by S G Read
‘It's all right!’ Wendy said as she sat back down. ‘Where Billy is concerned the world and I cannot hear you.’
‘Go on boys don't spoil our fun!’ Brenda said from the doorway.
Carol was standing next to her.
‘Are you sure you don't want me to use a megaphone?’ C.J asked.
He was the one who had engineered the dastardly act and he had been volunteered as narrator.
Brenda closed the door.
‘Just pretend we're not here.’ She answered quietly. ‘It's about time Billy was sorted out-’
‘Again!’ Carol said interrupting. ‘This is not the first time he's taken a dislike to someone but this is the first time they had the back up of a punishment squad.’
Her childhood in war torn Belfast had taught her about punishment squads and reprisals.
‘Well the idea I had, was to knock out one of his cotter pins-’ C.J started but was interrupted by Wendy putting her hand up.
‘What is a cotter pin when it's about?’ She asked.
‘It's the pin that stops the pedal from going round on the shaft it drives.’ C.J replied patiently. ‘Without it the bike wouldn’t go anywhere.’
‘Sorry but there are some of us that for unseen reasons don't ride bikes!’ Brenda added.
Several boys tried to picture her on a bicycle and sniggered.
‘Watch it or I'll send Carol after you!’ Brenda warned. ‘I know I'm big!’
‘Can I carry on now?’ C.J asked impatiently.
‘Please do.’ Carol replied. ‘And get a move on we have work to do!’
‘As I was saying I was going to knock out his cotter pins but I could only shift one so I replaced the one I did get out with a wooden pencil cut to fit. When he rode off there was no problem until he saw J.C up a side road, he tried to run him over but it was uphill. As soon as he tried to speed up, up the hill the pencil broke and he fell off!’ C.J saved the embellishments for later, as Billy had squashed his private parts on the crossbar, he had a bell shaped bruise appearing on his face around a cut and the tooth fairy would be calling at his house tonight!
‘The others except for Toby were in the road making sure that no cars came.’ C.J added.
‘I wish I could have seen it!’ Stuart said a little disappointed.
‘That's what I was doing!’ Toby said producing his dad's camcorder. ‘It's all here in black and white. When I plug the leads into the telly you can see it in colour, and hear my commentary.’
After a few minutes fiddling behind the television, Toby asked. ‘Are you ready this is the full story, including the build up.’ He started the camcorder.
‘This is Minton General hospital.’ Toby's voice announced as the camera showed the front of the hospital.
‘That doesn't sound like you Toby!’ Simon commented.
He was answered by a chorus of ‘Shhs.’
Those who were not in a good position to see the television, shuffled into a better one.
‘This is the bicycle shed.’ Toby continued. ‘This is Billy's bike. C.J starts to knock out the cotter pin, after a while he gives up and starts on the other one. You can see the cotter pin fall on the floor and C.J is holding up one of those thick pencils. He has already made the pencil the right shape to make it fit in the hole the cotter pin came out of.’ The camcorder panned round to show the rest of the team.
‘This is the others blocking the road, making sure that we had no unwanted visitors.’ The picture changed to another scene. ‘Now we are in hiding, except for Simon and J.C. Simon to make sure that no cars came along.’
‘They didn't tell me how! They just said do it!’ Simon complained.
Another chorus of shhs told him to shut up.
‘Here comes Billy to go home, he unlocks the padlock and starts along the flat ground. If he had stayed on the flat ground he might have got home, instead he sees J.C and tries to run him down and oops he's a faller!’ The camcorder paused to show the extent of his fall before panning right to show doctor Guran assisting a fallen Simon. ‘And here is Simon earning his Oscar and stopping a doctor from coming down the road. Now the doctor goes to help Billy and we melt into the surrounding buildings!’
Brenda and Carol both had to cover their mouths to stop from laughing, Wendy laughed. The two nurses excused themselves, on the grounds that Brenda had a lot of work to do and Carol was late going home. Stuart was laughing and it showed on his monitor.
‘Stop bleeping so much!’ Simon complained.
‘I can't help it!’ Stuart declared. ‘I think I'm going to laugh myself to death!’
‘No you can't die Stu!’ Toby answered suddenly very seriously. ‘I've already planned the sequel!’
‘Don't tell me you plan to cut the lift cables!’ David asked from the doorway.
He had met Carol as she was on her way home.
‘How did you guess?’ Toby replied.
‘Hi dad!’ Stuart said through his laughter.
‘Hi Son. I'm sorry I'm late.’
Stuart's reply was merely to hold his arms out for a cuddle, David walked over and cuddled his son.
‘I will have to be late more often.’
‘I've been late before but it didn't do ME any good!’ Wendy argued after she stopped laughing.
Stuart looked over his fathers shoulder and opened his arms again.
‘It's getting mushy!’ Ben warned. ‘Time to visit the dayroom.’
The boys filed out, leaving the three in a tight embrace and headed for the dayroom. Stephen, who had come in with Stuart's father, followed them in hopes of seeing the video of Billy's accident.
‘How's Stuart?’ Jenny asked when they passed her bed.
‘He's okay but they put him on a machine that keeps going bleep.’ Simon answered. ‘So he can't go anywhere!’
‘It's a monitor!’ Toby corrected.
The boys had a quick conference then converged on her.
‘Do you want to see a home movie?’ J.C asked. ‘We made it to cheer Stu up!’
‘What's it about?’
‘How not to ride a bike!’ J.C replied. ‘By O.Thathurts!’
‘Or bad bike maintenance, by Teethin Tarmac!’ Toby added. ‘It's in black and white and you won't be able to hear my commentary-’
‘You're lucky.’ Ben said interrupting but Toby ignored him and held the camcorder in front of Jenny.
‘Are you ready?’ He asked.
She nodded then watched the little screen and Toby started it going. Jenny watched then covered her mouth with a hand as though she had been shown something from the official secrets act!
‘Was he hurt?’ She asked when it had finished.
‘A little bit!’ Sherman answered, not exactly telling the truth.
Jenny smiled.
‘Well he has been horrible to Stuart! Can I see it again?’ This time she laughed as she watched the recording. ‘How did you do it?’
‘That's C.J's department.’ Toby replied putting the camcorder back in its carrying case.
C.J explained again how he did it, while Jenny listened attentively.
‘Do we know why he's on the monitor?’ Simon asked when silence fell.
‘Yes he fainted!’ Jenny replied. ‘He was going to the toilet and just fell on the floor.’
‘He doesn't like us to call it fainting.’ Ben said.
‘I know, he thinks that only girls faint but we can blackout as good as boys!’ Jenny replied.
‘No girls faint!’ John retorted from the back of the group.
‘I'll sort you out when they take this drip off!’ Jenny answered but with a smile, she was starting to like this group.
‘Nice flowers!’ Simon announced.
‘Yes a friend bought them for me.’
‘So you've had a visitor then?’ Ben asked.
‘No. No one comes to see me.’ Jenny's reply was subdued, not like her at all. ‘My aunt came in with me when I blacked out-’
‘Fainted.’ John insisted.
>
‘Alright fainted! But she had to walk home. She has three children, no husband and no money. My dad would come but he doesn't like hospitals all that much.’
‘We could go and see your dad and bring him in!’ Ben offered.
‘It's a bit crowded in that little van now!’ Sherman argued.
‘I can't come tomorrow.’ J.C replied, reminding Ben.
‘How big is your dad?’ Ben asked.
‘A lot bigger than him!’ Jenny replied.
‘If Sherman went in the front instead of you Ben there would be more room!’ Denis suggested.
‘If Jenny's dad went in the front and you came in the back instead of J.C we'd all get in!’ Toby argued.
‘I don't mind.’ Ben said, not really relishing the idea of being a sardine. ‘What's your telephone number Jenny?’
‘We haven't got a telephone, it was taken out when we couldn't pay the bill!’ Jenny replied.
‘What's your address then?’ He asked.
‘Flat four, Brampton house, Selkirk road.’
‘Where's Selkirk road?’ Ben asked.
‘It's off Wellbeck Street.’ Jenny replied.
‘That's near where Stephen lives!’ Sherman advised.
Stephen stood at the back and said nothing; he knew what those flats were like.
‘Your brothers just come in Ben.’ Colin announced.
‘Time to go, we'll see you tomorrow if you're still here.’ Ben said and followed the others down the ward.
‘I don't think I'll be going anywhere!’ Jenny called after him.
They trooped into Stuart's room, where the monitor was still going bleep bleep, said in a ragged group ‘goodnight’ and trooped out again. Stephen stayed for his lift home with Stuart's parents; he had still not seen the video.
‘Was the video any good Stu?’ He asked.
‘Best thing I've seen in ages!’ Wendy answered before Stuart could.
‘I hope I get to see it!’ Stephen replied.
‘You might see it tomorrow when you come in, if Toby brings it in. That reminds me Stuart I will be late arriving tomorrow but Stephen will be in here in the morning!’ Wendy said.
‘How come?’ Stuart asked.
‘No school!’ Stephen replied.
‘How come?’ Stuart repeated.
‘Bakers day!’
‘That's not fair I'm missing it!’
‘Don't be silly, you're not at school!’ Stephen declared.
‘That's what I mean! If I was at school, tomorrow would be a holiday!’
‘But you'll get the day off anyway!’ Stephen retorted.
‘Yes but it's not the same!’
‘I give up let's play something!’ Stephen sighed.
The evening turned into the same routine, board games followed by card games until Brenda threw the visitors out, much later than the hospital regulations allowed.
CHAPTER 18
Stuart lay in bed the next morning. He had not slept well, as he had been kept awake by the constant bleeping of the monitor next to him. Brenda found that out when she brought him his breakfast.
‘When will I be taken of this thing?’ He complained. ‘It's driving me mad!’
‘When Mr Follet say's you can be and not before!’ Brenda replied.
‘Is Jenny still on her drip?’ Stuart asked, thinking that if he couldn’t go to her, then she could come to him.
‘Yes and the same goes for her too!’
‘That means that I'll be stuck here! If you put the monitor on the trolley that's outside, I could push it down to the ward with it still attached to me.’
‘Somehow I don't think I can find a lead long enough!’ Brenda exclaimed.
‘Doesn't it run on batteries?’ Stuart groaned.
‘No, now I must get on, I don't want Carol to have to do my work!’
Brenda left him lying there, with the machine bleeping next to him. When she returned she had a bowl, which she filled in the bathroom.
‘Time to wash!’ She declared.
‘Do I have to?’
‘I can wash you if you like?’
‘No it's okay I can manage.’ Stuart replied quickly. ‘Have my pills arrived yet?’
‘No, not yet. I can't send Billy down for them as he hasn't come into work yet!’
Stuart smiled.
‘I wonder why?’ He said innocently.
Brenda returned the smile.
‘I can't think of any reason!’
Stuart washed then Brenda emptied the bowl and hurried of to do the rest of the ward.
Terry fielding sat at the worktop in the lab; he was busily weighing out pills and labelling bottles. This in itself was an art, as the labelling machine appeared to have a mind of its own. When he finished the prescriptions he put them out ready to be taken up.
‘Are there any samples to look at?’ He asked.
‘No they haven't come down yet!’ Geraldine answered. ‘There are some stored in the refrigerators. I think there are some from John's post-mortem, we didn't get to see the results!’
‘That sounds like a bit of a challenge?’ Terry said relishing a challenge.
‘It would be nice to know!’ Geraldine replied.
‘I agree, where is it?’
Geraldine produced the samples, they should have gone by now but she had kept hold of them. Terry settled into another chair, he had swapped the stool for more comfortable seating, and started work.
‘Shall I take the prescriptions up to Kimberly? They haven't been collected!’ Geraldine asked, half an hour later.
‘Okay, I'll-’ Terry started.
‘Don't you say another word, the last one to say 'I'll try to stay alive until you get back, failed!’
Terry smiled.
‘How did you know I was going to say that?’
‘Woman's intuition!’ Geraldine replied.
She loaded the prescriptions into a box and walked off closing the laboratory door behind her. When she reached the ward, Carol was there.
‘I was just going to come down and get them.’ Carol said in her lilting accent. ‘Brenda was hanging on to hold the fort while I went.’
‘Well I've saved you the trouble.’ Geraldine replied. ‘That Billy being a pain again?’
‘I think he's in pain.’ Carol replied. ‘I hear he fell of his bike.’
‘Shame.’ Geraldine replied sarcastically.
‘I might have a home video to show you if I can get a copy.’
‘What about?’
‘I'll tell you if I can get it!’ Carol said and winked at Geraldine.
‘I hope it's not a saucy one!’ Geraldine replied, hoping it was.
‘I think you'll like it! Now I must get on or Brenda will still be here when it's time for her to come back!’
Brenda had already given out the prescriptions they had and started on the others straight away, leaving Carol to deal with any problems as they arose. She left Stuart's until last, to give him his when she was on her way home. Stuart was a very bored boy when she walked into his room.
‘Well they have arrived at last!’ She said and poured a glass of orange.
‘Do I have to?’ He moaned.
‘These are the new pills, the ones with the coating to stop you from being sick!’
He hesitated for a moment, first looking at the pills, then at Brenda.
‘You do want to get better and go home?’ Brenda asked trying to persuade him that it was a good idea.
‘Of course I do!’ Stuart threw the pills into his mouth and washed them down with the orange. ‘Can I have a bowl just in case?’
‘I'll bring you one, I'm just going home.’ Brenda walked up the ward and collected a bowl from the sluice room.
She met Carol in the doorway as she came out.
‘Are you still here?’ Carol asked.
‘He wanted this, just in case!’
‘I can take that!’ Carol ordered. ‘You get yourself home.’
‘It's no trouble I can give it to h
im on my way out! Bye Carol.’
‘There's still no sign of Billy, I hope he's alright!’ Carol replied.
‘He was in good hands, doctor Guran was with him, when the boys melted into the surroundings!’
‘Good hands! He was just finishing a forty eight hour shift! I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't amputate his head!’
‘That wouldn't really affect Billy, would it now?’ Brenda retorted.
Carol smiled.
‘You wicked woman, good night.’ She replied meaningfully.
Brenda walked back into Stuart's room, nothing had happened. He was still bored.
‘That's better isn't it?’ She asked. ‘At least you get to keep your breakfast!’
Stuart forced a little smile. ‘At least I don't have to run, well stagger to the bathroom.’
‘You'd find that difficult with the sensors on you!’
‘Oh yes, how could I forget them and the dreaded bleeper!’
‘Goodnight Stuart. If there is anything you want, just push your button.’
‘Goodnight. It still seems odd saying goodnight in the morning.’
When Brenda left Stuart lay there thinking. He was probably going to come off the monitor later, why shouldn't he take the things off now? What happens if I take them off? Didn't someone tell me that? He started to grow tired, no sickness, no room spinning, it felt to Stuart like he was floating off the bed. He drifted into a deep sleep.
Billy had to push his bike home after his cuts and bruises were sorted out. To his annoyance, the cut to his face had needed two stitches and he had been given an anti tetanus injection. He sat at home brooding. He was in no mood to fix his bicycle, he wanted revenge. He knew who was responsible for his so called accident! His throbbing face decided him and he headed for the hospital, walking. He had a white coat in a carrier bag with him and when he reached the automatic doors he put it on. He saw no one he knew and after a quick look up the ward slipped into Stuart's room, with evil intent.
‘You're for it now, you little bastard!’ Billy hissed but Stuart could not hear.
The monitor was still bleeping but it was getting slower and slower as Stuart's heart slowed down. He watched it for a few moments.
‘If they don't do something soon you'll be dead!’ Billy whispered in Stuart's ear. ‘I've a trick I learnt myself but you won't like it. If I pull one of those plugs out, just a little bit, the line falls flat. When they hear the alarm and try to resuscitate you with the defibrillator, they'll kill you! I said you wouldn't like it.’ Billy opened the door just enough to look through. Carol was up the far end of the ward pulling the curtain round one of the beds. He closed the door and levered the plug out a fraction. The machine alarm sounded and Billy listened, would it be heard? He stood on a chair to see over the door, there was no sign of Carol. The counter on the monitor had started going as the alarm had sounded, letting whoever was first on the scene know at once, just how long the patient's heart had been arrested. Billy jumped of the chair, lifted it out of the way as fast as he could and left the room. Closing the door behind him, just as quickly, to make sure no one heard the alarm and looked his way. Billy had planned to go home but after seeing Stuart, he decided to go down and clock in, he wanted to be the one to take the body to the mortuary. He took the stairs taking his white coat off as he went and stuffing it into the carrier bag he had in his pocket.