Whiteout by Jonah
Those who have read my previous stories will need no introduction to Simon and Garret and their family. Those who haven't - why not? This is the latest in the series that began a couple of years back with "A Letter from America" and it fits in right after "Christmas in New England". If you haven't read the others, don't worry. It will stand on its own. It is a story of love - the real sort. Some of its characters are gay, though that doesn't matter. They are good people. They are not, however, real people. This is a work of fiction and every character is also a fiction - created by me, except for Garret, who was created by Jacob Lion, in the USA. I want to thank Jacob for permitting me to use his characters. This story is brought to you, free of charge, by Nifty. Nifty brings all these stories to you free of charge and he doesn't charge us authors either. The cost is borne by himself and our donations. To keep this site going please consider donating to Nifty at https://donate.nifty.org/
chapter 7
Ross slept between Garret and I, since they were already in bed when I returned. The bed was snug and warm and we were soon asleep.
Daylight, when we finally noticed it, crept round the thick curtains to find Ross spooned up behind me. I could feel the soles of Garret's feet against my heels so I knew where he was. I rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. When I returned there was a naked teenager sitting on the bottom of the bed.
"Shower," I told him. He went without a word.
Well I'd successfully made sure that the two people who were in no hurry to go anywhere got showered first. I dressed quickly and headed for the boys' room. Some clean clothes to dress in would be good. Nice one Simon. Always make sure you prioritise the things you can do nothing about.
Lloyd and Barry were in the shower in their room. Philip was sitting on the bed with a towel round his middle.
"Daddy," he said," we haven't got any clean clothes to get changed into."
I realised this might be a major issue for Philip, who was never anything less than spotless.
"Neither have I Philip," I told him. "I'd like to have, but we can't always have everything that we'd like. Now you're going to have to get dressed for breakfast."
"OK," he said simply. None of these boys ever argued or complained for long. He was on his feet in seconds, the towel lying on the floor.I retreated back to my own room.
Ross was vigorously towelling himself down and it was time to awaken the love of my life from his slumbers.
At the first prod,Garret sat bolt upright, gazed at the naked Adonis at the foot of the bed, cast his eyes to the heavens and lay back down again.
"Don't worry about him - he's as gay as you are. You do need to get showered and ready for breakfast though."
"OK," he replied. "You'd best get the boys up."
"They're up," I retorted. "There's only one person around here still lying in bed."
I think I imagined the flash of lightning. I didn't imagine Garret streaking to the bathroom. That really happened.
In less than ten minutes we were all down in the bistro. We helped ourselves to cereals while the waiter took our orders. I opted for poached haddock while everybody else went for the Norfolk full English. I was surprised that Ross didn't choose to be different but it may have been too early in the day for him to use his imagination. There were plenty of alternatives on offer.
Garret and our three boys were off to school in good time, leaving only Ross and I.
"It's going to be a good long walk Ross."
"Afraid you're not up to it?"
"I've told you before about being cheeky. Come on."
We set off down Newmarket road and joined the Mile End Road, We were separated from the road by piles of snow. A plough had been down here. The road itself looked clear and, if it weren't for the traffic, I might have been tempted to walk on it. From Coleman Road we turned off and fringed Eaton Park. We walked the length of the park then crossed Bluebell Ave and walked alongside the University of East Anglia Broad which, of course, was frozen over but we weren't daft enough to walk on it. We followed the bank until we were able to cross the River Yare by the bridge, then joined Colney Lane. That sounds like a quick walk but, in almost virgin snow, it is nothing of the sort. Even Colney Lane seemed to go on for miles until we got to the roundabout near the hospital's emergency department.
We had exerted ourselves a fair bit by the time we reached Emergency Reception and enquired about Mrs. Coulter.
"Ross, is it? Then you'll be Mr. Ito. Doctor Woods said he wanted to speak to you when you arrived. If you'll take a seat, I'll just page him."
The waiting area wasn't particularly full. We both sat but not for long.
"Mr Ito? and Ross," said a pleasant young man of about my age. He looked to be dressed like a schoolteacher too, except that he had been able to put on clean clothes this morning. We both stood.
""Would you like to come with me. We'll just pop in here. It's more private."
He led the way to a small consulting room that was adjacent to reception.
"Have a seat. I'm going to take you both up to see Mrs. Coulter, but I thought I'd like to prepare you for what you're going to see. Ross, your mum is in intensive care. To keep her alive we have to monitor almost everything that happens to her. She's under a tent so that harmful germs can't get to her, and a lot of tubes and wires have to be kept attached to her. Some are to supply her with fluids and nutrients, to help her body heal itself, and some are to tell us if there is any cause for alarm. It's not pleasant seeing somebody you love like that, so I didn't want it to be a shock. Your mum isn't conscious, but she isn't really unconscious either. There is still activity in her brain - a bit like dreaming - and I think she'll know that you're there, though she won't be able to show it. How do you feel about going up to see her?"
There was no answer.
""Scared?"
A nod.
"That's alright. It wouldn't be natural if you weren't. Do you both want to follow me?"
The Emergency Department of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has more miles of corridor than any other hospital on the globe. That's not a statistic. It's just the impression you get whilst traversing them. At long last Dr. Woods arrived at a set of double doors where he stopped to use the sanitising station, indicating to us that we should do the same. The room beyond the doors contained three beds with tents over them. The doctor led us to the furthest one. A blonde woman of about mid thirties was propped up slightly under the tent. Her bare arms and her face showed traces of bruising and a couple of canulas were inserted into the backs of her hands. Other wires were simply stuck to her. Her eyes were closed but she didn't seem to be sleeping.
"I've brought someone to see you Alice," the doctor said loudly. "I know you can't see him but he wanted to come and see you."
There wasn't a flicker of the eyelids, though I imagined there was.
"Hello Mum," said Ross.
The impression of movement was even stronger this time, but it was just an impression.
"Hello Mrs. Coulter," I said. "My name's Simon. I'm one of Ross' teachers and I'm looking after him for you, until you're better."
I knew I'd seen her at a parents' evening but I wouldn't have recognised her.
"I won't ask how you are Mum, because I can see. The doctor says you're getting better."
I recognised his problem. Because people in hospital are in hospital, there is never anything to talk to them about.
"There's still a lot of snow outside," I commented, "but not as much as there was."
Well that's that topic gone.
"Yes, they closed the school today, but we'll all be back tomorrow," said Ross.
"That'll be nearly enough for today," said the doctor. "We don't want to tire her. Can you make it in tomorrow for a little while?"
"We're both at school tomorrow, but we could try to make it tomorrow evening, after school finishes."
"That'd be good. Do you want to tell her that? Then I'd like to show you something."
Ross turned to his mother.
"We've got to go now Mum, but we'll be back again tomorrow night. See you then."
"Follow me," said the doctor. He led us to the glass fronted cubical across the back of the room.
"You're not allowed in here," he said, "but I want to show you something."
He turned to the bank of monitors that filled the long desk.
"How's it going Tom?"
"About how you'd expect Dave," said the technician. "You'll want to see Alice's E.E.G. readout. It got quite exciting there."
The doctor looked over at the bank of electrowriter printouts below the screens. He pulled out one printout then tore it off.
"You see that," he said, showing the paper to Ross and I. "Those peaks there are when you said 'hello Mum', and those lower peaks are when you spoke to her Simon, but do you notice that they get higher again when you mention Ross' name? If you look back at the trace from before you arrived, the stylus is a lot more animated now. I think you two have done some good."
Personally, I think Doctor Woods had done some good. Ross had a spring in his step as we walked back to the hotel. It certainly didn't seem such a long journey back. We'd both enjoyed soup in the hospital cafeteria before we braved the elements, but the sun was shining on the snow anyway. The pavement was visible in patches and the road was wet, rather than icy. The U.E.A Broad was still iced over, for most of its surface area. I felt glad that we hadn't entrusted our weight to that ice.
We were back in our room for two o' clock and watching the news on the TV. The weather forecast predicted a cold night, but with no more snow. In fact, the sun would have melted some, though that would have frozen again.
By the time the others returned I had ordered dinner for half past six.
"Good," said Garret, when I told him. "We'll shower, then dress for dinner."
"Pity we haven't anything to dress in," I replied.
""Oh we'll manage," he said - so casually that I was instantly suspicious.
"We'll just wear the stuff I just bought from Marks and Sparks."
I didn't know whether to hit him or kiss him so I did both, and in that order.