May 2033: Beginning of an end Part VII.
As soon as his three siblings had departed, Thad realised that he had started to cry; it was only now that he had been in their company once again that he realised just how much he had missed them all being a part of his life. Marcia had not changed at all, apart from maybe being a little sadder than he recalled, but both Benji and Zoe had altered completely in tone, from seeing their parents as almost God like and wonderful, to despising them. He was not entirely sure if he approved wholeheartedly of the plan that they had formulated to destroy them, as it was not something that he himself had ever contemplated doing even in his darkest and loneliest moments, but if they were indeed putting the lives of patients at risk then he supposed that they deserved the censure that was coming their way…
At that point he realised that he was being observed from the doorway, and he tried to look as stern as possible as he beckoned Trent in. Before he could speak, Trent said, "I am not sorry that I invited your siblings here – well, strictly I only invited Marcia, but the other two then appearing was an added bonus. I might have gone behind your back, and I might have lured your sister here under false pretences, but they were glad to see you, and you were glad to see them, especially when it became apparent that they were no longer completely under the thrall of your parents…"
"Okay, I will admit that is true, but the fact remains that it could so easily have gone completely the other way. It does make me doubt whether I can entirely trust you and I wonder if you have taken it upon yourself to break any of my other specific requests…" replied Thad. He paused, as he studied Trent's face, then said, "You have, haven't you!"
"I might have suggested to David that it might be a good idea to come and pay an extended visit to his mother. As for Ollie, well he was coming to Ohio anyway, as he had already made plans to pay a 'fact-finding' visit to the Kennedy-Willetts hospice. He will be staying with Hayden in his apartment there and well, he is scheduled to arrive tomorrow."
Thad shook his head, but he knew in his heart that what Trent had done was actually the right thing in the circumstances. Neither his brother nor his best friend would have been happy if they had not been present to spend time with him in his final days. If they had stayed in New York and Boston respectively, then they would have been too far away potentially if the doctors announced that he only had hours to live; now they could both be at his bedside in under an hour in an emergency. There was also another advantage to Ollie being in town as of the next day…
"Ollie being here tomorrow is actually no bad thing; he can hopefully meet up with Marcia, Zoe and Benji too. I am going to be quite firm on this; if they have taken me back into the family, then they need to take him back as well, and he needs to forgive them as well, as he deserves to have them in his life once I am gone," said Thad thoughtfully. Then his tone changed, and with a wagging figure, he went on, "However, if I discover that anyone else is lurking in Ohio then I will be extremely displeased with them and you. I love them all dearly, but they have lives of their own to lead…"
That evening, after a light dinner, they sat down to watch the second part of the National Show Choir Championships. The Warblers had made it into the last five, which they had expected. Their theme for their second set of three songs was Sixties British Pop; they began with a Beatles number, then moved on to one from the Rolling Stones. Then it was time for their third number, and it was something totally unexpected. Both Thad and Trent had heard of the Scottish singer Lulu, but they had not expected that the boys would be performing one of her greatest hits, nor that they would have altered the lyrics to better suit them. That there were also images of Thad from his time as a teacher at Dalton projected on the background as they began to sing To Sir, With Love blew them away. Trent found himself crying as he listened to the performance, Owain singing the lyrics, which after the joyous nature of the first two was much more melancholy; he also sensed that he would not be the only one of the alumni to be doing so. Sitting up in his bed watching, Thad did not cry, but his heart ached with love for them all…
The last note was sung and the silence in the venue in Washington DC was palpable; then the applause began, thundering loudly through the hall, the camera panning to show that all of the judges were on their feet applauding too, at least one of them with tear tracks on her face….
"Well, Sebastian took a massive gamble with that one, because normally the judging panel frowns upon any sort of personal themes," Thad said quietly. "This time I do not think they have any objections though…"
The Warblers had been the final group to perform this time, and as they waited for the results to be announced, Trent took a moment to discretely check the Warbler group chat to see how everyone else was reacting to it. The page was littered with broken hearts emojis, plus so much praise for the boys and for Sebastian too for having been brave enough to gamble on the fact that Thad was so loved by the whole choir community that nobody would mind a tribute number.
He also checked the main show choir blogs as well and each of them said much the same thing; that the number had been a fitting tribute to the man that had revived the fortunes of the Dalton Academy Warblers, securing them their first win in forty years on his first time out and then placing in the top three continually since then. They also praised Sebastian and his genius move, which ensured that he delivered on the brief but at the same time had managed to show just how heartbroken they all were to be losing their teacher. He couldn't help but wonder if all of these blogs already had an obituary written for Thad, just as the news agencies of the world have them prepared for the great and the good…
Then he saw that the head of the judging panel was on camera and was giving the usual speech of thanks to all those choirs that had competed, before announcing the top five places in reverse order; all too soon they were at the point where it was between their boys and a choir from a school in Nebraska…
The moment he said the word Dalton the entire auditorium erupted in thunderous applause and cheering once more; in his bed, Thad smiled widely, glad to have been able to witness one final victory for his beloved Warblers. The trophy was presented and accepted by Owain and his deputy, and then Sebastian stepped forward to speak…
"This victory today is not for us; it is dedicated entirely to one man, who will be watching us right now and probably cursing me for doing this. This win is for Thad Harwood, without whom the Warblers would not be where we are today. He will live on through all of our voices and through the words and actions of everyone who loves the world of show choir. I would also like to add that the prize money that we receive this year will be donated in its entirety to charities that are engaged in the field of cancer research, so that we can strive towards finding a cure for all types of cancer, and ensure that no life is ever cut short by it."
There was even more applause at that statement and when it finally died down, the camera showed that Sebastian had now been joined centre stage by the leaders of the other four finalist choirs. The leader of the Nebraska choir was the one that spoke. "On behalf of all of our choirs, can I say that we will all also be making a donation to those same charities. In Thad Harwood we lose a man that was dedicated to our genre and who inspired us all; he was a tireless champion of all of us. As your boys so clearly love you, Mr Harwood, so do so many of us here tonight…"
At Dalton, as there was even more applause in Washington DC and Sebastian was wrapped in a group hug by the other four, Trent climbed onto the bed and wrapped an arm around the shoulders of a now sobbing Thad…
When Sebastian called up to speak to Thad a little later that evening, once he was back at the hotel they were staying at, he discovered that he was already asleep, tired out by a day that had been full of emotions. "That was quite a performance that you gave today," Trent said quietly. "It set off quite a few of the brotherhood emotionally, at least according to the chat group. It was the speech you gave at the end and the generosity of the other choirs that really did it for Thad though; he cried quite a bit after that, and well, he decided that he would be best having an early night… One way and another, today has been some day for him. I was responsible for a lot of the emotional triggers he has had, but I will tell you more about that when you get back to Dalton."
"Darn, now you have me more than a little worried and curious as to what you did to him," replied Sebastian. "You know what the plans for tomorrow are; we will be back in the early evening as we will be visiting a couple of the museums before our flight home, courtesy of Mackenzie Inc and their private plane. Remind me constantly that I must never annoy Ethan…" Trent chuckled, but he knew why Sebastian had said it. He had gone to a few show choir events with the Warblers by coach, and even those relatively short and local trips had been fraught. "I suspect that Thad will be even more upset when we tell him that there was also a collection in the audience after the show, with the money raised also to go to the same cancer charities in his memory and we will be handing over a six-figure sum when all is said and done. So many people also asked me to pass on their love to Thad as well and the same is true for Skylar and even the boys. There was even talk that there could be some long-term commemoration of him; a special award for the best soloist has been suggested for years and they might actually bring it in as the Harwood Trophy, although I think that one for the hardest working coach might be more apt…"
Trent shook his head even though he knew Sebastian could not see him and replied, "No, he wouldn't, because he always said that he did what he did for pleasure, not for rewards, and I suspect it is the same with you. Okay, give the boys my warmest congratulations and Thad's too, as we both know that if he was awake, that is exactly what he would say."
"I will do. I have also told the boys that it is unlikely that Thad will be well enough to be in attendance in the school auditorium for the official welcome home tomorrow."
"That is probably for the best, although you know Thad as well as I do; he will try his hardest to be there and I might even have to push him over there in a wheelchair if the doctor will allow it…"
Sebastian was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "At least he was able to see us win; my biggest fear was that he would pass away before the finals, because that would have broken the boys' hearts. It sounds awful, but that would have impacted on their performance as well, no question about it. Even now they are all so quiet and the celebrations are muted, because now that the adrenaline is wearing off, they are all starring to mourn him in advance again…"
The next morning was a Monday and Thad woke up feeling more exhausted than ever, even if he had just enjoyed eleven hours of sleep. He knew what that meant; his body was reaching the end of its ability to cope with the failure of his pancreas, and it was putting pressure on every other function that he had. He allowed Trent to give him a bed bath, before he dressed him in fresh pyjamas. He then managed to drink most of a small glass of grape juice, joking with Trent that its red colour, in combination with his yellow skin, would turn him orange like an Oompa Loompa. Trent had laughed, but Thad could see that the amusement did not meet his eyes. He asked him then for a writing pad and his pen, as the events of the previous day meant he had to write three more letters, and then rewrite a few more, as he had new things he wished to say to some after the win yesterday. Trent agreed and rolled in a hospital table that had been borrowed from the hospice, then left him to write in privacy…
Eventually he was summoned back in and asked to fetch a box from one of the cupboards in the room. He complied, noting as Thad opened it with a key that it was full of envelopes; it was clear at once to him that the Head Warbler was taking a leaf out of his late husband's book and was leaving everyone their own personal note. He placed the new letters in the box and removed a few, then sighed. "I was thinking of who deserved to be made an honorary Warbler before I passed away, but I just can't think of anyone, because my brain just feels too tired. Have you any ideas?"
Trent sat down on the bed and considered it for a moment, then said, "Just an idea, but what about Adam Crawford? He will be Lawrence's husband later on this summer and that would qualify him, amongst other things. If you really want to go outside the box, then what about Isabelle Wright? She has always been so complimentary to our more famous alumni and has run articles that have helped them to become even more famous. That and she was always so good to Kurt…"
"Not bad actually… I did consider Hayden, or even Ollie, although I think some might cry foul and say it was nepotism if I did that now."
"Unfortunately, that much is true, but there is a way round it. Make Michelle an honorary Warbler and then leave your own pin to Ollie…"
Thad chuckled and said, "As ever, Mr Nixon, you are a genius. So, my pin goes to Ollie, and we give honorary status to Adam, Isabelle, Michelle and well, what about Mason? He did so much for Seth back in the day and has been so supportive of the hospice scheme too."
Trent nodded, then realised Thad was tearing up. Before he could speak, the Head Warbler said in an emotional voice, "As for Mr Bangy, he will be going to David, officially retiring at long last from active duty. I know that David will treasure the gavel, as to him it is a symbol of both me and Wes…"
Trent did not cry as he carried out his friend's next instructions; he brought his blazer over from it's hook and watched as he unpinned the badge that meant so much, then found an envelope in the box, reopened it and inserted the pin. Then he was sent to a drawer in the chest and was shocked to discover that Thad still had the original box that Mr Bangy had been mailed in by Wes on the night before Nick and Jeff had married. He took it to him and watched, holding back his tears, as Thad lovingly handled the gavel one final time before he placed it carefully into the cotton wool that still had the imprint of the original journey in it. It fell to him to reseal it, then to hold it as Thad wrote David's name on it, above his own that had been written by Wes two decades before… It all had an air of finality to it which broke Trent's heart more than a little….
He had placed the box back in its place in the drawer when he heard the buzzer for the outside door go. He knew that it was time for Marcia Harwood to arrive, so he let her in, but was shocked to discover that she was not alone and was in the company of both of her older siblings. They had brought all their own food with them, and a tub of vegetable broth for Thad, which he informed them was absolutely delicious. The Harwoods would sit there and talk about family and events whilst ignoring the elephant in the room, keeping everything light and cheerful. Thad admired the photos of the nephews and nieces that he had never met and would not meet now; they all agreed that would be too much, although their respective spouses would be coming at some point.
Thad was in the middle of telling them all how wonderful Wes was when the front door to the apartment was suddenly flung open, then knocked on as an afterthought. Then they all heard Ollie's voice as he headed in, shouting out, "Hey, little brother! Are you up for a surprise visitor?" Hearing that in the kitchen, Trent immediately thought that the surprise was going to be on him…
Dr Ollie Harwood had made his journey to Ohio with an unexplained pain in his heart. He had been trained by his parents to be cold and unemotional when he was confronted by the dying, but naturally, this was different. This time it was not some random stranger that was passing away but his little brother, his blood family and that made everything so very different. He knew that there was nothing he could do to prevent his brother's death and that the treatments that were on offer were painful and largely pointless, yet he still felt that there was more that he could have done for him… When Trent had called, he had immediately put in place the plan that he had prepared weeks before when he first discovered Thad was dying. His employers were fully aware of the situation, but they were happy to see it as a fact-finding visit to the hospice in Ohio, as they were indeed planning to construct and open a similar facility within their own hospital complex.
He had parted from his wife and son first thing that morning, the latter the ultimate gift that his little brother could have given him; he had headed to Penn Station and had boarded the train to Ohio, one of the fast new ones that had been created and delivered ahead of time by President Kennedy's rail expansion programme. He had used the journey to ponder life and all of its many mysteries, such as why he was being plagued by draughts virtually everywhere he went and indeed, why he had started to hear voices in the last two months. That had been the worst thing; they had not particularly bothered him at work, because the hospital was busy and the walls were thin in places and not exactly 100% soundproof; when he had started to hear them in his own empty apartment, it had been a different story. Eventually he had opened up about what was going on to his wife; she had smiled, told him not to worry and said that it was probably down to his worry and stress, both from how hard he worked and also that brought on by the impending death of the only one of his siblings that he talked to…
He had nodded and wanted to believe her. However, his normally rational mind did not find such phenomena easy to handle, and he had begun to suspect that it might be something a little more than that; that maybe his wife and brother were right and that there was an afterlife, along with very real angels… He had chuckled to himself at that many times, as his parents would be absolutely horrified that he believed such things, but now he hoped that it was true. It cheered him to think that his poor little brother would live on in heaven as an angel and would be reunited there with the man he loved, known to the world as The Judging Angel. In fact, part of him was pretty sure that one of the voices he was hearing was Wes himself, as it was always reassuring him that Thad was loved, and that when the time came for him to pass away, he would do so surrounded by so much love…
His sudden appreciation of the afterlife and a firm belief in its existence had been hard for him to handle, but it faded into nothing when compared to the mind-blowing scene he witnessed that Monday afternoon as he walked into his little brother's bedroom. He paused on the threshold, blinking at what he took to be three spectres at his bedside. It had been a long time since he had seen his three siblings, but as far as he was aware, their attitude towards both him and Thad had not changed, and they were still completely loyal and obedient to their parents. He could only stare at Thad, who was smiling at him, but looked so very tired and sick…
"I think that the surprise is on you Ollie," he said in a faint raspy voice. "Trent made a phone call without my permission, spun a tale and well, this is the consequence of that…" Ollie still looked stunned as he finished his brief explanation, but Thad could see that there was rage in his eyes and he knew that for everyone's sake, that had to come out…
"Ollie, it is so good to see you," began Marcia. "I've missed you…"
Thad closed his eyes, knowing that her words would be enough to trigger the explosion that was bound to come.
"You've missed me? Well, whose fault is that!? You chose to side with our beloved parents, to cut me out of your life when I decided that I wasn't prepared to work for them as a virtual slave and instead wanted to use my talents to be free to serve all patients, not just those with the right amount of money… And yeah, I also wanted to reconnect with our baby brother, who had been deleted from the family album just because he had the audacity to follow his own path in life and be something other than yet another Dr Harwood. If you missed me then it was of your own doing and absolutely nothing to do with me."
"I know that, but the problem is that I am not as brave as you and Thaddie. I had too much to lose and so I chose the easy but selfish option. All I can say to you now is that I am so very sorry and hope that you might be able to find it in your heart to forgive me one of these days," said Marcia sadly.
Her eldest brother nodded, then addressed Ollie. "We all made a mistake in cutting you and Thad out of our lives. It was too easy to be convinced to only see the world through their eyes, to give in to their doctrine, but I promise you that the pendulum has now swung in completely the opposite direction, and we see them for the terrible folk they really are. Compared to you, I am nothing but my father's lackey. You have achieved much more than I have in my career so far and have earned the respect of your peers and the medical community in New York in your own right. Me, I just exist to support father, to cover up his increasingly numerous mistakes, but all of that is about to change. Like Marcia, Zoe and I hope that you can find it in your heart to let us back into your life, but at the same time, we all fully understand if you find that to be a stretch too far. We deserve to be rejected…"
Before Ollie could respond to what sounded like contrite words from his big brother, Thad spoke directly to him once more. "I know that it is hard to forgive what they did, but we both know that they had little choice but to. I have forgiven them, because if there is one thing I have learned in my life, it is that it is too short to hold grudges. They just weren't as strong as us; I am glad that they have finally seen the light and that we have had an opportunity to make our peace before my life came to its end. Now I need you to do the same for my sake. One of the things that had distressed me the most in all of this is the fact that you gave up your place in the family, at least in part, because of me. I was distraught to realise that my death would leave you with no siblings to share your grief and love you. The truth is that they do still love us both; mom and dad might have forced them to disown us in public, but inside the family bond was just too strong. You still love them all too, deep in your heart. You know that is true. Please let them back in…"
Ollie shook his head and said, "Okay, but it isn't quite as simple as that Thaddie, and you know it. They gave us up and cut us dead. They sent back the Christmas gifts that I sent to their children the year they disowned me for goodness' sake…"
"Wait, what? Who did that? I would have had no problem with that, and my wife certainly would not have sent them away!" exclaimed Benji.
Ollie laughed, and scoffed, "Oh really, Junior? That's strange, because it was the gifts I sent to your kids that were the ones that I received back!"
The look of confusion on Benji Harwood's face at that point was matched by the look of anger on his brother's. There could well have been an impasse were it not for their sister Zoe, who suddenly knew exactly what was going on. "The year that we were all told to cut you off was the last year that we all still lived in those apartments in the hospital complex. It was the following summer when father announced that he needed the accommodation block for redevelopment as a new plastic surgery center; he said that way it would generate an income, instead of it being, as he called it, dead space…"
"Why does it not surprise me that even his most dedicated and loyal lieutenants would be kicked out of their homes with little or no notice," sneered Ollie.
"Oh, it hurt alright, but it did mean one thing; our mail was no longer delivered to us via the hospital mailroom. I would suggest that mom made sure that she intercepted every item that was mailed to us that Christmas. I bet the addresses on both the cards and the gifts would have been handwritten; she would have recognised your writing straight away and well…"
"She would have sent it back, unopened, with a typed note informing me that I was not to contact you again," said Ollie, the truth now there for him to see. "I should have guessed it would happen. That also explains what happened the following year, when the cards were returned with 'Not at this address' stamped on them… I really hated all of you so much that Christmas…"
"I did wonder why you hadn't sent anything to the children, because you had never missed a year, but then I decided that we had hurt you too deeply and needed it to be a clean break; that you had chosen to sever all ties, even with those that had never yet betrayed you," said Benji sadly.
"The truth is that he didn't ever sever all ties," said Marcia with a hint of a smile. "He might think that I do not know, and my dear husband assumes the same, but I know that you and he have remained in contact as both our hospitals share the same medical supplier. If I had ever confronted him, then he would have been able to say that the contract with your hospital in New York was just one that he obliged to oversee…"
She chuckled then, a twinkle in her eye. "I guess that it was his way of rebelling against a controlling father-in-law, because he never approved at all of what had been done to you and Thad; in fact, he went so far as to say that had he not been so in love with me, then he would have filed for divorce and run for the hills too… When I told him last night that I had seen Thaddie, he was overjoyed. Then I told him why I had seen you, and it broke his heart. He told me that I needed to make it up with you next, Ollie, and I agreed; I had begun to plan a trip to New York to do just that. I have genuinely missed you every single day since we were forced apart, and I also really want to meet my sister-in-law and my nephew. I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive us all…"
Neither Marcia nor Ollie spotted the confused look on Benji's face as she had mentioned a nephew, but it was fleeting, as he would worry about that later. He had more important things to say to his younger brother right now. "There is something else that you should definitely know at this point and that is that we intend to give our parents a nasty surprise at the board meeting next Monday. I won't go into details, suffice to say that their reign over the hospital will be coming to an abrupt end. Dad will be at the meeting for less than five minutes, citing that he has multiple surgeries to perform, whereas he will actually be leaving via the back door to go and play gold with one of his many cronies from the Republican Party…"
"Mom will also be absent, as on a Monday morning she runs a private clinic in an exclusive area of town, where she arranges terminations for the airhead daughters of socialites…" added Zoe, which news did not shock Ollie at all…
"Zoe and I will be at the board meeting, waiting in the wings for dad to get clear; as soon as he is safely off the premises, the board will be receiving a pile of Any Other Business that will quite frankly blow their minds," said Benji forcefully. "I have stayed silent about so much for much too long, afraid of the consequences, but having seen how brave Thad is being in the face of death, then I can be brave enough to do the right thing and let them know just how much of a financial liability dad now is; not just because of his increasing incompetence in the O.R. as it happens. I spoke to one of the accountants last night, one that left suddenly last year; it appears that they have been falsifying the records and siphoning off money as well…"
Ollie looked stunned, and said nothing, leaving it to Thad to make the comment that he would have done given the chance. "Why does that not surprise me at all? Just be very careful that you have your case well built up and make sure that there is no way that they can turn round and say that the three of you also knew; they will try to implicate you to save their own skin. I would speak to your banks and get them to decline acceptance of any large cash payment in from any source without your authorisation. The first line of defence that mom and dad will use is that you three are the guilty ones and are trying to pin your crime on them…"
Benji nodded, then said, "It is still a risk I am more than willing to take; I have covered up too much for too long. I have a number of staff in the O.R. that have witnessed his blunders, and they are all willing to stand up beside me. I think that everyone is as tired of their antics as we are and want to be able to care for the patients properly, not just seeing everything as a cash generation opportunity."
"They will never forgive the betrayal of course. Dad will do all that he can to get the State Medical Board to ban you all from ever practicing in Ohio again. I suggest that you get a copy of all that you are intending to reveal made up and delivered to them at the same time as you are speaking to the board," said Ollie sympathetically. Then he went on, "If the worst does come to the worst, I have contacts in the various hospitals in New York and I am sure that I could find you all positions either in the city or elsewhere in the state. Heck, that is the least I could do for my family in the circumstances…"
The way he spoke and what he had said made his three estranged siblings smile. "Does that mean that you have forgiven us?" said Zoe.
Ollie sighed, then said, "Let us just say that you are all on probation for now, but yeah, I could have you all back into my life. Somebody did just happen to tell my boy all about you when he was babysitting a while back, so I am sure that he would love a chance to finally meet his aunts, uncles and cousins…"
"Of course, Hayden McLeod is also deserving of a full and sincere apology, particularly from me. I stood by and let dad…" began Benji, before Ollie held up his hand to stop him.
"No, you didn't stand by; he knows, as do I, that you did everything you could for him; you put yourself at risk in your attempts to save him. As it happens, he has actually benefited greatly from his escape, as it has given him an opportunity to focus on one specialism. The success of the Kennedy-Willetts hospice is down to him and the team that he recruited to assist him, all of whom have the same focus and ethos. I think that he would just be glad to have an opportunity to rekindle your friendship, and those he had with Zoe and Marcia too."
"Now that is something I can promise and I will also say this here and now; we will no longer object to all that he is trying to achieve once we have mom and dad out of the way; our mission will instead be to support him in every way we can…" replied Benji.