by S G Read
‘Now young lady, what have you been saying to upset those nice young men?’ Brenda asked as she plumped up Jenny's pillows.
‘Nice young men! Spoilt brats all of them!’
‘Nonsense they are no different from you or me. The only exception is that I haven't had to walk through a jungle to get home. I pay a private health plan, which covers my family as well as me and believe you me my children aren't spoilt but that is where they would be!’ She pointed to the room Stuart was sleeping in.
‘I know your children won't be spoilt.’ Jenny placated. ‘It's just that- Oh never mind you wouldn't understand.’
‘You could try me!’
Jenny plugged the earphones back in and settled back on the pillows and no more was said on the subject.
The boys sat round the table talking.
‘How's the food?’ Simon asked.
The others laughed.
‘I only asked a question!’ Simon complained.
‘That had to be your first question!’ Stuart replied. ‘It's not bad actually; mind you they wouldn't give enough for you, unless you were in the big ward.’
‘It's on the ward, actually.’ Toby corrected.
‘Whatever. The porter, who gives the food out, thinks like her.’ Stuart said and nodded through the wall in the direction of Jenny's bed.
‘I'd be alright then.’ Simon replied. ‘We are not very well off now we've got no money coming in, apart what the D.H.S.S are giving us. Dad's got to be gone for ages before the insurance company will pay up. That means when he does come back, we'll be poor until he gets a job and starts earning money again.’
No one stated the obvious, that his father was probably by now a stain on the jungle floor.
The silence which followed was long as no one knew what to say. It was Toby who broke the silence.
‘Will you be out of here by Saturday Stu?’ He asked.
‘I hope so. I have passed all my tests except the blood test. If I pass that one alright, then Mr Follet said I will be going home but I have to take it easy as I have three cracks in my cranium!’
‘What's your cranium Stu?’ J.C asked.
‘His skull.’ Toby replied.
‘How did you get three cracks in your head?’ Sherman asked.
‘That broken branch probably did one!’ Ben replied. ‘It didn't half hit him! He was unconscious for sometime!’
‘And you headed the coffee table at Stevey's.’ Sherman added.
‘How do you know that? You had already gone!’ Stuart asked.
‘Stevey told me.’
‘I think the other one was when I got kicked after scoring my hat trick!’ Stuart said and held his arms aloft as if in celebration.
‘Big head.’ J.C retorted.
‘Jealous are we?’ Stuart responded.
J.C started to speak then stopped. ‘Yes I am!’ He said after a pause. ‘I'd been trying to score a hat trick all season and you come on for ten minutes and score one!’
‘What if they find out that you've got some horrible disease?’ C.J said worriedly.
‘Yes, some kind of jungle fever!’ J.C added.
‘What if it is catching?’ Sherman said taking a step back from the table.
The boys exchanged glances and backed away from Stuart.
‘That doesn't make sense!’ Colin said, stopping his backward movement. ‘We'd all have it by now; we were together for long enough!’
The others looked relieved and moved back to where they had been.
‘What if we have all got it and don't know!’ Toby said after thinking about it.
‘Don't be silly, we don't fai-I mean blackout all over the place, do we!’ Ben replied. ‘Besides we have all had blood tests.’
‘So has Stu!’ Simon pointed out.
‘Stuart has had several and he's fed up with them!’ Stuart announced.
Mr Davis appeared in the doorway.
‘I was told you lot were in here, time to go!’ He announced.
Ben, C.J, Denis, John and Colin stood up.
‘We'll see you Saturday as long as they let you out by then!’ Ben said as he followed his father out.
The others merely waved an arm as they followed him.
Mr Carter was the next to appear; he found the remains of the group in the same place.
‘Are you ready to go Tobias?’ He asked.
‘Yes dad, who are we taking?’
‘Whoever is left?’ Mr Carter replied.
‘I hope you brought the Espace then!’
‘No I swapped it for a Mini on the way here!’ Mr Carter replied sarcastically.
‘You didn't?’ J.C asked.
The others laughed at J.C's gullibility.
‘As if his dad would swap his Espace for a mini!’ Sherman said with a laugh.
‘I hope he hasn't or I will have to squeeze into a Mini with you lot!’ Toby retorted.
They all filed out, too busy arguing about whether or not they could all squeeze into a Mini, to acknowledge Stuart as they went. A few moments after they had left, Jenny walked into the day room; Stuart brushed past her heading for his own room. Jenny opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Stuart had just settled on the bed and turned the television on, when his parents arrived.
‘I hear you had some company this evening Stuart.’ Wendy said before planting a kiss on both his cheeks.
‘Yes. Everyone came except Stevey.’
‘He will be here later.’ David explained. ‘He is just giving us a bit of time with you before he comes in. He's gone along to the day room to watch TV.’
Stephen followed Stuart's parents until they reached Stuart's room then he headed for the day room. Jenny was watching the television in there.
‘HI.’ Stephen greeted, as he flopped into the chair next to her.
‘Hello.’ Jenny said flatly without moving her head.
‘I'm Stephen, my friends call me Stevey!’
‘Hello Stephen.’ Jenny said in the same monotone.
‘You're Jenny aren't you?’
This time Jenny looked round.
‘How do you know my name?’ She asked.
‘It's by your bed and surprisingly I can read!’ Stephen replied.
Jenny smiled.
‘I didn't think that YOU couldn't.’ She emphasized the ‘you’.
‘Stu can read as well and it's a good job too!’ Stephen retorted.
‘Why is that?’
‘When our plane crashed-’
‘Not the lost in the jungle story again!’
‘It's true! When our plane crashed in the jungle, both me and our manager was bitten by a snake!’ He held out his hand in an attempt to display the barely visible marks on his hand.
‘Manager! You don't look like a pop group, are you a choir or something?’ Jenny asked.
‘No we are a football team, that's why there are so many of us!’
‘Which one of the men that comes to pick you up is your manager?
‘None of them, he's dead. He died the day after the snake bit him.’ Stephen replied quietly.
‘But you're not dead!’
‘No but I would have been if it weren't for Stu. The others assumed I was bound to die and decided to leave me behind, when they started to walk to the coast. Stu stayed and when Simon came back-’
‘He's the one who can't whisper for a toffee!’
‘Yes, that's him. They dragged me on a travois through the-’
‘A what?’
‘A travois. Surely you know what a travois is, don't you watch telly?’
‘We haven't got a television.’
‘Wow, I thought we were poor but at least we have a telly!’ Stephen cried.
‘We could afford one but my dad thinks they're a waste of money and that I would watch it instead of doing my homework!’
‘I live with my mum and as long as I get my homework done she lets me watch telly.’
‘Where's your dad?’
Stephen shrugged. ‘I
don't know and I don't care. He did a runner with another woman and all our money, including my pocket money. He even sold my computer and took the money.’
‘My dad says that computers are-’
‘Don't tell me, a waste of time and money.’ Stephen said interrupting. ‘They are also good fun as well!’
Stephen drew on a piece of paper that lay on the little table in front of them and showed the drawing to Jenny.
‘What's that?’ She asked.
‘A travois. Well that's how the book showed you how to make it, ours was a little different but it worked.’
‘And he made that and carried you through the jungle on it?’
‘Dragged me with the help of Simon, until I woke up and could walk.’
‘Why didn't you die?’ Jenny put her hand to her mouth. ‘Sorry that must have sounded awful. I meant how come your manager died and you didn't?’
‘The doctor I spoke to at the hospital in Colombia-’
‘I take it you were in the Colombian jungle then?’
‘Yes. He said it was because the snake had bitten Millie twice and its poison sack was nearly empty so I didn't get a full dose.’
‘Who's Millie? Your girlfriend?’
‘Our manager.’
‘You had a girl for a manager?’
‘No. His name was Milton Miller.’ Stephen explained. ‘We used to call him Millie, when he couldn't hear us.’
‘How long were you in the jungle for then?’
‘About two months. The others walked in a circle but they eventually caught us up. When they did catch us up J.C-’
‘He's the skinny one.’
‘Yes. He had the, you know what’s, he had to leg it into the jungle a lot!’
‘Oh, the shits!’
‘Stu cured him with the help of his survival book.’
‘I'll have to read this book of his, it might help me.’ Jenny said with the glimmer of a smile. ‘Where I live is like a jungle!’
‘It's in a bit of a state, the druggies put a bullet right through the middle of it, when we-’
‘Druggies, who are they?’ Jenny asked. ‘Where do they fit into this story?’
‘They were the ones who caused the crash. One of their men was on the plane and made it fly to Colombia instead of Florida!’
‘What hijacked it?’
‘Yes. After the crash we found a load of money, the hijacker was going to deliver it to his boss but a grenade went off and blew a hole in the front of the plane, a lot of people got sucked out!’
‘Are you sure you're not making this up?’ Jenny asked as it sounded a bit far fetched.
‘You could always ask to see Stu's book, or what's left of it!’
‘You ask for me.’
‘No way! If you want to see it, you ask him yourself!’ Stephen said flatly. ‘After what he's been through, you go and call him spoilt!’
‘What's wrong with him?’
‘We don't know yet, he keeps blacking out. He broke my mum's glass coffee table with his head the last time he blacked out. Cut his arm as well!’ Stephen stood up. ‘They've had enough time for all the lovey dovey stuff by now; will you still be here tomorrow?’
‘I expect so, I'm waiting for the result of my blood test but I passed out on the way to school, so I can't see me going home tomorrow, besides I like it here, they've got a television.’
‘Stu's had loads of tests and X-rays.’ Stephen added, he turned to go then turned back. ‘Do you want me to come and see you tomorrow?’
Jenny smiled and nodded.
‘You should do that more often Jenny.’ Brenda said from the doorway.
‘What?’ Jenny asked.
‘Smile.’ Brenda replied. ‘The doctor is here to examine you so it's back to bed please.’
Stephen walked with Jenny as far as her bed then gave a little wave as he walked on. Jenny waved back. When Stephen tapped on Stuart's door David opened it.
‘Good timing Stephen, Stuart was starting to think you'd gone home again!’ He said when he saw it was Stephen.
Soon they were engrossed in a game of cards, it was becoming a custom.
John Sykes walked along to the laboratory door, as he walked he sprayed his mouth to cover the smell of the whisky he had just been drinking. In his pocket was a half empty bottle of whisky.
‘Good afternoon John.’ Nurse Geraldine Garrett greeted.
‘Hello again Geraldine.’ John had gone for a lunch break which had lasted two hours.
‘Mr Follet was looking for you; he's chasing the blood test results of Jennifer Robbins and a Stuart Sellars. I told him you were at dinner the first time he called, the second time I said you had just stepped out of the lab.’
‘I don't deserve you Geraldine!’
‘You do seem to take long dinner breaks!’
‘I know, I can't seem to be able to shake off this flu or whatever it is, I ought to go of sick really!’
‘You should be able to find out what is wrong with you. Do you want me to take a blood sample from you, for you to test?’
‘Is that allowed?’ John asked.
‘Not really but I don't think it will matter as it's you!’ Geraldine replied.
‘In that case yes please but I will have to do the other two first or old Follet will pull out the rest of his hair!’
Geraldine laughed as she took John's proffered arm and drew off some blood. John labelled the blood sample, superman. Geraldine laughed again; she was a happy woman who saw no bad in anyone. John sat at his desk, took the half bottle of whisky out of his pocket and put it in a drawer to his right, before starting on the first blood sample, Jenny Robbins. He took a blank result sheet out of the drawer to his left, there was another part bottle of whisky in there as well. He put a small jr in the top right hand corner of the sheet. As he worked, he noted down the results on the sheet, to make sure there was no mistake. He did everything the same way until he had finished. The sheet was placed in the folder marked Jennifer Robbins. He did Stuart's test in the same manner, Geraldine often stopped to watch him work, as he was very good at his job. Even with the flu. Before he had finished Stuart's sheet Geraldine interrupted his thoughts.
‘I'm going home now John, don't you work yourself to death, they don't pay us enough!’
‘I won't, mind you the next one will be private work.’
As soon as Geraldine had gone, John opened the right hand drawer and drank a large mouthful of whisky from the bottle he had just put in there. By the time he had finished Stuart's test sheet, the bottle was nearly empty and John was swaying slightly on the seat. He picked up both sets of notes and started to cross the room but walked into the corner of one of the work tops. He staggered sideways and the notes flew out of his hand, with papers going everywhere. He grunted in pain, collected the papers together and started to sort them out. All went well until he came to his result sheets, there were no names written on them only the initials, which he could no longer focus on! From memory he placed what he thought was the correct sheet in the correct file. He put both files in the tray and pressed the button to call a porter. As he was finished with hospital work now he could check his own blood sample to see if he could find out what was causing the pains that he was using the whisky to ease.
Mr Follet walked up to Jenny in the dayroom.
‘Well young lady, it looks like we can say goodbye to you. Your blood test has come back clear, whatever was troubling you has gone. Unlike Stuart, Jenny had no one to come and fetch her, she had to pack her own bag then catch a bus home. Mr Follet walked away leaving Jenny packing her meagre belongings. In Stuart's room the four were still playing cards when Mr Follet arrived.
‘Good evening, I have your blood test results here Stuart. It would appear that you are to stay with us a while longer but there is nothing to worry about.’ He assured. ‘We will soon set you to rights!’
‘What is wrong with me, Mr Follet?’ Stuart asked.
The consultant turned to David.
David looked first at his wife then at Stuart. ‘No I think a word in here will suffice.’
‘As you wish; Stuart appears to have picked up a type of typhoid but as I said as long as he is treated now there will be no problem.’
‘How long will I be in here?’ Stuart asked.
‘The course of drugs takes two weeks, by then we should see a marked improvement. When we are happy with your progress, you can go home.’
‘Did he catch it in the jungle?’ Wendy asked.
‘It can be caught in many places. He could have picked it up in the jungle but he could just as well catch it from someone at school. A poor diet often leaves you susceptible to it but then that goes for a lot of conditions. I am surprised the other boys escaped it, if you did catch it in the jungle. We will start the course in the morning, until then I bid you goodnight.’
After the consultant had gone Stuart turned to his Mother.
‘Is that good news or bad mum?’ He asked.
‘At least they have found something!’ Stephen said, interrupting, as boys often do and he had not been told about the cracks in Stuart's cranium. ‘It might save a few coffee tables!’
‘I think I would like you to come home with a clean bill of health, than have the possibility of more blackouts.’ Wendy answered, ignoring the interruption. ‘But Typhoid is not quite what I expected, you don't look as though you have Typhoid!’
No one noticed Jenny as she looked in the window on her way past; she paused for a few seconds, looking in, before walking on.
CHAPTER 12
The morning arrived and with it came Big Brenda. After the initial wake up and wash call, she returned with Stuart's breakfast and a drinkable cup of tea! The food on the plate made the previous mornings plate appear as if it had been empty.
‘It appears we have to build you up a bit. What did you eat while you were in the jungle?’ Brenda asked.
‘Fish, snakes, potatoes, sweet corn of sorts, mangos, papaws, figs, lots of figs, fungi and there were other fruit and things which I can't remember but we didn't go hungry much.’ Stuart answered from memory.