Derek stood deadly still as the cold metal pressed against his neck. Everyone was standing watching as the young terrified man pulled Derek over to the wall.
'Get me the head guy,'
'You've got him,' Derek replied calmly hoping the guy hadn't noticed the lie in his voice.
'Right then, me and you have got to catch up. Don't remember me?'
'No, why should I?' For somebody with a knife at their neck Derek was being really sarcastic.
'You murdered my brother, Adam Hutton. He had a head ache for a few days and when he came in here he never left cause you bastards made him have an operation. He died on the table,'
'Listen, your brother would of died anyway. We tried to save him,'
'Don't push your luck, I'm in control,'
'What's your name?'
'Why?'
'Cause I don't like not knowing the name of a person I'm talking to when they have a knife at my throat,'
'Paul,'
'Ok Paul, listen I'm Derek, You want to talk?'
'No, I want revenge fro my brothers' death,'
'How are you going to get revenge for your brothers' death if you don't know who to get?'
'Fine but not here,' Derek turned and took Paul along to an Exam room. Closing the door and locking it, Derek sat on the bed.
'Tell me about your brother,'
'He was my wee brother. I did everything for him. He had a headache and came in cause it wasn't going away. You'd said he had an aneurysm and that he needed an operation. He never came back out. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!'
'Your brothers aneurysm could of ruptured and when that happens it becomes impossible to fix. What was the name of the doctor that treated your brother?'
'He said he was the chief,' Derek closed his eyes. It was him. He remembered the guy now. Adam was 18 and his whole life in front of him. Derek had tried o stop the bleeding but it was too far gone. He didn't have a hope of surviving if they had tried to remove it. Derek listened to the rhythmic moving of Paul walking up and down the room.
'He was only 18, my baby brother,' Paul leaned against the floor and slid down it, crying into himself. Derek walked over and sat next to him.
'I know how you feel,'
'How could you?'
'I lost my brother as well. He was four years old. He said he had a sore arm. We all thought nothing of it. The next day I woke up to be told he had died during the night because of a blood clot in his heart. It had started in his arm,' Derek bowed his head at the thought of his brother.
'I'm sorry,'
'If you give me the knife, we'll walk out here together,' Derek offered his hand over to Paul, his hand steady. The fear was fleeting in and out his head. Paul's hand trembled as he handed the knife over to Derek. He stood up and put the knife in the bin.
'Come on,' Derek helped Paul up and the two walked over to the door.
'You go on, I'll stay in here, go and get somebody to come and get me,'
'Paul, come with me,'
'No, you go ahead,'
'Promise me you won't do anything stupid, come with me,'
'NO, leave me here,' Derek opened the door. As the door closed Paul shut his eyes. There was only one option for him now. Walking over to the window he looked out.
'I'm sorry,' Opening the window he took his jacket off. Looking to the door he took a deep breath in.
'Adam, I'm coming,'
Derek was standing hold Meredith tightly against his chest. He wasn't thinking anything except that he was glad it was over. Nobody had rushed in the room.
'Derek…are you ok?'
'Yeah, mere I'm ok. I need to go and get him,'
Derek, leave him, security are on there way,'
'He won't hurt…' Derek was cut short by the sound of a thud. Running into the room he looked around the room, until he spotted the window wide open.
'NO!' Derek ran over to the window and looked down. Paul's body lay on the ground, mangled. Derek ran out the room followed by Meredith outside to Paul's body. Blood was running out of his head. He was dead.
'No,' Derek sat on the ground and let a single tear fall from his eye. Lifting Paul he carried him into the hospital onto a bed. Bailey started pushing the trolley as Derek stood in the middle of the hall.
'Derek, come on,' Meredith took hold of his hand but he stood unresponsive.
'Derek, you couldn't of done anything,'
'I should of stayed with him,'
'No, he attacked you, held a knife at your throat,'
'His brother died of an aneurysm, I was his doctor,'
'Derek, please, come with me,' Walking past Meredith he headed into the locker room, emptying his locker, he headed for the front door.
'I'll see you later,' His face was emotionless. He walked out the door and into his car. Putting his hands on the steering wheel he felt the sadness rising out his body. He let it go. The tears fell and hit the steering wheel. Meredith had followed him out and was standing watching him through the windscreen. She couldn't take it any longer. Walking over she opened the door to the drivers' side. He turned and looked at her. He turned to face her. Wrapping her arms around her he began sobbing louder.
'It's ok, I'm here, it's ok'
Nothing she said or did was soothing him. He just kept cry but it was for a number of things. The fact Paul had taken his own life, that fact he thought he wasn't going to see Meredith again but the fact he remembered about his brother. The day he complained about his arm and the day he died were running through his head.
'Derek, can you got get mom, my arm hurts,'
'Kevin, it's the way you've been lying, it'll be fine in the morning,'
'No Derek, it really hurts,' Derek climbed out of his bed and went over. Feeling his arm he sighed.
'It's not broken. You'll be fine tomorrow,'
'Night Derek,'
'Night Kevin,'
Derek tossed and turned in his bed, unable to settle the entire night.
'Kevin…Kevin…KEVIN…KEVIN!'
The shrieks of Derek's mother made his eyes spring open.
'Derek get an ambulance!' Derek ran out and phoned. Staying in the living room he listened as his mother sobs became louder.
His sister carol was sitting holding his other sister Karen. She turned to Derek. His oldest sister Lindsey was sitting cuddling Derek when their father came in. His face was as white as a sheet. Derek jumped down off Lindsey and walked over to his father.
'Where's Kevin?'
'He's…gone to sleep.' Lindsey let out a small groan as did carol.
'Is he ok?'
'Derek, Kevin's dead,' Lindsey spat out the words. Derek felt sick. Running along to his room his mother was sitting cradling her son.
'Mom?' His mother stopped rocking back and forward and looked up at Derek. Her face was tears stained and white.
'Why is Kevin not moving?'
'He's dead…' His mother broke down into sobs and began rocking back and forward. Derek didn't believe them. He sat next to his mother and touched his brothers' body. It was cold and semi stiff. It was the last time he ever saw his brother.
After and hour Derek was sitting in the passenger seat, holding his head in his hands. Meredith was driving to the harbour, a place where she knew Derek would ease up. Pulling in she unbuckled her belt and turned to face him.
'Talk to me Der,'
'My brother…I told him about my brother,'
'Derek you don't have a brother, you've got three sisters but not a brother,'
'He was four. It was a blood clot to his heart that killed him,' Derek took a deep breath in. He had never told anyone about him.
'I said he would be fine and the next day he was dead,'
'Come on,' Meredith got out the car and hired a ferryboat, something she knew Derek couldn't run away from. Getting out to the middle of the water she held him against her chest. They just lay on the boat, silently, waiting for a solution to his problems that they knew wouldn't come.
