Nobody said that working for MI High would be easy. The team are pushed to the limit and something's got to give.
"I think Dan's just a bit tired," said Aneisha. "You could ask for a break. They might understand if you tell them how tired you are," suggested Aneisha.
"You've got to be kidding. Not Mr. Newcombe," said Dan, heavily. "He'll just give me extra circuits. Come on. Let's get it over with," he said, heading towards the changing rooms.
The boys and girls gathered in the main gym. Two areas of equipment had been set up and the two groups were split between them. Zoe and Aneisha were taken by their gym teacher to practise rolls, cartwheels and handstands on the mat. Dan's face looked like Tom's when they saw the vaulting horse set up for them. Roly groaned. "Oh, you have got to be kidding !" whispered Roly.
"Right Gentlemen !" shouted out Mr. Newcombe. He was a wiry man in his fifties with very short grey hair. "I want you all to start with some simple exercises and we'll work up from there. I want a short, fast run-up to the spring-board and for the first attempt you can land on your knees on the vaulting horse. On you go !" he instructed.
Both Tom and Roly managed this, although Roly's heavy landing made the vaulting horse shift slightly. "Steady there Roland," instructed Mr. Newcombe who was standing beside the vaulting horse ready to assist those boys who got into difficulty. When Dan's turn came, he too managed to land safely on the vaulting horse. Normally this would have been a simple task, but his leg and ribs hurt and he was so tired, that he felt slightly dizzy when he ran.
"What's happened to your leg Daniel ?" asked Mr. Newcombe. Dan looked around and saw Mr. Newcombe staring at the new bruise on his leg.
"Oh, I fell off my skateboard Mr. Newcombe," Dan lied. He tried not to limp too obviously back to the end of the line of boys. His empty stomach rumbled while he was waiting.
"All right. Next you are going to vault the horse, clearing the top with your feet pointing forward," ordered Mr. Newcombe.
Tom gazed across the room in time to see Zoe perform a series of back flips across the gymnastics mat. She was amazing. The other girls looked on enviously. Aneisha managed a pretty good set of cartwheels. Tom was brought back to reality with a thump as Roly landed belly down across the vaulting horse. Mr. Newcombe caught him before he fell head first off the other side. "Lift your legs Roland. Lift your legs," instructed Mr. Newcombe.
Tom ran at the spring-board, but his nerve failed him and he managed to clear the horse, but with his knees gathered up underneath him, rather than with his legs pointing in front. "Good effort Tom. Be brave ! You can do it if you try," said Mr. Newcombe encouragingly.
"Right. Your turn Daniel. I'm expecting a clean vault from you," ordered Mr. Newcombe. Dan started his run. He tried desperately to ignore his tiredness, leapt from the spring-board and cleanly vaulted the horse, with his legs in front of him. He staggered slightly when he landed, pushing his PE vest up accidentally. Mr. Newcombe caught sight of the bruises on Dan's ribs. "How badly did you fall Daniel ?" asked Mr. Newcombe. He pulled Dan's vest up to get a better look at his ribs.
"Oh, well I guess I landed a bit hard," said Dan, pulling his vest back down again.
Dan walked over to the back of the line of boys again. Tom leant over to him. "I hope he believes you about the skateboard. I think he's getting suspicious," said Tom.
"Right, final exercise," announced Mr. Newcombe. "You're going to vault the horse, place your hands on the horse and do a forward somersault, landing on the crash mat. Myself and Mrs Dunning will stand at the horse and assist anyone who needs help in completing the turn. The boys looked over and realised that all the girls were lined up along the other side of the mats and their teacher had taken up position on the other side of the horse. No pressure then. Tom stared desperately into Aneisha's eyes. She smiled back in sympathy.
Each boy in turn took a run at the horse. A couple of them managed to place their hands on the horse and the two teachers helped them to turn a somersault and land on the mat. They each got a round of applause as they crash-landed on the mat. Roly looked desperate as he approached the horse. He put every ounce of his being into the spring and managed to land on his feet on top of the horse. "Hey, I didn't fall over !" he shouted, beaming.
Mr. Newcombe actually smiled. "Well done Roland. Good effort !" he said, as Roly jumped down on to the mats to a round of applause. Tom took his run, he got his hands on the horse and managed to clear it again, but with his legs to one side. "Be brave Thomas !" instructed Mr. Newcombe. "Now, Daniel. You should be able to do this," said Mr. Newcombe.
Dan stared down the floor at the vaulting horse. It was the last thing he wanted to do. Please, he just had to clear that horse and then he could finally have a rest. Gathering up his remaining energy and strength he began the run-up to the horse. Taking a deep breath he bounced off the spring-board, placed his hands on the horse, used the momentum to lift his legs over his head. He felt two hands press against the small of his back as he rotated in the air. As he turned over, seeing the room rotate above his head, he suddenly felt hugely dizzy. A red mist descended over his vision and he felt the strength draining from his body. He landed feet first on the mat and heard an outbreak of clapping start. His knees gave way under him as he touched the floor. The momentum of his jump carried him forwards and he skidded across the crash mat, landing face down with a smack.
There were gasps from the watching girls. Tom looked on in horror as the two PE teachers ran to Dan's prone body. "Daniel ? Daniel ? Can you hear me ?" asked Mr. Newcombe, surprisingly gently. Tom had never heard him speak like that. Dan didn't respond. Mr. Newcombe checked Dan's pulse. The students were starting to gather round anxiously. Mr. Newcombe looked up. "I want everyone to go to the changing rooms and get changed please. No exceptions !" he said to Tom as he started to speak. Reluctantly Tom joined the others in the changing rooms. The boys changing room was very subdued.
Tom ducked into the toilets and used his communicator to call Frank and tell him what had happened. Frank told him that he was on his way to the gym already, since he was a registered First Aider.
Frank arrived in the gym carrying a blanket and First Aid kit to find Dan still unconscious on the crash mat. Mr. Newcombe was gently lifting Dan's top to uncover some more bruises. He looked up at Frank with some concern. "Frank, look at this. The boy told me he fell off his skateboard, but it wouldn't account for this much bruising. I think we should contact the authorities. We might have an abuse case on our hands," said the teacher.
Frank's heart was in his mouth. "Erm, yeah. That's the procedure, Mr. Newcombe," he said. "You'd best call an ambulance and have a paramedic look at him first though," he recommended. "I'll go call 999 shall I ?" he offered. The teacher thanked him, taking the blanket and covering Dan with it.
Frank left the gym and made a call to Stella, briefly explaining the situation. "If Social Services get involved, it could blow Dan's cover or get his parents into trouble," said Frank, worried.
"I'll arrange for an MI9 ambulance to come," Stella assured him. "Dan needs medical attention in any case. We'll worry about the rest later," she said. Frank returned to the gym to tell Mr. Newcombe that an ambulance was on its way.
The MI9 paramedics arrived in less than five minutes. Frank met them at the school entrance and guided them round to the sports hall. Dan was coming round by the time they entered the gym. "Oh .. what ?" he mumbled, disorientated, trying to pull himself up off the mat. The bell rang signalling the end of the school day.
"You must be Daniel," said the medic, smiling. "Lie down for a minute will you Daniel please ?" he asked. Dan was still looking dazed and lay back as instructed. The medic measured his pulse and blood pressure before listening to his heart. "Daniel, have you been exerting yourself a lot recently," asked the medic. Dan look baffled. "Have you been doing a lot of physical activity ?" the medic asked.
"Yes. A lot," said Dan. He looked round and saw Mr. Newcombe watching him closely as was Frank. He wasn't sure what he could say in front of the PE teacher.
"You've got quite a lot of bruises here Daniel. How did you get those ?" asked the medic.
"Erm. I fell off my skateboard," said Dan. He was feeling panicky now. This was going really badly.
"Just the once ?" asked the medic.
"No. I guess, a few times," said Dan. He was getting increasingly worried that they were going to blow his cover. The stress was making him feel worse and he slumped back slightly on the mat.
"All right Dan. Take some deep, slow breaths for me," said the medic soothingly. "I think we'd better take you in and have the doctor look at you. Nothing to worry about," he said, taking Dan's blood pressure again. Frank sneaked a look at the reading and saw that it was unusually high. It was no wonder Dan had passed out.
The medic called his colleague on the radio and asked him to bring in a chair for Dan. Mr. Newcombe took the medic to one side. "Do I need to register a case with the Safeguarding Authority ?" he asked quietly.
"It's alright sir. The hospital will do that if they think there's a possible case. Leave it with us," the medic reassured the worried teacher. "He's not really in any condition to answer questions right now. We'll wait for him to recover a little before we investigate further," explained the medic. The PE teacher nodded in relief and went over and knelt down beside Dan.
"I'm sorry you didn't feel well today Daniel. Hopefully we'll see you in school again next week," said Mr. Newcombe. Dan nodded rather vaguely to him.
The second paramedic arrived with a wheeled chair and blankets. They gave Frank his blanket back and wrapped Dan in their own ones, then they got him to sit on the chair before slowly wheeling him out to the ambulance. Dan looked anxiously at Frank as he went past. "It's alright Dan. They're with us," said Frank quietly. "I'll see you later," he promised. Dan nodded, looking a little happier.
Frank returned to the gym to tidy up. The gym teachers were putting away the equipment. Frank noticed anxious faces peering from the changing rooms. "Mr. Newcombe, I think you'd better tell the kids that everything's alright. They're probably a bit worried like," suggested Frank. The teacher looked round and sighed.
"Yes, I think you're right Mr. London. It's only natural," he said quietly, before walking over to the changing rooms and speaking to the class. The girls' teacher went to do the same.
