Owain and The Voice.
After he left the Christmas gathering at Ethan and Drew's home, Owain had made a decision and rather than heading home, he had hastened across town to the hospital, where he knew that his Uncle Ollie would still be on duty. He found to his surprise that the E.R. was quiet, and on asking one of the younger doctors that was on duty, he discovered that his uncle was upstairs in his office. He hurried up the stairs, knocking on the door before letting himself in to see Ollie smiling at him as he stepped inside.
"Owain! Merry Christmas to you! What brings you here when you should be on a well-deserved day off?"
"Well, it was something that Ethan's father said today before we had our lunch actually… He was talking about the latest big news story back in Ohio and he mentioned without realising what he was doing that there was a doctor there that is about to be sued by a whole group of former patients for malpractice and negligence…" Owain began, but he stopped as his uncle sighed.
"My dad… Benji told me a couple of days ago, mightily relieved that thanks to his stupidity, he was taking all of the pressure on himself and that the hospital was not going to be held liable for the cost. He is very concerned though that the news about dad's mistakes will overshadow all of the good things that he, Zoe and Marcia have achieved since they managed to remove my parents from their position running the place. The fact that they are also highly likely to come after my mom next is going to fill every column inch of the newspapers with negative comment. I told him to think like Thad would have done had the reputation of Dalton been threatened by something in the past; have a statement prepared and ready to release. Be sympathetic with the victims, offering empathy and support if required. Work with the victims to ensure that they receive the redress and justice they so rightly deserve. Reiterate constantly that mom and dad have no connection in any way to the hospital any longer. The fact that it is their children that are saying all of that should also work in their favour…"
Ollie paused, before stating, "I have also prepared a statement of my own, pointing out that I severed connections to my parents a long time ago and that I am as totally horrified by what has emerged as everyone else. I decided it was best I such a major case will hit the national media, not just the Ohio papers, and it wouldn't take them exceedingly long to try and connect me to them. It is at times like this that I miss Thad; he could have written a statement that was much better and concise than the one that I have written."
"If you asked him, Trent would probably do something for you. I know that he is busy with all of his council stuff, but I am sure that he would find the time to write all of the necessary statements. He would see doing so as an extension of his love and loyalty towards Thad," Owain reply.
"That isn't a bad idea to be honest. He wrote speeches so well for President Kennedy after all… I will call him tomorrow, see if he could do something for me at least."
"I miss Thad too," Owain added. "Evie might have made us official today with all of her family present, and I know that I'm probably about to have every bit of my life scrutinised by the Mackenzie family's playing with detectives. I know that there are now no nasty skeletons left in my closet, but it still feels so very intrusive."
Ollie chuckled, then responded, "Unfortunately, when you are potentially going to marry the most eligible young lady in the United States of America, in terms of wealth, such an approach is only to be expected…" He stopped then, as he felt the draught of angel wings in the room; to his slight surprise, he realised that Owain had also felt the draught. He said nothing until he saw that Thad was now standing at his side, no doubt wanting to use him as a conduit to communicate with their nephew. "I guess that if he was here, Thad would want to say then you should not be so worried about it all; you have done nothing to be ashamed of and neither for that matter has your mother or grandmother. I very much doubt that the private detectives will go in search of your father, given that you have never met him, except to perhaps ensure that he cannot interfere in your life in the future. What you must focus on is the love that you and Evie have, because it is a blessing that can get you through all of life's difficulties. Thad would go as far has to say that the two of you are soulmates…"
Owain smiled at his uncle's words, unaware that his other uncle was smiling every bit as much alongside him. "Yes, I think that he would; he believed in all of that and also in angels. I'd like to think that angels are out there, and that Thad was watching over me right now…"
Once again Ollie smiled, as he could now see that his brother had moved to stand right by their nephew's side. "I used to have my doubts about the existence of angels until Thad passed away, but I believe now that he is standing here with us in this very room at this precise moment. I will go as far as to say that one day we will both see an indication of that…"
"Now that is something that I would like very much," replied Owain, wondering all the time why Ollie's office had suddenly become so full of draughts…
At that moment, the telephone rang, and Ollie had to hurry back to the Emergency Room to deal with an influx of patients. Owain offered to stay and assist, but his uncle insisted that he had for home, and he never disobeyed an instruction from a senior doctor. On arriving home, he made himself a drink and then returned to studying his books, catching up on his studies before his shift the following day.
It would be three hours after his conversation with his nephew that Ollie was finally able to head for home himself; he had spent most of that time dealing with the casualties from an incident where someone had decided to attempt to deep fry their Christmas turkey. Such things were not advisable in a suburban home with a large garden; they were bordering on stupidity when an attempt was made to do so on the balcony of an apartment on the Lower East Side… The multiple cases of burns from the exploding hot oil that he had treated what complicated in one case by the compound fracture sustained by the patient when they had jumped off the fourth-floor balcony to escape the fireball that was threatening to engulf them.
Arriving home, he told Michelle the whole sorry story over a cup of coffee. "It is the sheer stupidity that gets to me the most. I do not understand for one moment how they thought it was suitable thing to do! One of them died at the scene, one of them potentially left unable to walk again and all of them severely burned. There is a poor little girl, who thankfully was inside the apartment, whose last memory of her grandfather will be hearing him scream as she watched him burn to death…"
Michelle nodded, then allowed herself to smile as she felt a draught in the room. She was pleased to see that her husband smiled as well as he saw that it was his brother that had just arrived, and her own smile broadened further when she saw that Wes was with him.
"We just stopped by to wish you both a Merry Christmas and also to discuss what the future holds. It has been decided that Owain will be the next person to be given the opportunity to have the ability to see us. He has the faith and the belief in angels already; we just need to give him a little push, so that he can feel us around more before we move on to him hearing and seeing us as well. He noticed the draughts earlier, which is an incredibly good sign," exclaimed Thad, his tone a joyous one. "We have also agreed that Evie can play a small but important part in the process too. He will merely be the first of a new group of people that will hopefully gain the ability, and he will be followed by two other doctors - Hayden and Marcia…"
Ollie smiled broadly at the prospect of his little sister being able to see angels, knowing that for her the ability to see her youngest brother once again would be a source of great joy and happiness. Hayden was another sensible choice, a man who already worked full time with those that were coming to the end of their lives, so to be able to see those people once more would be a great privilege for him. However, it was his nephew that he was most pleased for. He saw him now more or less every day, and he was also a regular visitor to their family home, one in which all three residents saw angels and thought nothing of it.
"I want you both to know that we all do our utmost to help in the process," Ollie responded with a grin. "It will be a delight to all of us to see Owain's face when he once more comes face to face with you little brother…"
"I suspect that he will actually be more than a little overawed when he is also able to see all of the rest of you as well," cautioned Michelle.
"I agree which is why the task will be my husband's alone at first. It will be his voice that he will start to hear, a voice that he recognises fully and will place great trust in. Only once he can also see Thad will we start to allow him to see those of us that he will recognise from photographs as well," explained Wes.
"My only concern about the whole process would be that you need to prepare him properly for the fact that once he can see you, he will discover that the hospital is full of other angels," added Ollie.
"Trust me when I say that that will only begin to happen gradually. There are things that we can do to ensure that he will not see them all from day one, but only once he is fully ready for it," Wes replied, leaving Ollie to wonder just how they were going to achieve that, given that he had not had such a cushion when he had begun to see angels himself…
As 2036 began, Owain found himself on duty in the E.R. As he had not been one of the medical students on duty on Christmas Day, he had drawn what many saw as the short straw and had been placed on the overnight shift on what was traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year. He was glad that Ollie was also on duty that night, as he was certain there would be moments when he would need to consult with his mentor and hear his calm voice. Before they began, the two men sat down together, and Ollie laid out to his nephew exactly what he could expect the shift to bring.
"There will be a lot of alcohol consumed tonight, as people celebrate the start of another year. Now we both know that excessive drinking can lead to a lot of things at any time in the year, but tonight there are more people out there drinking more alcohol. We can expect to see the results of trips, falls and random fights. Then there will be pedestrians that get hit by cars as they drunkenly stumble off the sidewalk, either by accident or in an attempt to jaywalk across a busy street…"
"And there will be a lot more drivers under the influence tonight as well I expect," interjected Owain.
"Sadly so," his uncle replied with a sigh. "People never seem to learn; they continue to think that they are okay to drive after significant amounts of drink. Using public transit, however, isn't exactly safer; we will see people that have fallen down the stairs at subway stations, but hopefully no-one this year that has fallen onto the track in front of a train. Finally, we have the burns, people that have been using candles and fireworks and had avoidable accidents. All in all, tonight is a little like being in a war zone, with a constant stream of fractures and yes, gunshot wounds too…"
"So, the priority tonight is to work as swiftly as we can, but also to remain safe," asked Owain.
Ollie nodded, then said, "You have coped admirably with a lot of things so far, but I will be honest with you, tonight is a real test; that is especially true as I have assigned you to a particular role this evening, as we find division of labour speeds things up. You will be working alongside three experienced nurses and will be dealing with most of the minor fractures alone. You have dealt with many such injuries alone yourself already and I am confident that you can cover that area without myself or another doctor at your side. It will be a lot of fingers, wrists and ankles you will see, with perhaps the odd arm; nothing where the bone has broken through the skin either…"
The prospect of working alone without another doctor did scare Owain a little, but he knew that the day would come when that was the norm; there always had to be a first time. "If you think that I am capable of doing that, then I will take it on, hoping that I can live up to the faith that you are placing in me."
"Just remember that the nurses that you are working with are part of the team and that in many ways, they are at least your equals; they are all more experienced with working these trying shifts of course. If you have any issues, don't be afraid to ask them, as they are all as dedicated to my mantra of teamwork as you are. Okay, let's get down into the thick of it for the handover and then I can introduce you to the three nurses that will be making up your team. You know all three of them, but one of them you have not had the pleasure of working alongside until now. He normally works elsewhere in the hospital, but he volunteers to work alongside us in the E.R. on almost every New Year's Eve…"
That had been quite a cryptic statement, but Owain soon saw what Ollie meant. He was more than happy to find himself working alongside Roderick that night; indeed, when he had first started to think about a career in medicine, Thad had obtained for him copies of the nursing journal that Roderick still wrote a regular column for. He had found reading of the older man's experiences enlightening and informative, and he saw him still as an inspiration. Thad had gone on to tell Owain that Roderick could easily have gone on to train as a doctor and attended med school as a mature student, but he had decided to stay in nursing instead, moving up through the ranks to be one of the most senior nurses in the entire hospital. He was thus the perfect person to have with him on his first real solo shift as a trainee doctor and given that he also had two of the longest serving E.R. nurses as well, who between them had worked over sixty New Years in the department, he felt all would be well.
Almost as soon as they were officially on duty, their first patient was conveyed to them, and Owain could see at once why Ollie had provided them with one of the portable x-ray machines that the department was blessed with, as they could immediately scan the affected area on the young female patient and see if she was indeed suffering from a fracture. In that case, she was not, and Owain was able to have the confidence to state from the image that it looked as if she had torn a ligament in her ankle instead, Roderick nodding in agreement with his diagnosis.
As the two other nurses took the patient off to get the basic treatment she required, Roderick turned to Owain and said, "If we have a night full of patients like her, drunk but happy enough, then I will be pleased; unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that we will. As the night goes on, the patients will be progressively more inebriated and that can make them much angrier and more abusive towards us too. Just remember this one thing; no matter what they say, you are doing a good job."
Owain nodded at that, having already been on the receiving end of slurs and worse from a few drunks in his time working in the E.R. to date. All he could hope for was that there would not be too many of them in the end; if there were, he just needed to keep his cool and ignore what those people were saying…
As the legendary ball dropped in Times Square to usher in the New Year, all that Roderick had been warning Owain about had come to fruition. They had been kept busy, but as expected, as the hours went on the abuse grew in length and volume, and also in tone. Owain could deal with the names and the derogatory statements, but he had found being molested by a female patient as he had been in the process of putting a supportive bandage on her damaged ankle a little too much. He had barely recovered from that when, as he was examining the wrist of another drunk patient, he heard a retching noise and then found himself drenched in vomit…
That had been close to the last straw and Roderick had sensed that much, immediately stepping in and ordering Owain to head up to the locker room to change and wash. As he had walked in that direction, feeling as disgusting as he must have looked, he narrowly avoided a punch from another drunk that was waiting his turn to be seen…
Alone in the locker room, he had removed his soiled scrubs, then headed for the shower, now wondering if he was indeed cut out for a career in the chaos of emergency medicine. If he felt so wretched and despondent after what had happened just now, how would he ever be able to cope when he was dealing with much more serious incidents on his own?
"You will cope because you are stronger than you think. You need to take a breath, get changed and get back down into the fray…"
The sudden voice in the shower area startled the medical student no end; that was not just because the locker rooms were completely empty of anyone other than himself, but because he had recognised the familiar voice at once as belonging to a man he saw as a mentor, teacher and uncle – but he also knew the man in question was dead. He shook his head, but then heeded the advice that he had been given without a thought. He had work to do and people relying on him. The voice, whatever it had been, was right; there was no other option than to just get on with the task in hand…
Eventually the torrent of patients slowed to a trickle as night moved into morning, the lengthy nightshift coming to a close. Owain had lost count in the early hours of the exact number of patients that he had treated, but he reckoned that he had seen at least forty people. He had reset bones, corrected dislocated joints and had assisted with the subsequent plaster casts and bandaging, before he had sent the now more sober patients back home. He had found that he bonded well with Roderick, who knew so much about medicine and human body, things that he himself, as of yet, did not know. He was certain that as he continued his studies, he would find out about them, but for now he deferred at times to the well-trained nurse…
There had been one other thing that night that he had felt, and that was that he was being watched over after his strange moment in the locker room; the being that he felt was watching over him was none other than his late uncle. He felt that he could not say anything about what had occurred upstairs to anyone around him, not even to mention the periodic draughts that he was feeling, which he could only attribute logically to a fault with the air conditioning. There were, after all, no windows in the room that he was working in that night, and they were much too far from the outside door to blame the weather. That was even less likely when he was informed that it was a still night, barely a breath of wind on a cold night in the city under cloudless skies.
He was glad when he saw the day shift arriving and was able to hand things over to them. He headed upstairs to collect his soiled clothes, knowing he needed to get them into the wash as soon as he reached home. He was left shocked, however, when he discovered that they had already been washed, dried and even ironed in the hours since he had changed. He headed down and found Roderick waiting for him. He explained what had happened and the older man smiled. "I guess that it really was a quiet night up in the maternity wards. Nurse Crane called down to wish us all a Happy New Year just after you headed up and I told her what had befallen you. She asked where you would have left your clothes, and she obviously sent someone down to fetch them, or fetched them herself. They have a laundry room up there, because babies do have accidents on their mothers all the time, so there are night clothes and gowns to wash…"
Owain found his eyes were a little moist, and he replied, "That was extremely kind of her; I need to ensure that I thank her properly."
"I find that a box of chocolates is what she appreciates the most, ideally plain chocolates with soft centres," responded Roderick, before going on, "You have the makings of an excellent doctor, Owain. It was tough tonight, but you picked yourself up and carried on. You will see more nights like this and indeed worse nights if you carry on working in the E.R., but I have the feeling that such things won't ever phase you. You know, I might even consider coming back to work in the E.R. on a permanent basis once you have graduated and are here as a fully qualified doctor. I have a feeling that you Uncle Thad would have approved of that idea no end…"
Owain said goodnight to Roderick, but before he headed for home, he sought out his Uncle Ollie; he found that he was in the middle of dealing with the aftermath of a car crash; as there were two shifts of staff already there, Owain decided to head for home. As he walked through the still busy streets of the city, he sent him a message wishing him and his family a good New Year. He did so carefully, as he had to watch out for deposits of ice on the sidewalk that left them slippery and also for distracted and careless drivers at every intersection he had to traverse.
He paused briefly at the bakery around the corner from the street he now called home, picking up some fresh croissants as a treat to himself, before he let himself into the quiet shared house, every other resident still asleep for now. He made himself a mug of hot chocolate which he drank as he ate his croissants, then headed for his bed, where he would be able to get an undisturbed sleep, as his roommates, as former Dalton boys, knew how to be considerate of his needs. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow, his alarm clock set for early afternoon so that he could try and normalise his sleep pattern for a return to day shifts and classes…
In his dream that morning he found himself standing in Thad's classroom at Dalton as a still shy and introverted freshman, his teacher telling him that he could be anything that he wanted to be as long as he believed in himself.
"The most important thing to realise in life is that the only person that will ever truly stop us from achieving exactly what we want is the person that we see each morning in the mirror. If you don't have belief in your only abilities, then we cannot hope that anyone else will have belief in us. I believe in you, Owain Davies; you are a kind, intelligent boy who can go wherever he wants in life; you also have a handsome face and a marvellous singing voice. All I think you lack right now is that self-belief; I am going to make it my mission to get that trait to come out of the shadows…"
"I'm not sure that I actually have any sir, or if I did, I believe it has been driven away…"
"You do," said Thad forcefully, "and the first step is to admit to yourself that it is still in there. I think that for a start, I think that you should put your name forward for a solo or two with the Warblers. By the way, that isn't a suggestion or a request; that is very much an order…"
In his sleep, Owain smiled, recalling how well those solos had gone. Once that first challenge had been overcome and he believed in that aspect of his ability, everything else seemed to fall into place…
He would wake up with his alarm, feeling refreshed, then enjoyed a late brunch with his roommates, before he decided to head next door and wish Nick, Jeff and the two boys a Happy New Year. He was not surprised to discover on his arrival that they had a house full of people, nor was he shocked when he was invited to join them, finding a seat alongside Evie after he had greeted all of the people that he knew. She kept looking at him as if she was wanting to say something and eventually, when the corner of the room they were sitting in was emptier, she spoke.
"How did last night go? I ask because the expression on your face seems to indicate to me that you have something weighing on your mind…"
He chuckled, then replied, "It was hectic to say the least; Ollie had assigned me to work on my own with three nurses dealing solely with minor fractures. However, when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, people can be so nasty to those that are trying to help them, and then, as if that wasn't awful enough, someone was sick all over me…"
"Ewww!"
"I could have turned around and headed for home there and then after that, but I had brough fresh clothes to change into and I didn't want to be the one to let people down…" he went on, then looking around and seeing nobody close by, he said in a lower voice, "I was up in the locker room and had taken off my soiled clothes when – and you will think I am losing it now – I heard a voice encouraging me to carry on. I looked around and there was no-one else in there, and in any case, the voice I heard was the same as my Uncle Thad's…"
Owian looked so nervous, worried how Evie would react, and she knew that straight away. She took his hand and said, "I don't actually think there is anything strange about that at all. I believe that we are surrounded by angels all the time and your uncle is bound to be the angel that is closest to you. He saw that you were feeling despondent and needed a boost, so he spoke to encourage you. He is probably assigned to be your guardian angel now…"
Owain nodded, then said, "He certainly said all of the right things, the voice; it also felt like there was someone present for the rest of the night. However, he did not speak again, and that was a great shame; I miss him and hearing his voice more often would be bliss…"
"Maybe you will now that he knows it is okay to speak and that it doesn't send you screaming through the building like an idiot," replied Evie, a statement Owain found a little strange, but he decided it was best to let the subject rest for now…
Over the course of the next few weeks, Owain began to hear his uncle's voice on a regular basis, especially when he was having one of his moments of self-doubt; that had resurfaced more often now as he moved into a new and complex area of his medical studies. He had reached the point where he was taking his first foray into the world of surgery, something that required a high level of concentration and a very steady hand. He would hear words of encouragement, instructions to breathe, and then words of comfort and consolation when things did not go his way at first attempt. It disconcerted him at first, but then he got used to it, and with his Uncle Thad in his corner, he soon mastered the necessary skills to pass that part of his course.
He then started to hear him when he was at home as well and even at the Spotlight Diner when he was working one of his now infrequent shifts. He became so comfortable with it all that when he had a day without any word from Thad, he missed the intervention in his daily life greatly. Evie asked him whether he had heard any more from him every time that they came together, continuing to tell him that he wasn't mad and was actually extremely lucky to be able to hear his late uncle so often. He pondered whether he should say something about what was happening to Ollie, but he did not want his uncle to think that he was mad, and that was a distinct possibility in the circumstances…
Then, quite by chance, he was caught out when he began to giggle at something that the voice in his head said whilst he was babysitting his cousin. He froze when he heard the boy ask him what he thought was so funny, and after a brief pause, all he could think of to reply was, "I was just thinking about something that our Uncle Thad used to say to me when I was at Dalton Academy…"
His nephew looked at him sagely, then nodded. "I do miss Uncle Thad sometimes too, but the truth is that he hasn't ever really left us. My mom and dad told me that I shouldn't tell anyone, but you are my cousin, so I can trust you; sometimes Uncle Thad comes to see me. I am so lucky that he does, because most other people aren't able to see or hear people when they have passed away…"
"Are you telling me that you can see Uncle Thad?" asked Owain, slightly concerned now for his young cousin's mental health, let alone his own.
"Yes, but it is okay, because I know mom and dad can see him too; they will never admit that to you or anyone else though. Of course, it was just me and mom that could see angels before; dad only began to see angels after they held a special assembly at Dalton for him, just after Uncle Thad died…"
The subject changed then, Owain a little too stunned to press his cousin for more information. He thought no more about what he had just been told until he was back home in his own bedroom, when he thought back to the day of Thad's funeral. It was then that he realised that after the reading of his will, he had been sent off in rather an abrupt manner to speak to the other Warblers in the dorm building, to let them know what was going on. More importantly, he had been instructed to remain there with them until such time as Sebastian came over to see them all.
He had done so, but one of the others had been forced to leave as his parents had arrived to take him back home; he had sent him a text message later that day to say he was going to miss them all. Then he had gone on to say that as he was walking to his parents' car, he had heard singing coming from the auditorium; Owain had thought that a little odd at the time, but he had soon forgotten all about it…
Now after what his nephew had said that evening, the whole thing took on great new significance. He wondered just who had been in that great room and why they had been singing – and indeed, what… Then another thing struck him; all of the Warblers had been present in the dorms that day apart from two freshmen, namely Wes and Tim. Had they been in the auditorium that day, blessed with the ability to see angels like his cousin and his parents? In fact, he now wondered just how many people he knew would not think he was mad at all, but as blessed as they were…