by H P Steven
I turned back to Cam and Devin and they were both covered in blood looking at me saying, ‘It should have been you.’
I felt blood rushing down my head and into my mouth, it felt like I was drowning, I tried to wake up and find myself in my own bed. With Hannah rushing in after hearing me screaming, shaking me and telling me to calm down.
“It’s just a dream, it was just a dream!” Hannah yelled.
Then looking straight through me she mouths the words. ‘It should have been you’
As she gets up to walk out of the room. I wake up, finally finding myself on the couch bed in the lounge with Hannah sitting at the end of it eating lasagne.
“Holy shit!” I screamed freaking out, pinching myself and jumping out of bed, I quickly head to the kitchen and splash some water on my face.
“Oh wow it was just a dream,” I whispered.
“Yeah you woke me, I could hear you moving around out here,” Hannah explained. “Do you want to talk about it?” Hannah added.
“Not at the moment,” I replied grabbing a plate and loading it up with some lasagne sitting back down next to Hannah. “You know this was Susan’s favourite,” I commented.
“Yeah I know, did Linda?” Hannah asked.
“I have no idea, but it’s good,” I replied.
“Yeah it sure is, how good of them to do this,” Hannah said.
“Yeah they’re really good like that. Do you want something to drink?” I asked, getting up.
“Yeah do you want to have a coffee?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah I’ll put the jug on,” I replied.
“Did you get much sleep?” I asked.
“Yeah I got a bit, wow,”
“It feels strange you know,” Hannah added.
“Yeah I know, do you want me to ring your work in a few hours?” I asked.
“No, I’ll take care of it, but thanks,” Hannah insisted.
Handing her a cup of coffee we just sat there on the couch for ages till we’re woken by Margaret a few hours later.
“Morning you two, I’ve made myself a coffee and see you’ve finally had something to eat Hannah. I’ve sent for a car to pick me up, it should be here pretty soon to take me back to the hotel,” Margaret said.
“Morning Margaret,” I said.
“How’d you sleep?” I asked. Rising out of bed and walking over to the jug to turn it back on again.
“Really good, thank you Phil,” Margaret insisted. “I heard you two talking this morning, I’ll ring the coroner this morning,” Margaret added before.
I cut Margaret off and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper nearby and handed it to her.
“That’s my cell number and the number for here, if you need anything just let me know if I can help with anything,” I insisted.
Taking it, Margaret thanked me And told me she’ll be in touch once she’s had a chance to talk to Scott and get everything sorted with Susan. Also, told me how brave it was of me to ring Cam’s brother last night and asked when he’s expected to arrive over here.
“Oh yeah I think Drew will be here in the next three days,” I replied.
“Okay, I’ll let the coroner know when I see him today,” Margaret said as her phone started to vibrate and she told me her cars here to pick her up. I grabbed the keys from the coffee table, slipped on my jandals and walked her out.
“Thanks for everything,” I said.
“I didn’t do anything,” Margaret insisted.
“Yeah you did, you were such an amazing calming influence last night and we really-needed that,” I explained.
“Well, thank you Phil, you did your part as well. I’ll talk to you later today,” Margaret replied as she turned to hug me again before she climbed into the car and they drove back down the drive way. I walked back inside and dropped my keys on the coffee table, which woke up Hannah.
“Oh man what time is it?” Hannah asked.
“It’s about six thirty?”
“Oh man, I need to have a shower,” Hannah blurted.
“Cool I’ve just put the jug on, I’ll have a coffee for you when you get out,” I replied. “I need to give Audrey a call about seven thirty-ish she’s gonna come and get us to go to the hospital, Greg was gonna do it but couldn’t get out of a work thing,” I added
“Oh okay, sounds good I won’t be long,” Hannah replied getting up from the couch bed, walking over to me and giving me a massive hug which I reciprocate. “Thanks Phil. Thanks for looking out for me, it meant a lot last night,” Hannah said holding back a tear.
I’m silent as she walked back to her room and I heard the shower being run as I turned the jug on then switched the TV on to watch the news for any updates. Making two coffees I returned to the lounge tidying up the couch bed and placing the coffees on the table. Sitting finally and watching the news as a knock on the door, then Audrey walks in.
“Hi Audrey,” I said.
“How’d you both sleep last night?” Audrey asked.
“Yeah pretty average, we ended up crashing out here and having lasagne at two in the morning I think aye,” I added.
“How’s Margaret?” Audrey asked.
“Oh you’ve just missed her she’s gone back to the hotel to wait for her son but she’s gonna let us know about what’s happening with Susan,” I remarked.
“Drew should be here in a few days so I want to get a head start on that as soon as Cams body gets released to Drew,” I added.
“I can take care of all that kind of stuff,” Audrey insisted. “Meredith had a friend from NZ, that came over and past-away at a gym, had deep vein thrombosis and we took care of the transfers back to NZ so we are well versed in it,” Audrey added solemnly.
“Wow, thanks Audrey that’ll be amazing. Hey do you want a coffee?” I asked.
“Yeah that’ll be great.”
“Cool, take that one, I’m just gonna grab a towel and have a quick shower. Hey did you get the name of the hospital?” I asked.
“Yeah we’re all good to go, ready when you two are,” Audrey replied.
“Thanks Audrey, I won’t be long and Hannah should be back out soon,” I remarked heading to my room to get sorted to have a quick shower.
By the time I’m out we’re already to go and Hannah’s shaking her head at me for giving her coffee to Audrey. The trip to the hospital took ages, I finally put the end of my book in the boot of the car, so Audrey had it with her and it was one last thing for me not to worry about. We weren’t expecting much or we were expecting the worst. While it took us ages to get to the hospital that sudden panic attack feeling of anything could be going on here kicked in. We didn’t expect that there would be a lot of other people there. Trying to find their own family members.
The staff there were awesome, they were happy and allowed us to take our time so they had the opportunity to see if our friend was still there, which he was. He was in intensive care and was still not out of the woods, but hey. Devin was still alive that was the main thing.
“Oh man thank god for that,” I said.
“Yeah and how is he doing, will he be okay?” Hannah asked.
“We’ll have to wait for a doctor to tell you anything else we need to keep helping these people, if you can grab a seat we’ll let you know when one is free,” the nurse behind the desk explained.
“Oh wow, is that how it works here?” I turned, to ask Audrey who shrugged and told me she had no idea.
“It’s all a bit random isn’t Phil?” Hannah whispered.
“Well, main thing is, the bro’s here.”
“Should we walk off to intensive care?” Audrey asked.
“I’m not sure we’ll be allowed too,” Hannah shrugged.
Just then the doctor asked us if we were here to see Devin.
“My names Julie and we had been in surgery most of the night with Devin, are you the guys that were at the coroners last night?” She asked.
“Yeah that was me, but Audrey was there as well,” I said.
“W
ow, I’m sorry for your losses,” Julie insisted.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Well, Devin’s still on a breathing machine and has a lot of internal injuries, unfortunately we couldn’t save his leg as it had been too far gone, when he came in,” Julie commented.
Leaving all three of us speechless. Devin was a mechanic but he use to go away most weekends to either snowboard or surf. His legs Hannah and I thought were a massive part of his life, but to have one amputated seemed surreal.
“We still have him under sedation at the moment so he’s in an induced coma. We’ll bring him out of it in a couple of days once his injuries start to heal a little bit more,” Julie remarked.
“Oh wow, can we see him?” I asked.
“Yeah, I can take you all through,” Julie replied.
As we walked down the hall I tried really hard not to look into any rooms, I also didn’t want to see the faces of all those being told their family member isn’t at that hospital. I just wanted to drown out the tears with something, I was relieved when we finally went through a door that closed behind us and drowned out the noise.
“Oh wow it’s been a tough morning, a lot of families were in here last night as well, such a horrible thing to have happened,” Julie insisted.
“I bet,” Hannah replied as both Audrey and I, walked along slowly behind them.
To see Devin laid up with just a lump and flat blanket on the other side to where his leg should have been, was gut wrenching. I left Hannah there for a while to say her piece as I had a quick word to Julie with Audrey.
“Thanks so much,” I told Julie.
“Just wish we could have done more,” Julie replied.
“Just having him alive and hopefully pulling through this is enough especially after last night.” With Audrey nodding in agreement.
“Yeah, I was sorry to hear about your other friends,” Julie commented.
“Thank you again Julie,” I replied. “Well, I’m gonna go in and sit with Hannah and Devin for a bit, I shouldn’t be long Audrey if you want to come in though, please do,” I insisted.
Audrey wasn’t too keen to come in as it was Meredith that had probably spoken to Devin more. But after about twenty minutes she came in to let us know we wouldn’t be able to stay much longer.
Also, that the hospital had found a number, of a family member and was flying over from New Zealand to sort out Devin’s transport plans. Which was really surprising,
“Oh wow, who is it?” I asked Audrey who didn’t know but if I was quick I could catch up to Julie and ask her. Getting up and going to try and find Julie I found her just a little bit down the hall way. “Excuse me doc,” I whispered.
“Yeah, Phil isn’t it, what can I do for you?” Julie asked.
“It seems a family member of Devin’s was contacted about his transport or travel back to New Zealand, I was just wondering who that was. As I know he’s got a couple of brothers and a sister,” I asked.
“Oh I’ll go and check for you,” Julie declared.
“Oh cool thanks,” I said, heading back in to Hannah, Audrey and Devin.
“Hey Phil I’m gonna hang out here for a while if you need to be somewhere today,” Hannah insisted.
“No, I’m all good for now, just waiting for the doc to come back in,” I added.
“Oh whys that?” Audrey asked.
“Well, I know one of Devin’s brothers, was wondering who’s coming over,” I replied.
“Oh right, where are you gonna put him?” Audrey asked.
With Hannah looking up, “We’ll find somewhere,” I joked.
“All right, I need to get back to trying to sell your book, what have you guys got planned.”
As Julie knocked on the door and I quickly excuse myself. “Yeah doc, what’s up?” I asked, smiling like an idiot.
“All right its Lewis, that’s coming over to take care of Devin,” Julie replied, “and he said to give you his number Phil.”
“All right sweet, I know Lewis,” I insisted. “Thanks doc,” I added, before giving her my number just in case anything changed with Devin’s condition.
“Anytime, I’ve got to get back to work,” Julie commented.
“Cool, thanks again Julie,” I said, as Julie smiled then walked off down the hall.
Stepping back into the room, Hannah jumped up to speak to me.“Hey Phil, I’m no good here, do you want to go home for a bit?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah sounds good, Julie’s got my number, so if anything changes we should hear from her,” I remarked with Audrey and Hannah staring at each other, Hannah turned to me. “Are you kidding?” Hannah asked.
“What?” I replied.
“Only you would get the number of a cute doctor,” Hannah joked, laughing, with Audrey smiling.
“Hey one of my friends is laying here in an induced coma and I asked the doctor to contact me if there’s any change in his condition and you think I’m trying to pick her up, Anna’s back today. Also, I gave her my number I don’t have hers,” I said.
“Whatever you want to tell yourself,” Hannah laughed. “I miss this,” Hannah added.
“Yeah me too Hannah, are you ready to go?” I asked.
“Yeah, lets hit it,” Hannah said, getting up off the chair and hugging me.
I reach out to touch Devin’s foot. “See you soon bro,” I whispered.
Leaving with Audrey was surreal, Anna had text me and I already had a few missed calls from Kalliope and just as I was about to get into Audrey’s car Drew rang me.
“Hey bro,” I said answering my phone.
“Hey man how you guys doing?” Drew asked.
“Just been to see Devin, the dudes in an induced coma but the doctor reckons he’ll pull through. How’s the olds bro? Sorry I couldn’t handle ringing them man,” I replied.
“Oh man they’re pretty shattered, anyway I was just ringing to let you know I’m about to board my flight, see you in about 19 hours,” Drew said.
“Yeah man, have a safe flight, text me the landing details and I’ll meet you at Heathrow okay,” I insisted.
“To easy man, thanks for all the stuff you’re doing, the olds are pretty happy your all right aye bro,” Drew declared.
“Thanks man, I’ll talk to them when I see them,” I said.
“Oh what you’re coming back with Cam?” Drew asked.
“Yeah bro, I’m considering everything at the moment, but I’ll sort it when you’re over. Have a safe flight bro and we’ll catch up with you soon,” I replied, hanging up. Getting into Audrey’s car, I check the message from Anna
Phil
I’m speechless, the office is shocked. What can we do? I need to do something; are you guys okay? What happened to Devin and I can’t believe Susan’s gone as well, what can I do? Can I come over today, are you okay? Is there going to be a memorial one of the guys from work asked?
Anna
Hi Anna,
If you want to come over I’ll text you the address when I get home, just been to see Devin, and spoken to Drew-Cams brother who will be here on Sunday, I need to speak to Margaret but I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for the texts they were greatly appreciated.
Phil
“Hey Hannah should we try and have a memorial service for Cam and Susan, so their friends and work mates can pay their respects?” I asked.
“Yeah I think we should speak to Margaret about Susan, and should probably wait to hear from Drew to see if it’s all good,” Hannah said.
“Yeah that’s what I was thinking and organising a venue,” I commented.
“I can help with all of that,” Audrey remarked.
“Thanks Audrey, you’ve been awesome,” I insisted.
“Anytime, I’d hate to be going through all of this like you both. I’d lose my mind if it was Rupert or Meredith,” Audrey responded.
“Yeah thanks Audrey, Phil’s right you’ve been awesome thank you so much,” Hannah remarked.
For whatever reason the traffic out
of the city wasn’t too bad and we made it back to Putney in no time, stopping off at the coffee place on the corner of Kalliope’s street for a massive stash of coffee beans and some takeaway flat whites. Walking out I run into Ann-Marie, Kalliope’s flatmate.
“Phil right?” Ann-Marie asked. “I’m sorry to hear about your friends,” Ann-Marie added.
“Thanks, Ann-Marie, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yeah, again I’ve got to be going but very sad news, have you spoken to Kalliope?” Ann-Marie asked.
“No not yet, haven’t had much time, just gonna head home and try and organise a few things but I will soon,” I insisted with a nod, Ann-Marie wandered off to get on with her day.
“Who was that?” Hannah asked as I jump back into the car.
“Oh that was Kalliope’s other flatmate,” I answered.
“She’s pretty,” Audrey said.
“So Audrey, Phil needs to ring Kalliope and get that sorted,” Hannah joked.
“Well, Anna’s coming over this weekend so it’s not going to happen anytime soon,” I remarked.
Finally heading up the hill on the way home, we pull into the driveway and go straight up through the driveway gate and pull into where our apartment is as Margaret’s standing outside with, someone— who must have been Susan’s brother Scott holding a tray of coffee.
“Hey Hannah do you think we drink too much coffee?” I asked.
Seeing Hannah’s face when she sees the tray of coffees, Scott is holding.
Pulling up we jump out, unfortunately Audrey has a few meetings she has to take care of. So, I remind her the final part of my book is in the boot of her car and she told us to ring if we need anything.
“Hey Margaret,” I declared.
Opening up the door and taking the tray of coffee off her son. So, I can take it inside and put it on the kitchen bench with the one I’m also carrying. I turned and gave Margaret a massive hug. introducing myself to Scott. “Hey man I’m Phil and this Hannah.” Pointing to her as she walked inside and closes the door.
