Whilst Skarloey escorted his sick brother home for some well needed rest, Mr Bailey met Rusty and Luke outside the tunnel to speak to them- particularly to Luke.
"Now, Luke, from my understanding, you are currently feeling suicidal- am I correct?"
"Correct, sir." Luke whispered, "how did you know?"
"I knew someone- a friend, really- who had felt suicidal and made several attempts at suicide himself. He eventually succeeded 4 years ago, after his sister was killed in a crash. In a random twist of fate, I happened to witness the accident, and I thought, well, as morbid a subject this is, he'd rather hear of his sister's death from a friend he knew intimately than from someone he didn't know, like a police officer." He hung his head, sadly. "Unfortunately, he never got over the news, and he… well, he left this earth to be with her again."
"What happened, sir?" Asked Luke gently.
…
"I used to have an old school friend whose name was Matthew Mitchell," began Mr. Bailey, "and we went to school together in Bristol, long before I moved to Sodor. He was a bright young man, but prone to temper issues and violence when things didn't go his way.
"One day, when Matt was fourteen, his father died- I think it was a sudden, unexpected stroke. Matthew was devastated, as they had been close, and to deal with the grief, he let his grades plummet, stopped showing up for school- and worse, turned to drugs and gang violence.
"By chance, I happened to notice his scars when we were out swimming. He seemed reluctant to join us in the lake. I, in a playful mood at the time, attempted to pull him into the lake. He struggled, and he accidentally exposed them- a network of scars, some old, some fresh, criss-crossing his arms. I was disturbed by the sight and tried to ask him if he was ok. He assured me he was fine but added that he wanted me to keep quiet.
And I did, for a while. But as more cuts appeared next to healing ones, I told our teacher, who rang Mrs. Mitchell- his mother. She took him to A&E, and he never quite forgave me. But I could never forgive myself for keeping quiet and allowing him to continue self-harming."
…
Rusty and Luke were wide-eyed with horror at Mr. Bailey's story; but their silence encouraged Mr. Bailey to continue his narrative.
…
He was bullied, and he continued to self-harm to deal with problems, such as the continuing grief of his father's death, the bullying, school issues and his family's lack of understanding of his condition. He received help from a therapist and recovered; having stopped harming himself for a few years when he met his first girlfriend, Lucy.
He attended his sibling's weddings and later those of some of our school chums. He laughed, he joked- just like old times.
However, things started going downhill after he fell out with his youngest sister, Violet Holmes, at her own baby shower. He left, furiously swearing, destroying her and her husband's property and acting like a beast. No one knows why this happened- many theorized he had a psychiatric disorder, whilst some believed he was just on drugs and lost control of his senses But I'm not sure myself.
Anyways, he was promptly arrested, and I paid his bail. After his release, I suggested we get a flat together whilst he got his life together. He surprisingly agreed, and we got ourselves a flat and established a companionable routine, whilst he once again sought counselling.
He resolved to do so after she returned from her pre-natal scan... and he asked me if I could come with him. I agreed, wholeheartedly- but due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to rearrange his plan- I asked if I could meet him at his sister's, and he agreed.
…..
But what happened, Mr Bailey sir?" Luke asked, curious and saddened by the story the kindly foreman had told thus far.
"Well, Luke, it's not easy to say, for she was a lovely girl, and she of all people I know didn't deserve what happened, but I must… I must tell her story. I must tell Matthew's story…" Mr Bailey' though his kind, chocolate brown eyes were filling up with tears, he gritted his teeth determinedly, and carried on.
….
"What!? Gregory, you better not be lying to me!" a distraught Matthew cried, when I met him outside Violet's home.
"It is true- I'm sorry, Matthew." I told him sympathetically. "It was a drunk driver in that lorry- it was fatal impact. I saw it. Her car was totalled- the lorry ran straight into it…"
"How would you know?" he grunted.
"I saw it happen," I replied. "It was outside the library, two blocks down. I went into the library to phone the emergency services, but… Matthew, she's gone. I'm sor"-
CRACK! And I found myself on the ground, Mitchell's fists pummelling into my face.
"Don't SAY it!" He screamed, as a fist landed square on my nose. "No number of apologies will ever bring her back! I'm f% * out of here!" And with that, he sprung up off my torso, onto his feet- and stormed off to God knows where.
"MATTHEW!" I shouted imploringly after him- but I was ignored. He continued storming away, and I somehow had a feeling in my chest that this would be the last time I would see him alive.
….
"Sure enough, I never saw him for a whole week after that day- but I heard he was abusive and destructive. After that, his mother found him… He hung himself in a tree in his back garden, with a note pinned to his shirt, reading 'I will join you, my sweet little sister. Please, forgive my cruel treatment of you.'" He sighed, shaking his head. "I have never forgiven myself for his death. If only I had done something more to save him."
"But you couldn't. One drunk driver took three lives- an innocent woman's an unborn child's, and indirectly, your friend's." Rusty reminded him gently. "It's sad he's gone, but you did all you could to help him… that's more than what most people he had known could say.
"You're… you're quite right." Mr Bailey said shakily. "But I wish to avoid history repeating itself, so I shall do what I can to help you all- especially you, Luke." He finished warmly.
Thank you, Mr Bailey, sir." The two engines chorused in relief, before Rusty politely excused himself to resume his duties.
