Harvey winds up in A+E after an incident with Jeff.


FIFTEEN – A+E

All he was doing was walking down the corridor, but it was still enough for Jeff to attack him. Books hugging his chest, Harvey scuttled along the corridor, only to have a sharp force tip his body forwards. He fell through the air, smacking his head against a small table placed against a wall, body thudding on the floor. His books scattered around him, eyes creasing up at the pain.

Jeff stood over him and smirked. "Tough luck, weakling." He crouched down and jabbed at the cut forming on Harvey's forehead. Harvey cried out in pain at the pressure on his wound. Jeff snickered and aimed a kick at the younger boy's torso, but a sudden noise made his head shoot up. Heavy footsteps were nearing and Jeff delved into a panic. Quickly, he raced off down the other end of the corridor, leaving Harvey to lie on the cold floor, his head wound bleeding heavily.

The footsteps approached the now prone boy, quiet breathing inhaling sharply to only exhale as a loud gasp. The Headmaster stood over the boy, lips parted slightly. He had been marching down the corridors of his school, intent on collecting his paperwork from his office when he had heard a sudden commotion three corridors away. The banging noise had diverted his route and he was preparing to dish out a reprimand if necessary when he had stumbled across the youngest Hunter boy lying on the floor, slipping in and out of unconsciousness and sporting a gushing head wound.

Explanations for the boy lying on the floor and bleeding rushed around his mind, but the Headmaster shook them away and bent down, slowly tapping the boy on the shoulder.

"Mr Hunter? It is the Headmaster. Mr Hunter? You have had a bad fall, your head is bleeding. I need to take you to the hospital, you will need a medical professional to inspect your head wound."

He didn't wait for the boy to respond, simply pulling his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialling 999. Holding the phone up to his ear, the Headmaster supported Harvey's neck with one large hand, speaking quickly.

"Ambulance. I am Headmaster at St Champions. I have found one of my pupils lying unresponsive on the corridor floor… Yes, he is breathing. He is coming in and out of consciousness at the moment. He has suffered a head wound. Please, I am… worried."

He was undertaking his duty of care by calling for the emergency services, but if the option of taking the boy to hospital himself arose than he would have to certainly refuse. He would not stand for his car seats to be bloodied! Especially by an Immune child! Their blood could be contaminated!

The Headmaster stayed with Harvey for ten minutes, breathing a sigh of relief as the paramedics arrived. They asked him a series of questions and he answered them quickly, wanting to get the boy safely to hospital so that he was out of his hands and into the care of medical professionals.

"Sir? We will have to ask you to accompany us to hospital. We'll call Harvey's parents on the way there, but for now, he's a minor. He'll have to have a responsible adult with him."

"I have a school to run, so alas I shall be unable to join him."

"Please, Sir? Only until his parents arrive. He is one of your pupils after all."

Not wanting a fuss, the Headmaster nodded. "Very well then. Get him on the back of the ambulance and once I have made some arraignments, I will join you."

XXX

Once Harvey was wheeled into a bay, doctors and nurses arrived and he had to admit to himself that he was scared. He wanted his parents, not the Headmaster to be hovering outside of the curtains and his paranoia and fear only increased when a doctor began to question him how he gained his head wound.

The lie rolled easily off of his tongue, because if Jeff found out he'd told the truth, and he would find out, then Harvey would be back in hospital. This time, permanetly.

"I walked into a door." Harvey blushed. "Wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry."