A West Village Tragedy Part III.
On the other side of the earth from the hospital that Seth languished in, Jeff had accepted that there was nothing that he could do for now, being too far from home to just pop in and see how he was for an hour. He had been persuaded that he could not call the hospital repeatedly to find out how Seth was by Nick, who had shown him how quickly the costs would mount up, particularly on his cellphone. Instead, he had to be content with Thad's daily update, which had the news from Ollie first hand.
That left him to concentrate on where he was now, and taking care of his son as Nick attended to his work. The landscape around Auckland was in complete contrast to that back home; the fact that there were active volcanic features within a short drive of the city filled him with a mixture of awe and dread. His son proved to be a perfect companion in his explorations, quite content to sit in the sunshine and read quietly as his papa sketched the city, knowing that he would feature in most of the drawings too. The sun was warm, but the air smelt different to that at home. Wes had also been promised proper time at the beach once his dad had finished his two days of work, and from the high vantage point of Maungawhau, the sea looked so blue and inviting in the distance.
The Sky Tower had also proved fun; even to a young man raised in a city full of glass and steel skyscrapers, the shape of the building was a fascination. They had enjoyed an afternoon snack in the revolving restaurant, seeing the city going past slowly as they turned round in a full circle. That night he had much to tell his father when he returned to them, tired but still keen to listen to his husband and son as they told him all about their day, illustrated by Jeff's drawings. He had blanched though as Jeff had told him about the SkyJump; the idea that they would allow people to jump off the building, even if it was on a cable, seemed so wrong. He replied to Thad's message with his opinion; in the safety of Dalton, Thad googled the idea, and wondered if he could afford to fly to Auckland, just to experience jumping off a building in the middle of a city….
The following day Jeff and Wes had headed to the War Memorial Museum, and seen much there that illustrated the history of the island nation. It was located in yet another area that had been shaped by volcanic activity. There were displays on volcanoes naturally, and whilst they fascinated Wes, they also left him a little bit frightened, given that they were so close by. "Papa," he whispered, "Is it safe to be here? I mean, really safe, if there is boiling hot water and steam coming out of the earth so close to us?"
"It is safe, don't worry. The hot springs are well regulated and monitored. Of course, it isn't just water that is heated; there is mud too. It's not boiling, just very warm; you can actually go and take a bath in that mud…"
"A bath?" said Wes with a hint of indignation that made Jeff want to laugh. "I thought that you had a bath to get clean, but one in mud would just make you really dirty!"
"Well, yes, it would, but there are minerals in it that are really good for the skin, and it is nice to get messy sometimes! I think it could be quite fun to go and have a mud bath, especially if you could then go and wash it all off in a nice warm pool of water outside."
Wes looked at his papa in contemplation for a moment, pondering how silly grown ups could be at times, then replied, "I suppose it would be interesting to see it at least, papa… Do you think that daddy might let us go?"
"Well, we are actually going to see it tomorrow. And between us, I think that your daddy will be the one that ends up being the messiest of us all," said Jeff, watching as his son's face lit up. It would be a good way for Nick to relax if the second day of his conference turned out to be as hard going as the first had been…
Nick was finding the conference fascinating and worthwhile, but the short nature of the event meant that there was so much being crammed in that it was exhausting. He had met a whole selection of people, all of whom had very different priorities, depending on where they had come from. Those that had come from Australia had very different views from those in the host nation, and they both had different priorities to those from the island nations like Fiji and Vanuatu. He had been most fascinated to meet the representative from the Pitcairn Islands, a nation state with less than 50 inhabitants, all descended from 9 mutineers. He had known something of the history, and how dependent they were on the rest of the world for survival, but to hear it first hand was fascinating.
He also noted how the influence of the old colonial order and the structure of the Commonwealth played a hand in the discussions. When it emerged that he had actually met the Queen, he became an instant celebrity to quite a few of the invited guests just for that; mentioning he had met her immediate heirs too made things even worse. He decided therefore not to mention that he had spent a weekend at President Kennedy's official retreat, just in case it tipped someone over the edge.
His speech, when he made it, was well received, and he managed to answer the questions that he was asked with ease, his prep having paid off. There had been no dissenting voices to his message of tolerance and respect, the influence of the Commonwealth at play. The second day proved less stressful that the first in the main, and he could see that much of what the UN was trying to promote was already in place in the southern half of the globe. Still, he would be glad when the day was over, and he could finally see and enjoy what the nation had to offer, alongside his family…
As Nick had anticipated, Jeff was one of the main attractions for all of the politicians and dignitaries that attended the post conference dinner. The drawing that he had done for the Queen had circulated as widely as The Judging Angel, and it was regarded by many as one of the key things that had given her the strength to return to her public duties. Nick was privately relieved to discover that he was much less in demand, as that allowed him to keep a close eye on Wes, who had been invited to join them. This was his son's first formal dinner, and he had been quite excited to be asked, feeling very grown up. His father did worry that he might find it all too much, and had qualms that he might inadvertently say something out of turn in the way that children do, but he took it all well.
He particularly enjoyed the display of the traditional haka given by a group of local teenagers at the start of the evening. He had found it fascinating, and on being introduced to two of the youngest involved in the display, Wes had promptly asked if they could show him how to do it, so that he could impress people with his new knowledge on his return to kindergarten. The whole room had paused in the end to watch as he aped the moves of the two young men opposite flawlessly, much to the delight of his fathers. Afterwards, Nick could not help but remark to his husband that if a certain Head Warbler that their son was named after been allowed, he would have had them perform a haka on stage every time they were at a show choir competition, to intimidate their opponents. A moment later Jeff was laughing, as a vision of Rachel's face came to him, aghast as she watched the Warblers standing right in front of her, stamping their feet, yelling and pulling horrible faces…
They were able to leave the dinner quite early, using bedtime for Wes as their excuse. It was fortuitous, as they had an earlyish start the next day for their excursion to the hot springs. Their son had nodded off again once they were in the hire car, but he woke again as they approached their destination. The air was filled with a sulphurous smell, and steam rose from the pools of water. This was the inland community of Rotorua, and their destination was called Hell's Gate; Nick had not told anyone else the exact name, and when they saw it on the signposts, both Jeff and Wes did a slight double take. "I think that it was named by earnest Christian missionaries when they arrived here; the pools of steaming water and the boiling mud must have seemed like damnation to them," said Nick as he parked the car.
On stepping out, Jeff sniffed the air, then wrinkled his nose in disgust. "It smells like someone has been striking matches all day," he said. "I guess that would have only added to the issues for those early folks…"
They explored the area first, Jeff and Wes staring at a pool of bubbling mud in one of Nick's photos, entranced by the whole thing, and wreathed in steam. Then it was time for them to head for their slot at the mud baths. They changed into their swimming costumes; old ones for Nick and Jeff, but a new undecorated set for Wes. He at once asked where his normal set was, not liking the plain one at all. Nick informed him that it was back at the hotel, and he would soon understand why he had been given this new set to wear…
They were allocated exactly 20 minutes in their own pool of warm, silky mud. Nick stepped in first as the other two stood on the edge, observing. "Okay, so this is definitely weird; it is like stepping into a bowl of warmed chocolate pudding, but once you are in, it does feel so wonderful! Are you two just going to watch, or are you joining me?" He extended a hand to his son and husband, hands that were already coated in warm mud. Wes took it gingerly, feeling the warm mud oozing around his fingers, and he realised that it actually felt really nice… Five minutes later they were all wallowing in it quiet happily, rubbing it into themselves and each other, and to Nick's amusement, he could swear that his husband was actually purring…
They took a shower to wash off the worst of the mud before they headed into the warm springs, where the smell of sulphur was stronger than before. It was a lot like being in the hot tub at Port Jeff, but this was much bigger. Drying off afterwards, they headed for the reception desk, and collected their visitor certificates. Nick also retrieved his camera, on which one of the staff had been only too pleased to take photos of them all coated in glistening mud. He wondered if they could use that picture for their Christmas card that year. He had to admit as they headed back to Auckland that it had been worth the long flight just to experience that day, even if he would have to throw the three swimsuits away, and still thought as much when he found traces of mud on the back of Jeff's neck later that night.
The next day, with the comments of their friends on the mud bath photos still fresh on Facebook, they headed for a beach that Jacinda Ardern had told Nick about when they met in private. It was quiet and beautiful, well away from the crowds that they had seen heading to the more popular spots. They had packed a picnic lunch, and they ate it leisurely as they relaxed in the sun. The sea was pleasantly warm, and they had all swam in it too, in suits that were clean and in the case of Wes, more popular. As they headed back to the city later, Wes dozing in the back, Nick and Jeff both had to agree that they had enjoyed their brief excursion to the country.
"I would like to come back for a longer vacation sometime, probably in our winter at home. I think that we could also look at going to the South Island, which is supposed to be even more dramatic and beautiful. There are glaciers there, and they filled most of the external scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy there," remarked Nick. That got him a nod from his husband, and Nick knew what he was thinking of; being able to go and capture that majestic, almost other-worldly landscape with his pencils on paper…
As Nick and Jeff prepared to fly back to the United States on Sunday, Ollie found himself heading to the hospital, having been called in to deal with what had been described as a situation. He normally guarded his weekends off and ignored the phone, but the message that came from the senior nurse on the ward, stating that there was a problem with Mr Kennedy that required his attention. Reading those words had made Ollie's heart sink, and he had headed for the door at once. En route, he had called to ascertain exactly what was happening, and had been greatly relieved to discover exactly what her concerns were about. He could have left it to her to deal with, but he was already halfway to the hospital, so he carried on. He sent his younger brother a text before he arrived, then he headed straight for Seth's room, opening the door swiftly, then shaking his head.
"When she told me that there were two people that were refusing to leave this room, I had an inkling as to who it would be. Had I not, I would have told her to call security and have you forcibly removed. I take it that your respective spouses know that you are here, even if according to the message that my little brother just sent in reply to mine a moment ago, he had absolutely no idea what was going on…"
"Yes, Julia knows; in fact, she already had a bag packed for me when I announced what my intentions were," replied Skylar, who looked to Ollie's eyes at least, as if he had not slept properly in days.
"Aaron did try and stop me, but when I told him that Skylar was already intent on coming, he changed his mind. He realised that there was a good reason for me to travel and that was to take care of those that are not in a hospital bed," Edith Carmichael added for her part.
"Well, the problem is that the rooms in this unit are not designed to be able to accommodate a camp bed," said Ollie in his best doctor voice, "and on top of that, you have brought a little too much luggage."
"Now that latter issue will be dealt with just as soon as we can access Seth's property and get his apartment keys. He would have no objection to both of us staying there I am sure, but your staff here, quite rightly, would not give us access to his belongings, given that they have never seen us before." Ollie nodded at Mrs Carmichael's words, and then he saw that she was subtly gesturing to him that she needed to talk to him outside the room, away from Skylar…
"Well, I am sure that is the case, so I will get them for you. Maybe it would be best if one of you came with me for a moment to collect them, and then I can formally introduce you to the head nurse too…"
He stepped out, followed as he expected by Edith; once outside the door, she paused to look back through the window and observe the room. "Do you know that the words that he spoke to you just now are the first that he has uttered since we were shown into the room? He barely talked on the journey here, and now he is back into the zone, his entire focus being on Seth," she said quietly, as she watched the young man that she had travelled with from Ohio sitting there, his eyes distant and wistful, clutching his best friend's hand as if both their lives depended on it. "Seth has been like this now for six days by my calculation, and I am afraid that the longer he remains in this comatose state…."
"Yes, that is not a good sign at all," admitted Ollie. "If he enters a new week, and there is still no sign of him waking up by the middle of it, then I am afraid that we are going to have to face the fact that there is a strong possibility that he might not regain consciousness at all…"
"I think that Skylar has worked that out for himself, and that is the reason that he needs to be here; he faithfully promised Seth that he would be there at the end, and well…" Mrs Carmichael paused for a moment, then said in a strong voice. "In my personal opinion, I think that he will come back to us, because he is a fighter, and he also told me that he had no intention whatsoever of passing away without saying his farewells in person." She then motioned to Ollie to start walking, and he did, and she started to speak again. "This is not the first time I have been in a situation like this of course. I was at my brother's side when this cruellest of conditions claimed his life. That happened in a hospital in Illinois, but it was not where my brother had wanted to pass away. If we can, I would like Seth's end to come when he is surrounded by friends and love; at home, and as painless for him as possible. He deserves that much at least. Anyway, not a word of that kind of thing to Skylar. He is not as prepared for the inevitable as I am…"
In the end, Ollie only assisted Mrs Carmichael in heading to the street in the West Village. Skylar had begged to be allowed to stay with Seth just a little while longer, and he had not had the heart to deny the clearly distressed young man his request. The head nurse had her reservations about the scenario, but Ollie reassured her. "He is Mr Kennedy's best friend; like a brother to him, and vice versa. If Seth does happen to wake up during the next few hours, then his presence would be a bonus, not any sort of hindrance."
"Well, if you are authorising it and taking responsibility for it, then I suppose that it is okay," she had said shortly, before walking off, leaving Ollie more convinced than ever that it was actually the nurses that ran the place, not the doctors and administrators.
As soon as Ollie had gone, the head nurse headed for Seth's room, and after a brief moment observing Skylar at his vigil, she entered, and placed a cup of coffee, a boxed sandwich and a cinnamon bun on the bedside cabinet. "He will not thank you for starving yourself at his bedside; for both your sakes, you need to eat and drink. I am reliably informed by the lady that arrived with you that pastrami on rye is one of your preferred choices of sandwich; that you like a latte with a drop of caramel syrup, and would give up your right arm for a cinnamon bun…"
Skylar looked at the food, then back at the head nurse. "You are right, of course you are, but I don't know if I should be eating in here…"
"If we are being completely strict with the rule book, then no, but by the same token you should also not be here at all at this hour. I think that if Dr Harwood has allowed the latter rule to slide, then we can let the food one slide too. Now, I have some checks to do on the patient, so you eat whilst I do them, then I will leave you both to sit in peace."
Skylar nodded, and headed for the food. The coffee was perfect, and his first bite of the sandwich confirmed to him what he already knew; that the most perfect pastrami was made in New York. He had just finished the sandwich when the head nurse announced that she was done, and he could return to his original spot, bringing the coffee and the bun with him. He ate and drank with one hand, the other holding tightly to Seth's, as he willed his best friend to wake up with every fibre in his body…
When she returned to the hospital early the following morning, Edith Carmichael was not in the least surprised to see Skylar still sitting where he had been when she left the previous night, still clutching tightly to his best friend's hand. He looked awful, and she wondered when he had last had a proper night's sleep; he could not have slept where he was after all, in an uncomfortable hospital chair. She was glad to see that there was evidence that he had at least eaten, as Julia had been most concerned about that aspect of his well-being, describing his appetite at home as non-existent in the days since the news had broken. That had been one of her concerns when he came to the city, the other being that in the presence of Seth, he might get some rest. So far, the latter had not been achieved.
"He's been sat there like that all night," came a voice behind her, and she spun round to see the head nurse, standing there holding a tray on which there was a steaming cup of tea, and some scrambled eggs on toast. "If I didn't know better, I would say that they were a devoted couple, or brothers at least. Even then though, it is rare that someone will sit there all night."
"They went through a great trauma together, and Seth protected Skylar from the worst of it; he sees this as his way of repaying that debt of gratitude. It isn't healthy though, if he is not getting any rest. I don't suppose that there is a room around here that I could send him to; somewhere he can get a shower and take a nap. I have brought him a change of clothes too."
"Technically, no, but there is a room that is set aside for the senior doctor on call overnight, and it wasn't used last night. If you can convince him to leave the bedside, then I will happily escort him there, but honestly, I wish you good luck with achieving that…"
Edith smiled at that, then said, "My husband was the Principal of an all boys prep school for quite some years, and both of them were pupils there. I think that I can use my power of authority from then to persuade him to go. I will remind him that I will be at Seth's bedside, so he won't be alone, and that he will be no good to anyone if he falls asleep, or collapses with exhaustion and ends up in a bed nearby himself…"
In the end though, it was only an intervention from someone that was in even higher authority than Mrs Carmichael that made Skylar leave the room. She had begun to fear he was glued to the seat, and that though he had devoured the scrambled eggs he would never sleep again, when there was a gentle draught, and Wes appeared in the room. He observed the scene in silence for a moment, then spoke. "He isn't going to come out of his coma just yet, however hard someone watches him. Therefore I would suggest that someone takes themselves off to get some sleep, and most importantly of all, a shower. Mrs Carmichael is far too polite to tell you that you are starting to smell, Warbler Willetts. If the odour coming from you starts to deepen, then it might just send Seth into an even deeper coma than the one he is already in."
"I am not that bad!" exclaimed Seth indignantly.
"No, but you are getting close enough to the point that if you were still a student at Dalton, then you might be getting a pep talk about the importance of personal hygiene," said Edith firmly. "I will stay here, by his side, until you come back, unless I am removed by a doctor. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back. There is also a change of clothes in that bag for you."
Skylar sighed, feeling two sets of stern eyes burning into him, then in an almost petulant tone said, "Fine, but I am only going for a couple of hours, tops. Plus, if he shows any sign of change, however small, someone needs to come and fetch me at once."
"I promise," said Edith softly. "I know exactly how much he means to you, and vice versa. If he wakes up, then it is you that he should see first…"
"When, not if!" said Skylar firmly. "He WILL wake up, he WILL come back to us. He would not go like this, not without saying goodbye."
As Skylar was lead away by the head nurse, who was just finished her shift, Edith made a note of the time, then looked at Wes pointedly. "Will he wake up?" she whispered.
"Honestly, I do not know. He is not on a collection list that I have seen, but that is no guarantee that this is not a very long coma…"
As soon as he got to the little room, and had the door locked behind him, Skylar headed for the shower; he had to admit that he was a little smelly, and once the warm water started to fall on him, he did feel much better. Afterwards, he took a look in the mirror, and almost recoiled at what he saw. He had bags under the bags under his eyes; in short, he looked haggard. He headed back into the room, and wondered where the stench of stale sweat was coming from, then realised that it was from the clothes he had just taken off. He hated to admit that Mrs Carmichael and Wes had been right though… He climbed onto the bed, and saw the alarm clock at the side, the time just after 8am. He set it for one hour, then lay back and closed his eyes…
When he opened his eyes again, he had a moment of confusion where he wondered where he was, and then he remembered. He glanced then at the clock, and sat bolt upright in a second when he saw that it showed that it was now 3.42pm. He jumped off the bed, hurriedly pulling on the clean clothes he had laid out earlier, all the time cursing himself for sleeping through the alarm. He grabbed the bag in which he had placed his old clothes, and almost recoiled now at the smell coming from it, then ran out of the room…
In his haste, he lost his bearings, and found himself in the midst of the maternity department. A swift U-turn was needed, and he retraced his steps until he saw something more familiar, and was soon at the door to Seth's room once more. He walked in, and was surprised to see Mason sitting beside the bed, not Mrs Carmichael. He had opened the door so swiftly and with a bang, which made Mason jump. "Oh, hey Skylar, it is good to see you again - I just wish the circumstances were better. Mrs Carmichael just went to the powder room, seeing that I was here. There has been no change in Seth though. I am sure that there will be though, when he is ready…"
Skylar nodded, then said quietly, "Thank you for all that you did last Monday. I know that he would not have lain there for much longer, and in all likelihood your finding him when you did probably made little difference to the situation we are in now, but you knew what to do, and exactly who to call. Dex is a good guy, but he doesn't know Seth as well as we do; he isn't as invested in the whole thing as we are. He would probably have panicked…"
"I would not say that I was exactly calm when I saw him, and thinking back, I could have broken the window to get in rather than going hunting for a key… In hindsight I should have gone over on Sunday night, but I was tired from my flight, and…"
"I understand; I mean, I wish that I had visited him more often. I sometimes think that if I hadn't put my own happiness at work first, and had considered his situation instead, I would have ended up staying here in New York and could have kept a better eye on him. Problem is, of course, there was no way that he would have let me settle for his sake. He can be so stubborn, but that will need to change from now on, now that his circumstances have altered…"
Mason smiled at that, then said, "You are right, of course, but try telling him that! He will not do anything that he doesn't want to, unless Ollie tells him that he has to…" Skylar nodded again, then took a seat next to Seth's bed again, and took his friend's hand in his own. Mason knew it was time to go, and said, "Well, I will head off now; I only popped in to see what was going on; only agreed to stay so that Mrs Carmichael could attend to what she needed to. Just know that I am thinking of him, and even if the slightest thing changes, can someone let me know? Until then, if you need anything, call me, day or night…"
"I will; you've been a good friend to him, Mason; to both of us…"
When other people stopped by that day, always claiming that they were just passing, although the hospital was not really on the way to anywhere, it was Mrs Carmichael that dealt with them, making conversation and giving them the latest updates. Skylar just sat in silence again, holding Seth's hand, eyes closed at times as if he was praying to any deity that would listen, asking them to bring Seth back, unaltered if possible. However, the last visitor the day arrived just as Mrs Carmichael was about to head back to the West Village to sleep. Jeff stopped dead on the threshold of the room, and his face crumpled as he took it all in…
"Jeff, this is totally unexpected! Should you not be…"
"Nicky knew that I would not be able to rest until I had seen him myself, so he got the taxi to drop me off here on the way home. Now that I am here though, I am not so sure that it was a good idea, because I will be even less likely to sleep at all… I should never have gone. He was so happy and content the day that we left, and that should have been a warning sign. I should have called Ollie at the least and asked him to pop round and check on him…"
"And from what I can gather, he would have found nothing amiss, nothing wrong but an annoyed Seth," said Edith kindly. "This kind of thing just happens. There is no warning that even the best medical brains in the world can find. He would still have had this attack, even if you had been sat there at his side. It was the same with my brother; one afternoon, as we were sitting down to tea, he just suddenly keeled over. He took days to wake up too… The fact is that no-one is to blame here, nobody could have stopped it. Plus, let us not forget; Seth was not in his chair when he suffered his attack, given that he was found nowhere near it, and that could have been a contributing factor. Could you blame him for his current state, given that evidence?"
"No!" said Skylar and Jeff in unexpected unison.
"Exactly. The blame game that you are all playing one way or another does nobody any favours. What he needs is for all of us to be there for him when he does wake up. Ideally, we all need to be on the same page for what is going to happen when he does wake up too…"
Once again, Skylar prepared to spend the night by Seth's side, with the same head nurse bringing him coffee, a sandwich and a cinnamon bun just after she started her shift. "I have also prepared a flask of tea for you, and a selection of cookies to sustain you through the night, when things might be busy," she said with a smile. "Now, if you want to attend to your ablutions, I have five minutes now to sit with him…"
Skylar was there and back in four, and she let herself out, pulling down the blinds on the room as she went, so that the fact he was still there would go unobserved by any passing, over zealous, medical administrator. Skylar ate his food, then watched in silence as the clock ticked on into a new day, knowing exactly what that meant; Seth had been comatose now for over a week, and that was a bad sign. He sat and prayed under his breath again, and then bending closer to his friend's ear, he whispered, "You have to wake up for me, Seth. You can't leave us all like this, with us having to make a decision as to whether you should live or die. Please, you have to wake up…"
Had Skylar lived in a Hallmark movie, or a daytime soap opera, then depending on the writers, Seth's eyes would have popped open there and then, or all the machines he was hooked up to would suddenly have gone haywire; but no, there was no change, no new sound, just the steady ticking from the clock on the wall. Skylar could feel his tears beginning to well up once more, but he blinked them away; he refused to cry, as that was admitting defeat. He had hope, and he knew that soon he would be chatting away to Seth as if all of this had just been a mistake. After all, a nightmare like this could not last forever…