Dylan Michaels Talent Agency was located at Charing Cross, just three rooms on the third floor in a Edwardian office building, brick built in Empire style. Dylan managed his agency with a wonderful Girl-Friday, the PA/secretary, Mabel and his partner in crime, Tomas. Over four hundred clients on the books and Tomas always on the look out for new talent. Dylan was in a meeting with a director and three young actresses, when Mabel buzzed. Dylan smiled and apologised, knowing Mabel would never interrupt unless it was life and death. Over the intercom Mabel sounded hesitant and unsure, something the forty year old woman never was, she ran the office with ruthless efficiency; filing, timetabling, publicity like the true porfessional she was.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but I have a message for Tony, Tony Fletcher. Its urgent. Ummm.. Tony's son, is in hospital, St. Stephen's, Chelsea Accident and Emergency... You are listed as Alex's contact when Tony is working abroad. They could not get hold of Sylvia Smith. Alex... Alex has taken an overdose of painkillers and sleeping pills. He's unconscious but stable. I... I just thought you'd want to talk to Tony yourself."
"Thank You Mabel." Dylan coughed and stood, trying to remember what this meeting was about. Oh, casting... teenage TV series, Young vampires or something. "I'll just make this phone call, then we can resume." Tony left to use Mabel's phone, knowing the door offered very little sound proofing.
2pm on a Thursday afternoon in London was midnight in Sydney Australia. Tony Fletcher had enjoyed a wonderful evening dining with mutual friends, discussing theatre, the tv show he'd been cast in, films and gossip, when Tony's mobile rang.
Tony flipped the phone onto speaker, everyone here knew Dylan, "Dylan, darling I was going to email you tomorrow. Filming done. Flight booked to LA in three days. What are you ringing about?"
"Are you in the company of friends? You're not alone, are you?"
Selene, Mark and Tony all laughed at that point, "I'm at Selene's place overlooking the harbour. Remember, you stayed here last year. I think they have just about recovered from that New Year's Eve Party."
"Are you sat down? I'm so so sorry Tony. I don't know what's been going on. I saw Alex two weeks ago, just before the bombings and he was fine. He's in hospital. He..Oh God Tony. Alex has taken an overdose. He's stable, I'll go down to St. Stephen's as soon I'm finished here, but Mabel just talked to A & E. I'll phone again as soon as I know more. I have Alex's therapist's details I'll talk to him. This is out of the blue. He was fine, doing that internship with Derek Smither's, Jon's friend. I... I'll call you back."
Tony had no idea what was going on with his son, maybe another disastrous relationship. Alex had a tendency to run head long into love. His fling with that Cassian had been intense until the California boy had wanted commitment. Alex had not dated since, maybe regretting giving the handsome musician the brush off. Alex had not phoned for a week, a week Tony had been filming in the Blue Mountains, cut off from civilization. They had spoken briefly last week, Alex had a break from work and had been very tired after working 16 hour days for three days straight, but had enjoyed the frenetic work load in London, liking the office work, no spying at all.
...
"Alex... Alex! Open your eyes! Come on Alex! Open up!"
Alex blearily could make out a bright room, lots of people, lots of noise. "Fucking hate hospitals" was mumbled under Alex's breath.
"Right, don't mix your medication in such large quantities then. Come on, you can answer some questions now Alex. Your therapist was not impressed when we phoned him. You broke his trust. Whats been going on? Sleeping tablets mixed with painkillers. We had to feed you a shit load of activated carbon, Alex. You'll be shitting bricks for weeks. Why did you decide to have the long sleep Alex? Bored? Depressed? Love Sick?"
"Fuck off you sarcastic cunt. I'm a fucking grade A psycho, better off dead."
"A Psycho, who did you off then."
"No one, just following orders. Government sanctioned spy shit. I... I had enough. All my planning for nothing. What happened? George and Mel work 12 hour days, it was fool proof. I timed it, dead by 5"
"George came home early, sunshine. Read your note, called the paramedics and now we have your divine company."
"Not for long SIS will be here pronto to tidy up this little mess. I hear they send the rejects to Harlsden Hall. Fuck, I planned it all perfectly. No one knew I was home. I should be fucking dead."
"OK, OK calm down Alex, we're just going to make sure you can't hurt yourself. We've applied for a Section 4 Order Alex under the Mental Health Act 1983. Do you understand, you are under assessment for 28 days as a danger to yourself and others. Dr. Graves has been in to talk to us. You need help. Don't be difficult."
"I know all about being difficult. I was restrained for my own benefit for the first time in 2001. I know all about shrinks, bunch of bastards, worse than the SAS."
"Tell us about the SAS then Alex." The resident emergency room doctor, thinking Alex was delusional.
"SAS are a bunch of wankers especially Wolf. He's a cunt. Mind you so were, Eagle, Fox and Snake. The Sarge is OK. He's cool. His name's Harry Dixon. From Yorkshire, Huddersfield. Shit, thats restricted info. Have to shut my gob now."
...
"OK, Mr Michaels you are representing Alex's father, who is in Australia at the moment, back on Monday." The doctor said looking at the clipboard in his hand. "I'm Dr Neil Sutherland. I've already spoken to Dr. Graves, Alex's therapist. Alex is here until he stabilises and Dr. Graves will then supervise Alex's transfer to Harlsden Hall, a mental health facility in Hertfordshire. Alex has been sectioned for 28 days for assessment and treatment. I have seen his notes he has been in therapy for four years. He's suicidal and my initial assessment suggests he will try again. Not a cry for help but a reasoned out attempt to die. He would be dead, if his flatmate had not come home early unannounced. Alex is asleep at the moment, but out of danger. He took approximately 15 strong painkillers and 10 sleeping tablets. We will keep Alex here for at least 48 hours to monitor his withdrawal and the possibility of convulsions. Side affects of taking so much Zyrol. We are keeping him restrained and when you see him, do not take off his restraints, they are there for his benefit. He got a bit aggressive in the Assessment Cubical."
"Umm, call me Dylan, please. Do you know what caused this? Alex was fine, last time I saw him. He had gotten an internship and was glad to be working. He was independent. Not suicidal."
"Who knows what triggered this episode, but from what Dr. Graves said it sounds like he has just snapped. Alex will be getting the best treatment from now on. Hopefully he'll snap back out of this depression. Right, he's still in Cubical 4, if you'll follow me."
Alex woke on general ward the next morning restrained and dying to relieve himself when he noted he had a lovely catheter in. He then wished he stayed unconscious when the nurse came in and gave him a laxative, just to help move the charcoal out of his system.
The visit of Dr. Warren was expected and one Alex would have done anything to avoid, no chance seeing he was restrained. So far Alex had tried to ignore the nursing staff. He had refused breakfast.
"Pretending I don't exist won't work, Alex, and I thought we had a good relationship. If the thought of doing interrogaton work was going to cause a breakdown, why the hell did you do it. No one would have been upset or surprised if you'd come out and said it would be too much for you to handle? You were a child when Yassen tortured you. There was no camaraderie, no choice on your part, you were a victim."
"Shut up Mike. I'm not a fucking victim. I followed orders.. I did it because Yassen said I could do it, but... But, I don't want to be the person that SIS wants me to be. No matter how hard I try I can't be the nice normal boy Tony expects or wants me to be. I liked being a tea boy stroke filing clerk. That was OK but becoming Yassen, thats a bit too much to like becoming just like Ian. I'd rather be dead than be like Ian. I had nightmares about it. The Interrogation stuff, well that got me off, made me hard. I liked it just a bit too much to be sane. So if I can't fulfill the criteria of being what I'm meant to be, I'm better off not being at all."
"And what about Tony, me, Dylan, Derek, your friends?"
"Look, I know I was shitting on everyone, but I don't want to be me anymore. I keep coming back to the same point in my reasoning. So, I planned to die. Normally the moments pass me by and I get on with things, but this feeling has been growing since I broke up with Cassian. I'm too fucked in the head for normal, that bastard even suggested I was playing at being queer. That I wad just punishing myself and that I should stop pretending and find a nice girl to fuck. My goals all changed so suddenly, I was going to come back and train at Loughborough for next years Commonwealth Games, but I fucked that up too. I never planned to go within a 100 yards of MI6 or SIS again but I got pulled back in by Derek's reassurance it was just a shitty internship. Too much to handle well you were right there doc, but I'm still here, I have to handle it. No nice oblivion for me. Well, I kind of totally defied Yassen, and he's the one person that scares me shitless. As for Papa, well we aren't that close anymore. He thinks all my decisions, personal and regarding work were shit. Killing myself is just another shit decision on my part."
...
Dylan had spoken to his best friend several times over the Friday and Saturday. Tony had rung during his stop over in Bangkok and on Monday morning Dylan was waiting at Heathrow arrivals with a small throng of reporters alerted to the fact Tony Fletcher's teenage son had tried to kill himself. Normally Tony was too much of a small fry to get much notice, but Alex had had his fifteen minutes of fame in Athens, the journalist at the front was not your usual paparazzi but Edward Pleasure.