Chapter 1. The Power Of Love.
Book Three - Chapter One
“I’m Alice Webberley, Martin Webberley’s mother. Can I see him please?” Alice asked one of the nurses on the Reception Desk at the A&E Department. Her face, drawn with worry and concern.
“Let me check where he is and I’m sure it will be okay,” the nurse replied as she checked her computer system. “Yes! He is being examined at the moment but it shows here that his condition has been downgraded from critical as his condition has been stabilised. Please take a seat in the waiting area to your left and I will arrange for someone to take you to him as soon as the doctor has finished examining him.”
“Auntie Alice!” Olivier called out as he saw her approaching just as he was finishing filling out the forms he had been given.
“What happened?” Alice asked as she sat down beside him, noticing the strained look on his face. “Mr Banyard was quite unsure.”
“He was jumped by a gang of bullies,” Olivier replied, giving her the form for Marty. “I thought we had lost him in the ambulance but they managed to resuscitate him. They say he’s stabilised but that’s all they will tell me as I’m not family or next of kin.”
Alice pulled Olivier into a tight hug. “That must have been dreadful to watch but thank you for being there for him.”
“Yes it was, Auntie. He was bleeding badly from a gash on his head and was semi-conscious for a while…., but then when I told him Sun was safe… Well…! He just seemed to relax.”
“Is Sun okay then?”
“He protected him the best he could, Auntie. I’m sure of that. Sun’s hurt his bad leg though, and had a bit of a shutdown, but other than that he seems not too bad. Mum’s on her way here. I called her from school.”
“Alice Webberley?” The nurse from Reception called out and signalled for Alice to follow her.
Anne arrived moments later looking rather flustered and concerned.
“How is he?” She asked as she hugged Olivier.
“Sun’s with Callum over there somewhere, being looked at by the doctors,” Olivier replied, pointing to a screened off section. “Marty is hurt real bad, Mum. Auntie Alice has just arrived and has gone to be with him.”
“What exactly has gone on then? You only told me Sun had hurt his leg.”
“A gang of bullies jumped them. Marty protected Sun the best he could, and took the worst of it.”
“Where were you, then?” Anne asked.
“We had different lessons. They were on the way to a music lesson.”
“What’s the form in your hand, Olivier?”
“It’s Sun’s details. I have filed in as much of this as I can. They need it back quickly.” He handed her the form, and she quickly filled in the rest.
Anne asked a nurse for a Chatchawee Chanpitayanukunkit, and when she looked confused she added, ‘the Asian boy with the false leg’. The nurse’s face lit up, and they were taken round to where Sun’s leg was being dressed.
“Ow! Auntie!” Sun called out as she approached. “They want to give me an anti-inflammatory injection. I told them that they will need to check my medical notes as I have to be careful what medication I take.”
“You don’t have them with you I assume?”
“They are on my phone in my locker at school…..,” he replied, then smiled as Olivier waved the phone under his nose.
“I took yours and Marty’s out when I got mine. Knew we would need them.”
Sun switched his phone on, and brought up his medical records, and when the nurse passed by, he handed it to her.
“What about Ice?” Callum asked. “Does she know?”
“I haven’t had a chance to call her yet,” Anne replied, as she looked at her watch.
“I’ll text Jamie and the others,” Olivier said. “They can go and meet her from school.”
“Text her and tell her to call Chester, and he can bring her here.” Callum insisted. “My phone is still in my locker. I’ve got to let him know where I am, anyway.”
Both boys went outside and Olivier busied himself texting, leaving Anne and the nurse discussing Sun’s medication do’s and don’ts.
With the texting finished, Callum waited outside for the arrival of Ice, while Olivier went back inside. He asked the nurse he had spoken to earlier for Marty. He was led down the corridor to a curtained off area where Marty was lying all alone, his head heavily bandaged, his arm hooked up to a drip, and linked up to various other beeping machines.
Olivier took his free hand. “How are you feeling, Webbers?”
Marty half smiled and answered croakily, and very weakly. “Daft..... question....”
Olivier grinned back. “Do you remember what happened?”
Marty shook his head slowly from side to side.
“Where’s your Mum?”
“Behind you Olivier,” came Alice’s voice. “Just went to fetch him some water.”
“Oh Auntie. What’s the score then?”
“Well, this wounded soldier is going to be kept in overnight for observation,” Alice replied, as she reached out and placed a caring hand on Marty’s arm. “They suspect he may have a concussion. It looks like he hit his head on something hard. They say he must rest. No real need for you to hang around here now Olivier, you go look after Sun. Oh! Thanks for coming with him. His Dad’s on his way.”
“You sure I can’t be of any help?”
“Doctors will give him all the help he needs, and he must rest. I’ll keep you all updated.”
Marty reached out to Olivier, who turned and took his hand again. “Sun..... hurt?” He croaked in a quiet voice.
“Sun is okay. He’s here. Just had a bang on his leg. Nothing much.” Olivier squeezed his hand. “He’s 100% safe. You did a good job protecting him. You get better quickly Bro, and he’ll see you soon.”
“Must see him now..... Please.” Marty started to get agitated and called out, “Sun! Sun!”
The beeps from the monitors he was attached to became much more rapid and a nurse rushed over and checked on him. “He really must rest. Who is this Sun he keeps asking after?”
Olivier couldn’t quite believe his ears as he heard Marty’s Mum answer. “His boyfriend.”
The nurse showed no reaction. “Is he on his way here?”
“He’s here already. They came in together,” Olivier replied. “Marty was hurt protecting him. Guess he’s just wanting to make sure he’s safe.”
“It may help him settle if he could come to him now. I don’t want to increase his medication any more,” the nurse replied, as she checked his pulse and blood pressure again. “We are trying to locate a bed for him, but we really need him to settle down and rest his brain first.”
Alice’s phone beeped. She looked at it and smiled. “His Dad’s just arrived at the desk. I’ll go get him, then you must go and see if Sun can be brought round.”
After Alice had left, the nurse looked at Olivier, and smiled as she saw him holding Marty’s hand. “So what is your relationship with him then?”
“He’s my best mate, and it’s my cousin, Sun, who is his boyfriend.”
“Odd name that..., Sun.”
“Yeah. He’s Thai.... Part Thai, actually. It’s his nickname.”
“His Mum seems pretty cool about it?”
“Yeah.... Everyone is..., except the plonkers who did this?”
“Is it because he’s gay he got beaten up?”
Olivier nodded, as he looked at her name badge bearing the name Sarah Tomkins.
Tomkins…? The name was sort of familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite think straight right now.
“Loads of people think me and him are a couple, but it ain’t true. We’ve been getting a lot of grief the past couple of weeks, from other boys at school about it.”
“He seems to have quietened down again, so please try not to wake him. Just let me know when this boy Sun arrives. I won’t be far away.”
Olivier nodded as she left, and then just sat in silence. He felt an urge to kiss him on the forehead, but resisted it.
Alice was not gone long, but it must have been on hearing his father’s voice, that disturbed Marty and he started calling out Sun’s name again. The machines beeped quicker and louder again. Sarah rushed over. “Good news,” she said, as she fiddled with knobs and things before attempting to calm him once more. “He will be going for a scan soon, and we have found a bed for him in Estuary Ward. They are just preparing it now. Is Sun able to come now? I really do need Marty to rest.”
Olivier rushed round to where Sun was sitting in the wheelchair. “Mum! Sun’s urgently needed by the nurse looking after Marty.”
Anne smiled. “Good timing Olivier. They say he’s free to go home now, so I’ll come round with you.”
Olivier, with his mother following, carrying Sun’s false leg, wheeled Sun down the corridor to where Marty was being treated. On route he told him what the problem was. “He is not in a critical condition, but needs to rest. He seems worried about you. He keeps calling out your name. Just reassure him that you are okay. I told him you just banged your leg. That’s all.”
“Sarah!” Olivier called out as he approached. “This is Sun, and my Mum. He’s in a wheelchair because he hurt his leg in the fight.”
Sarah looked at Sun, noticing immediately the missing leg.
“Hurt?” Surely that’s an understatement!” She grinned at them both, as she spotted the false leg in Anne’s arms, and offered her hand for Sun to shake. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Yeah!” Olivier answered. “His stump has swollen up after the fight, and he can’t get his false leg on.”
An anxious looking George came over and squeezed Sun on his shoulder. “He’s just wanting to be reassured that you are okay. They need him to quieten down and rest. It’s very important..., but I guess you already know that.”
Sun smiled weakly and nodded.
Sarah pulled back the curtain to allow Olivier easy access, with Sun, to the side where there was the least equipment.
Sun gasped at the bandage and the drips. The monitors were beeping away noisily. Marty was restless, even though he looked like he was sleeping. It looked like he was having a bad dream.
Sun took hold of his hand, and the monitor regulating his heartbeat and blood pressure started to beep even faster, as Marty’s body instantly responded to Sun’s touch.
Olivier grinned. “No surprise there Auntie. That’s exactly the effect Sun had on him when they first clapped eyes on each other.”
“Love at first sight?” Sarah suggested. “How romantic.”
“More like at first touch,” Olivier answered, managing a chuckle.
Sun hoisted himself on to the side of the bed, and leaned over and kissed Marty gently on the lips. He then placed his hands, very carefully, either side of his head, and held him gently.
“Marty, I know you can hear me. I am safe. You hit your head as you fell, and now you must rest. I love you Marty, and want you to go to sleep now. I will not be far away and will see you once you have rested more.”
Marty could barely open his eyes, as he tried to respond to Sun’s voice, and as Sun gave him another gentle kiss on the lips. He managed the makings of a smile, before closing his half open eyes once more.
Sun just sat there silently, with his eyes closed, still holding Marty’s battered head in his hands. In a minute or so, all the monitors started to beep slower and slower, and gradually they had dropped down to a nice, steady, and even beep, beep, beep, tone, much slower than before.
Sarah smiled. “Well done you, Sun. He has just completely relaxed at long last, and the medication will, hopefully, keep him there. I’m more than happy now to let him go for a scan and up to the ward.”
Sun was unresponsive to Sarah’s words. He stayed where he was, with his eyes closed, still cradling Marty’s head. He remained unmoving for quite sometime, before opening his eyes and releasing his hold on Marty.
Everyone looked at one another as if to ask if anyone had an explanation of what they had just witnessed.
It was Olivier who broke the silence. “Are you okay Sun?
“Ow! Yes....., Sorry. He is resting now. I should leave now.”
Anne and Marty’s parents hugged and bid each other goodbye, as Olivier wheeled Sun away up the corridor. The tears were now freely flowing down Sun’s face.
Chester pulled into the hospital car park and, fortuitously, someone was leaving a space right by the casualty entrance. Callum went and opened the door for Ice, just as Olivier was wheeling Sun out. She gave a whoop and rushed over to him. As always the chatter between them was in Thai, but it was nonstop questions from Ice, with very short answers coming from Sun.
