Chapter 10
"Where's Jackson?" Aaron repeated looking at the shocked faces round the room.
"He's in the nick where ee belongs!" Cain muttered from the doorway, the remark accompanied by a chorus of agreement from the rest of the Dingles.
The teenager frowned in confusion but before he could respond, Doctor Cole and a couple of nurses pushed their way into the room. Staring in surprise at Aaron sitting there awake and glaring back at them, they promptly kicked everyone else out saying that they needed to run some tests.
The group milled about outside, all trying to see around the edges of the now closed blinds in the window. Nobody knew what to think, feeling that they ought to be pleased that Aaron was awake and talking but worried that he might slip away again at any moment. They settled for anxiously chattering amongst themselves.
"What was he asking about Jackson for? You'd've thought that'd be the last person he'd be wanting to see wouldn't you?" asked Lisa.
"Weeell… Mehbe ee's got that amnesia what they're always getting on the tele?" answered Zak "Mehbe ee can't remember anything from the last couple of months or so, thinks they're still together or summat?"
"If he thinks that then ee wouldn't remember the court case and ee'd think that we don't know ee's gay so wouldn't be asking about Jackson now would ee?" Marlon reasoned.
"You don't think we're going to 'ave to go through all that comin' out palaver again do ya?" Zak frowned.
"I just said that ee can't have forgotten about coming out if ee was asking for Jackson!" Marlon said rolling his eyes.
"Well that's a blessing at least." Lisa replied with a smile.
"He was probably scared that Jackson was around to beat 'im up again." Cain groused.
"I don't think so." Charity threw in "Sounded more like he wanted him to be here. You sure you saw what you say you saw?" she asked but received only a scowl for her trouble.
Paddy leant against the wall of the corridor starring at the ceiling as the nattering surrounded him. He didn't want to join in with pointless speculation; he wanted to know if Aaron was going to be all right. Glancing down the corridor he saw Hazel's face peeking out from the little alcove she'd been hiding in. Looking around to make sure nobody was paying him any attention he snuck off to fill her in on the latest developments, knowing that she too had a vested interest in Aaron's condition.
"What's going on?" she asked anxiously as Paddy had darted round the corner "He's okay isn't he? What I said didn't… It didn't do any harm did it? I heard the alarms going off…"
Paddy offered a big smile "Quite the opposite I think! He's awake! The first thing he did was ask for Jackson. Think we might all owe a lot to your little chat!"
Hazel looked stunned at the news. She hadn't really believed the boy had been able to hear her or, that even if he could, that what she'd said would have any effect on him. But his waking up just a couple of minutes after she'd finished her speech seemed too much to be coincidence. And that he'd asked for Jackson? Well…
"Does he remember what happened?" she asked excitedly, hoping that she'd be able to return to the police station and let Jackson know that everything was going to be okay.
"The doctors threw us out before we could ask him anything. I'm sure they'll be done any minute though and I expect that'll probably be one of the first things that gets asked. Do you have a mobile? If you're wanting to get back to Jackson I could give you a call and let you know as soon as I find anything out?" Paddy replied.
"That would be great thanks, I probably should get going, can't hide out here all day now can I?" Hazel said fishing in her handbag "I've got the number written down somewhere, I can never remember the wretched thing. I tell ya, I'd forget me own head if it weren't screwed on so tight!"
Having taken down Hazel's contact details, Paddy made his way back to Aaron's room.
"Where've you been?" Chas demanded.
"Err… Just err… Just nipped to the loo." he answered.
"At a time like this?" the woman shot back looking at him like he was mad.
"Must be all the excitement." the vet replied desperately.
Chas rolled her eyes at him, but thankfully he was spared further interrogation by the doctor and nurses stepping out of Aaron's room. The nurses hurried off leaving Doctor Cole to deal with the young man's relatives and friends.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lisa asked before anyone else.
The doctor looked around the group "I wouldn't say he's completely out of the woods yet. Head wounds are so unpredictable. Having said that, he's currently in a stable condition and the fact that he's awake and lucid is tremendously promising indeed. I can only say that he's an extremely special and lucky young man! We've given him something for the pain, I'm afraid it's not very strong though. Given the circumstances, I don't want to risk anything that might knock him out. I think that it's made him rather… Grumpy shall we say?"
"Nah… That's what he's normally like." Ryan had muttered making everyone laugh.
"Well in that case I apologise that I won't be able to fix that!" Doctor Cole said with a smile "We'll be keeping a close eye on him for the next couple of days at least, but I'm hopeful that he'll make a full recovery given time. If you'd like to go in to see him you can. Only two or three at a time please. And please try not to get him too agitated or stressed, he needs to be kept as calm as possible."
Everyone had moved forward then, thanking the doctor, shaking her hand or patting her on the back and she'd hurried away blushing with a smile on her face.
Chas, Paddy and Cain were the first to go in to see Aaron. The young man was sitting up in the bed looking a lot less pale than he had done and a good deal more awake.
"What did you mean Jackson's in the nick?" he demanded as soon as he spotted his uncle.
Cain looked to Chas and Paddy but received no help. His sister stood there pouting, obviously annoyed that the first thing her son had said had nothing to do with her, and Paddy just gave him a small polite smile as though he knew that what Cain was going to say wasn't going to go down well.
"The police are just questioning 'im about what happened." the older mechanic said evasively.
"Actually, they're charging him for GBH." Paddy threw out.
"How d'you know that?" Chas demanded but the vet just shrugged as if the question wasn't important.
"Why would the police think that Jackson had anything to do with this?" Aaron growled at Paddy.
"I dunno… Cain? Why would the police think that Jackson had anything to do with it do you reckon?" the vet asked innocently.
If looks could kill, the scowl on Cain's face would have reduced Paddy to ash.
"I only told em what I saw. Not my fault if they think they've got enough evidence to charge 'im." he sniffed.
Chas gasped and smacked him on the arm "You've been telling everyone 'ere that it was definitely him what done it!" she said accusingly.
"Are you mental or what?" Aaron shouted at his uncle "Jackson'd never do anything like that! It was that muppet Wayne! After everything Jackson's done to help me this is the thanks ee gets from my family? No wonder he don't want nothing to do with me!"
The teenager threw back the bedclothes and started pulling at the tubes and wires that connected him to the machines around him.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Paddy yelped rushing forward to stop Aaron getting up.
"What d'you think I'm doing? I'm going to the police station to get Jackson out!"
"Aaron love!" Chas said coming to help Paddy restrain her son "You need to stay in bed! You're not well!"
"Listen to your mum." the vet told the struggling young man "You've only just woken up, you can't go gallivanting off all over the place!"
"Why not? Jackson needs me!" Aaron replied angrily.
"I know he does. But you're ill. What happens if you make yourself worse and pass out? How're you going to help Jackson then?" Paddy reasoned calmly.
At that Aaron suddenly stopped fighting against them "I need to do something Paddy" he pleaded "We can't just leave him there; he must be scared stiff!"
Paddy smiled at his use of the word 'we', glad that the young man realised that he wasn't alone in all this.
"It'll be fine. You stay here and I'll go call the police station. They'll send someone over to take your statement and it'll all be over and done with before you know it."
"You listen to Paddy love" Chas said smiling thankfully at the vet "It's the best way. You need to stay here and rest. We'll make sure that Jackson's okay yeah?"
Aaron looked uncertainly between his mum and the man he considered to be his dad. Both of them were gazing at him with love and reassurance. His head was throbbing and he suddenly realised just how tired he was. Allowing himself to be lowered back onto the bed he let out a sigh.
"Thanks. I guess I'm not feeling all that great." he mumbled.
"Right!" Paddy said brightly moving towards the door "I'll go get the ball rolling."
"Is there anything I can do?" Cain asked sullenly.
"You," Chas said pointing a finger at her brother "Can go and tell everyone that you were wrong. If Jackson turns up here I don't want any trouble!"
Cain grimaced but slunk out of the room without comment.
"Thanks mum." Aaron murmured with his eyes closed and Chas felt a huge smile break out on her face.
-x-x-
Jackson sat hunched in his cell trying to find a comfortable position on the hard shelf that they laughingly referred to as a bed. It had been hours since anyone had been in to see him. He'd hoped to have heard from his mum by now. Surely she'd had more than enough time to get to the hospital and back? It couldn't take this long to either deliver a message or to find that there was no possible way to do it. Why hadn't she come back? Now he had something else to worry about besides Aaron and himself!
He looked up at the sound of a key rattling in the lock, and a second later the door had swung open to reveal Detective Inspector Blake. The older man was looking slightly nervous as he shuffled into the cell.
"Ah, Mr Walsh. How are you doing this evening?" he asked cheerily.
Jackson looked up at him in confusion. The last time they'd spoken the inspector had turned rude and hostile towards him; now he seemed to be doing his best to be friendly. He was no expert in these matters but the builder was fairly certain that to play good cop/bad cop you needed at least two people, otherwise the result was just disturbing cop.
"I'm fine thanks." he replied. "Oh, apart from being arrested and locked up for something I didn't do obviously." he added.
Blake almost winced at the response.
"Yes… About that… I'm here to let you know that we've dropped all the charges against you. You're free to go."
"Come again?" the builder asked, not sure that he'd heard correctly.
"Mr Livesy has made a full statement in support of your story, and in the light of that Mr Dobson has confessed to the assault. Therefore you can go." the inspector replied looking like he swallowed something unpleasant.
"Aaron's awake? Is he alright?" Jackson exclaimed jumping to his feet.
The fact that Jackson seemed more excited by the fact that Aaron was awake than about being released from jail was not lost on the detective. He suddenly felt guilty for how wrong he'd been about the young man.
"I shouldn't really do this but given the circumstances… I can have an officer drop you off at the hospital to see for yourself if you'd like?"
"Really? That would be amazing… Can I work the siren?" Jackson said excitedly.
Blake rolled his eyes. What was it with boys and sirens?
-x-x-
Hazel was pacing up and down in the reception area of Hotten police station. She'd still been in the taxi back from the hospital when Paddy had called her with the good news that Aaron remembered exactly who it was that had attacked him and would be making a statement to the police as soon as possible. Desperate to let Jackson know that he should be released shortly, and that Aaron was hopefully going to be fine, she'd rushed into the station and demanded to see him. That had been two hours ago. The desk sergeant said that it wasn't possible to see Jackson at that time and she'd received the same response each time she'd asked since. She'd demanded to know why but the reply was always the same politely dressed version of 'Because I say so, now go away.' It was incredibly frustrating!
"Mum?" a soft voice spoke behind her.
Hazel spun around to find Jackson standing just a few feet away. He looked pale and tired but that didn't matter; he was free! She rushed across and threw her arms around him feeling tears pricking her eyes.
"Oh my little man!" she exclaimed squeezing him tightly.
"Mum!" Jackson gasped in embarrassment. A number of people sat in the reception area were looking on smirking to themselves at the scene. "Calm down!"
"They've let you go right?" Hazel asked releasing her hold "Realised they made a stupid mistake have they?" she added loudly glaring at the desk sergeant who had fobbed her off earlier.
"Yes, yes. It's all sorted. Aaron made a statement clearing me. He's woken up!" he replied with a big smile.
"Yes I know! Paddy rang me on my way back here! I've been trying to get in to tell you for the past two hours but they wouldn't let me see you."
"Did you see Aaron? Is he alright?" Jackson asked nervously.
"He was still unconscious when I saw him, but he woke up just after I gave him your message. Paddy thinks that that's what brought him back!"
"I'm going to the hospital. I need to see him." the builder stated.
"Are you sure love? You look as worn out as I feel. Maybe you should go home and have a bit of a kip first?" his mother answered looking worried.
"No. I'm not going to waste any more time." Jackson replied with a determined look on his face.
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