Pais Vasco,Spain.
It's a sunny day today in Spain,we are almost done with filming,people always ask me how did I manage to work for the National Geographic at the tender age of 23,the truth is I can't believe it most of the time either,i had been filming and directing low budget documentaries since I was 18 somehow someone in the National Geographic headquartes saw one of them and got interested on us,I've working with them ever since,traveling around the world,trying to show people reality through films,trying to open up their eyes to reality.
I grew up in Bristol,England.I'm lucky to have been born in there,having a loving mother who cared about the world and who wanted to make the world a better place while I was growing up, of course I didn't always understand that,not until I matured and stopped complaining about little things,like the fact that there were always strangers living with us who didn't help paying rent.
But now I understand,not everyone has it as easy as I did while growing up,I've been to India,Central America,South America. What does all this place have in common?well,you can see poverty at its best,people living under critical circumstances,but what amazes me the most is the spark of life that resides in all of these people's eyes,wanting to improve their conditions of living trying their hardest to find a better life,to reach a dream.
It's amazing isn't it?.
"Naomi?" said josh while entering my room,I met him on college he's an amazing cameraman,and a even more amazing human being.
"Yes?...Hey,what's wrong?" I said while noticing how tired he looked.
"Oh,nothing really,I haven't got any decent sleep this past few weeks" I couldn't really blame him though,you see a lot of disturbing things while filming.
"There's a call for you waiting on reception"
"Did they tell you who it was?"
"not really,they just said it was urgent"
"ok,I'll go see what they want" I said while standing up.
"Oh,I also forgot to tell you,Mark just called he said that once we're done filming and head back home,you'll have to meet up with this woman called Mandy Richards or something,she wants to know how the editing work is going and what our plans are for this film,she's a new excutive producer"
"Yeah ok,I'll go see what they want"
I quickly made my way down to the reception,the hostel we were staying at was nothing fancy,so there weren't phones at each room,making it harder to communicate with our family and friends while we were filming,we also had to keep moving to different locations so we stayed at different places,making it even harder for someone to communicate with us.
"Miss Campbell?" asked the woman at the reception while looking at me.
"yes"
"There's a call for you" she said while handing me phone.I knew she had a hard time speaking English,there weren't much foreign visitors in this area due to the insecurity situation caused by the ETA
"Thanks" I said while giving her a little smile.
"Hello?"
"Am I speaking to Miss Campbell?" said the raspy voice at the other end of the line.
"yes"
"We're calling from Bristol's General Hospital,we've been having trouble communicating with you""
"Sorry" I apologized as I let him continue
"We're calling you about a patient called ,you were the only one on his emergency contacts"
"W…What's wrong?" I asked quickly,I mean I had talked to Cook last month,he seemed fine,I started formulating all these scenarios in my head until the man continued speaking.
"Nothing too bad,we're sorry to bother you but,he cannot take care of himself in his current state,he was involved in a car accident while driving a motocycle,It's not life threatening but he fractured several bones and needs physiotherapy,we didn't know who else to call."
"Oh no,it's ok,but I can't be there right now,I need a couple days 'til I can go back"
"I'm sure,we can arrange something until then."
"I'll be there as soon as possible,I promise."
"ok,we'll contact you if something else comes up"
"Yeah,thank you" I said while hanging up,I made my way back to my room finding Josh still in there, reading a book. Damn Cook,always doing whatever the hell he wants to without thinking about consequences.
"What did they want?" said Josh without tearing his eyes apart from the book.
"It's about a friend,he's in the hospital"
"What happened to him?"
"It was an accident,he's ok though,but I need to go back to Bristol as soon as possible."
"I'm sure you can catch the next fly"
"but,what about filming?I can't leave you all the work"
"Oh,it doesn't matter we're almost done yeah?, we just need some shoots and then it's done,we were heading back home in two week anyways"
"You sure?"I couldn't believe I was so lucky to be surrounded by people like Josh.
"Yeah, leave before I change my mind yeah?"
"I need to talk to Mark still" Even though I could certainly consider Mark as a friend,he was still my boss.
"I'll talk to him,don't worry about it,he'll understand,I know"
"hmm…"
"Oh for fuck's sake Naomi,just leave,your gonna miss the flight"
"I owe you" I said while starting to pack,I didn't bring much anyways,must of our luggage consists on filming equipment.
"No,you don''ve done the same for me several times,remember?" He said while smiling,and it was true,there where times where he had to go back to see his girlfriend or family,that didn't make me less thankful though.
"See you later Josh" I said while ruffling his hair,I knew he hated when I did that.
"Oh fuck off" he said while smirking at me,trying to pretend indifference.
I made my way out of the hostel,and manage to get to the airport in record time,and get on the last flight to Bristol.
Bristol,England.
It only took 3 hours to get here,as I was standing outside the airport,I quickly got inside a cab.
"Where to? Love" Said the old mean inside the cab,he was Irish,I could tell by his accent.
"The general hospital,please"
"Are you in a rush love?"
"Yes"
"ok,I'll try to get there as soon as possible"
We didn't talk much after that,5 hours ago I was still in Spain in a sunny weather,now I'm back home,back to the freezing cold weather.
The cabin stopped which made me realize,we finally got to the hospital.
So here I am now,I hate hospitals,their smell,their structure,it's simply disgusting and horrible in so many ways.I quickly made my way to the reception getting funny looks from people,since I was only wearing shorts and a tank top,when it was freezing outside.
"Hello,I'm here to see someone"
"Are you family?"
"No,but they called me"
"ok,name?"
"James Cook"
"Are you,Miss Campbell?"
"yes"
"Ok,he is in 403"
"Thanks"
I made my way to the elevator,and pushed the bottom to the 4th floor.I found the room and lightly knocked on the door.
"Come in" Said a raspy voice,the same from this morning.
I pushed the door open only to be greeted by the sight of Cook with both legs and a arm plastered, laying on bed.
"Naomikins!" said cook while looking at me with that stupid grin plastered on his face.
"You must be Miss Campbell ,I'm doctor Martins,I thought you said it would take you a couple of days to get here" he said while stretching his hand.
"Yeah,I manage to come back earlier than planned" I said shaking his hand.
"Are you ready to take him with you?"
"Yes."
"Ok,I'll go do the paperwork,a nurse will come back later to explain to you how to take care of him"
"Thank you"
"I'm just doing my job,Now take care of yourself or you won't get to function normally again"
"Yeah Doc,it was a one time thing,it won't happen again" he said while lifting his only good hand.
"I'm glad to hear that" said the doctor while leaving the room.
"So…Naomkins!,you're finally here"
"Oh fuck off Cook,what were you thinking,driving a motorcycle?since when do you drive a bloody motocycle?"
"Oh don't be so mad yeah?I learned how to drive it like two months ago,and I didn't do anything wrong,this prick came out of nowhere,and…"
"Yeah right Cook"
"Oh,Blondie believe me,I swear," he paused for a second before smiling and looking at me "Now come hug the Cookie monster,Naomikins.I haven't seen you in what? Six months?"
The truth is Cook was a prick most of the time but you couldn't help to like him, he was charming,a charming prick that is.
I smiled at him while making my way to his bed and hugging him.
"Oi! Not so tightly it hurts" He said still not letting me go
"Oh Shut up,you deserve it" I said while letting him go.
"So blondie…how come did you get here so fast? You couldn't resist not seeing the cookie monster anymore ?"
"Yeah,you were almost done filming and I had to come home either way"
"I see,any fit birds back there in Spain?"
"Cook! You know I'm not there looking for girls"
"Haha chillax man!,I know you're not,it doesn't hurt to enjoy yourself a lil' bit,does it?"
We were silent for a couple of minutes,it was comfortable silence though,I didn't need to fill in silence when being around Cook,I liked that,I knew cook did as well.
"So,how long are you gonna be here for?"
"I don't know,at least three months,we have to work in edition,and have some meetings about the film and stuff"
"That's good you know? I've missed my best mate,I really have." He said while looking at me with sincere eyes.
"I've missed you as well Cook,I'm glad I'm back,Can I ask you something?"
"Anything Naomikins"
"Why didn't you call Effy?"
"I didn't wanted to bother her you know,she's being doing so well,I didn't want to make her worry .Have you talked to her lately?"
"Like a month ago,You know is quite hard for me to get in touch with you guys when filming,I try to talk to you both as much as I can,I'm sorry if it's been too much"
"Don't apologize,yeah? You're doing something great you know,I don't say it much but I'm proud to be your friend,Naomi"
I knew he was serious,he only used my name when he wanted me to believe him,you don't usually get to see this side of Cook,so when it does show up you've got to cherish it.
"Thanks,James" I said while smiling at him.
"Naomikins?"
"Yes,Cook?"
"Welcome Home"
So this is life,this is home.I still had to meet this new excutive producer,but right now nothing else mattered.
