by M S C Barnes
look was intense.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Seb tried to be nonchalant. “Often. I get tingling, pins and needles but …”
“But?” Alice urged him.
“Does it matter?” Scarlet asked.
“Seb knows it does!” Alice was still staring at him. “The ancient wisdom says the Custodian is able to tell when there is an interruption in the balance of all things when a soul disrupts the harmony. They are given a sign.” He took hold of Seb’s wrist. “A sign …”
“Well, Seb?” Scarlet’s eager eyes went from Seb to his hand and back. “Well, when does it happen?”
Seb never got to answer. There was a sudden burst of heat in the room, a searing heat that seemed to strip all the oxygen from the air in an instant, leaving Scarlet and Seb gasping for breath.
A thought flitted through Seb’s mind before he lost consciousness: that his mum had overdone the lighting of the log burner and a fireball had engulfed the house.
New Rooms
Seb became aware of muffled voices and a regular beeping sound. His chest felt tight and as he drew in a breath the air stung his lungs. He coughed. The voices silenced. He realised he was half-lying down and could feel something soft beneath him. He had something cutting across the top of his nose and cheeks and could feel moisture on his upper lip. He opened his eyes cautiously and stared up at a white ceiling and then a face appeared above him. A man’s craggy face; not one Seb had seen before.
“Ah, so you are awake, young Sebastian.”
The man reached a hand to the wall. Seb heard a short buzzing. His brain registered a few sights, electronic equipment, harsh strip lighting, plastic tubes. Then it dawned on him, I’m in hospital!
He bolted upright; the tightness in his chest worsened and brought on a bout of uncontrollable coughing which produced a lot more moisture inside the mask he realised was strapped over his nose and mouth, forcing cool air down his throat.
“Now lie back, young lad. It will be a while before the effects of the smoke fully wear off.” The craggy-faced man pushed Seb gently back onto the pillows. “I am Nurse Brandon; I’ll be looking after you and your sister for the next few hours. Now, do you want something to drink?”
Seb shook his head. “Where’s my sister?” His voice was muffled by the mask.
The nurse smiled and pointed to Seb’s left. Scarlet was sitting up in the next bed along, being fussed over by a plump, dark-haired female nurse. She smiled at him.
“What happened?” Seb turned to Nurse Brandon.
“You’ve had a house fire, my lad. Rather a bad one it seems. You were brought in yesterday evening. You’ve been sleeping since. I’ve buzzed for the doctor to come and see you now.”
“My Mum? My brother? Are they okay?” Panic hit Seb. They were downstairs … the fire must have come from the log burner.
“They’re fine. Your mum is outside and I am sure she will tell you everything when she comes in, but the doctor needs to see you first,” the nurse reassured him.
The door opened wide and a petite female in a white coat, stethoscope hanging from her neck, nimbly crossed the floor to Seb’s bedside.
Through the open door he could see his mother standing outside, craning her head to see past the doctor. She gave Seb a relieved nod and smile.
Then he noticed a man, standing opposite his mum. Actually, he could only see his back. There were black, sooty deposits on his grey suit. Before disappearing out of view the man glanced round the doorway – Mr Duir!
For the next ten minutes Seb was examined by the doctor while the nurse tapped information into a tablet. Completing the main examination of his chest, nose and throat the doctor glanced at Seb’s left hand.
His heart leapt. I’m in hospital; they will have examined me – all over! Guiltily he looked down and noticed his hand was bandaged. He wondered if he had been burned. He couldn’t feel any pain and then the nurse touched his shoulder and gave him a wink.
The doctor walked around the bed and lifted his arm. “I didn’t see anything in his record about a hand injury.” She looked at the nurse.
He smiled congenially at her. “Minor scratch. I thought it was in the notes.” He slid his finger across the tablet. “Yes, here it is: Very minor abrasion to the left palm. Antiseptic cream and dressing applied. No cause for concern or further treatment.” He twisted the tablet round and flashed it under the doctor’s nose.
“Maybe I should take a look,” she persisted.
“No need, Dr Chi. I only changed the dressing a few minutes ago. It really is very minor.”
The doctor hesitated then nodded. “Very good, nurse. Thank you.” She took the tablet and began flicking the screen. “Mm, blood gases show only a slight CO raise. Hyperbaric not required. We will need to monitor overnight for tissue swelling, though.” She smiled at Seb. “With no further complications you’ll be fit to go in the morning.”
Go where? he wondered. Was the house burned to the ground?
The doctor handed the tablet back to Nurse Brandon. “No food for now, though.” With that, she left the room.
Seb didn’t care for food; his chest still hurt and his mind was mulling over why Nurse Brandon had said nothing about his birthmark. Numerous other people must have seen his hand – ambulance crew, A&E staff, doctors, nurses – did none of them think it strange he had silver lines running through his palm? He wondered if the lines had gone. Maybe they had been burned off in the fire. And minor abrasions! Maybe his hand was scratched so badly they weren’t obvious. But it didn’t hurt. He was dying to take the bandage off. And then he wondered had it all been a dream? Was he so confused from smoke inhalation that none of the things he had thought so real over the last two weeks had actually happened? Something nagged in his mind; a charred, grey suit. Mr Duir outside the door. Why was he here?
Seb lifted his mask and mouthed to Scarlet, Mr Duir’s here.
“What?” she called across to him, causing Nurse Brandon to notice Seb had lifted his mask, tut, and make him place it back over his mouth and nose.
“It’s not just for show, young man! The oxygen will clear the carbon monoxide out of your blood. Unless you are having a drink – and mind you, only a sip at a time – you keep that on, or I’ll be taking stern action.” This was said with obvious feigned anger and followed by a broad, toothy grin. Seb decided he liked Nurse Brandon.
A few minutes later their mum came into the room. Giving them a hug each she sat on the chair between their two beds.
“Thank goodness you are both okay. The doctor says Seb needs a bit more observation.” She turned to him. “You have slight tissue damage to the lining of your lungs and they need to be sure it doesn’t swell up, so you have to stay in tonight. “Scarlet,” she turned to her, “you’ll stay too. Quite frankly it makes sense, since we are actually homeless.” She tried to laugh but her voice caught in her throat. “I am just so relieved you are both okay!” Her eyes and nose began to redden and she sniffed.
“Where’s The T— Adam?” Scarlet asked.
“With Cousin Sarah. That’s where we are going to have to stay until the insurance— ” she stifled a snivel.
“Mum,” Scarlet said quietly. “It’s just a house. We’re all okay.”
Their mum lifted her chin. “You are absolutely right; the four of us are okay. We have roofs to live under and everything else will work out.”
Roofs? A roof, anyway. It would be a real squash at Cousin Sarah’s, Seb thought, picturing her little two-bedroom house.
“Thank goodness your head teacher was there. I hate to think what would have happened if he hadn’t knocked just at that— ” she sniffed.
“What? Why was Mr Duir there?” Scarlet asked, passing a tissue box to her.
“He had come to see if Seb was okay. He felt it was his fault you and Aiden,” she turned to Seb, “got stuck in the mud on the trip.”
That clinched it for Seb. He hadn’t dreamt it all. The storm had happene
d. It had all happened.
“He said you’d had a bit of a fright since the storm was so ferocious and he felt he should come and apologise for having got separated from you. I thought that was rather nice of him and just as I was inviting him in there was a huge fireball! It swept through the downstairs so suddenly. I’ve no idea what caused it.” She wiped her nose. “Well Mr Duir bundled me and Adam out of the house. Adam had come to the door with me, thank goodness, or he would have been caught up in the— ” she dabbed her eyes. Seb and Scarlet just stared at her.
“Anyway, I didn’t even have time to panic about you two. Mr Duir had already run into the house and rushed up the stairs. I was still on my mobile to the fire brigade when he reappeared round the side of the house carrying you, Seb, with another of his teachers, Mr White his name was, carrying you, Scarlet. Apparently he dropped you onto the trampoline out of the back bedroom window and called for Mr White to help. I hadn’t even noticed that teacher go past me; they said he had been waiting in the car on the road and heard Mr Duir call out. It’s all a bit of a blur really but thank goodness for them.” She smiled a relieved smile.
“And then Mr Duir organised your coming to this hospital too. It’s a private hospital. He said the school faculty has private health insurance and he would arrange your admission here. By rights he should have been checked over too, running through all that smoke, but he says he’s fine and really he is a wonder. He’s been here, outside your room all night and all day.