The Peter Charles - 30. Chapter 30

Monday morning, we followed our routine. I think Steve, Robby and Frankie were surprised to see us naked, but that is the way we worked out, in fact all of the boys now worked out that way. Showers took an hour by the time all of the boys had taken their turn.

I made coffee, Glen filled glasses of orange juice. Scott and Travis came dressed in sweats, “Dad, we’ll make breakfast.” I gave him a hug and a kiss on the head, I notice Glen doing the same to Travis. By the time we were dressed, breakfast was well under control, Steve was in charge of the toast, Andy and Johnny were setting the table and filling glasses with orange juice. Sammy started to make hot chocolate. Watching them it was like an orchestra, they moved in concert with each other. I looked at Glen and smiled.

Sitting around the table, the boys said they were going crabbing. “You need to be careful. Frankie, if you want to go crabbing you’ll need a soft cushion to sit on. Crab Master, will you make sure Frankie has a soft pillow or something to sit on.”

“Yes, Dad”

“We still have that chair on the boat with that pillow, we could use that.”

“Okay, Nicki, be sure to bring it back up when you all come home. If you want to have chicken for lunch, go to Chicken Shack and tell Lou I’ll square it with him later tonight or go the Wharf and I’ll square it with them as well when we come home.” With that fully discussed by the boys, Glen and I got ready to go.

“Did you get the measurements for the new boys?”

“I have those clothes they wore this last trip, Jim will have the sizes.”

First stop was Marge, I gave her a fish and a small bag of shrimp with a couple of lobster. She looked, “Kevin could I have a few extra fish. I’m having guests.”

I knew who her guests were, I went to the truck and got her two extra fish, more shrimp and two more lobsters. “I think this will do, enjoy. I’m going to run upstairs and check on Terry.”

I said hi to Bess, stuck my head in my office and there was Terry typing away. I watched a while before he noticed me. “Hey, you checking up on me?

“No, I’m delivering fish and thought I’d see if you had any questions. You seem to be doing okay.”

“Thanks, but I see what you mean about Monday morning.”

“You’ll do all right and I’ll bet I know who’ll bring you lunch.” He smiled as I waved goodbye.

Next stop was Stella’s and then Jim’s. Glen told him what we needed in clothes, “Glen, don’t forget Paul.”

“Got it”

“Jim, I need some large chests for shrimp and lobster. We’re using those Crab pails now.”

“Do they have to be refrigerator or regular chests?”

“Glen, we could get a refrigerator chest and keep it on the boat. Then we could use a regular chest to transport them home.”

“Do we have room, we have those two now plus the two regular chests?”

“I think there’s room at the stern, under the ladder to the Bridge.”

“Okay, we’ll take two more of the refrigerator chests. I’ll pick them up tomorrow.”

“You know thats not a bad idea of leaving them on the boat. Charles will be happy.”

“I know, we didn't empty the shrimp nets because he didn’t have any room.”

“You need to call Tony for the fridge and freezer.”

“I’ll do that tonight. Remind me if I forget.”

Glen dropped me off at the hospital then took the fish to the orphanage. I checked in at the visitor’s desk and asked for Don. “Dr. Weaver is on the third floor, he said he’d meet you at the elevator.”

I was getting use to this place, as I got off the elevator, I saw Don speaking to someone at the desk. “You’re just in time, we’re going to try and wake our young man.”

“Won’t he still be in pain?”

“We medicated him for the pain, but all of the bones have been set, the internal injuries have been stabilized, now it’s just a matter of determining the extent of his head injury.”

I walked to Shawn’s room with Don, I wasn’t ready for what I saw. I know there were tears in my eyes, he had one leg in a sling, one arm in a sling and his chest was tightly bandaged. His face still had black and blue marks particularly the eye area. “Don, is his eye sight going to be affected?”

“We don’t know, they looked okay from what we could see.” Don nodded to the nurse and she started the drip. We watched as he began to respond.

I went and sat down by the bed, I took his good hand in mine and held it, gently while he regained consciousness. He blinked his eyes, he looked confused. “Shawn, you’re in a hospital. Dr. Weaver has been taking care of you and when you are well, you’ll be coming home with me.” I wasn’t sure how much he understood.

“Shawn, do you know what happened?” As he remembered there were tears in his eyes. He nodded his head yes, the nurse handed Don a cup of ice chips. I watched as Don fed the chips to Shawn. Don started to check him, looking into his eyes, asking him where it hurt, then the usual questions, whats your name, where were you born, who is your uncle, where do you live, what grade are you in school. I smiled as he answered these questions with a Scottish accent. Don kept feeding him ice chips as he asked the questions.

“Kev, he can have broth and ice cream, a lot of ice cream” Shawn understood the ice cream. He tried to smile, he had lost some teeth and his mouth was sore. “We’re going to get him cleaned up, then you can feed him his soup and ice cream.”

I went to get the soup and ice cream, by the time I got back, a young man was finishing putting a gown on him. “Is he ready to have some soup and ice cream?”

“Yes, give me the ice cream, I’ll put it in the freezer till he’s ready for it. Just feed him slowly, you don’t want it to come back up.”

I sat by the bedside, the CNA raised the head of the bed a little. I started to feed him his soup and tell him about myself and Glen, the boat and the boys. By the time he was finished with the soup, I decided to wait a few minutes to be sure that the soup would stay down.

I could listen to him talk, the Scottish accent made me smile. I asked him how long had he been in our country, he told me about his family being killed in a bank robbery, his dad was the head of the bank and his mother worked there as well. He said he was lucky because that day he wanted to practice the pipes with his friend so he asked if he could stay home. Now there were tears as he remember that day. I felt his sorrow and my eyes were getting moist.

He asked about his uncle, I told him that we arranged for him to go to a home for senior people. The house will be sold and the money will go to support him and if any is left over he’ll get it. The CNA brought in the ice cream. “What’s your name?”

“My friends call me Tom.” Looking at Shawn, “You can call me Tom.”

“Tom, are you going to be here all the time or are you on shift.”

“I’ll be here 24-7 until he’s well enough to go home.”

“Isn’t that unusual?”

“Yes, but I don’t know who is paying for all of this but Dr. Weaver insisted that I do this, he said money wasn’t the issue.”

“He’s correct as far as this young man goes, money isn’t the issue.”

I stayed and made a few more food runs. Glen came and said he was ready to leave. I introduced Glen to Shawn and Tom. I gave Tom a fifty, “This is for his food and ice cream. Don’t let him eat hospital food, I’d get it at the cantina or at that little Mom and Pop place around the corner. Make sure it’s nutritious and he can eat it.”

“Yes, dad”

We laughed as we said goodbye, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Wait a minute, “Tom, use that to buy your dinner as well.”

“That was nice, I take it he’s pulling a 24 hour.”

“Can we stop at Jim’s for a second?”

“Sure” I went and bought a thermos and a small thermos for soup. Our boys make a good soup.