May 2033: Beginning of an End Part V
In the end it would be May before Trent was able to find time to catch up with Dr Hayden McLeod; as the director of the Kennedy-Willetts Memorial Hospice, the man in question was often in high demand to offer his expertise to other places that were in the process of setting up facilities of their own, and he had been out of town at the end of April, visiting Texas, where a new hospice was being built with the backing of the local football team and the community at large.
The main driver behind it all had been one of the former players turned coach; he just happened to be Matt Rutherford, Mike Chang's old friend and former member of the New Directions. He had learned so much about the whole movement from his chats with Mike on the phone and as he was now in a position where he was accepted as a local by the people of the town, he wanted to use his position to do something positive. In the end, following in the footsteps of the Warblers was the best idea. Mike had acted as a liaison between him and Hayden and had even helped to arrange the visit…
Now Dr McLeod returned to Ohio safe in the knowledge that the project in Texas would be a success as everyone was so committed to it; that gave him a reason to be cheerful, and it helped him with the guilt and sense of failure that he felt concerning Thad. He had after all been the one to agree to the Head Warbler having annual physicals with him in which a number of tests that might have detected the cancer sooner were omitted; he felt partly responsible for the fact that nothing had been discovered sooner. The fact that the cancer in question would still have been terminal in any case was scant consolation to him, even if nobody was pointing an accusing finger in his direction. He still felt that there was more that he could have done had he known sooner, and perhaps the last days of Thad's life could have been easier on him. He was also a little disturbed by how calmly Thad was taking it all, when he had seen so many people rage against the condition that was killing them. He put that down to the strong faith that Thad had…
When he heard from his secretary that Trent Nixon wanted to talk to him in private on the morning of the 1st of May, he felt that maybe at last he was going to be accused and held to account for everything. However, when he welcomed Trent into his office, he saw at once that was not the case at all. In fact, his guest said quite simply that Thad had known where he was going and more importantly, who he was going to, so he had no time for recriminations, and would not allow anyone else to carry them out either…
Hayden sighed and then replied, "I wish that I had that level of faith; I see it in some of the patients too. I used to have some, but what I had was drummed out of me in my first year in medical school, working at Thad's father's hospital. He made it clear from day one that in his opinion, belief and science were incompatible with each other; he made that case so strongly that the small doubts I had about the whole religious set up multiplied and destroyed everything I once had…"
"I have never met Dr Benjamin Harwood Snr, and I have absolutely no desire to ever cross paths with him; he and his wife sound like the kind of arrogant, self-important and frankly odious people that strongly backed a certain criminal President…" said Trent with a shake of his head. Then he went on, "Okay, so time to put the cards on the table; I am here to find out what you can tell me about Thad's oldest brother and his two sisters…"
Hayden stared at Trent for a moment, then wondered exactly why the man in front of him wanted that information; he could only conclude that he wished to know where to find them so that he could invite them to the funeral of their little brother, although he had doubts that would be a good idea…
"Well, there was a time when I could have told you so much about the three of them and Ollie too for that matter. I was good friends with Benjamin Jnr, as we were in the medical school at the same time; I also saw a lot of the eldest of the two Harwood sisters, Zoe. I met her first as just Benjamin's little sister, still in high school but destined to join us in the medical school. I thought at the time that she wasn't really being given any option, but I said nothing. I saw less of Ollie and Marcia, because they were so much younger, but I like them, especially Ollie, because he had a rebellious streak, unlike the other three… As for Thad, well he was never mentioned even then, by Benjamin and Zoe, because he was so much younger. Ollie talked about him sometimes, but Marcia talked about him the most… In fact, thinking back, she mentioned him every time I saw her. She obviously loved her little brother a heck of a lot…"
Hayden smiled then, just for a moment. "Marcia Harwood is one of the best paediatric doctors in Columbus, better than her mother ever could be, because she has empathy with her patients and their families. Nobody that I know that works in medical circles here in Ohio would say one word against her. However, like her older siblings, she is totally under the thumb of her dictatorial father. She had offers from some of the most prestigious hospitals in the country when she was at medical school; could be a consultant for so many more deserving children, but she refused them all for two reasons. Firstly, she wanted to stay in Ohio to marry her childhood sweetheart; secondly, to do that, she had to have her father's approval, and that was only forthcoming if she stayed here under his control. You might wonder why she stays her now that she is a married woman, but I believe that she is too scared to leave. That isn't because of any fear of her own, but for the sake of her husband. Dr Harwood Snr has a heck of a lot of influence amongst the heads of hospitals across the state; he could have all the supply contracts that exist between those facilities and the employer of Marcia's husband axed at a stroke, unless they agreed to terminate his son-in-law's employment… Honestly, I do not think that the man in question would be all that concerned. I have met him as he supplies the hospice and all he wants for his wife is happiness. He is also in contact with Ollie behind everyone's back and keeps him informed on how all the other Harwoods are doing."
Trent nodded, then said, "It is a shame that he isn't able to do the same for Thad…"
"Firstly, his ties with Ollie are through his business account, so no-one can spy on it. Secondly, I think that when the split occurred, Thad felt that he had to sever all ties; that might have been the only way he had to cope with it all, as he was still a teenager when it happened. Ollie once told me that Thad had said that it felt like Christmas to him when they reconnected. Ollie reached out to him of course; I don't think Thad would ever have reached out on his own, which is why he hasn't tried to reconnect with them himself, not even in the current circumstances, for fear of rejection…"
Hayden sighed, then went on, "I can understand that, but whilst I think that his two oldest siblings will barely react to Thad's death, it will be different for the other two. Ollie will be devastated; he told me that he has already informed his employers that he will be taking a month off at least when Thad passes away and they have agreed to it. I also think that when she finds out, Marcia will be devastated. She misses him, and when she finds out that he was so close to her and that he died so tragically, she will be destroyed…"
Trent nodded and decided there and then that he needed to formulate a plan to get Dr Marcia Harwood back into her little brother's life, if only for his final few days. Hopefully such a move might allow her to make a return into the life of her brother Ollie as well…
Trent returned to Dalton that day fully intending to start work on his plan, but he arrived back to find Mrs Carmichael waiting for him in a state of agitation. "One of the boys was passing the door of his apartment and heard him calling for help. They ran to get help and found Dylan; as he was with Principal Lefevre at the time… Apparently, he was on his way to the bathroom when he fell; nothing was broken, thankfully, but he could not summon up the strength to get back up on his feet. I was summoned and between the three of us we managed to get him cleaned up and back to bed…"
Trent grimaced at the term 'cleaned up' because he knew what that meant and for someone that had been so neat and fastidious as Thad, that would have been the greatest horror of the entire event. "Once I persuaded Dylan and Principal Lefevre to leave, I let him have a good cry. He has been so brave about all of this until now, but I think that this might have been the straw to break the camel's back…"
"Is he on his own now?"
"No, the doctor is with him, and I felt that such things should be conducted in privacy. I was about to go over and check on Aaron…"
"I won't delay you any longer; now that I am back, I can take over," said Trent. "I should never have left him on his own I guess…"
"My dear Trent, he would never have had today be any different and you know that. What happened would still have happened had you been there, just as what occurred with Seth would have even if I had been there instead of the dentist. The last thing he would want is to have you try and blame yourself for this…"
Trent nodded, knowing she was right, but he still felt an enormous amount of guilt, nonetheless. He could quite easily have spoken to Hayden on the telephone instead of going and paying him a visit. He said goodbye to Edith and hurried inside, and reached the door of Thad's apartment just as the doctor was stepping out. One look at the expression of his face was enough to tell Trent all that he needed to know…
He did not enquire of the doctor further though; the doctor, a man that stuck rigidly to his Hippocratic Oath and believed that all that passed between him, and a patient was akin to the words spoken by a penitent to a priest in the confessional, divulged nothing to him either. He headed in, the hallway smelling lemony fresh and headed straight to the bedroom, to find Thad sitting up in bed.
"Don't even say it Trent," Thad said before his friend could open his mouth. "You have absolutely nothing to apologise for; you cannot be here all day, every day. I should have faced facts and taken the precaution of getting a commode in here so that I would not have to leave the room to go to the bathroom. I should have made use of the walking cane that Aaron sent over for me. I need to get over my pride and accept that I am no longer as capable and indeed independent as I was."
"It is easy to say that I have nothing to apologise for, but it is harder for me to believe it, just as it is hard for you to accept the limitations your body now has."
"True, but I won't have to for all that much longer. I asked the doctor to be brutally honest with me and tell me the truth, and to give him his due, he was entirely open with me. Anyway, I have a week to ten days left; maybe a little more if I spend my entire time resting in bed. The rebel in me wants to get up out of here and run about, but I'm afraid that whilst the mind is willing, the body is weak…"
Trent took a deep breath, then said, "Well, that is not the news I wanted to hear, but okay. Is this information for public consumption, or just the two of us?"
"For now, just us. If it comes out, they will all drop everything and race here. Most employers will not take kindly to that, nor will some of their family members. No, just you and me for now; I will tell you when it is time to spread the news further."
Trent felt divided emotions about Thad's wishes. He knew that it was up to him to make the call and he had to respect that, but a little voice in the back of his head was saying only one thing; what if he left it too late to make that call…?
Trent was not helped in his dilemma by the fact that the only two people he might feasibly have invited to come and see Thad, who might have concluded on their own how bad their friend's condition now was and spread the news discretely, Sebastian and Skylar, were both out of town at that point. It was the day before the Nationals stage of the annual show choir competition, and they had left on a bus with the current Warblers that morning for their show. It was the first time that Skylar had acted as one of the escorts, but it would now potentially be an annual duty for the man if the boys continued to have success year on year as they had done now for so long. That was also the reason why Thad's dorm building was virtually deserted; aside from the boy that had heard his cries for aid earlier, there were only two other boys in the building, allocated spaces in the building because of family connections and lack of space elsewhere in the increasingly popular Academy. Trent sighed at that, as had little Wes been there, he could have inadvertently let the news slip out to his parents, but they were now destined to remain in ignorance like all the rest…
However, he had to do something and so excusing himself from the room with the suggestion he was making coffee, he used the time it took for the machine to produce the beverage to break his promise to Thad just slightly. He sent a text to both David and Ollie, telling them both that they needed to be ready to come to Dalton in the very near future; he stressed that he wasn't talking about them coming right now, but that they needed to be packed and ready to move. He then went a little further with David, suggesting that it might be a good time to come and visit his mother for a few days, bringing him within minutes of the school, rather than hours. He wished he could do something similar with Ollie, but there was nobody he could legitimately come and visit nearby that would not have Thad smelling a rat and screaming betrayal of trust…
Trent was in for a shock, however; within a minute Ollie responded to his initial text with the news that he was coming to visit the Kennedy-Willetts hospice in a couple of days on a research trip that had been approved by his employers; he had brought the date forward by a week and he would be staying with Hayden whilst he was in Ohio. He asked that Trent not say anything to Thad about it… That made Trent chuckle, as now he was being trusted to keep a secret by both of the Harwood brothers from the other Harwood brother…
By the end of that day, he also had formulated the basis of his plan for getting in touch with the other Dr Harwood, Marcia, the sister born between Thad and Ollie. If he could bring any of Thad's other siblings back into his life, then she was the one. He was acutely aware that his scheme could end in disaster, and that Thad might not forgive him for his interference. He had suffered enough with losing her the first time; if Trent's plan failed and she rejected him again, then not only would he have increased Thad's suffering, but he would also have destroyed their friendship. It was a risk that he was willing to take though; he could not stand idly by and watch his friend die without giving at least one of his other siblings the chance to redeem herself and reunite with the little brother that she had once loved so dearly…
The following morning, it was easy enough to find the contact details he required for Dr Marcia Harwood in the end; like many in her profession, she did a lot of private work out with the auspices of the hospital her father controlled; her details and telephone number were therefore listed online alongside those of the other paediatric specialists based in Columbus. He had read a number of reviews and references of her work and saw that she worked mainly with children under the age of ten; that meant that he had to abandon Plan A, which had been to call her to Dalton to look over a seriously ill freshman. Instead, he had to resort to Plan B, which involved the invention of a fictional child of a fictional housemaster; that child had taken seriously ill and now had two distraught parents that had been given her name as one of the best in her field by a friend who was a doctor himself. That friend he guessed could be implied to be Hayden… He would not mention his name, however, just in case the purdah that her father had implemented on her two brothers extended to the doctor he had dismissed from his hospital, and who now ran the hospice facility that her father had slated so much and so often in his public comments from day one.
He decided to leave the call to her until midday, when Thad would be distracted by the livestream of the National competition online. With his friend thus occupied, it would be simple enough to slip out of his apartment and into the corridor of the dorm building; there he would pretend to be the distraught father of a little girl, begging the doctor to come at once and see his sick daughter… That child would be a kindergartener, showing all of the warning signs of a potentially severe viral infection, and thus he could not bring her to the doctor's office…
Trent could only hope that Hayden was right and that Marcia had not developed the cold, hard hearted attitude of her mother and father since he had known her well, but all of the things he had read about her online seemed to point to the fact that she was still every bit as empathetic as she had been and would not stand by and ignore a tearful parent. It would be Trent's biggest acting role ever, and more important that Elder Cunningham had been all those years ago. He would try his best to channel how he would feel if it actually was one of his own children in that situation; picture them suffering and how helpless that would make him feel and let all of the emotions overflow. However, until it was time for that he had to remain his usual stoic self in front of Thad, so as not to arouse any sort of suspicion from the Head Warbler…
The Warblers had been awarded the tenth slot in the draw for performance places at Nationals that year, which was not the worst and actually slotted in with Trent's plans beautifully; it meant that they would have performed well before midday came and he needed to put his plan into action. Thad seemed to perk up a lot as he watched the performances, criticising the way that the other teams were performing, as well as their song choices and the soloists that they had chosen to feature. Trent smiled at seeing him so energised and animated, much more like his old self than he had been since he had moved in with him.
When it was time for the Warblers to perform, Thad suddenly turned to his friend and said, "I have just realised something; you were intending to be there at the show, to support the boys in the town that you now call home. Now thanks to me you are stuck here in Ohio, missing out on the show and away from your own husband and children too…"
"As I have said before, it isn't an issue for me. Rory understands that I needed to be here taking care of my bird brother in his hour of greatest need; I am also still seeing the performance but have the benefit of your company as I watch, which is all the bonus I need. Let's be honest anyway; if I had been at the venue in Washington DC right now, I would not be seeing it like this. I'd have been in the position I bet Skylar has been in all morning, dealing with the nerves of the boys and also with a frantic Sebastian; trying to keep him calm in these moments is probably a lot harder than soothing all those frayed teenage nerves…"
Thad chuckled at that, and replied, "Yes, I remember all of that only too well. It was a position I found myself in countless times, as did any member of our brotherhood that came along to watch. There was always some crisis to deal with, quite often imagined rather than real and you never saw any of the show properly, just glances from the wings or on a screen in the green room. Maybe I have actually done you a favour after all…"
The themes of Sebastian's set that year were Broadway and Brotherhood, taking songs from both old and contemporary musicals and having the Warblers put their own unique spin on them. If anything, the actual performances themselves were simpler that year, the grand theatrics of past years set aside for a stripped back and at times melancholy performance. They did not mention Thad by name; such things were frowned upon by the judging panel, not to mention the audience that filled every seat of the venue, but Trent knew nonetheless that everyone would know about Thad and his condition. He was one of the best-known figures in the world of show choir after all, and the fact that his death at such a young age was imminent would be on the minds of them all.
Thad and Trent had both seen the set list and were prepared, but they knew that for the rest of the brotherhood who would be watching, this year's choices would be a shock. The last song of the set had been changed after news of Thad's condition had been made known, and now came from Carousel. As the Warblers began to sing You'll Never Walk Alone, Trent though just how appropriate that was for them all, as it summed up the ethos of the bird brotherhood that meant that he was here at Dalton right now in a time of tragedy. Thad was his brother, and he could not have stood idly aside when he was in need of his love and affection. Thad did not speak as they sang, but his eyes grew moist as he knew who the song was aimed at, and that was him.
As the song ended, the lights on the stage faded to nothing and there was an initial silence, before the entire auditorium erupted in applause. The lights came back up to reveal that they boys, who had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders in a gesture of bonding, had now been joined by Sebastian and Skylar, who flanked them on either side. Bows were taken and then they exited stage right.
Trent did not need to check his phone to know that there would be such an outpouring of emotion on the group chat page that the brotherhood shared. He handed Thad a tissue, then said, "It can get so dusty in these old buildings as spring gives way to summer; you get it in your eyes, and they almost immediately start to water…"
Thad nodded, swiping at his wet eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check. As the time drew closer when he would be reunited with Wes, he was starting to realise just how many people and things he would miss here on the earthly plane. There was nothing that he could do about the situation, but that did not make it any easier to handle, no matter how strong he tried to be about it all.
Trent would leave Thad on his own as the final few choirs performed to prepare some lunch, although the diet that his friend now had offered little in the way of variety. The consommé that he would serve that day was not enriched as it would be in a fine French restaurant with sherry or brandy and would be served not with fresh bread but a handful of saltines. This was about all that Thad's digestive system could now handle without causing him severe discomfort. At first Trent had offered to restrict his own diet to the same things in a gesture of solidarity, but Thad had refused to countenance it, just as he would not have allowed anyone to shave their heads if he had been receiving treatment that caused him to lose his own. He needed to see normality around him…
The thin liquid soup was served up to Thad in a cup, which made it easier for him to consume and was heated just enough to make it the right temperature to drink. Trent left Thad alone to eat it, saying that he would consume his own sandwiches in the sitting room, something he always did. However, today that was a lie; he instead hastened towards the front door of Thad's apartment and opened it quietly, then pulled it over behind him. He moved to the back stairs and having checked that he was not being observed, he took out his cellphone and dialled the number that he had stored on it earlier…
His call was answered as he had expected it would be by a receptionist and he immediately put on the act he had prepared, interspersing his words with aching sobs, begging to speak to the doctor at once, desperate for her help to help make his precious little Lucy well again. He had chosen to use that name, one that was kryptonite to so many of his brethren as he would be able to cry more readily when he thought what she had done to Drew…
His only worry had been that the receptionist would be tough and steel hearted, a self-proclaimed guardian of the doctor she worked for, as so many were, but he was lucky that the lady in question was like Miss Higgins in Call the Midwife; tough and firm on the outside but with a reasonably soft heart inside. In no time she had agreed to put him through, hoping that the doctor could indeed be of assistance in such a terrible time for a parent. As he waited for her to answer, Trent took another deep breath as he prepared to speak for the first time to the youngest sister of the man that was lying right now in his bed a few yards away, oblivious to the fact that Trent was trying to reunite him with the sister that he had not seen for over two decades…
It was her voice that surprised him, so like Thad's own, just a little higher in timbre and tone. It gave him a start, but he knew what he had to do next and tried his best to give a Tony winning performance… "Dr Harwood? I hope that you can help me… It's my little girl Lucy; she is so unwell, and having spoken to a doctor friend of mine, you have been recommended as the person best placed to help her…" He went on to recite a whole list of symptoms of a condition that he had found on the internet, things that would concern but also confuse the average parent, but things that would steer an average doctor to the conclusion that he wished for. He made his voice as emotional as he could and when he had finished up, he waited for her to respond…
"It certainly sounds rather concerning, but I would need to examine her properly to be able to give you a definitive diagnosis. Can you bring her down to my office right away so that I can make an assessment?"
"I have already tried to move her to take her to the MD's office, but she is in too much pain, and I can't bear to make her suffer any more than necessary. Is there any way that you could make a house call and assess her here? I normally wouldn't even suggest such a thing, but I am just too worried about her…"
"Possibly, yes. Where are you speaking from?"
"I'm in Westerville at Dalton Academy. I am one of the housemasters here…"
"Okay, I am not too far from you then and I know the Academy. I can come up just now as I have no other appointments scheduled; where exactly are you in the school campus?"
Trent gave her the necessary details and he did hear a sharp intake of breath when he named the dorm, and she no doubt recalled that it was the dorm Thad had been in as a student. Before she could say anything, Trent went on, "I will leave the main door to the dorm building ajar and well, my apartment is signposted from the entrance… Thank you so much for agreeing to come, Dr Harwood; Lucy is our only child at the moment, although my wife is expecting another child right now. She will always mean so much to both of us though and we couldn't bear to lose her. We will be eternally grateful to you for this…"
Trent half expected to feel the draught from a set of angel wings as he placed his phone back into his pocket and then see either Wes or once of the others looking at him as they shook their head in disapproval at his actions, but that did not occur; he was not entirely sure if that was a good thing or not. He headed down the stairs to the external door and placed it on the latch, which was almost a cardinal sin during the school day at Dalton, before he quickly headed back up to Thad's apartment. He left the front door of the apartment slightly ajar as well, so that Dr Harwood could easily enter. He returned to the bedroom to find that his friend had finished up most of his lunch and was now dozing; these short naps were now something that was all too common for the Head Warbler…
Trent collected the tray on which he had brought Thad's lunch, noting the little soup left in the cup and the fact that he had only managed to eat two of the saltines he had brought through with it. He sighed, then crept out of the room again; he went to wash the dishes and return the crackers to their pack, all the time listening out for the sound of a car drawing up outside. Then it hit him and he panicked as he realised that in his haste he had not given her directions to the actual dorm building; he had a vision of a lost Dr Marcia Harwood entering the school building to ask for directions and being told that there was no housemaster on the premises with a daughter named Lucy… Then, even worse, she might be informed that her little brother was on the premises instead and think that he was behind the subterfuge.
Doubt began to fill Trent then, and he wondered if his actions had been the right and sensible course to take, but it was done now. His scheme had seemed like the best course of action at the time, but now he wondered if it would not have been better to have approached her in person and been completely honest with her, or to have sent someone else to her office and had them speak to her. He was certain that Edith Carmichael would have done it for him had he asked her…
He pondered heading across to her home right now, admitting what he had done and asking her to come and be by his side for support, but then he realised that the lady might not think what he had done was ethical and correct, and he would hate to disappoint her. It was then that he heard the sound of a car approaching the dorm building; he glanced out of the window of Thad's apartment and saw an electric car he did not recognise pulling up outside the door of the dorm building. A moment later, and he saw Thad's youngest sister for the first time. She matched him in both skin tone and hair colour, and he wondered just how many other characteristics brother and sister shared. As she entered the building, Trent headed for the sitting room, where he would stay out of sight and let her discover her brother alone. All he could do now was cross his fingers and hope that his plan would not fail…