CHAPTER 26
Having sat with Nigel in his hospital room for quite some time Sydney suddenly noticed how late it was. She'd been remembering the many relic hunts she and Nigel had been on over the past four years and thinking how brave he was to continue travelling with her. He'd stirred a little each time a nurse attended to his drip and when Doctor Menzie came in to listen to his breathing and check on his wounds. On his second visit of the evening the doctor looked at Nigel fondly, checked his pulse and then turned back to Sydney "you know….I really hope he'll start thinking seriously about seeing a therapist…..he should have seen one well before now, but he's always refused. Do you think you could have a word with him about it Sydney? Preston's tried so many times. I suppose it's natural he hates talking about what happened, but he really needs to! Damn it! Ferreira should be hung for what he did to him!"
"I absolutely agree with that!" Sydney said, looking at Nigel "and I agree too that he should see a therapist….Doctor I promise I'll do everything I can to get him to agree, but it won't be easy. You know…. I can stay the night with him if you like...I have a feeling Preston's too exhausted to come back….although I think he wanted to….you know how close he and Nigel are."
"Oh I certainly do, I think Preston's a very caring brother, he spent hours and hours with Nigel calming him down after he'd had a nightmare and making sure he did what the nurses and I told him to do. Actually though Sydney, there's no need for you to stay tonight and he won't really need Preston either…I've deeply sedated him as he needs to get as much rest as possible…I just don't want him thinking about Ferreira for a while….and anyway, you really should get some rest yourself. Look I promise a nurse will check on him every half an hour and, obviously, if his condition worsens, which I very much doubt, I'll call you and Preston" the doctor said, noticing her stand up and look inside her bag.
Realising how tired she actually was, she left her contact details with the doctor and made her way to the Copacabana Palace. Having requested a room on the same floor as Preston, she was delighted to be given room 605, which had a wonderful spa bath and was very close to his room. Thinking that Preston might wake up in the middle of the night, she slid a note under his door telling him where she was and what Doctor Menzie had said about Nigel. Of course, she knew he'd still worry, no matter what she said, but at least he'd know her room number if he needed to talk.
The following day Sydney and Preston had breakfast together, although Preston barely touched a thing. He still looked completely exhausted, even though he promised he'd slept quite well.
Arriving at the hospital at around 9.00 a.m. they were glad to see Nigel was awake, although he appeared very distant and his expression looked sort of fixed. Having rushed over to give him a hug they suddenly realised he seemed totally unaware of their presence and made no movement at all.
"Hey Sweetie…how're you feeling?" Sydney asked, looking into his eyes and then stroking his face. However, Nigel appeared to be staring right through her.
"Oh Podge please try to speak; I need to know you're alright" Preston said, looking very concerned, as Nigel still continued to stare and didn't even attempt to speak.
"Water, he needs some water!" Sydney said, feeling quite anxious as she reached for the jug and filled up his beaker. Holding the drink to Nigel's lips and tilting his head back, she tried to get him to swallow but, sadly, even though she was very patient, the water just trickled down his chin.
Preston began to panic, believing that, once again, Nigel's mind was unable to handle what had happened.
At that moment Doctor Menzie arrived and noticed Preston was sat by the bed watching Sydney, who was waving her hand in front of Nigel's face, obviously, trying to get his attention.
"Don't worry guys, he's not actually awake yet, he just looks as if he is….it'll be a little while before he's fully aware of his surroundings…..it's the drugs you see….they take time to wear off…. I must warn you though…..even when he wakes up he still might be a bit confused; so bear with him….it'll just take a little time for him to get back to normal."
"Oh!….Um….is it OK if we sit with him?" Preston asked, feeling a little better and hoping they could stay.
"Of course, but it could be an hour or even two before he's fully able to communicate with you. Why don't you go and get some coffee and bring it back here; it'll be good for him to see you both when he comes around" the doctor said, smiling as he checked Nigel's pulse.
"Thanks doctor, we'll get some now" Sydney said, looking at Nigel who really did look like he was in a trance.
"Could you get me some tea please Sydney?" Preston asked "I'd rather not leave him, if you don't mind."
"Sure, no problem" she said, picking up her purse as she left the room.
Upon her return, having only been gone about five minutes, she found Preston sitting by the bed holding Nigel's hand looking like he was crying.
"You OK Preston?" she asked as she offered him a large paper cup filled with tea.
"I'm fine….. I've just got a bit of dust in my eye" he replied; taking the cup in one hand and wiping his eyes with the other.
"Preston….the doctor said not to worry…..I know that's easier said than done but Nigel's a lot stronger than he looks…OK, he's no fighter when it comes to a brawl, but he's very strong in other ways; he's got a high pain threshold too, he'll recover" Sydney said, desperately hoping she was right, as deep down she wasn't that sure.
"Sydney you didn't see him in Ferreira's bunker, they threw darts at him and he was beaten so badly he could barely move; he was in agony!" Preston said, trying to make Sydney understand why he was so distraught.
She was just about to reply when the door suddenly opened and to her surprise Derek popped his head in "hey kiddo can we come in?" he asked, walking in anyway, followed by Cate, thinking it was just Nigel in there.
"Hey Sydney! How you doing? You OK Preston!" he asked, looking a little surprised and rushing over to Sydney to give her a hug.
"I'm fine Derek, nice to see you…you too Cate" Sydney said, releasing herself from Derek and beginning to explain Nigel's condition.
"Oh!" Cate said, looking at Nigel "well….as long as he's going to be OK, that's the main thing…..I guess we'll just have to come back later to see him…..but Sydney I'm glad you got here safely….that jet was the fastest way I could think of to get you here…was it OK?"
"It was a pretty scary ride… but thanks…it was great not having to wait around at the airport and it certainly shortened the flying time!" Sydney said, realising that Cate had really gone above and beyond the call there.
"Hey from what Richard said, if you'd have arrived just a half an hour earlier you could have come with us to find him!" Cate said, suddenly looking at Nigel who looked like he blinked "Quite honestly Sydney, we could really have done with your help.…there were far more thugs down there than we'd anticipated…..you'd have kicked the heck out of them in half the time it took us!"
"Well you got Nigel back and apprehended Ferreira, that's all that matters….apart from him recovering, of course" Sydney said, looking at Nigel and noticing he was moving a little. However, within seconds of that Nigel coughed quite violently and looked like he was having trouble breathing!
"Nurse! Quick!" Preston shouted loudly "Nigel needs help!"
Luckily one of the nurses, who must have actually been just outside the door, immediately ran in and checked him over "It's OK….he's fine, it's just the sedative wearing off…his mouth's quite dry, that's why he's coughing…although he might be feeling a little uncomfortable too. Anyway, we'll sort that out when he's fully awake and can tell what he needs."
Realising Nigel might wake up relatively soon, Cate and Derek decided to stay and use the time to update Sydney on their latest discoveries and to explain a little of what happened in the bunker.
"Did you hear about the tapes they forced him to make Syd?" Derek asked, looking at Nigel and recalling the previous evening when he'd listened to them prior to packing them up as evidence.
"No…what tapes?" Sydney whispered, looking a little confused.
"Maria and one of Ferreira's thugs forced Nigel to tape some messages for Preston to listen to….they were going to play them to him over period of days to convince him that Nigel was still alive….. it was just luck they still had a couple more to do when we arrived, because once they'd finished them, he'd have been killed!" Derek said, looking at Sydney's stunned expression.
"The despicable brutes!" Sydney replied, anger showing on her beautiful face "Thank God you got there in time!"
"Yeah, just a few hours later and it might have been too late!" Derek said, realising how lucky they were.
"You know there's something that's bothering me Derek" Sydney said, looking at the agent with a rather confused expression on her face"
"Oh…what's that?" Derek asked, hoping it was something he could help with.
"Why do you think they beat him black and blue all over, but left his face untouched? Don't you find that odd? Hey, not that I'm complaining, I just don't understand!" Sydney said, looking at Nigel, who was as handsome as ever.
"Actually Sydney, one of the gang told us yesterday there're a few reasons for that, in this case though it would have been revenge for what we've done to the gang….you see once Preston had paid the ransom they'd have dumped his body somewhere prominent. Then, because his face was alright, his photograph would have been plastered on the front of every newspaper and TV channel in Brazil; which would ensure we'd all see it. They also apparently do that as a warning to anyone who might think about betraying them….you know, to make them think twice about it. Ferreira's a monster Syd….and he's going down for what he's done!"
"He'd better, or I'll hunt him down!" Sydney said, looking quite furious!
"He will Sydney" Cate said, trying to be reassuring "No matter what his lawyers do or say, he'll be put away for good; we've solid evidence against him. Of course, we'll still have to get statements from you, Nigel and Preston, but there's no need to do that right now, the trial won't be for ages yet. We've already got some from Ferreira's staff, as they're not so frightened of the monster now and Derek and I spent hours yesterday interrogating some of the gang. We've now obtained some great information from them and discovered some documentary evidence which proves there are 10 houses throughout the world which operate just like the one here!"
"Only 10?" Sydney said "I would have thought there'd be more than that."
"No, there're only 10, but anyway, I guess it'll come as no surprise that Ferreira's the head of the entire outfit" Cate said, looking quite pleased with herself.
"No, no I'm not surprised at all; even if he is quite stupid at times!" Sydney said, looking knowingly at Cate.
"Hey you know Ferreira's main residence used to be in England; that was until he almost got caught…he moved over here after that. He and several of his gang will be put on trial over there as they kidnapped more kids from the UK than anywhere else in the world" Cate said, hoping that would cause no problem for Sydney, as she'd have to go there to testify.
I think it's the right place for the trial, but not only that, it'll also be easier for Nigel and Preston as they'll be able to stay in their own home when the trial takes place…..although it's going to be awful for everyone concerned, no matter where it's held" Sydney said, trying not to think too much about it.
"You know it's quite amazing….now we've arrested so many of Ferreira's men, numerous crimes have been solved! So many of them gave us information in exchange for lighter sentences or just because they actually hate Ferreira! Remember that priest from the church where you found the tunnel?" Cate asked, looking at Sydney.
"Sure…what about him?" she replied.
"Well he turned out to be the nephew of a slain minister…Ferreira had him murdered about eight months ago because he discovered the secret tunnel and followed it to the house! Obviously I'd interviewed his nephew right after you found the tunnel and, because of what was revealed in the interviews, I'm certain now he knew nothing about it and is certainly not involved with Ferreira!" Cate said, going on to tell them a couple more stories about crimes they've now solved.
During the time the four of them had been discussing Ferreira, Nigel had moaned a few more times and, eventually, he woke up. He wasn't totally with it, but he seemed OK, which was such a relief to everyone but, especially, Preston who so desperately wanted to talk to him, particularly about where he'd like to convalesce.
Noticing that Nigel was having a little difficulty speaking, Preston held a plastic beaker to his mouth, remembering what the nurse said "come on old chap, you drink this, you'll soon feel better" he said, trying not to look too worried.
"Pres..I ki..ki" Nigel croaked, trying desperately to tell his brother something.
"Slow down Podge, no need to rush….there's plenty of time" Preston said, ensuring he drank a little water before letting him speak.
"Pres…I… I killed a…ag…again!" Nigel croaked, looking very upset.
"What!? Oh…you mean Ferreira…. no…no, you didn't; he's not dead" Preston said, patting Nigel's back.
"Re…. really?" Nigel said, looking rather surprised but no happier.
Having heard what Nigel said, Sydney couldn't hold back "Yes Sweetie really, he's here in the hospital somewhere" she said, noticing Nigel didn't reply, but looked a little irritated and leaned over to get closer to Preston. Hoping she was imagining he'd ignored her and that he was acting like that because he was scared, she carried on "it's alright Nige; don't worry, he's got three armed guards outside his door; he can't escape and he'll be out of here real soon" It didn't seem to matter what she said though, he still seemed quite intent on keeping silent and staying close to Preston.
Nobody seemed to notice Nigel's reaction to Sydney, as the agents simply believed he was keeping close to Preston because Ferreira was still around. However, wanting to reassure Nigel that he'd be fine, Cate and Derek both stood up and leaned towards him; although instead of speaking one at a time they spoke over each other, both promising Nigel, in their own way, that there was no way the brute could escape and that he was in safe hands.
Seemingly terrified, Nigel suddenly squeezed Preston's hand, squealed and tried to move away from them.
"Perhaps you should all just keep back a bit; I think he's feeling a bit overwhelmed" Preston said, noticing the worried looks on Sydney's and the two agent's faces.
"Oh…. OK…. we should leave anyway, we've so much to do" Cate said, wondering why he'd reacted so badly but believing it was probably because he was feeling so insecure "Bye Nigel."
"Yeah, we have paperwork up to our eyes buddy" Derek said, feeling much the same as Cate.
Sydney wasn't sure whether to leave too, but decided she'd just wait for a minute to see if Nigel would calm down now it was just her and Preston there.
"Hey Podge, Derek and Cate wouldn't have hurt you" Preston said, gently holding onto Nigel's hand "why were you so freaked out by them? You're alright aren't you?"
"Oh…I…I'm…sor…sorry…..I didn't realise it was them Pres….un….until you just said their names!" Nigel said, his voice cracking up again "my eyes….Pres they're so fuzzy and my ears are a bit muffled too…..I only recognised you and…and….but Pres…..please….I….I don't want anyone in here except you….and the hospital staff."
"What about Sydney?" Preston asked, nervously looking into Nigel's eyes.
"No Pres, just you and….and….please can you get the doctor….my eyes; I can't focus….Preston, please!...I think I'm going blind!" Nigel said with terror in his voice.
"No… no Podge…I'm sure you're not, you're just tired, you had this problem before, remember?" Preston said, desperately hoping he was right.
"I'll get the Doctor" Sydney said, noticing Nigel turn towards her direction and then quickly turn away again.
She walked out of the room with a very heavy heart feeling rejected and unhappy, wondering if Nigel's bad reaction, particularly to her, was as a result of the drugs, or if he was simply worried about going blind. She remembered too he'd been confused and upset by lots of things after the raid, but she was the one he'd confided in then, so why, she thought, does he only want Preston now, especially when he'd also relied on her for protection and reassurance for the past four years!?
About a minute after Sydney left a nurse popped her head around the door "I've paged Doctor Menzie, what's wrong?" she asked, glancing over to Nigel.
Preston said tried to explain, without overreacting.
"OK the doctor won't be long" the nurse said "try not to worry though; this often happens when patients have suffered some kind of trauma or been deeply sedated."
Just a few minutes later Doctor Menzie rushed in and once the nurse explained the problem he immediately checked Nigel's eyes and ears "nothing to worry about Nigel" he said "Nurse Sanchez will wash and lubricate your eyes and syringe your ears, I'll ask her to come in and see you in a little while….now let me look at your stomach, I want to check those stitches I put in…..Umm…. well it looks like you've moved around a bit because there's blood on the bandages….. but I don't think they've come out…..try not to move around too much for a couple of days Nigel….I don't want that to happen….I'll give you some pain killers now the drip's been removed, so you'll be able to relax and get some sleep."
"Thanks doctor" Nigel said, still looking rather sad and holding onto Preston's arm.
By the next day, as Nurse Sanchez had done her job perfectly, Nigel's eyes and ears were almost back to normal, which cheered him up a bit and made him feel more comfortable. However he was still adamant he only wanted his brother and the medical staff to enter his room, which was very upsetting to Sydney, who'd been forced to wait by the nurses' station for Preston to come out. "Why doesn't he want to see me Preston?" she asked, having managed to catch him on the way to the vending machine.
"He won't give me any reason Sydney, he just said he doesn't want to see you or anyone else right now….he's not saying much at all really, he's just being rather clingy…you know, holding onto me….he's never really done that before; although I have to say it feels wonderful to be wanted so much….but...it's well….just not like him….not since he was a child anyway. I'm sure he'll soon get over whatever's causing him to shut everyone out though, he loves…um…I mean he's very fond of you Sydney….you know that."
Sydney noticed what Preston almost said and wondered if Nigel had ever said anything about having feelings for her, or if it was just a slip of the tongue that she was reading too much into. She didn't ask him though and decided to go back to the police station to help Cate and Derek with some of the paperwork, hoping that would take her mind off Nigel.
After a few more days Nigel's condition began to improve a little, although he still needed strong pain killers and got upset very easily. Even though he was still refusing to see anyone, Preston thought it might be a good idea to broach the subject of where he wanted to recuperate, as he hoped that might make him reveal why he particularly didn't want to see Sydney.
His immediate response when Preston asked that question was England, which rather surprised him, as having mulled over what Sydney had said on the matter and recalling a conversation he'd had with Nigel, on Christmas day, when he'd expressed how attractive he thought his boss was, he'd begun to believe Nigel might say America. However, at that moment, Nigel seemed to give no thought to Sydney or Trinity at all and simply expressed how nice it would be to see Nana and Nathan again!
At the hospital, the following day, Preston took the opportunity to explain to Sydney what Nigel had said. He felt quite awkward explaining it, as he realised how surprised and confused she'd be. Fearing the worst, Sydney looked at Preston quite seriously "look I can accept he wants to go home to England; but I can't understand why he doesn't even appear to have considered my feelings…..I have to see him Preston…. I need to know if I've done something to upset him; he's never shut me out quite like this before….never! Please….I'll have to go back to America soon" she said, hoping Preston would realise how important it was to her.
"I'll do what I can Sydney…I'm worried about him too, just stay there a minute" Preston said, returning to Nigel's room, hoping his brother wouldn't get angry when he asked him about Sydney again.
Five minutes later Preston came back out "he said there's nothing wrong Sydney….but actually….I can sense there is….he just won't tell me what it is. He, um, said you can pop in for a minute though, so….you know…try to find out what the problem is without upsetting him too much if you can….he's hiding something….I know it!" Preston said, looking rather worried.
"Thanks Preston" she said; her heart in her mouth as she walked into Nigel's room "hey Sweetie, how're you doing?"
"I'm fine Syd" he replied, looking down at the bed.
"Look Nige…. if I've done something to upset you, please tell me what it is" she said, noticing Nigel turn his head away "Nigel! What is it!?" she shouted, immediately feeling sorry that she'd raised her voice "Is it because I left you here and you got kidnapped again? You know I'd have never left if I thought something like that could happen again.…don't you?!" He made no attempt to look at her "Sweetie….I had no choice but to go back to work…. Trinity are usually fine about us being away, but that's because we make so much money for them selling relics to museums….but they don't want either of us away without a really good reason. If you'd still been seriously ill, that would have been different, but you were getting much better, so I had to go Sweetie…try to understand."
"I do Syd" he said, still facing away from her.
She moved to the other side of the bed, put her hand under his chin and gently lifted his head so that he had no choice but to look at her "please Nige; if it's not that, tell me what it is" she said, feeling really concerned as she gently let go of his chin.
Nigel thought for a minute and then looked at her "Syd…look….. if"
"If what Nigel?" she replied, noticing he looked a little irritated "come on, please tell me."
"If….if it hadn't been for you, Ferreira wouldn't have taken me again!" Nigel said; noticing Sydney looked very shocked!
"What! What do you mean! I just explained I had to go back to work and I thought you were safe!" she replied, trying not to sound angry.
"I'm not upset because you left me Syd! I'm angry because that bastard Skinny Pete found out I'm Nigel Bailey from you!" he said, with tears in his eyes "he told me so!"
"That's ridiculous! The thug just lied to you, he wanted to demoralise you Sweetie; I've never even met him, or spoken to him…..and anyway…..I was in America when they took you…..how on earth could I have told him who you really are!?" she said, feeling totally shocked by the accusation, although she believed Nigel was simply confused.
"You didn't tell him….you told someone called Richard about my past…. and he overheard you! You shouldn't have told anyone Syd;…not anyone! If Cate hadn't rescued me, I'd be dead now!" Nigel said angrily, as the tears fell down his cheeks.
Sydney's heart skipped a beat as she suddenly remembered talking about Nigel in the secret room at the mansion! "Nige….oh God! I'm so…so sorry, I told Richard about you just before Derek and I discovered the tunnel leading to the church….it just never occurred to me that anyone overheard what I said! Oh Sweetie, it wasn't deliberate!" she croaked, her voice almost disappearing with the shock of what Nigel had said.
Nigel looked down at the bed, wiped his tears away with back of his hand and appeared be ignoring her. Of course, Sydney knew him well enough to realise he was thinking erratically, just like he'd done in the hospital after the raid. Realising that, she hoped that if she just talked to him very calmly, he'd eventually understand. She, therefore, sat down beside him, placed her hands on the bed covers and tried to explain things.
"Nigel…. Sweetie…. look Derek and I were in the secret room with Richard, whose actually an Interpol agent….anyway he was stacking those boxes containing the files of the kids' who Ferreira had kidnapped over the years. I simply wanted him to keep the box with your file in separate from the others; but he wanted to know why! Sweetie I had to tell him what happened to you so he'd understand how important your evidence is…it proved they were the same actual thugs who'd been kidnapping kids' for years. I had to explain that, sadly, most of those kids' had been murdered; so they couldn't testify against the brutes, or even recognise them; but you could do both!"
Nigel didn't look up at all, but she knew he was listening so she continued.
"Nige, you know only too well that thugs like Ferreira are regularly freed by the courts on technicalities or when vitally important pieces of evidence go missing! Evidence is the key to putting him away for good!" Sydney said, hoping Nigel was able to comprehend what she was saying, as he was now looking quite lost!
Right at that moment Preston came in and immediately realised they must be discussing whatever the problem was "What is it? What's happened, Sydney... Podge… what's wrong?" he asked, feeling quite nervous.
Nigel looked up at his brother and then at Sydney, but didn't reply, although deep inside he knew Sydney had done nothing wrong.
Preston sat opposite Sydney and gently pulled Nigel over to him "what's upset you Podge? Come on tell me" he said, gently hugging his brother. Nigel tried to explain but he couldn't, he felt embarrassed and guilty for being so rude to Sydney.
Preston looked over at her "can you please explain why you both look so miserable?"
Nigel looked at her too "tell him, please Syd, I can't" he said as he placed his head on Preston's shoulder and listened as Sydney explaining everything again.
For a minute or two Preston felt angry with her too, but said nothing, which he was glad about as when she'd finished her full explanation, he realised the importance of what she'd said to Richard too.
"Podge….you know it wasn't Sydney's fault, it was just unfortunate the way that happened" Preston said, letting go of his brother and noticing Sydney looked hopeful.
"Oh God!" Nigel said, blinking back the tears "I'm so sorry Syd….I didn't mean it…..please forgive me!"
Sydney leapt to her feet, smiled very widely and hugged him tightly, forgetting that would hurt!
"Ouch..ah ….Syd!" he yelped.
"Sorry!" she said, loosening her grip a little, but continuing to hold him.
Preston smiled; however, now everything was in the open, he wondered if Nigel would change his mind about going home to England with him. Of course, he'd no intention of forcing him to do anything; it was just that while Sydney was speaking to Nigel he'd called to reserve two first class airline tickets to London! Realising he should have waited a little longer before doing that, he gave Nigel some water and said "Podge, do you still want to come back to London with me? It's fine if you don't, I…. well… I'll just cancel our flights and re-book for America…. if that's what you'd prefer."
"No Pres; I want to go home…. but Syd….can you come too? You can just tell Trinity I'm too sick and you can't leave me.…they'll understand?" Nigel said; feeling quite embarrassed as he looked at her.
"Oh Nige; I'd love to come…..but I really can't lie to the Dean about something like that, it would be like tempting fate!" she said wishing with all her heart she could just forget about work and go to England with him! But, of course, having had such a serious and rather difficult conversation with him it, obviously, wasn't the right time to confess her love, especially in front of Preston.
"Are you sure Sydney; not even a week or two" Preston asked, hoping she'd change her mind because he truly believed Nigel would benefit from having her there.
"Preston, I simply can't…..I'm really sorry but I've already called Trinity to say I'll be back in a couple of days….Nige….I thought you were never going to see me!" she said, looking quite depressed "look I'll tell you what, I'll go back to work and then I'll join you in a week or so….. I'm sure there's a relic that needs to be found in London!"
Laughing at her own sneakiness, Sydney realised she'd cheered Nigel up a bit and hoped this would all work out in the end, because telling Nigel now how much she loves him, might be wrong, but travelling all the way to England to see him, would be perfect and very convincing! Although she knew she'd have to be very careful that he was actually emotionally ready to have a romantic relationship with her!
As it turned out, both Sydney's and the brothers flights were on the same day, although hers was in the morning, whilst theirs was at night. She was feeling quite depressed at the thought of not seeing Nigel for a while, but realised too that, right now, it was best for him to be with his family.
On the day they were all due to return home, Sydney kissed Nigel goodbye far more passionately than she meant to! However, she hoped he at least enjoyed it; even if he was confused like he'd been so many times in the past when she'd kissed him to avoid their faces being seen, or to make another man jealous! Of course, she was pleased to see that he appeared to like it, although she realised he'd probably no idea how sincere she was being when she kissed him!
Derek dropped in to see Nigel just as Sydney was leaving, although he'd deliberately timed it that way so he'd bump into her! "Hey Sydney, are you off now? I'll be back in Boston in a month or so; just tidying up a few loose ends here….but let's hook up when I get back" he said, looking at Sydney who was still stood by the door.
"Well maybe…lots of relics to find though….and other people to see" she said, looking affectionately at Nigel and walking out the door.
Realising it might be some time until he saw Nigel again, he felt quite sad as he looked at his young. However, as always, he tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his sentimental feelings around Nigel, realising he looked upon him as a really tough big brother "now don't you go bumping into any lampposts in London buddy" he said, gently patting Nigel on the shoulder.
"I won't!" Nigel replied, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat having been told so many times by Sydney that Derek really cares about him and remembering how he'd risked his life to save him at the mansion.
Cate came in a little while later and kissed Nigel on the cheek "I'll be over to see you as soon as Ferreira's trial's been organised. I'll have to get yours and Preston's statements then, so you do everything you can to get yourself well. Get plenty of rest too and if you feel like it…. just call me for a sexy chat whenever you want" Cate said, winking at him. Nigel blushed scarlet, but although he didn't say so, he'd no intention of calling her; especially for the kind of 'chat' she implied….not ever!
While lots of the medical staff were saying goodbye to Nigel, Preston went to the accounts office to settle his brother's bill. Having gotten his credit card out, he was astonished to hear from the lady behind the desk that Mr Bozen, the twin's father, had already paid for everything in full….and that he'd be sending a car to take him and Nigel to the airport later that day! Thanking her very quickly he rushed back to his brother's room feeling quite embarrassed! "Nigel what on earth do you think you're doing accepting charity from Mr Bozen!? he shouted, with a very annoyed expression on his face.
Nigel looked at him apologetically "I…I didn't know you'd planned to pay Pres! B…but it wasn't charity….not really…It was meant as reward…..it was ages ago he insisted on paying and I didn't have the energy to argue…..I actually thought back then that Sydney would pay my bill and that I'd have to pay her back…. Pres….I...I don't have much money in my account….so I accepted….I'm sorry….I…I forgot all about it…..um do you know about the car?" Nigel said, looking at Preston and feeling really awkward
Preston felt guiltier than ever now that Nigel confessed to being so poor and believed he must have been struggling financially for a long time "Oh Podge! Yes…I know about the car….but I should have told you right at the start that I was paying, although as you say….it was a reward really" he said, trying to convince himself that he was OK with it, because he and Nigel had been brought up very strictly and taking charity from anyone was a definite no no!
Prior to Nigel leaving the hospital Doctor Menzie took Preston to one side and explained that Nigel must start seeing a counsellor as soon as he gets back home. He stressed that, as he was still having regular nightmares and quite often had panic attacks, particularly when a stranger came near him, or even when there was a sudden loud noise; it was of paramount importance to get professional help. Preston promised he'd try again, even though he'd heard Sydney trying and persuade Nigel to do that several times.
Unbeknown to them, however, Nigel realised they were right, but what he really hoped was that his bad dreams, and other associated problems, would begin to decrease once he was at home with people who loved him.
Thanks to Beatrix for her lovely review of chapter 25. I hope there is more than one person who is still enjoying this story!