Deception - 35. Dec Chapter 35

“Will you be coming home soon Dad” Tom asked me as I felt sleepy again and I yawned as I nodded my head yes, hoping it would be soon. When I woke up next, I no longer had any wires or tubes connected to me, which I knew was a good sign to recovery, and a nurse came in with a breakfast tray.

“Good morning Gres, from what I see you had a good night last night, no signs of seizures, and when the doctor checked you last night he was happy with your progress” the nurse said to me as she placed the breakfast tray in front of me.

I noticed a fresh vase of flowers on the shelf and I pointed to them, as I took another mouthful of cereal, the nurse took out the card to read it, “It says – Please get well soon, thinking of you always, your mates Hugh, Marcus, Rhys and families”, I smiled as I looked at the very large bouquet, thinking that it must have cost a lot of money for so many flowers. I spent the rest of the morning watching nothing very interesting on television, and after lunch I was taken to have some more tests, which took most of the afternoon.

When I eventually returned to my room, which now had a fresh set of sheets, Sam was sitting in a chair waiting for me. “How long have you been waiting?” I said to him as the nurse helped me back into bed, “Not that long” Sam replied, and I smiled to him, “Liar” I added with a cheeky grin, and Sam laughed.

“Now that’s not a nice thing to call your friend and lawyer” Sam said to me as I settled back in my bed, “I’m Sorry your honour” I replied, and with that comment the nurse stood up straight and she had a shocked look on her face, which made both Sam and I too laugh.

“It’s ok, nurse, I was his friend and lawyer, before I became a federal magistrate” Sam said with a big smile, and the nurse gave a slight nod of her head and left the room, and we laughed again as she scuttled out of the room, “I think you just scared her away Sam” I said with a big grin, ‘It appears so, Sam replied as he placed a briefcase on the meal trolley, which looked like a Laptop briefcase, and hesitantly I slowly opened it, to reveal a brand new latest edition, Apple Mac Laptop computer.

“Courtesy of the insurance company in Canada, also all your past, current and future medical bills will be covered, plus you have received a $28 million Canadian or $28.9 million Australian payout for the Construction Company causing the accident, your three friends each received a $12 million Canadian payout, a bit less only because they only received minor injuries.” Sam said to me. I was a bit shocked and surprised by this news, and didn’t know what to say, so I just opened the computer to have a closer look at it.

After a little look, I closed the computer, so as to talk to Sam some more. “Bryce tells me that the Eco Camping business on the island is going really well” I said to Sam after a short period of silence, “Yes, I actually spent a weekend at the house, I had finished work early one Friday, and I managed to get a flight to Port Lincoln, and I joined the Eco guests on the hovercraft trip that afternoon, caught Bryce totally by surprise, I enjoyed two days there, Jean Atherton is a wonderful lady and a great cook” Sam said and I looked at him with a grin.

“On a first name basis, now are you?” I asked and Sam laughed, “Yes, we are friends, but no more than that” Sam said to me seriously, “When I speak to Bryce next, I would like to make up a gift pack for Harry & Sue Lindeman, Brian & Julia Lindeman and Andrew and Jessica Strathorn, for all of their kindness while I was in hospital in Edmonton” I said to Sam, and he thought about this for a moment.

“What do you have in mind?”” Sam asked me cautiously, I was thinking return airfares to Australia, with a two night stay in Tokyo, Japan & all meals in transit, and a week of Eco Camping on the island, plus some spending money” I replied, “That’s quite an expensive gift to give them” Sam said to me looking not too pleased with my idea, “Well do you have any better idea” I asked not sure what else could be offered.

“How about something similar but in a more local area to their neighborhood” Sam replied, and I thought about it for a moment, “How about a Canadian version of the Indian Pacific” I said with a smile, and I opened my new laptop computer and connected to the hospital Wi-Fi service to get online and a few moments later I found what I was thinking of. 12 days across Canada rail tour, which costs just under $5,000 Canadian, and I turned the computer around to show Sam.

“Yes, that looks like a better option, how about you leave it to me, and I will arrange it all for you, just write down the full names of the three couples you mentioned before” Sam said to me with a smile and I nodded my head accepting his offer. We chatted for a little longer, before Sam said he had to go home to do some homework, and I thanked him for helping me with everything, including getting me back home.

After dinner, I watched a little of television before I fell asleep, after a long and eventful day, and when I woke up the next morning, I felt rested and in hardly any pain, and I carefully climbed out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, and after going to the toilet, I decided to take a nice long hot shower. After sometime there was a knock on the bathroom door, “Gres your breakfast is here, and I have laid out some of your clothes once you have finished your long shower” came the voice of a nurse from the other side of the door.

I turned off the tap and said I would be out soon, as I grabbed a towel, I began to lose balance, but managed to grab the rail in time to keep on my feet, quickly I wrapped the towel around my waist, before hitting the nurse assistance button, and within moments there was a knock on the bathroom door.

“Come in please… I nearly fell over, I think I need some help” I said as the nurse entered, and without a hesitation, she got to work to help me to get dry and get dressed, and she assisted me to sit in the day chair in the corner, plus she adjusted the trolley, so I could have my breakfast.

After I had eaten, the breakfast tray was replaced by the laptop, and I opened it up and had a closer look at the programmes that had been setup on the computer, and I checked out some of the games on there too. I was interrupted with the arrival of the doctor to check on me, “Hello Gres, how do you feel today?” he asked me as soon as he walked into the room.

“I’m feeling a lot better after a hot shower, but I had some balance troubles afterwards” I said to him, “Yes I’ve been informed of this, and it will just take a bit of practice and you will be walking on your own, just take little steps each day, and you will get there” the doctor said to me with a smile.

“What are the results of those tests from yesterday?” I asked him, “All is very positive, there are no problems, and you are recovering a lot faster than hoped, I think we can send you home in less than a week from today” the doctor replied.

After the doctor had left I sat in the chair and watched a little of television for a little while, and I dozed off to sleep for a short while, awoken when my lunch was brought in, which was nothing particularly exciting. For some reason I was feeling a little depressed by the time I had finished my lunch, and that feeling kept going the longer the day went. In the end I climbed onto my bed and curled up into a ball, and eventually I fell asleep, feeling helpless and fragile.

When I woke next it was dark and quiet, I managed to find the light switch, and I made my way to the bathroom, but while washing my hands, my knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the floor, but luckily, I managed to keep my head away from the hard floor and edges. I was shocked that I had collapsed and after take a few deep breaths, I crawled to the nearest button and pushed it, and moments later a nurse appeared.

“Gres, are you ok, are you hurt?” she said as soon as she saw me on the floor. “My knees just gave out when I tried to wash my hands” I said to her, as I tried to sit up. I was helped back onto my feet, and I was able to wash my hands, before being helped back into bed. It was then that I noticed the card, standing on the trolley, and the nurse spotted what I was looking at and passed it to me.

“Gres, I’m terribly sorry I didn’t see you today, work got a little out of hand. Bryce and Tom have returned to work and school on the Island. Keep your chin up mate, I will see you tomorrow afternoon at about 4pm, Regards, your friend Sam”, I smiled and cried when I read this, and a held onto the card as I curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, just 12 hours earlier and over 14,200 kilometres away in Edmonton Alberta, Canada, Hugh had received an unexpected very late afternoon phone call from Adelaide, Australia. “Hugh, this is Sam Yeoman speaking from Adelaide, I have spoken to your dad, and he is ok with what I have planned, can you come back to Australia, and spend time with Gres, he really needs a good friend right now, I will cover all of the travel costs, all you need to do is collect your plane tickets at Edmonton and jump on the plane” Sam said, hoping that Hugh will say yes.

“You bet I will, I will see you when I get there, bye” Hugh said, and he hung up the phone and turned to see his dad in the kitchen busy organizing an early dinner for his son, meanwhile Hugh’s mum was in his room packing his bag. Half an hour later, Sue and Hugh were in the car heading for Edmonton International Airport.

Half way to Edmonton, Sue’s phone beeped with a message, and Hugh picked up the phone to read it, “Message from Sam via dad, with flight details – Total Travel time 25 hrs. 50 Mins with 2 Stops”

9:35pm to 10:10pm 1h 35m Wednesday Edmonton (YEG) to Vancouver (YVR) Air Canada 255 Layover 1h 35m stop

11:45pm to 7:15am 14h 30m Thursday Vancouver (YVR) to Brisbane (BNE) Air Canada 35 Layover 5h 25m stop

12:40pto 2:55pm 2h 45m Thursday Brisbane (BNE) to Adelaide (ADL) Qantas Airways 667

Hugh said reading the message out loud, and Sue looked at the car clock, and increased her speed, so as to get to Edmonton Airport on time. “Sounds like Sam got the fastest travelling time flights for you, it usually 28 to 32 hours” Sue said as she continued to travel a bit over the speed limit, hoping no police cars are around. Sue and Hugh arrived, without being pulled over, and they had half an hour before gates close, so Sue kissed her son goodbye and told him to run all the way.

At the check in counter, Hugh showed his Canadian ID and Passport and collected his Airline tickets, and with just one small carry bag, he raced to get through customs and immigration, which he also managed to get through quickly, thanks to the limited luggage he carried, and he made it to the boarding lounge with just minutes to spare. When Hugh sat down to catch his breath, he took the tickets out, to have a look at them, and he was shocked when he read Business Class.

After reading it again two more times he stood up and went to the enquiries counter, where Hugh was directed to another departure lounge, that was a lot more comfortable to relax in. When it came time to board, Hugh found that first class and business class were boarded first, and he was shown to his window seat half way up towards the front. Hugh was amazed at how spacious the seats are, and he learnt that he could fold them right back, till they are nearly flat when he wants to sleep, which he hoped to do during this flight.

Just over 1¾ hours later, Hugh stepped into the Business Class International transit lounge, and he turned on his mobile phone, and called home to let his parents know that he is in Vancouver. Moments after that, Harry sent a text message to Sam, “Hugh is on his way, he’s just arrived in Vancouver, H & S Lindeman”.

In Australia, where it is 2pm in Adelaide, Sam was having an extra ordinarily busy day, and he was trying his hardest to finish work on time so as to visit Gres in Hospital, since Bryce and Tom had returned home to the island that morning. Sam quickly glanced at the message and sent a two-letter reply – “OK”, before concentrating on the meeting he was attending.