Deception - 34. Dec Chapter 34

“Well it’s a bit of a long story, how I got here, but about 7 hours after landing in Vancouver, we were in a nasty car accident, apparently I have been unconscious for over 5 weeks” I said to Sam softly, “Oh, so that’s why we haven’t been able to find you, when you didn’t come home I reported you missing to the police, and they traced your movements, up until you withdrew a lot of money on Monday afternoon in Adelaide, then you seemed to vanish. We never thought about checking to see if you had left the country” Sam said to me sounding more relieved to be speaking to me.

“I am still a bit tired, I only woke up from the coma a few days ago, so I need to get some sleep, don’t worry about me, my friends and their parents are looking after me, so don’t fly out here, I will talk to you in a day or two when I have some more energy” I said to Sam who said he would let the other know that I have been found. Later that day, Harry and his son Hugh arrived on their own this time, and after a brief chat about how I am feeling today, Hugh sat down in a chair, while Harry came and stood by my bed.

“Gres, as I told you before, I am a Barrister, is there anything that I can help you in any way” Harry said in a caring voice, and after a moment of thinking, I realised that my travel insurance may not be covering me for the whole time I have been in Canada, and I mentioned this to him. “Do you have private health insurance?” he asked me and I said that I did and gave him all the details that I could remember about it, and suggested that he talk to Sam in Adelaide, and between them they could sort it all out.

Harry told me not to worry at all, that he will deal with it, and I just smiled, “Gres we have all your bags at our place, your laptop computer was totally destroyed in the accident, as we ended up in a shallow creek once we stopped rolling, oh and the books you were reading are stuffed too, but your passport and wallet are all good and locked away in the safe” Hugh said to me, “Harry, you may find my private health insurance card, and my travel insurance details in my wallet, and the laptop should be covered by the travel insurance, since it was my first day in Canada” I said after the reminder of my wallet from Hugh, then I fell asleep again.

As the days passed by, I was able to stay awake for a little longer each time, Hugh, Marcus and Rhys took it in turns to come and visit me each day after lunch, and I received a phone call from Sam again this morning, who informed me that he has been in touch with a Barrister - Harry Lindeman a couple of times, and I told Sam that Harry is the father and uncle of two of my Canadian friends who I met in Adelaide.

Sam let me know that the lads I was travelling with gave a statement to the police, that a construction truck came out onto the highway without warning, forcing the car to swerve and lose control, and another car behind us saw the whole thing and gave the same account of what happened. With those two statements, all of my medical bills are being covered by the road construction company, because they were at fault.

I was pleased with this news, as I was beginning to worry about how expensive it must be getting, with 5 weeks in a coma and now in recovery and rehabilitation. Before lunch time, I had my plaster castes removed from my arm and lower leg, and both limbs looked very pale and skinny. I was assured that with rehabilitation starting the next day, I would get full movement back quickly.

When Rhys and his dad, arrived that afternoon, they were thrilled to see that my plaster had been removed, and I told them that I have a week of intensive physiotherapy, then I am allowed to be discharged, but I have to return in a week for a check-up., which I was pleased about, as I we getting sick of being in bed all the time. They only stayed for twenty minutes before leaving me to rest some more, and I must have dozed off again, as it was almost dark when I woke up again, when my dinner was being delivered.

“Ah good dinner, I’m starving” Hugh said with a huge grin on his face as he walked in, followed by his father who gave him a light slap on the back of the head. “Ow, that hurt” Hugh whined trying to make out that it was hard, “I will show you hurt, if you steal your injured friend’s dinner” Harry grumbled, then they both burst out laughing and I joined in, but stopped when my ribs hurt too much. “Hello guys, now the comedy show is over, can I have my dinner” I said with a grin, and they started to laugh again, as I pulled the dinner tray and trolley towards me, so I could eat.

“Tell me about your farms?” I asked as I started to eat, and Harry and Hugh described their farm, which was mostly beef cattle, but they also have four dairy cows, a 6 dozen chickens, 6 geese and two work dogs. Henry explained that they have a year-round creek and a pond that runs nearby to the house, which has a waterwheel, that provides most of the power for the house and sheds, with the wind turbine providing the rest, when the creek and pond freeze over for about 6 weeks of the year. Hugh said that his main job is running the 12 shade and hot houses, that provides their fruit and vegetables for most of the year.

Harry explained that his farm and his brothers farm next door also provide most of the fruit, vegetables and eggs for the local grocery store in town, as well as most of the cheese, which is Sue and Julia’s jobs, Harry said that Hugh and Marcus are the 3rd generation of Lindeman’s, providing fruit, vegetables and cheese to the hamlet and community. When Harry asked what my main line of work is, Hugh commented that he had never asked that question himself, and I gave a little chuckle, “I am a qualified veterinary nurse actually, but for the past year, I have been helping with establishing an Eco Camping business near Port Lincoln in South Australia” I replied, leaving out the information that I owned three islands and that it is my business and not someone else’s business.

“Perfect, you can save us some veterinary bills by doing some cattle pregnancy testing for us” Hugh commented as he tried to move away from his father, but not fast enough, as he received another light slap over the back of the head, and Hugh rubbed his head pretending that it really hurt bad, making me chuckle at their antics. You two better let Gres get some rest, or he is never going to get out of here with you two clowns” came the stern voice of a nurse from the doorway, “Yes Miss” Harry and Hugh chorused together as they stood up.

About half an hour later, the doctor arrived and after looking at my arm, leg and ankle, he announced that I will be able to be discharged in three days’ time on Saturday, as long as I keep up with the physio therapy, and I was pleased with this news. The next morning when I woke up, I had a really bad headache, and I pressed the call button and waited, but no one seemed to come right away, I pressed it again and waited, which seemed like ages, and when I started to hear someone coming, I suddenly started shaking.

When I woke up next time, I was back on wires and tubes again, and I groaned with annoyance, realizingsomething must have happened. “Ah Gres, you are awake, let me go and get the doctor” the nurse who was sitting beside the bed said, a few minutes later he appeared, and after looking at my medical chart, he looked into my eyes and tested my reflexes in a number of ways and made some notes. “Well Gres, you gave us a bit of a scare yesterday, you had a mild blockage in your brain, I am guessing you had some severe headaches yesterday, and that’s why you were calling a nurse?” the doctor said to me and I nodded my head.

“Ok, we have given you some medication to dissolve the blockage, and the results of your CT scan show that it is no longer there, I’m afraid we will have to keep you here for a bit longer to make sure it won’t happen again, a nurse will be at your side for another 24 hours to monitor things closely” the doctor said with a smile and he left. I turned to the nurse, “I think I had a seizure, will I get more of them?” I asked her, “Yes you did, and at present it is not known if you will or not” she replied, as she sat down and commenced to read again. Over the next few days I woke up briefly, then went back to sleep, at one point I think I had another seizure, and when I woke up in the morning, I had another one soon after I woke up.

The next time I woke up, I felt very tired and sore, and I groaned with pain as I tried to sit up a little, and a nurse was by my side straight away. “What has happened, why do I feel so sore?” I asked her, as I tried to get focus, realizing that I was now in a different room, as I could no longer see trees through the window, just the clear blue sky, which I thought was odd with Winter approaching in Canada.

“Hello Gres, you have had a minor stroke, and your heart has stopped a couple of times, so they have had to defibrillate you a couple of times, you have been in another coma for two weeks” came a voice beside me and turning a little I recognised the face to be Sam Yeoman, which was a surprise. “What are you doing here in Canada?” I asked him slowly realizing that my speech was slightly slurred, and Sam smiled.

“You are not in Canada anymore, we had you flown home last week while you were in a coma” you are in a private hospital in Adelaide. Bryce and Tom will be here shortly to see you, they went to get some lunch” Sam replied, and I started to doze off to sleep again. When I woke again, I saw Sam had gone, and Tom was sitting on the edge of my bed with tears on his cheeks, and I smiled “Hello young man, have you been good, while I have been away” I asked, and Tom nodded as he started to cry quietly, leaning forward to hug me at the same time.

“I love you dad, and I have missed you” Tom said, and it took me a few moments to realize that Tom had called me dad, and I thought about it for a moment before I smiled, “And I love you too son” I replied as I moved my one free arm to hug him back. A few moments later Bryce entered the room, and Tom sat up and wiped away his tears, “Hello stranger, good to see you home again” he said with a smile. “Hey buddy, how are you, and how are things on the island?” I asked Bryce, and over the next half an hour he told me that the house was now completed, Mrs. Atherton has settled in well, and doing a magnificent job, including cooking meal packs for the Eco guests.

The Eco camping business is booming, with two shifts of guests each week. Weekends from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, and Mid-week from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, with all the Eco Tents booked for the past 6 weeks, with $10,350 in income per week before expenses, and $4,500 in profit after all expenses, including wages and pocket money.

Bryce added that Mrs. Atherton changed her time off to suit guest transport, having from Sunday afternoon till Tuesday afternoon off, but she spends most of Tuesday organizing fresh weekly supplies for the island, making sure they are at the town jetty from 3pm and no later than 4pm, so it can be all loaded into the hovercraft before the next group of 18 guests arrive at 5.30pm.

“Wow that is incredible about the bookings, sounds like the team is working well” I commented as clearly as possible, “Yes boss, but I seem to be spending too much time in the office instead of outdoors, oh and the south end boardwalk is completed, and Jack and his boys are now back on the mainland dealing with other jobs. The buggies that you bought are working well, Jack has added a lean too on the side of the shed with half walls, to accommodate the two buggies and two quad bikes, leaving room in the shed for the trailers, kayaks & pop up gazebos, and a small maintenance workshop area” Bryce added with a smile.

“All the trees and shrubs that we have planted are doing well, Jake’s dad had provided us with another 10,000 trees and shrubs, which he and Jake came over to help us have them planted, and we managed to get the possums out of the house garden and back outside” Tom added, “I bet Mrs. Atherton is pleased about that” I commented, “You bet, she threatened to feed us gruel until we got them out of the house garden” Bryce commented, and I laughed a little with that comment.

“We also have some friendly visitors on the beach in the cavern, which gave Mrs. A quite a shock when she first saw seals laying on the beach” Tom commented, “Yes I remember seeing one pop its head out of the water for a moment, when I was showing Mrs. Atherton the ledge where the extensions would be located” I said with a smile remembering that day.