Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to HiT Entertainment. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 16

I was awoken the following morning by the sound of people talking downstairs. Realising that it must be Charlie and Bronwyn, I attempted to sit up. However, even that small effort exhausted me, so I lay back down, taking care not to touch my shoulder, which was still sore.

A few minutes later, I heard Charlie's familiar footfall as he came up the hallway, followed closely by mum's softer footfall. I decided to pretend that I was still asleep. The bedroom door opened quietly.

"I told you he was still asleep," mum whispered.

I heard Charlie sigh heavily, and he sat down on the edge of my bed. "You can stop pretending with me, Sam. I know you're awake."

I didn't move. Concerned, Charlie placed a hand on my forehead.

"He feels hot, mum."

Mum also felt my forehead. "He's not that bad. A slight fever is quite normal for a vaccine reaction."

I moaned and stirred, just like I had when I had actually woken up a few minutes earlier. Then I rolled over onto my back. "What's the time?" I asked sleepily.

"About nine-thirty," mum replied. "You can stay in bed today, if you don't feel like getting up."

"Thanks." I looked up at Charlie. "Hey. When did you get back?"

"Only a few minutes ago. Mum told me you weren't well, so I had to come and see you."

"Where's Bronwyn?"

"Downstairs. Look, don't worry about us. You just do what mum said, and stay in bed. I'll come back and see you again later tonight."

"Okay, Charlie. It's so strange not having you living here, though."

Charlie chuckled. "I know. I'm still getting used to it myself! Get some rest. We'll see you later."

…

Three days later, I'd fully recovered from my reaction to the vaccine. Charlie and Bronwyn had rented a townhouse down near the quayside, so that's where I started to hang out when I was bored.

"I wish I could go back to school this week, instead of next week," I told Bronwyn one morning while I watched her ironing some clothes.

Bronwyn smiled at me. "Enjoy it while you can, Sam. Once you become an adult, you'll start wishing that you could go on holidays."

"I doubt it…" I muttered.

At that moment, Gwen entered the townhouse through the backdoor. I promptly ducked down beneath the kitchen table.

"Hey, sis! Dad said I could go and play at the beach now that I've finished my chores. I was hoping Sam would like to come with me. Have you seen him around?"

"Yes, but I think he had to leave in a hurry."

"Okay, thanks! I'll see if I can catch up with him." And Gwen exited the house.

I peeked out from beneath the table. "Is she gone?" I whispered.

"Yes, Sam. You can come out now."

I did so. "Thanks for not telling her I was here."

"That's what sisters-in-law are for. Seriously though, Sam, she does have a major crush on you. Would it hurt you to just try and be friendly to her?"

I sighed heavily. "I suppose not. But I don't want her thinking I'm in love with her, when I'm not."

"I understand. But, you'll probably find that she's not that bad really. Even if you just end up being friends, I'll be happy."

"Okay, okay! I'll see if I can find her. I wouldn't mind going down to the beach anyway."

"Good! You can collect some mussels for me." And Bronwyn handed me a bucket.

"Daro! Bronwyn! Nid yw hynny'n deg!"

I heard Bronwyn giggling as I left the house. Sighing, I headed over to the quay, and I looked around to see if dad's boat was moored. It wasn't, so I guessed that he was out at sea again.

"There you are, Sam!"

Gasping, I jumped, and I spun around to see mum standing right behind me. "Mum! I thought you were Gwen for a second."

Mum chuckled. "She really has got your nerves on edge, hasn't she?"

"No!"

"Well, anyway, I need your help back at home, please. A claw foot on the bathtub has broken off, and with your dad out at sea fishing, I've asked Charlie to see if he can fix it. He might need some help, so can you run on home, please?"

"Of course! Oh, I forgot. Bronwyn wanted some mussels."

Mum took the bucket from me. "I'll ask Gwen to go and fetch them for her. Of you go now, please."

I took off jogging towards home. Considering how fit I was, I was barely even puffing by the time I arrived home. I found Charlie in the bathroom, examining the broken bathtub. He'd propped up the broken corner with some wooden blocks.

"Thanks for coming, Sam. I'm going to need another pair of hands for this repair."

"How are you planning to reattach the foot?" I wondered.

"I'm not sure. This bathtub is older than granddad. They knew what they were doing when they made it."

I crouched down to take a look for myself. "It looks like they used rivets when they first built it, but they've rusted through."

Charlie sighed despondently. "I'll have to tell mum that she'd be better off getting a brand-new bathtub."

"No, I'm sure we can fix it! There must be another old bathtub around here that we can take the claw off, since we can't reattach this one."

"We could try the dump in the alleyway," Charlie suggested.

"Great idea! The Morrisons were doing up their bathroom a few weeks ago. Maybe they threw out their old bathtub?"

"Good thinking, Sam! Let's go!"

We hurried down to the alleyway where many of Pontypandy's residents dumped their large items of rubbish. The council was supposed to come through once a month to collect it, but usually we only saw the council trucks removing the rubbish once every six months. It was completely off-limits to children, so I wasn't very familiar with that alleyway like I was with the rest of the town.

Charlie and I slowed down as we approached the alleyway. "Stay behind me, Sam," Charlie cautioned. "I don't want you to get hurt by any falling piles of rubbish."

"I'll be fine, Charlie. Hey, look! There's a bathtub like ours." And I walked over to it. It was badly dented, and it had huge pieces of enamel missing from it, but I could see that at least one of the claw feet would be usable.

Charlie joined me. "Well done, Sam! That'll be perfect. Unfortunately, I've left my toolbox in the bathroom. We'll have to carry the bathtub to our backyard to remove one of the feet. Do you think you can manage one end?"

"Of course, Charlie!" I easily lifted one end, and Charlie picked up the other. "Let's go!"

…

Half an hour later, Charlie and I had finished repairing the bathtub. While Charlie started packing up his tools, I headed downstairs to go and tell mum that we'd finished. When I reached the stairs, I decided to slide down the bannister. I often did that when I thought no-one was looking.

Landing safely, I looked around to see where mum was. "Mum?"

"I'm in the clinic, Sam," mum replied.

I went inside the clinic. Mum was busy restocking medical supplies. "Uh, we've finished repairing the bathtub now, mum."

"Excellent! I'll come up and take a look at it in a minute."

Nodding, I left the clinic, and I returned upstairs. Mum joined us a few minutes later.

"What do you think, mum?" I asked. "I know it's not a match to the other claw feet, but at least it fits."

"I think you've both done a marvellous job!" mum praised. "You two make a great team!"

Smiling, Charlie and I hit a high-five.

"Right," Charlie said as he stood up. "I'll just finish putting my tools away, and then we can return that other old bathtub to the dump."

At that moment, the phone in the hallway rang. Mum answered it. "Nurse Jones speaking… Oh, I see… Okay, don't touch him! I'll be there shortly."

Mum turned to face me as soon as she put the phone down. "Sam, you're the fastest. I need you to run as fast as you can to Dr Roberts' house, and tell him to meet me at the fire station as soon as possible."

"What's happened?" Charlie asked.

"Fireman Lucas has fallen from the training tower. Station Officer Boyce believes he may have broken his back."

I immediately felt an adrenalin surge rush throughout my body as I took off running down the hallway. I knew how serious a potential broken back could be, so I took the shortcut down the stairs, by sliding down the bannister once again. I sprinted out the front door, and down the street towards Dr Roberts' house.

"Dr Roberts! Dr Roberts!" I shouted urgently as I started ringing his doorbell loudly. The door opened and, startled, I leapt backwards.

"What's going on, Sam?" Dr Roberts asked patiently.

"Accident at the fire station…!" I gasped, panting. "Fireman Lucas…fell from the training tower…suspected broken back…"

Dr Roberts hurried back inside, emerging again a minute later with his Gladstone bag. "Right, let's go." And he got into his car.

I was surprised. "You want me to come too?"

"Yes. I may need your help."

I climbed into Dr Roberts' car, and then he set off driving quickly towards the fire station.

Mum was already working on Fireman Lucas by the time we arrived at the fire station. When I joined her, I could see that Fireman Lucas was unconscious, and lying on his back. Mum was administering oxygen to him.

"He's been unconscious ever since he fell," mum explained to Dr Roberts, who knelt on the ground beside her. "I've administered morphine, but I haven't touched him, aside from cutting his sleeve off."

"Okay. We need to remove his helmet before we get him onto a stretcher. Fireman Steele?"

"Yes, doctor?"

"I need you to go and phone for an ambulance. It's going to take at least twenty minutes for it to get here from Newtown."

"I'm on it," Fireman Steele said as he hurried away.

I felt Station Officer Boyce place a hand on my shoulder. "Er, should we send Sam home?"

"He's fourteen, not four," mum replied. "He needs to start facing reality."

I glanced up at Station Officer Boyce. "I'm okay," I said, to try and reassure him. "I've seen worse things on the six o'clock news."

Dr Roberts looked up at me. "Sam? We're going to need your help here. I know you've got strong, steady hands, and that's what we need right now."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked.

"Kneel down there on the ground in front of Fireman Lucas' head. I want you to support it while we remove his helmet and secure a brace around his neck. Just remember, the slightest move in the wrong direction could result in permeant injury."

I cautiously knelt in front of Fireman Lucas' head, and I made myself as comfortable as I could with my legs tucked up under me. Then, I carefully placed my hands on either side of Fireman's Lucas' head, ready to cup it in my hands.

"Are you ready, Sam?" Dr Roberts asked.

I nodded in response. Dr Roberts gently guided my hands into the correct position. Once I was fully supporting Fireman Lucas' head, Dr Roberts removed his badly damaged fireman's helmet.

"Don't move," Dr Roberts reminded me in a firm, but soft tone. I knew he was trying to keep me calm. I watched as he fitted a neck brace around Fireman Lucas' neck. "That'll help, but I need you to stay right where you are, Sam, until the paramedics get here. You're doing a great job."

"Thanks."

Fireman Steele returned to us then. "The ambulance is on its way. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You could set up a shade cloth to keep the sun off him," mum suggested.

"Good idea!" Station Officer Boyce agreed. "I know just the thing!"

While Station Officer Boyce and Fireman Steele went to find a shade cloth, I looked down at Fireman Lucas. "He will be okay, won't he?" I asked softly.

"We'll do everything we can for him," mum replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'll let you know if I start to get tired."

"You can relax a little, Sam," Dr Roberts advised. "It's okay if you do move a little bit now. You just need to keep his head off the ground."

It seemed like an eternity before the ambulance arrived. By then, I'd lost all feeling in my arms, because I hadn't moved them at all for almost half an hour, so I was very relieved when a paramedic took over from me.

"You've done a brilliant job, young man," the paramedic praised. "I don't know how you managed to keep your arms still for so long."

"Neither do I," I admitted as I slowly stood up. My muscles complained a little, so Dr Roberts helped me stand.

"A nice hot bath will cure that for you," he advised with a wink. "And you deserve it!"

"He deserves more than that," Station Officer Boyce said. "But we can discuss rewards later. We need to get Fireman Lucas off to hospital."

I stood by quietly while Station Officer Boyce and Fireman Steele helped the paramedics transfer Fireman Lucas onto a stretcher for the journey to Newtown Hospital. Mum breathed a sigh of relief once the ambulance had gone.

"Let's go home now, Sam. It's getting late."

…

A few hours later, after dinner, I was sitting at the kitchen table reading a book on the ancient Celts, when the phone rang. Mum answered it. I put my book down, and I turned around in my chair, so I could clearly listen to the conversation.

"Oh, hello Station Officer Boyce. How's Fireman Lucas doing? Mhm… Oh dear… That's such a shame! Still, at least he should make a full recovery… I'll go and see him once he regains consciousness… Yes, by all means! I'm sure he'll appreciate that… Okay. Please keep me updated. Bye."

"So, Fireman Lucas will be okay then?" I asked after mum had hung up the phone.

"To a point. He's expected to be able to walk again one day, but he'll never serve in active duty in the fire brigade again."

"Oh," I muttered sadly.

Mum came over to me, and she gave me a hug. "Station Officer Boyce is recommending you for a fire service commendation."

"Why? I didn't do much."

"Sam, what you did today almost certainly saved Fireman Lucas' life. It may not have seemed like much, but you did a lot. I'm sure you'll get the commendation, but we won't worry about it now. It's time for bed."

"Yes, mum. I'm exhausted anyway. It's been a long day. Goodnight."

Mum gave me another hug when I stood up. "Goodnight, Sam."

"Hey! Where's my goodnight hug?" dad asked from the sofa.

Chuckling, I went over to him, and I playfully crash-tackled him. Dad ended up rolling off the sofa and onto the floor!

"Well, that's the last time I ask you for a hug!"

"You did ask me for one!"

"I said a hug; not a rugby tackle! Go to bed."

I snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!" I was about to salute him, but then dad leapt up, and he started to run towards me. I dashed over to the stairs. "Can't catch me!"

"That's what you think!" dad shouted up the stairwell after me. Then he chuckled. "Night, son!"

"Goodnight, dad!"