Deception - 36. Dec Chapter 36

At the time that Gres was having his little mishap in the bathroom, after a long hot shower, Hugh was on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Brisbane, currently somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, and he had no idea of the surprise that would be brought to him mid-afternoon the following day.

When I woke up at 7.15am the next morning, I was still holding the card that Sam had left me while I was asleep yesterday, I looked at the clock on the cabinet and noting the time, I wondered why I had woken up so suddenly that early in the morning. I tried to get back to sleep, but I failed miserably, so I rang the button for a nurse, “Good Morning Gres, how can I help you today” the nurse said cheerfully, “I don’t want to fall over again, can you help me to the shower please” I asked her and quickly and efficiently I was in the bathroom, sitting in a shower chair, enjoying the nice hot water on my body.

By the time I had showered and dressed in fresh clothes, breakfast had arrived, and I sat in the day chair to eat my breakfast, and I wondered what the lads were doing back in Canada, so I decided to send a text message, to Hugh, as his was the only mobile number I had in my new phone, which came a day before the laptop computer, already programmed with all the numbers for Bryce, Jack, Sam, Paul at Port Lincoln, and Hugh in Canada. I thought about the time difference, and worked it out to be about 3pm over there, “Hey Guys, just thought I would check in with you, to see how things are in Canada. I will be out of hospital by the end of this week I hope, thank you for the flowers and card, Regards Gres”.

Moments later, not as far away as Gres thought Hugh was, Hugh received the text message, having just turned it on moments earlier, as he stepped off the plane, and waited in line to pass through immigration and customs at Brisbane International Airport. Hugh couldn’t help but chuckle as he read it, knowing that later today he would be springing a huge surprise on his mate. “Getting very cold here in Blue Ridge, we may have an early start to winter this year, wish I was back in Oz, where it is warmer” Hugh smiled as he sent the text message back to Gres, before sending a message to Sam.

“Hi Sam, I have just arrived in Brisbane, just waiting to get through Immigration and customs. I managed to get a good 9 hours of sleep on the long-haul flight, thanks for the upgrade, it was awesome. I just got a text message from Gres, asking how things are in Canada, I sent a reply saying its getting cold in Blue Ridge and we may have an early start to winter, I added that I wish I was back in Oz where it is warmer, LOL. See you this afternoon. Will you be picking me up at Adelaide airport? Hugh”.

Sam was about to walk out the door of his apartment, when the text message from Hugh came through, and he laughed all the way down the stairs to the ground floor. As Sam reached the Building security door, he stopped to send a reply, “Yes, see you at arrivals hall in Adelaide at 2.55pm. P.S, you will be staying at my place during your stay here, Sam”.

After Hugh had cleared immigration and customs with no delays, he checked to see how to get to the domestic terminal for the Adelaide flight in just over 5 hours’ time, once he had done that, he set the alarm on his mobile, for 1 ½ hours before the flight is due to leave, next he googled distance from airport to Brisbane city. 18 kilometres and about 25 to 35 minutes traveling time depending on traffic, Hugh estimated that he had 3 ½ hours of spare time, with just 2 ½ with travelling to and from the city, so he jumped into a taxi and asked to be taken directly to the city shopping district.

The taxi driver dropped Hugh off at the east end of Queen Street mall, informing Hugh that most of the good stores can be found here, and over the next two hours, Hugh bought three pairs of jeans, some cotton long sleeve shirts, a pair of leather work boots, more underwear and socks, and a sports bag to put it all in, and he also bought a I-Pod and a music voucher to give to Gres. Hailing a taxi, with his full sports bag and his overseas travel bag, Hugh asked to be taken directly to the Domestic airport, and he arrived there at 11am, with just over 1 ½ hours to spare.

Once in the terminal, Hugh checked in his overseas luggage, deciding to keep his new purchases with him, and he made his way to the Business class departure lounge to wait for the flight to Adelaide. Once he found a place to relax, Hugh sent a text message to his parent’s back home, “Safely arrived in Brisbane, just finished two hours of speed shopping in the city, now waiting for the last stage of the trip to Adelaide. Sam says I’m staying at his place, Love Hugh”.

At 7pm in Alberta Canada, Harry received the text message from his son, and he read it out to Sue, before sending a reply. “Have fun, and pass our best wishes to Gres, we have told Marcus and Rhys of your sudden trip back to Oz, they said they wish they had been invited, Love Mum and Dad”. Hugh smiled when he read the reply message from his parents, and put his phone away so he could concentrate of getting the I-Pod fully charged before giving it to Gres later that afternoon.

The flight to Adelaide would take just under 3 hours, which he hoped would be plenty of time to get it charged up enough for Gres, and just over an hour later, the business and first-class passengers were called to board the plane, and as soon as Hugh was settled into his seat, he plugged the I-Pod in to get it charging again. Having slept a lot during the long-haul flight, Hugh decided to watch a movie, and he selected an action thriller to help pass the time. Once they had landed in Adelaide on time, Hugh grabbed his sports bag and headed for the terminal, and he spotted a man dressed in a dark suit, holding a sign with his name on it, and I nodded to him.

“Welcome to Adelaide Mr Lindeman, His honour, is waiting for you in the limousine, do you have any luggage to…” the man in the suit stopped when he realized the young man was not following him, as Hugh has stopped suddenly, when the limo driver addressed Sam as his honour. The limo driver guessed why the young man had stopped, and walked up close to Hugh, “I guess you didn’t know that Mr Yeoman is a Federal Magistrate, I just presumed you knew, don’t worry about it, he is a very nice man” the limo driver said with a smile, as he took the sport bag from Hugh and headed towards the luggage collection belt.

With the overseas luggage collected, Hugh followed the limo driver to a waiting long black limousine, and with the luggage placed in the trunk or boot as they call it in Australia, Hugh walked to the back-passengerdoor, unsure what to do next, until the door opened, and Sam’s face appeared. Hugh knew what Sam looked like, from a photo that Sam sent to Harry, before Hugh left Blue Ridge nearly 28 hours ago, and also his voice from the short phone conversation they had.

“Hi” Hugh said unsure how to address Sam, and Sam smiled and laughed, “I guess we all forgot to tell you that I am Federal Court Magistrate, come on in I won’t bite, and just call me Sam like we did on the phone over a day ago now, how was all the flights?” Sam said warmly as I climbed into the Limo, the first one that Hugh had ever been in. “It was good thanks, Er… Sam, thanks for the upgrade, that made the trip so much easier” Hugh said as he sunk into the leather seat opposite Sam.

“Home first please, then we will go to the hospital” Sam said to the Limo driver directly in front of Hugh, who was busy looking at all the gadgets and extras in the back of the car. Sam opened up a small door, to reveal a small refrigerator, looking in Hugh saw a selection of soft drinks, Lemon squash please Sam” Hugh said with a smile, and Sam pulled out some ice cubes, placing them in a glass, before handing the soft drink can and glass to Hugh.

“The text message you sent me early this morning, had me laughing all the way to the front door, as I was on my way to work” Sam said to Hugh with a big grin, “Yes, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I arrive there” Hugh replied. When we stopped outside some high class apartments, with a big wall around it, Hugh followed Sam out of the Limo and through the entrance to the apartment building. The front door required a swipe card and a 4-pin code, while the lift required just the swipe card, before pressing the floor number, and Sam pressed the number six, which is the top floor.

The apartment is huge, all open plan living space, with top class furniture, and I followed Sam down the hallway, “That is my study which is off limits, because of the work I do”, Sam said as we passed a closed door, and a few paces further down we came to a stop at a door on the opposite side of the hall, this will be your room, you have a shared bathroom with the other guest bedroom, which will be where Gres will be sleeping once he is out of hospital, he has to remain in the city for a week to attend follow up appointments, before he can go home to Port Lincoln” Sam said to me, and I saw another door further down that Hugh presumed was the other guest room he just mentioned.

Opposite that door was another door, that Hugh presumed is Sam’s bedroom, “Make yourself at home, do you want to shower and change, before we go to the hospital. I said to Gres, that I would be there at 4pm” Sam said as he disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. Hugh went into his room, which was double the size of his own bedroom at home, and he took a few moments to look around before placing the bags on the queen size bed, and selecting some of his new clothes, Hugh went to have a long hot shower.

Once refreshed, Hugh sent a quick message home “Dad, you forgot to tell me something about Sam, didn’t you!” and forgetting that it was late at home, I waited for a reply as I put my new Australian leather work boots on, when he received a reply. “We were asleep, 11.30pm over here, what are you talking about… oh that, oops sorry about that, you left in such a rush, we forgot to mention it, Talk later, Goodnight”.

Hugh came out of his room grumbling, and stopped when he saw Sam in the room, “What’s all the grumbling about, I brought you here to cheer Gres up, not to make him worse” Sam said to Hugh. “I’m sorry about that, I was just annoyed at mum and dad for forgetting to warn me that you are a court magistrate that’s all Hugh replied and Sam just laughed. “Ok, while you are here, I am just Sam Yeoman, not your honour, or sir, just Sam, you are here to cheer up your mate, so let’s just stay casual.

After I spoke to you in the afternoon Alberta time, Gres had a small melt down, mainly because no one he knew came to visit, Bryce and Tom had returned home, and I was caught up at work, when I did get to the hospital he had cried himself to sleep, so I left a card there for him to let him know why I hadn’t come, and that I would see him at 4pm today. I had already spoken to you about 12 hours before the melt down happened, so I was glad that you were already on your way here” Sam said to Hugh who nodded his understanding.

“So, what happens while you are at work?” Hugh asked, “Your job is to help Gres in any way you can to get him well enough to be discharged from hospital, on the table is your access card, apartment key and access code, to get in and out of the apartment, I have also included a Cab charge card, so you can get to and from the hospital by taxi, on the back of the card is the apartment address, in case you forget it, $2000 already deposited in it, to be used for your meals when not at the apartment, and anything else you need.

I have a housekeeper, Miss Phelps who comes 4 days a week, so try and keep your room and the apartment tidy, she knows that you are arriving today, Miss Phelps has dinner ready at 7pm sharp, so don’t be late. Now grab all your belongings, and anything you want to take to Gres, and let’s get a move on” Sam said, as Hugh gathered all the things from the table, and placed them in his wallet, and followed Sam out the door, pulling it closed behind him.

Twenty minutes later the Limo arrived at the private hospital, and Hugh climbed out first, “That is all for today thanks, see you in the morning” Sam said to the driver before closing the door, and Sam lead the way into the hospital.

“Good afternoon, your honour, Gres is looking forward to your visit, he has been quite fidgety since lunch time, actually most of the day, he says he woke up at 7.15 this morning for no apparent reason, and he has been trying to work out why” the doctor said as Sam and Hugh stepped out of the elevator on the 5th floor. Sam turned to Hugh with a query look on his face, “7.15 this morning, is that the time…?” Sam asked Hugh, and Hugh smiled and nodded yes.