May 2033: Beginning of an End Part VI
Dr Marcia Harwood had felt a pang of regret as soon as she had heard the words Dalton Academy over her phone, but that sense of anguish grew even greater as she turned her car into the school driveway and multiplied as she saw the familiar buildings that had formed her cherished little brother's school for the first time in decades. In being educated there, Thad was already an outlier in the family and she and her older siblings had all attended the same co-ed private school in Columbus. That her youngest sibling had been sent to an all-boys school out of town had perhaps been an indication that her parents already viewed him as different to the rest of their offspring… She surmised that they might have been able to accept that he was homosexual as long as he had embraced the world of medicine like their other children had, but the moment that he had declared that he did not want to be a doctor, he had effectively died in his parents' eyes…
She rarely thought about Thad these days she had to admit but being here at his school brought all of those happy childhood memories back. She had no idea where he was now; the last she had heard was that he was teaching, but more than that had become an even greater mystery once Ollie too had been ostracised from the family at her parents' instruction, for the crime of not agreeing to have nothing more to do with Thad…
She had not been to Dalton Academy since Thad had been a junior, but the place did not seem to have altered at all in all that time, other than the trees on the campus had grown and the paint had been renewed on the woodwork of the buildings. She knew exactly which building to head to without any directions, as she had realised with a start as she had driven along that it was the same building that her brother had stayed in; the coincidence made her heart beat just a little faster. Indeed, it made her wonder if she might dare try and find the school office and ask if they had information on their alumni that they might share with an estranged sister…
However, as she drew up outside the building, she firmly pushed all those emotions out of the way; she had a seriously ill child to attend to. She stepped out of the car with her medical bag and headed into the building, the door open as the caller had said it would be. There was a sign pointing the way to the housemaster's apartment and she followed it; what she failed to notice was that the nameplate underneath it had been removed. She hastened up the stairs and along the corridor, passing the room her brother had once occupied and found the door to the housemaster's home ajar. There was silence inside the apartment, and all the doors off the hallway were closed apart from one at the end. She assumed that had to be the one where her patient would be found; she walked in that direction, calling out, "Hello, it's the doctor…"
She walked into the bedroom and froze at what she saw before her, her mind going just a little haywire. She had been called out to attend to a sick little girl, but the person that was in the bed before her with their eyes closed was neither a child nor a female. It was her little brother, and her medical training instantly told her that all was not well. He looked much too thin, was hollow cheeked and his skin was so yellow that she knew whatever was wrong with him was serious. In all likelihood, whatever he was suffering from was terminal. Her little brother Thad was dying… Her eyesight began to blur, and she found that she could not even speak as she stumbled towards his bed; only once she was there was she able to manage to say a strangled "Thaddie!?"
Hearing his name even as he dozed, Thad opened his eyes; he recognised the face that was now looking down at him and his eyes widened momentarily before he closed them again, convinced that he now had to add hallucinations to his list of symptoms, as what he had just seen was not possible… He cautiously opened his eyes again and the face was still there, tears running down her cheeks. He reached out his hand then to try and touch that face, still convinced it was a spectre, his dying mind playing tricks on him; when his hand came into contact with warm flesh he gasped in shock and disbelief, his mind barely able to understand that his youngest sister was actually there, let alone work out how that could even be possible. "Marcie?" he said, his shock and surprise evident in his voice. It was at that point that his sister dissolved into aching sobs…
From his hiding place in the sitting room, Trent had listened to the encounter, but he had not anticipated that the doctor would burst into tears quite so soon; he had always thought that given the attitude of her parents and the way that they had casually first cast Thad aside, and then Ollie, that Marcia Harwood would be as unemotional as them, even if Hayden had said that she had loved her little brother greatly when she was a girl. Of course, he realised, she would have taken one look at Thad and known just how sick he was; probably also able to identify what his condition was too. He headed out into the hallway, but something stopped him from heading into the bedroom at that point…
For Thad at that moment, everything felt so confusing. At first he had imagined that he was dreaming Marcia's presence, but now as he woke up fully he realised that not only was his sister there, but that she was in a very emotional state. How she had come to be in his bedroom was something he would work out later; for now, his priority was to try and comfort her. "Please don't cry, Marcie… It's okay, really…"
His sister looked up at him, anguish written across her features, and sobbed, "It isn't okay at all, Thaddie. You are dying, and don't dare say that you aren't, as I know the signs of a terminal cancer when I see them…" She stopped, as another wave of sobs overwhelmed her briefly, but then she went on in a tiny voice, "I should have been here for you so much sooner. I hated them so much for pushing you out of our lives, but I have never had Ollie's courage to stand up to them! And now it is too late, and I just…"
Once again Marcia Harwood was reduced to nothing but sobs. Thad shook his head and beckoned her over to the bed and she came over, following his signs to sit on the bed beside him. As soon as she did, Thad wrapped an arm around her and held her close to him as she continued to cry. "It isn't too late, Marcie, because I am still here. I never stopped loving you, you know, because I knew that you had no choice but to go along with their wishes. I saw how they tried to destroy Ollie when he sided with me, but he survived because he had built up a reputation for himself by then. He had also already warned the board of his hospital in New York exactly what mom and dad were like. You were still making your way in the medical world, and you couldn't just pick up and leave Ohio; you also knew that they would destroy your career and your husband's too if you sided with me…"
"It hurt me so much to do it, because I loved you so much… Now my baby brother is terminally ill and I am going to lose you forever…"
"I can't deny that, and I'm afraid that will happen sooner than anyone would like… They tell me I have about a week at the most…" Suddenly Thad started to sob too, as reality hit, and he realised that the family reunion he was having at that moment was something that he would have loved to have months ago…
Eventually the tears stopped falling on both sides and the two Harwood siblings pulled apart. Marcia swiped at her eyes, then said, "I am guessing by the time frame you have given that it is pancreatic cancer; your jaundiced skin is one of the classic signs of it at a late stage… I am also surmising that Ollie would be here with you right now, but you told him that he couldn't give up his day job…"
"There is nothing that he can do for me, so it was better that he stayed in New York where he can treat the dozens of people whose lives can be saved. He is also with his wife and son whilst he stays there."
Marcia looked at Thad for a moment, then said, "I knew that he had married, but I didn't know that he had a son…"
"He called him Thaddeus."
Marcia gasped, and a few fresh tears welled up in her eyes at the idea that there was another Thad Harwood out there that she had never seen… Then she saw that Thad had his phone in his hand, and that he was opening up a picture. He held it out to her, and she saw them; it was one that Thad had taken on his final visit to New York and showed Ollie with Michelle and little Thad. "That's Ollie's family. He is very happy and highly respected in the medical community there…"
"His son looks a lot like you did at that age…" Marcia paused and then Thad saw a fire ignite in her eyes as anger finally burst through the dams in her head. "Enough is enough! I am so done with all of this. I am a success in my own right now and my husband will back me to the hilt when I say that the days of me doing everything that mom and dad command are well and truly over. I can't be your sister again for long, and I will regret that for the rest of my days, but I can be Ollie's sister again, if you think that he would allow me to be…"
"I am pretty sure that he would, but you do realise what a big step it is you are taking? You are aware of all that they will try and do to you and your family?"
"I don't care any longer; let them try and destroy us, and they will find out that I am strong when I am pushed," replied Marcia. Then her eyes gleamed again, and she said, "You know something, baby brother, I think that we need to give other people a chance to redeem themselves as well, before it is too late…" Thad wondered what she meant as he watched her pull out her own phone and then press a button to dial one of the preset numbers…
"Hello Zoe, it's Marcia. I'll get straight to it – I need your assistance. I am with a desperately ill 7-year-old girl called Lucy, but it turns out that there is much more going on here than just that. Her mother is around eight months pregnant, and I think that she might be in the early stages of labour as a result of the stress and well, I would appreciate another pair of hands…"
Thad stared at his sister, his mouth open, wondering what on earth she was talking about. He didn't say anything though as he realised she was on a roll and he did not want to intervene mid flow…
"Believe it or not, I am actually at Dalton Academy, in the building that Thad used to stay in; the girl is the daughter of the current housemaster. You can come? That is great, and well, I am sure you will have no problem in finding me once you are here; if you do, just look for my car, which is parked at the front door. Oh, and bring Junior with you as well, because I am worried about the housemaster too; he is looking a little green around the gills and he was hyperventilating earlier…"
As Marcia ended the call, Thad's eyes were wide, and he shook his head in disbelief at the story that she had just concocted. She looked at him and giggled despite herself. "I think that Zoe and Benji deserve the chance to see you again too. I know what you are thinking, but you might be very surprised by their reactions. Things are not as great at the hospital as our parents and all the publicity might like to make out, and they are both fed up of it all…"
Thad nodded, then asked, "Can I just ask where that wonderful story came from? It was brilliant, but to create it from nowhere…"
Before Marcia could respond, someone cleared their throat and Trent stepped into the room. "It was from me, Thad; well, at least the bit about Lucy… I overheard what little Wes said to you the other night about the importance of family and forgiveness. I decided that you needed your family, and by that I meant actual blood relations, with you as your life drew to its end. That Ollie would need them around too afterwards. So, I went and had a chat with Hayden…"
"Dr Hayden McLeod?" asked Marcia, who seemed to be handling Trent's sudden appearance and confession with no issue.
"Yes. He was the best person to speak to as he knew you all and could tell me how you had all acted back before Thad was pushed out. He basically said that if I was to get any of the other Harwood siblings back on side, then my best place to begin was with you…"
"You had no right to interfere, Trent," said Thad in a firm voice. "If you had told me what you intended to do, I would have forbidden you to do it."
"Well, I for one am glad that he didn't tell you what he was doing, because if I had found out that you had died without getting the opportunity to see you once more, then it would have destroyed me. I have been given a chance to make amends and say a proper goodbye to my baby brother. I will also say this; if Benji and Zoe won't take their chance, then they will discover what it is like to not be part of my family; they will be out of my life for good."
Thad smiled at his sister's words, but although he appreciated her candour about her feelings, he wasn't quite sure if he could forgive Trent for what he had done, at least not yet…
Trent knew from Thad's expression that he was in trouble, but he did not let that show; instead, he asked if they would like something to drink, and his good host gesture made Thad chuckle. "I am thirsty as it happens, so a glass of water would be good for me; unless her tastes have changed since the last time we had a coffee together, Marcia would like a latte with one sugar…"
His sister laughed then, and replied, "They haven't…" Trent excused himself to make the coffee, and as he headed out of the door, he heard her say, "I can't believe that you still remember that…" Thad just shrugged, then sat back in the bed as his sister went on. "Look, you have to forgive him for getting me here in the first place; he did the right thing, and you know it as well as I do. He is such a sweet guy, even if you haven't told me his name or exactly who he is… Is he your partner?"
Thad shook his head, then said, "No, he isn't, he is married and has a husband of his own that he hasn't seen for a month. Trent is one of the people that I went to school with, a fellow Warbler…" Marcia nodded, recalling how excited her baby brother had been to get into the illustrious Dalton choir. "We all used to call Trent the Sunshine of the Warblers, because he was never to be seen without a smile. As for his husband, he and their kids are managing on their own in Washington DC. Trent knew that I would need someone to take care of me and and he moved in the day I told all my friends just how ill I was. At first, he was able to carry on with his work, but in the last week or so I don't think he has done anything of that nature. You might never have heard the name Trent Nixon, but if you ever heard one of President Kennedy's big keynote speeches, then you have heard Trent's words, as he was his main speechwriter. These days he is out of the Oval Office, but still in high demand as a freelancer. As for his husband Rory, well he is the long-time personal assistant to Senator Burt Hummel…"
Marcia had listened with eyes widening as her brother had spoken, and now he had finished, she said, "Wow… Trent doesn't seem like a political mandarin at all…"
"That is because he is so good at his job; he is highly observant and can read a room in an instant. He is also very insightful… He actually had a colleague in his early days at the White House who also had pancreatic cancer; he knew what I was suffering from before I actually announced it that day…"
"I am glad that you had him, because otherwise…"
"Thanks to him, I can die at home, and not in a hospital or a hospice," said Thad quietly. "He and all of the other boys I went to school with have become my family in some ways and I know that when I do pass away, they will all be devastated; their reactions the day I told them I was ill showed that to me. I will also say this now; I know that you don't have a lot of faith in an afterlife, but I do. It has been a comfort to me in the hard times, and I know exactly where I am going when my life here ends. I will be with all of my friends that have passed away before me, including the man that was the love of my life. I lost Wes nearly two decades ago, but I fully expect him to be there, waiting for me, when I reach heaven…"
"I can actually see you as an angel… Between us, I have started to believe that there might be a life after death, but I wouldn't admit it in front of anyone, especially mom and dad. Maybe we will meet again there as well…"
Trent arrived back at that moment with the drinks but was quite surprised when Marcia stood up and hugged him as soon as he set them down. "Thank you so much for taking care of my little brother. I owe you a debt of gratitude too for giving me the chance to see him and say my goodbyes. I would go so far as to say that not all angels have wings, not are they all in heaven…"
Trent blushed, but before he could reply they all heard the sound of not one but two cars pulling up outside the building. He smiled at them, then made his way back out of the room to resume his hiding place in the sitting room. Meanwhile, Thad looked at his sister with a worried expression, but she just shook her head. "Trust me on this one; working every day with our parents might have left them scarred, but things will be okay. Maybe just let me do all of the talking to start with…"
"That is probably for the best, because this is starting to get a little overwhelming. If you don't speak, then I might well just have the urge to yell SURPRISE! when they walk into the room…"
Marcia giggled then, her face relaxing for a second, but then she became serious once more as she heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor, and then her oldest brother calling out her name from the front door of the apartment. "Open door at the end of the hallway," she replied and then she took a deep breath…
From Thad's perspective, what happened next was almost a repeat of events earlier; his two eldest siblings appeared in the doorway and promptly froze on the threshold. Zoe looked at Marcia with an incredulous expression, but then their brother, Dr Benjamin Harwood Jnr, stepped forward and looking closely at Thad, said, "Oh my God! Late stages of pancreatic cancer…of all the people that this could have happened to, why did it have to be the best of the Harwoods? Why on earth could it not have been dad with this?"
Thad's eyebrows must have registered the surprise he felt at his oldest brother's words, as Benji went on, "My blinkers fell off and I saw what he really is, albeit much too late. Dad is a mad control freak and if anything, Mom is even worse. They might once have been leaders in their respective fields of medicine, but they aren't now, and they definitely aren't a good example of how to raise a family. I have been waiting for a trigger moment to send them both into retirement and frankly, now it is here…"
Thad had been paying so much attention to his brother that he was surprised when he felt the bed sink next to him and turning, he saw that Zoe had now come to sit next to him as Marcia had done. "Benji is right, and I am so sorry that we ever listened to them where you and Ollie were concerned; you deserved to be treated so much better by your siblings. We had no idea where you were, and now…all the time, you have been so close to us. Dad told us a few years ago that you had gone off to India…"
Thad smiled and said, "I did go there for an extended holiday a few years ago, but no, I have been teaching History here at Dalton since 2016, as well as being the housemaster of my old dorm building."
Zoe nodded, then said in a low voice, "I hate them so much at this moment. I hate that they disowned you, and I hate myself even more for going along with them and cutting you out of my life… Well, as Benji said, enough is enough. They have managed to destroy our family through their actions which kept us from being proper brothers and sisters; they have tried to control my own family too. They show no empathy for patients or colleagues and are obsessed with power and money. I have the courage now that I lacked when I was younger and really needed to have shown it, as Ollie did; I have the courage that you seem to have, baby brother, facing up to terminal cancer with determination and a smile from the looks of it. I just wish that I had had it sooner…"
Thad realised then that his sister was crying and looking up again he saw that Benji, his big brother that had always seemed in his eyes to idolise his father as some sort of God like figure was also in tears, clinging to Marcia, who had also started to weep once more. He realised at that moment that all of the antipathy that he had felt towards his three estranged siblings had vanished. He had always hoped that they had been forced to ignore his existence, but he had always feared in the back of his mind that they had complied willingly. The same had been the case with Ollie in turn. Now he could see that they were as much victims of their parents' actions as he and Ollie had been…
He also realised that Ollie needed to be here as well; he had one final mission in life and that was to see him reconciled with his three siblings, so that he could leave for heaven safe in the knowledge that the brother that had given up so much for his benefit would be left with his siblings once more on his side…
At that point, Trent once again made an appearance once again offering to make coffee. As his two older siblings stared and wondered who Trent was, Thad chuckled and said, "Benji takes his coffee black, but the amount of sugar that he takes depends on how his day has been going. As for Zoe, she would prefer a cup of tea, ideally Earl Grey, with lemon instead of milk. I think that we will be able to manage that as well…"
Marcia burst out laughing at the expressions on the faces of her older siblings at that point, then said, "He recalled how I like my coffee too; I think Trent that Benji will need at least two sugars after all that has happened today, and indeed, you might just be quicker bringing the sugar through with you…" The eldest Dr Harwood nodded, and Trent headed out again with a smile on his face. Marcia went on then. "No, he isn't Thad's partner, just an old schoolfriend that has put his own life and family on hold to take care of our baby brother in his final days, which I personally think is beautiful. His name is Trent Nixon, and he was the main speechwriter for President Kennedy whilst he was in office. His husband is the right-hand man of Senator Hummel…"
Benji nodded, then said, "I think that I met his husband a few months ago then, when I had a meeting with the Senator – would he be of Irish decent?" Thad nodded, then Benji went on. "I was invited to meet with Senator Hummel, and I went along not expecting much, but he talks a lot of sense when it comes to so many issues, not that I would ever express that opinion in front of dad. As you will know, Thad, father thinks that all Democrat politicians are out for one thing, which is the destruction of capitalism and the free-market, to install some sort of Soviet Union style socialism over the decent people of the United States…"
Thad burst out laughing then, which started them all off. With a huge smile still on his face, Thad said, "I am guessing that he was an ardent supporter and advocate of all that Trump stood for, albeit one that would still perform abortions on the quiet for an exorbitant amount of cash…"
"Oh no, that was mom!" said Marcia with a giggle. "Dad is still 100% against abortions in any circumstance, but mom would definitely still carry them out for the right amount of cold hard cash. That pretty much sums up both of their attitudes to life in general; making money is the sole purpose of it, and compassion and caring are overrated and woke…"
"It was when mom came out with that statement that I had my 'Road to Damascus' moment," Zoe said quietly. "I mean, I had always admired mom for her professionalism and the high standards that she insisted upon, but then she was saying that she would break the law knowingly if the money was right. What was worse was that she would not be doing so in the safety of the hospital; she would have done it like that old woman in that British TV show about midwives. There would have been no aftercare, no compassion. That is not how a doctor should behave; the level of care that a patient receives should always be the priority and that care should not vary depending on how much they pay. I have been keeping a journal from that day of everything that she does that doesn't meet the standards that it should; I am currently on my sixth notebook…"
"With dad, it isn't just all of the money talks stuff, it is his increasing incompetence in the O.R. that bothers me," said Benji. "He usually has me in the O.R, with him now, technically as his second in command, but I have now lost count of the number of times he has downed tools, told me to stitch the patient up and then just walked out; as soon as he is gone, it is up to me and the other medics in the room to try and fix the mistakes that he has made. A few months back he left half of a cancerous tumour in someone, saying that it was much too tricky to remove, but I had it out in less than two minutes once he departed. I have had to reopen a patient to retrieve a metal retractor he had left inside them; we all saw what was happening, but we couldn't say a word as he has a strict no talking policy in the O.R. whilst he is operating on a patient. The only person that can speak is him and it is usually to bark orders. It isn't just the fact that the mistakes are increasingly frequent, it is his whole attitude to his work now. He is supposed to meet with the board regularly, but he has started to tell them that he cannot stay more than two minutes as he is operating; in fact, he is heading out of the service exit and driving off to play golf with his Trump loving friends…"
Thad's mouth was wide open by then, and he could only say, "That is awful! Still, he is getting quite old now…"
"He certainly is - he should have retired by now and the majority of the staff and indeed the board know it, but nobody would dare suggest it to him. One of the most senior doctors on staff was overheard saying as much to a colleague, and the next thing we all knew he was being dismissed amidst allegations of improper conduct, all of which were a complete fabrication, of course…" continued Benji. "I hate to say this, but I can't help but think that if you had chosen to pursue a medical career, and had been working in his hospital when you were diagnosed with this cancer, he would have fired you, then charged you through the nose for every possible treatment he could suggest, and then would have kicked you out of the hospital when the insurance wouldn't pay out any more. That thought is just one more reason for this to be the moment that dad gets a nasty shock; that there will be a deputation of staff at the next board meeting to expose all of his mistakes as soon as he is safely away to his golf game…" Thad looked at his big brother in a mixture of surprise and awe. He had always thought that Benji was his father's son through and through, but now he was about to turn on him.
"I will join you with my dossier on mom," said Zoe then. "It would be most fitting if the two of them departed the hospital at the same time, don't you think?"
"Definitely. Perhaps Marcia could keep her occupied whilst we and some of our colleagues end their reign over the hospital."
"It would be my immense pleasure to keep her talking until they come to speak to her…"
Thad just stared at his siblings, all of whom now seemed ready and prepared to destroy their parents' careers. "They do say that the most successful revolutions and rebellions start from within the organisation that they wish to overthrow or change. As a teacher of history, I have pointed that out more times than I care to imagine…"
"It is even better when those that are about to be overthrown have no idea what is coming and when the people betraying them are those that they felt sure would never attack them. We three have been wearing poker faces around them for a while, so a few more days before we act will not do any harm…" said Benji. Then he glanced at the clock and said, "However, we need to cut this reunion much shorter than I would like and head back to the hospital for a check in before they notice we are all absent and at the same location. Our beloved parents would get much to excited about billable hours and would try to find the insurance details of a non-existent couple; they would call the school and well, that would not end well…"
"No, it would most certainly not," agreed Thad.
"I am free tomorrow from 1pm though, so I would like to come back for a proper brotherly chat, if that is okay with you?" said Benji. His eyes looked so hopeful that there could be only one answer in Thad's mind…
"Of course," said Thad. "You can tell me all about your family too…"
"And I will pop back tomorrow at lunchtime Thaddie, so that you can tell me all about that boy that you loved and hope to see again in heaven, because he sounds so absolutely perfect," added Marcia. The wink that followed was enough to make Thad blush, and she chuckled at that as she had always done when she had embarrassed him before…