Himalayan Home - 6. HH Chapter 6

I am not sure why, but I was feeling very vulnerable right now, and also relieved that I had good friends to help me. “Giles… how is Giles? Is he alright?” I croaked between tears, “Yes, he is been looked after, now lets finish getting you untied, and suitably attired, then we will get you to sickbay, so the Matron can check you over, once she has seen to Giles,” Lenn said to me.

Once I was untied, Lenn helped me to put my shirt on, which has all its buttons ripped off, then my trouser, and he used his own belt to help to keep them from falling down, and the button and zip had been ruined, just as another prefect arrived, carrying a blanket, which was placed over my shoulder and around me. “Thanks, now can you help me to get Hamilton to Sickbay without any other boys causing any problems,” I heard Lenn say to the other Prefect.

“Sure mate, you look after him, and I will sort out the rest, and the Matron is aware that you are bringing Hamilton in to her,” the other prefect replied, as I felt Lenn scoop me up in his arms and begin to carry me back towards the main buildings.

“We got them, and they are been escorted to the Headmaster’s office as we speak,” I heard another prefect say as he approached, “Good, can you let the Headmaster know that I am requesting an SDP – School Disciplinary Panel, and that I would like to be part of it,” I heard Lenn say in response, as I started to get very sleepy, no doubt because all the stress of the situation had drained me of energy.

After been checked over by the matron, I was allocated a bed for the rest of the afternoon and overnight in sickbay, and Giles arrived with my toiletries and changed of clothes and pyjamas, and I was asked to have a nice long hot shower and soon after I was in a warm bed, and was soon fast asleep.

When I woke up next time, I was very surprised to find Aunty Grace sitting in a chair next to my bed. “Hello nephew, how are you feeling after your long nap?” she asked me, and I sighed and yawned. “Ok I guess,” I replied as I looked around for any sign of Giles.

“If you are looking for your room-mate, they have taken him to the hospital for observation, as he was beaten up quite badly. The matron said that he will be off school for about a week,” Aunty Grace informed me. I thought about this for a few moments, and started feeling bad that Giles had been badly beaten up just because of me.

A few minutes later Lenn walked into the room, carrying a food tray. “Hello Ms Alpike. Room service, your breakfast is served, Mr Hamilton,” Lenn said cheerfully, as he placed the tray onto a roller table that makes it easier for me to eat sitting up. “How is Giles? Will he be, ok?” I asked Lenn.

“Yes, doctors say he has a couple of bruised ribs but nothing broken, so he is going to be feeling very sore for a few days. As for the trio that caused all of this, they have been suspended, pending a School Disciplinary Panel hearing to be held late next week. By then the school will have a better understanding of yours and Giles injuries, which will be a major factor in what is decided,” Lenn said to me.

“This Discipline panel, who is on that?” I asked, as I opened the cover of my breakfast and saw sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, tomato and toast on the plate and I screwed up my face at the sight of the meat. “Err, Lenn, can you help me with something please?” I asked the prefect.

“You name it bud and it is done,” Lenn replied, “Take that sausages and bacon away and eat it after you have left here, please,” I asked, and Aunty Grace chuckled at my request, and Lenn looked a little surprised, then smiled, “It would be my pleasure to have a second helping of breakfast. Don’t worry about the Disciplinary panel, you just get better ok,” Lenn answered before heading out of the room.

Returning a while later with a small plate, a food cover and a fork, Lenn scraped the bacon and sausages onto the small plate and covered it, before taking it out of the room. “Anything else I can do, before I head off to school?” Lenn asked me

“Yes afterwards, could you get my backpack so I can do my homework please?” I asked, “Already sorted, the matron has your backpack with your assigned homework there waiting for you after you have eaten dinner. I got to go, nice to see you again Ms Alpike, bye for now,” Lenn said before heading off.

“He is a nice young man, it is lucky that you have him as a friend to help you,” Aunty Grace said to me, “and he has a nice arse too” I thought to myself, as my facial expression changed to one of shock, realising what I was thinking, as I watched my Aunt carefully, but she didn’t seem to notice.

What the hell was I thinking, and while did I just swear in my thoughts, something was wrong with me, and I need to do some serious meditation to consider this. After a few moments of silence in the room, I began to eat my breakfast, which was very delicious.

Once I had finished, and Aunty Grace was assured that I was feeling much better, now that I had showered, rested and eaten, she said goodbye and headed for home, letting me know that she would be in touch with me tomorrow, to check how I am.

I was about three quarters of the way through my homework, when the thoughts that I had earlier came to mind again and I tried to process them. “Am I Bi? Or Worse still am I gay. I can’t be, I’m a Buddhist?” I asked myself, and suddenly it all became to much for me and I began to cry.

The matron came rushing in when she heard me, and after failing to get me to calm down, she managed to give me some medication and I saw drifted off to sleep. When I woke up again, I started to cry again, all these terrible thoughts were coming into my mind and I want able to block them out. I was not coping at all well… “I miss home!” I thought to myself, as the Matron entered the room, and seeing me crying she dashed out again.

Twenty minutes later, a man walked in who was a doctor, and after a chat with the matron, who said she was not sure what the matter was, but she suspected that yesterday’s assault, was a trigger point for something else happening in my life, that has now come to the surface, and that I was not coping with it very well.

The doctor ordered some additional medication for me, and requested to the Matron that I remain in Sickbay for at least a few more days, and that he would return then to see how I was recovering. Soon after the doctor had left, Lenn arrived with a lunch tray, and I immediately threw up, even though I hadn’t eaten anything yet, and nearly dropping the tray, Lenn quickly placed it on the ground and ducked back out to get the matron, who had left my room only a few minutes earlier.

When Lenn came back in with a bucket and mop, Matron took them from him and asked him to leave, and that she would deal with the clean-up herself. Lenn looked a little upset, but nodded his head in understanding and left, as I started to feel ill again, and the Matron must have noticed as she gave me a small bucket to spew into, if need be, but the nausea soon disappeared.

When I woke up from a long nap, Matron came in and smiled. “Now how about having some food, you need to keep your strength up, I will ask Lenn to bring it up from the kitchen for you,” the Matron said to me, “No, no not Lenn, please not him…” I said and snapped my mouth shut after realising what I had just said.

“Ok. Is it ok if I ask a year nine boy to bring it up then?” the Matron asked, and I just nodded my head yes and sunk down deeper into my bed. “Hey, I’m Julian, here is your meal. I hope that you get better soon, because there are a lot of boys that are very concerned about you.

We are all glad that the three bullies are finally out,” the boy who delivered my meal said to me shyly. “What do you mean out?” I asked, “Expelled, when some of the parents including Giles father found out about it and filed a complaint with the Board of Governors, it was them who made the decision to expel the three boys immediately, not the Disciplinary Panel,” the boy Julian informed me.

“Ok, that is good news. Any news on how Giles is going?” I responded, “Yes he is still in hospital, but they are sending him home for two weeks to help him recover from the injuries,” Julian replied. For the next few days, I was getting nightmares about the who bully incident, as well as getting worried about my feeling for boys, which had me totally confused. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I wasn’t sure who.

When the doctor came to see me again a day later, he asked me a heap of questions, of which I answered only some of them, and as a lot of them were to embarrassing to answer, and when he had finished asking and signed, he looked out the window for a few moments.

Look, I am aware of where you have grown up and your religious beliefs, so I took the liberty of asking an old friend of mine to come and visit you, and maybe he can talk to you about anything that may be troubling you, as I believe that I can’t help you anymore,” the doctor said to me, as he walked to the door and looked out, and moments later the Buddhist monk I know from the Snug Monastery appeared smiling.

“Hello brother Dechen, I hear that you have not had an easy time these last few days, maybe we can meditate for a while then talk about it,” the monk said to me in Nepali, “Hello Brother, it is good of you to come and visit me, and yes I have a troubled mind at the moment,” I replied also in Nepali, as I doctor waved and left, closing the door behind him.

For the next hour we meditated, and after that we talked for another hour, and I learnt that although it is forbidden for laypersons, monks and abbots to be in a homosexual relationship, in general Buddhism supports general LGBT rights, which made me less worried about the thoughts that I have been having lately.

After lunch the following day, I was allowed to return to the boarding house, where I spent half a day resting, and I was to return to my usual classes the following day. When Len arrived back from afternoon sports, he said he was thrilled to see me, and he wanted to give me a big hug, but I out my hand up to stop him.

“Sorry, I guess you are still a bit touchy about close contact, how are you feeling buddy?” Lenn asked me, “Ok I guess, I have just been catching up on one of my assignments this afternoon, and doing a bit of meditation,” I replied, as I kept down from looking directly at him.

“Err, I found a certain item in your trousers the other day, and I have been keeping them safe for you, since I know where they are for,” Lenn said to me, and this time I looked up at him and gave a small smile, and Lenn frowned, “Ok, well I will leave them here for you and catch you later,” Lenn said as he left my room.

For the next two weeks, it was a little lonely not having Giles sharing a room with me, but the two guys next door kept and eye on me, and would invite me to join them when they sat down to just chat after school when we had some free time.

On the weekends, I went home to Aunty Grace’s place, and we would spend all day Saturday at the Monastery in Snugg, and I always look forward to those days, while on the Sunday morning’s I would attend church with Aunty Grace, at the nearest Anglican Church.

Now that I was not having any problems with the school bullies, I had settled into a good routine at school and on weekends at Aunty Grace’s place, and I have been asked to lead a meditation session at the monastery on a regular basis, as the Abbot felt that I was experienced enough to be able to do it, which I felt deeply honoured to be given the chance to do this.