August 2027: Interference at Dalton.

The last Sunday in August that year was Joan's final full day in the city; she had managed to see all of the things she had most wished to, along with all of the bucket list essentials. That list had culminated the previous night with a trip to see The Sound of Music on Broadway, where she was privileged enough to be able to go backstage before the show to meet the two leads, which was a bonus very few enjoyed. On meeting Marley, she had noticed something at once, as only a woman could, but had left Adam mortified when she had announced that Marley would not be able to carry on in the role for very much longer. The young woman in question had laughed, but Adam had felt the need to apologise profusely before he swiftly escorted his grandmother out of the room.

"I have no idea why you would say something so rude as that to her, or what precisely you meant by it," he hissed at Joan as they walked back to the auditorium. "I will have you know that she is one of the most talented musical actresses of her generation, as you will shortly witness!"

"I do not doubt that for one second, Adam, but trust me when I tell you that she will be forced to step down from the role soon. The part in question cannot realistically be played by a young woman in her condition after a certain time passes and things become all too obvious, even to a man…" Joan replied a little smugly.

Adam stopped in his tracks and looked at his grandmother, and then his eyes widened as he got the implication in what she had just said. He knew that Marley had expressed a desire to become a mother soon after she married, and that she and Ryder had been trying to achieve that, but it was obviously a well-kept secret, otherwise the rumour mill would have been full of talk that she was about to depart from her role…

That Sunday morning however, everything had changed; Adam had gone with Joan to St Luke's in the Fields for morning service with no indication of any departure, but when he emerged, every one of the Broadway gossip columns was carrying the news that Marley had given notice. A statement from the producers stated that she would be stepping down from the part in six weeks' time; the show would carry on with a new Maria, and that the final tickets for Marley's last shows would all be released at 10am the following morning. As Adam read the statement on his phone, he suddenly realised that his grandmother was looking over his shoulder when she said, "I told you so…" He shook his head, as she had said the words in a tone that suggested she was trying not to sound quite as smug as she obviously felt…

Marley's news did come like a bolt from the blue to most of her friends, however. Of course, Nick mentally patted himself on the back for calling it the week before when Blaine had made the remark about expectant people, even if the statement did not specifically state that was the reason for her imminent departure. Of course, that lack of detail would start a whole flurry of rumours online, going from a tragic terminal illness to allegations of daily stand-up fights with the Von Trapp children and Cooper… The fact that particular rumour was attributed to have been verified and witnessed by a member of the backstage crew made Cooper laugh. He momentarily considered contacting Marley and asking her to fake such a screaming match with him that afternoon to try and flush out the alleged 'source' of the rumour; they would not be able to resist crowing to everyone that their suggestion had just become fact…

As for Marley, she knew that she would need to tell her nearest and dearest friends the truth before they too began to wonder what was going on and had started on a round of phone calls. The first one, to Jane, had made her laugh as she had immediately asked when she was due; with that confirmation, she had then gone on to say that between her and Hillary, she was now feeling a little broody herself, and that she was going to try for a second child herself. Marley had blushed when she went on to say that Mason wasn't complaining about that. Before she could make her next call, she received a message from Trent, which was simply an emoji of a stork with a baby, followed by a question mark and a heart. She had been told before by all of the former Warblers that Trent had an almost uncanny knack of being able to guess things correctly, but now she had the proof. In the spirit of his message, she sent him back two big ticks and a heart…

She decided that she would leave the house earlier than usual that day to head for the theater, as that would allow her to avoid the worst of the possible crowds at the stage door; she did not mind the fans, but they would be joined today by so many of the media it would be horrendous. She did not take her usual route either, which meant she walked past the front door of the theater for once; she was startled when it flew open as she passed, and she was grabbed and pulled inside. It was Cooper, who had had the exact same idea, and had already had to fight his way in past reporters asking him what the fights were all about… When he saw her coming, he knew he had to stop her facing the same fate…

Settled into the green room, he turned to her as he waited for the kettle to boil and said, "I had a brief conversation this morning with one of the directors on the phone and informed him that I will be staying for three months after your departure, which is well past the Christmas holidays. Of course, depending on what happens to the sales after you go, that could also be the closing date. If they are only going to go on for another couple of weeks after my scheduled departure, then I will, of course, carry on to the end," he said, and she nodded, looking apologetic. "Of course, I was thinking of moving on myself anyway; I think I would like to do a show with not one song or dance in the playbook…"

Marley laughed, but she knew what he meant; they had been sharing a stage together, first in Mary Poppins and now as the Captain and Maria for nearly three years, singing and dancing eight times a week in two stage versions of popular musicals… "I have to admit that I won't miss having to sing so much, but I don't think I will be stopping singing entirely for a little while yet. I have already received a text from those in charge of the revived radio orchestra, asking if I would be available to sing with them once again…"

"And is that something that you are going to consider doing, after how you were all treated by them before?" asked Cooper.

"Those managers have gone; the new people in charge are by all accounts much more respectful of both the performers and the audience; they now respect the listeners and try to give them what they want. It might not be the most popular programme on the airwaves, but the average audience figures are respectable in this day and age. I think that I might agree to it, but only up until Christmas. It would be useful to continue to have a little income, and well, on the radio nobody will notice just how large I am becoming…"

It was Cooper's turn to laugh then, before he looked around him, then whispered, "Tell them that if they want something really special for their Christmas show then I might be available to sing a few duets with you, strictly as a one-off…"

"I think that would be a very nice thing to have happen," remarked Marley. She was fully aware that the network would be only too pleased to have Cooper join her at the microphone, as they could market it as a chance to bring a little bit of Broadway into every single home across the nation and indeed beyond…

That Sunday also saw Jeff invite Nick and Wes upstairs into his studio to proudly show off the first of his completed Coronation sketches, but as it turned out, it was not an image from the big day itself, rather something that he had captured by chance as he attended one of the final rehearsals for the event in Westminster Abbey. He had been there to witness the moment when the King dissolved into laughter after the Archbishop of Canterbury had forgotten the words at the end of one of the prayers; he had stopped, someone had piped up with the correct word, and one of the other bishops in attendance quipped, "You must have said this before?" As everyone burst into laughter, Jeff had sketched frantically, capturing the face of the new monarch as he enjoyed a moment of hilarity in what had been a long day…

He had come to the conclusion that for the new King and his immediate family, as for those that had gone before him, all of the pomp and ceremonial was actually very much like acting when you boiled things down; they were the current cast members of a very long running drama, one in which the cast only changed infrequently and nobody really had the option to quit entirely. Shakespeare himself had famously written in the play As You Like It that 'All the world's a stage', and that was true…

"I am nearly finished the first of the more formal ones, but I think that this candid moment was the one that deserved to be set down for posterity the most. If I remember, there was a BBC camera crew there at the same time filming for a documentary to be shown around Christmas, so eventually all of the world might see this moment, unless it ends up on the cutting room floor. I think that I was privileged to have seen behind the scenes before anyone else…"

Nick had stayed silent until then, but now he spoke. "I think that in this sketch you have captured the true nature of the new King, the man behind the public face. He is a jovial man that loves his family dearly, contrary to what so many people in the media claim. It is hard to show all those private moments to the world, and those that clamour for it would be the first to complain if their own privacy was breached. People used to criticise the late Queen back in the 1950s for not taking her young children with her when she went on her Commonwealth tours, but that was for the most practical of reasons. It is hard enough these days to travel with very young children and keep them occupied on long flights; it would have been a nightmare even on a well-appointed Royal Yacht…"

"Of course, the standards that were followed by the family back in those days did not encourage open displays of affection to your children; even the rest of society didn't expect that," replied Jeff.

"That sounds very silly," piped up Wes. "If you love someone then you should show them, whether you are a prince or a pauper."

Marvelling at their son's vocabulary, Nick looked at Jeff and smiled, before he said, "I could not agree more!" Then he knelt down, as did his husband, and hugged their son together…

That same day at Dalton, a fully recovered Thad was catching up with his work. He had felt completely well since Wednesday if he was honest, but he discovered that his opinion on such matters did not count for much with Edith Carmichael, and much to his surprise, it didn't cut any ice with Sebastian either. His fellow Warbler had encouraged him to take full advantage of the chance to take it easy for a while, as in his opinion, the Head Warbler worked himself too hard. "You never think of yourself, Thad. If you are not working away or looking out for your current students here at the school, then you are occupied in keeping an eye on all of us instead, usually coming along to dig us out of the holes we've fallen into. I think that the time might have come for us to take a vote on how many weeks a year you will be forced to take off when we have the next full assembly of the brotherhood here," Sebastian had said firmly, and now, having reflected on it, Thad had come to see that he had a good point.

He had spent the first part of the summer vacation preparing his lessons for the new school year, ensuring that the dorms that he was in charge of were in a good state of repair, and then assisting with the general running of the school. In fact, his only time away from Dalton during the vacation had been when he was housesitting for Nick and Jeff in New York whilst they attended the Coronation – although in all honesty, catsitting would have been a better term for it. That had allowed him to spend some quality time with his brother and his family, but it did not come with the total freedom from responsibility that a true holiday did, and in any case, he had been caught up in various events after that…

He realised that he needed to have a new adventure of his own; do something solely for himself that would push his limits and bring new experiences at the same time. He had always intended to someday take a diving holiday somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, to see first hand all the myriad creatures that lived below the warm tropical waves, but maybe that was too easy… Perhaps he could do the same but on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, then go onto to explore the only landmass considered a continent that was one nation. It had always held such an allure for Principal Carmichael, and it would be nice to see why. It was a nation of contrasts, of vast open spaces and modern cities, and by heck, it deserved to be explored by him next summer…

That Sunday therefore found Thad online in his study, exploring the various options that would be available to him. He had managed to find a reasonably priced plane ticket to Brisbane, which would be the most convenient place to go if he wanted to access the landmark that was the Great Barrier Reef. From there he could take a train down the coast to Sydney, then on via Canberra to Melbourne. After that he could head, via Adelaide, on another train that would transport him across the vast Nullarbor Plain, along the longest straight stretch of railroad in the world, which was 297 miles in length. That would take him to Perth, from where he could head for home, possibly via the city of Darwin…

It was as he was looking for flight information for that city that he came across information about flights from there to India, and suddenly Thad felt new inspiration growing inside of him. He had a long enough summer vacation that he could possibly continue beyond Australia to the second most populous nation on earth, and the flights being shown were very moderately priced. He began to investigate India, and that created many more issues, because there were so many places on the densely populated sub-continent that he would wish to see…

"I would love to see the Taj Mahal," came a voice and he realised that Wes was now sitting at his side on the desk, a broad smile on his face. "I can actually picture the two of us sitting there, looking across at it, side by side at a place that was built as a symbol of the undying love of one man for his late wife…"

Thad smiled, and reaching across to take his husband's hand, he said, "Me too. The problem is that there is just so much of India that looks magnificent, so much to see. I mean, I would love to head up and see the foothills of the Himalayas too…"

"You are not to even think about climbing Mount Everest," interjected Wes sharply.

"I wasn't even considering that," his husband responded, then couldn't help but add, "At least, not until you mentioned it just now…"

On Monday morning Sebastian walked into the Senior Commons to find Thad looking through the sheet music store cupboard, looking through the various pieces that Sebastian had acquired that summer to add to the already extensive collection. He cleared his throat, but Thad did not acknowledge him, just carried on with his inspection as his friend glared at him. "Well, I must admit that you have added a good solid range of tunes here with your purchases," Thad eventually said, "and all of them will be easy enough for the boys to give their special treatment to. However, I came down here today specifically to ask you what your opinion was on the Bollywood genre of musicals…"

"Bollywood?" enquired Sebastian, a tad confused as to why the Head Warbler would raise the topic.

"Yes. I have to confess that I haven't seen many examples of the genre, but what I have seen enthralled me; they are so colourful, and full of music and dancing…" Thad continued. "We are always seeking some new way of impressing the judges at the various stages of the show choir competition…"

Sebastian nodded but did wonder if Thad was entirely himself. He was no stranger to the Bollywood genre himself, but there was the small problem of the uniform that the Warbler rules stated the boys had to wear whenever they performed competitively; navy and grey were hardly colourful. "Okay, I bite; what has brought this sudden inspiration on?"

"Ironically you," replied Thad. Sebastian looked even more confused until his friend continued, "I took what you said to me last week about never taking time for myself to heart and decided I needed an adventure of my own next summer, and at first, I was all set to head to Australia; explore the Great Barrier Reef in scuba gear, try and master a surf board at Bondi Beach, that sort of thing, but then I saw one of those intrusive adverts on the website I was looking at about cheap flights from Australia to India. That got me thinking, and the more that I saw of India, the more I wanted to go there instead, and explore the second most populous nation on earth. I want to see the land of the Raj that was torn apart in the road to independence from British rule. A nation of contrasts… There are plenty of trains, all run by the state, which I believe makes the Indian Railways one of the top ten biggest employers in the world. I think going there will be an experience I will never forget…"

"Wes will join you at the Taj Mahal like a shot if you go there," said Sebastian with a grin. "I must admit that it might be a nation that is on my own wish list, if only to see just how crowded it actually is, and to savour all of that delicious food! The Indian food that I occasionally used to get in New York was always so beautiful."

"The truth is that I already have my flights there and back booked, and now all I have to do is work out my itinerary so that I can see as many of the highlights as I can – the Taj is the obvious one, but then there is the Gateway to India in Mumbai, and the Mysore Palace in Amritsar…"

Thad and Sebastian would carry on their discussion over lunch, their animated chat being overheard by Principal Lefevre. She smiled at the excitement that she could hear in Thad's voice as he outlined all of the places he was desperate to visit, showing images of them to Sebastian as he did so. She was so glad that he now seemed to be back to his normal self. She was still a little worried that he had not been to see a doctor though; nor had he made an appointment for the full physical he had promised her he would take before the summer vacation had begun. She could understand his dislike for doctors all too well now that she had been trapped in the company of his parents at a recent fundraiser for the museum in Columbus; his father had bored everyone there by continually complaining about the impact that the new healthcare system had had on the profitability of his hospital, an attitude which just illustrated how little he cared about the patients. His mother meanwhile had taken every chance she got to complain about the Kennedy-Willetts hospice and the way it treated people; she had found the way to avoid punching her was to hold herself rigid as she bad-mouthed the facility that sat in a corner of Dalton's grounds…

She had often wondered why Thad alone of his siblings had not followed his parents into medicine, but now she knew; with them as an example, it was no surprise the more considerate and caring youngest of their children had run off in the opposite direction, whatever that had cost him in terms of a family life. Dr Benjamin Harwood senior looked like the kind of man that would bill his own family for the medical treatment they required, and he would not give them any sort of discount either!

Nonetheless, she knew that she was going to have to call him into her office and insist that he went for the physical, as it was a requirement of his employment and of the pension scheme. It would also get Edith Carmichael off her back at the same time, as she was equally determined that Thad should be seeing a doctor. He looked healthy enough, but there was just something that she couldn't quite put her finger on that was not sitting right with him. As both his employer and a friend, she needed to see that any issue was found and fixed. He was much too good a person to have to suffer when some simple treatment might quickly restore him to even more robust health…

That evening, once the school days and the extra-curriculars were over with, Thad tidied himself up and headed across the campus to the Carmichaels house, where he was expected for dinner. This was not an unusual event, but there was one crucial difference this time, namely that as far as he was aware, he would be the only guest at the table. Normally during term time there would be another member of the faculty or a couple of students present too, but to his knowledge, he alone had received an invitation.

It therefore came as a surprise when he stepped into the dining room to see that there were four places laid. He turned to Aaron Carmichael, who had guided him in, and was about to ask if possibly Wes was joining them when the man simply said with a shrug, "I want you to know that this wasn't my idea, and I don't approve of it at all…"

That confused Thad, but before he could question him further on what he meant, there was a knock at the front door, and Mrs Carmichael was announcing that she would get it; obviously it was the mystery fourth guest, which intrigued Thad greatly…

So it was that Thad found himself sitting across the table from Dr Hayden McLeod, and from the moment he had walked into the room, something about Edith Carmichael's demeanour had him on edge. The conversation began civilly enough, and was concerned with two topics, namely the start of the Dalton school year and the ongoing work of the hospice that had been set up as a charitable institute in memory of Seth by the Warblers. It was fascinating admittedly to hear how successful it was, and how the one place was inspiring others across the nation as part of the new way of providing care for all that was sweeping the country, but Thad was still suspicious as to why Dr McLeod was there that night…

When Mrs Carmichael suddenly turned the chat onto general health care, ignoring the glares of her husband, Thad knew what was coming next, even before she asked Hayden if he thought that an annual physical was a vital component of healthcare, especially for younger men. The doctor had looked across at Thad, and after mouthing the words 'I'd no idea' to him, admitted that he had to agree with Edith. She had set up a trap for Thad, and now it had been sprung…

"Is that the time?" Thad said, pretending that he had just noticed the hour on the clock. "I am afraid that I will need to forgo coffee this evening as I have arranged to have a brief chat with one of the new freshmen in my house this evening; I diagnose as severe case of homesickness…" He rose from his chair and was out in the hallway before his hostess could even get out of her seat; he grabbed his jacket, wished them all a goodnight and then let himself out, glad that Edith had not spoken out or he would have said something that he might later regret.

As he hastened down the path away from the Carmichaels' home he had to pass the open dining room window, and as he did, he was sure he heard Aaron Carmichael say to his wife rather scathingly, "Look on the bright side, my dear; there is nothing wrong with his cognitive skills, or his legs for that matter…" Thad stifled a laugh, but to his delight he heard that Hayden did not; he tried to picture the look on Edith's face at that moment as she realised that her plan had been well and truly thwarted…

He returned to his little apartment to discover that one of the freshmen from his dorm was actually looking for him, and they did look a little tearful… He invited him in, and was talking quietly with him, sorting through all of the problems when there was a knock at his front door, and Mrs Carmichael let herself in, saying that she had come to see that he was okay as he had left in such a hurry. She came into the sitting room announcing that she had brought him cake and stopped suddenly when she saw the boy sitting there; she had the decency to blush, and Thad knew why. By fortune, he was not the one now blushing….

Mrs Carmichael apologised for disturbing them, and Thad nodded, asking that she wait until he answered the door in future, as everyone was entitled to privacy. She nodded, and left, allowing Thad to get back to his counselling role. The unexpected arrival of Edith had made the boy smile, particularly as Thad had scolded her like she was a pupil, and soon the worst of the crisis was over. He was sent back to his room with a slice of cake, and having promised that he would check in with Thad regularly. He also asked the boy to tell anyone that asked that they had made the appointment to meet earlier in the day… As soon as he was gone, Thad locked the door for once, and shook his head at the events of the evening.

"You do realise that you can't avoid it for ever Thad… Sooner or later, either Mrs Carmichael or the Principal will get you into a doctor's office for a physical," came a voice, which to his surprise belonged to Blaine. Seeing the curiosity, the angel said, "Wes had to go and see Elizabeth at short notice about a few things, so he deputised me to speak to you on this one, although I am nowhere near as good as Kurt at the stare and nag stuff…"

Thad sighed, but he knew the young man in front of him was correct; in the end, he would have to face his fears and find a doctor to get the full physical carried out. He was dreading it, not just because he hated the thought of all that poking and probing, but because they might confirm his worst fears. Before Blaine could speak again, Thad's door buzzer sounded, and he had to go and answer it. One look at the camera that was installed with it showed him that his visitor was Hayden and there was no way he could pretend he was out, not when Edith had just been here. She had obviously sent him over, and there was only going to be one topic of conversation…

He allowed him into the building. Looking round, he saw that Blaine had vanished, which was probably for the best. He unlocked his front door again and held it open as he saw Hayden approach. The doctor stepped into his apartment, the two of them silent. He closed the door behind him and motioned to the doctor to follow him into the sitting room; he had not wanted to have their discussion at the door or even in the hallway, as he suspected that Mrs Carmichael was not beyond getting one of the senior boys to spy on him. "I know why you are here and exactly who asked you to come over and talk to me just now; I want you to go back and inform them that the more they try to railroad me into a physical, the more likely it is that I will not have a physical at all!" he said firmly.

"Oh, I agree with you," said Hayden in reply, "and I already told them as much when they asked me to help force you into having one. No patient that is dragged kicking and screaming for a physical has ever passed it with flying colours, at least not in my experience. I do have one diagnosis for you, and that is I believe that you might be suffering from iatrophobia and with my first-hand knowledge of the way that your parents act, I would not blame you for that."

Thad looked at Hayden, and replied, "It would be quite a selective fear of doctors, or I would be unable to even be in the same room as Ollie, or you for that matter, let alone have a conversation."

"That is the main meaning of iatrophobia, but it is also a fear of medical tests and I think that we both know that is what you are frightened of for some reason," replied Hayden, and then his tone changed. "Before he threw me off the team at that wonderful hospital of his and tried to end my medical career, I had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a full physical examination from your father. He was rough, he was abrasive, and the whole thing was so cold and clinical it was like being in an autopsy. Afterwards I was left feeling uncomfortable and I'll be honest, violated, and I said as much to one of the other student doctors. Two days later and I was thrown out. Now, before you suspect it, it wasn't your brother Ben that I spoke to; in fact, Dr Benjamin Harwood Junior was the only person that stuck up for me. He did because he knew what I had suffered at your father's hands; I am pretty sure that you know that too…"

Thad nodded, shuddering at the memory of those terrible days that came once a year from early childhood. He had begged to be allowed to have his annual physical from the school doctor once he was at Dalton, like all the other boys, but his dad was having none of it. That he realised was exactly what had given him such a complex about doctors and medical tests; so much so that he had blacked out during every single one that he had been made to take as a student at UCLA…

"I know that it is wrong of me to tar all doctors with the same brush thanks to the way my father treated me, but even hearing the words 'annual physical' make me feel nauseous. Even if it was Ollie that was offering to do it for me, I would refuse, and I know from Seth that he is so kind and gentle…"

Hayden nodded, then said, "Hear me out on this one… Would you allow me to conduct a non-invasive physical on you? We would leave out all the swabs and probes, and just talk about things. I can get you to take your own temperature for me, and I'm sure that I'd be able to take your blood pressure and listen to your chest, all that sort of stuff, without you freaking out. I promise that I have a warm stethoscope and I am as gentle as I can be when doing those pesky reflex tests…"

Thad chuckled at his last line, then said, "It is a lovely notion, but would that not place you in a difficult position ethically? Would that not mean that you had to lie when people asked if you conducted a full physical on me?"

"All that I was asked to do by those people that are desperate to see you being checked over was to persuade you to have a physical, and no doctor worth his salt would ever force a test on an unwilling patient, except in an emergency situation. If you say no to any test I propose, then we will skip it, because you did not consent. Look at it this way, you will get everyone off your case and I will be happy to do the same for you next year as well. If you don't agree to this idea, well I did hear someone say that the next step might be to have you hypnotised into agreeing to one…"