost resigned to the fact that Richards was right but for Oliver to still be involved in something like this was just too much.
“Wyre you do know this is not over” said Alex quietly closing the door where Oliver was playing with his new Optimus Prime transformer. “Give me two weeks to try and get to the bottom of this and then I will leave you alone”
Wyre looked at Montgomery with a determined look.
“I want to find out what that bastard put in my son!”
He then walked up to Alex shaking his head.
“I want this bastard out of our lives for good. I mean it Alex, I can’t live like this. They started this not me and I can’t do this anymore do you understand!”
Chapter 16
Wyre could barely look at the sombre faces as his funeral car pulled up at the cemetery and crematorium. He had avoided as much contact as he could once he had informed the family of Susan’s death. Miraculously he had also managed to keep from the family the whole trauma of what both Oliver and he had gone through even the fact Oliver had been kidnapped. It was hard enough for him to take it all in so telling his family was a whole world away. The fact none of the family had found out how Susan had died was mainly due to the fact that Alex trusted no one and kept it amongst handpicked police officers so the press never got to hear about it. Although Wyre had initially agreed with Richards about keeping the cause of Susan’s death to himself it still felt wrong to keep it from his family but he had no choice. Telling Susan’s family would never be an issue because she didn’t have any apart from an old and frail grandma who was spending her last years succumbing to dementia in a nursing home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Alex had sat Wyre down and told him what he had found in detail during the discovery of Susan’s ring and realised there and then that nobody could ever find out about what had hap
pened. One of the hardest things for Wyre was to watch family members including Oliver look at the coffin and react emotionally to it. Only Wyre, Alex and Andy knew it was actually empty apart from a bunch of flowers and a letter from Oliver sent to his mother. Wyre had initially felt bitter towards Alex for not telling him whilst they were in the building that Susan’s remains were in there but then he realised to see her like that or at least what was left of her would have possibly destroyed him. Oliver’s words as they climbed out of the car nearly ripped Wyre’s heart out.
“Mummy is in there!” he said pointing to the coffin in the back of the hearse.
Wyre had not yet told Oliver that his mother was actually no longer with them but had told him most of it without using the dead word. Oliver understood that his mother was going somewhere else and being in the wooden box was the way she was getting there. In a way only children can comprehend Oliver knew he would not see his mother again, at least not in this world but she wasn’t dead just somewhere else. As Wyre shook hands and greeted various family and friends he noticed Richards stood on his own looking on, keeping himself to himself. Wyre roughly counted approximately thirty people and there amongst them was Andy dressed in a dark suit similar to Alex’s. It sent a shiver up Wyre’s spine to think this is what they might have looked like when they worked for Bostock. The coffin was lifted out of the car and then carried in and placed at the front of the small chapel. Weeping and crying could be heard amongst the congregation as they filed in and sat in their chosen seats. Oliver seemed intrigued at the reaction of people he knew, who never normally seemed upset as they barely contained their emotions. Wyre felt sick to his stomach as the vicar proceeded to bless the coffin as though Susan was in there forcing him to glance at Richards who again and as usual showed no feelings or reaction to anything. Hymns were sung and a reading from one of Wyre’s relatives was delivered with a shaky voice and in no time at all they were all heading out to the plot where Susan was to be buried. Richards could see the shock on everyone’s face at the loss of someone who had been so happy with a loving husband and son. It had happened all so quickly and thankfully because of Alex’s contacts nobody knew the real cause of death. Wyre felt very uncomfortable with this but realised this had to be the case to protect Oliver from people prying and causing him more stress. A car crash was blamed for the sudden death of a loving mother and wife who at family gatherings and functions would show much affection and utter devotion.
BEYOND THE SPRING Page 18