Grantly - 10. Grant Chapter 10

After lots of telephone calls and much frustration, I was finally located by a very worried family, starting when I had not arrived on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, which had been delayed by five hours due to technical issues. It took Mum nearly half an hour after the last passengers had cleared Customs and Border Control, 1½ hours after the plane landed, before someone would listen to her, saying that I was not on the Air Malaysia flight and that she was very concerned for my welfare.

The Federal Police were called, and Mum was escorted to an office, where details were given of my age, height, weight, and Mum produced a recent photo of me, which Dad had sent to her since I had grown a lot since I last saw her. Then calls were made to the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, with all of my details and a photo sent to them, to begin searching for me, with it being nearly nine days later when I was finally located in a hospital, recovering from memory loss and being hit by a vehicle.

“Well, we now know who you are… We had a call from the Australian High Commission, where your mother from Australia and your father from the UK are very happy to know that you are alive and well,” the nurse said when she walked into my room, after another two days in the hospital.

“Hello Master Sebastian,” a new voice said from the doorway. “Hello Henry… I remember, I know who I am now,” I said when I realised what I said to Henry, our loyal staff member from the Isle of Man, and as tears started flowing down my cheeks.

“Those are happy tears I hope?” Henry said to me smiling, and I nodded my head yes. “You need to be interviewed by the police, to find out what happened to you, as there is no record of you passing through customs at the airport,” the nurse said to me. “That is because while in the bathroom, I was disorientated and I went through the wrong door into a hallway, when I realised this, the door behind me had closed and locked, so I kept going down the hallway, where I found myself in the arrivals hall,” I explained.

“Then what happened?” Henry asked me, “ I wandered around a bit then I saw the park and water feature outside, so I went out to have a look, and then I heard a screech, and next I know I am in the hospital,” I replied, “What did you have with you when you left the terminal?” a new voice behind Henry asked me, who was dressed in a uniform, which made me freeze in shock.

“It is ok, this officer is here to hear what happened, go on,” the nurse assured me. “Well, I had my over-the-shoulder bag with me, with all I needed, including wallet, passport, plane ticket, and a little bit of UK cash, as I had left my light travel bag with spare clothes, a book, my iPad and toiletries under the seat in the transit lounge,” I replied.

“Yes, the cleaners found your bag and all the contents you just described under a seat in the transit lounge later that evening and reported it to security, you are lucky that it wasn’t destroyed, as abandoned luggage. Instead, it was taken to Lost Belongings for safekeeping, and when the alert went out the other day about you having gone missing, the airport reported to us about the lost luggage. Sadly there is no sign of your shoulder bag or its contents, so we can't help you with that, but airport security is currently searching through its camera footage, to try and work out what happened.

How you managed to get from the secure transit lounge to outside the main terminal is disturbing and should never have happened, we will investigate this some more. Meanwhile, someone from the Australian High Commission is here to speak to you about your future travels, and you have been cleared by Customs after the High Commission produced documents on who you are, have a safe journey home,” the officer said before leaving.

A representative from the Australian High Commission soon arrived, and presented me with a temporary emergency passport, so that I could travel out of Malaysia, and after wishing me a safe journey back to Australia, she too left. There is one other person to see you, but it is no one official, and he is just as concerned about you as all your family was,” Henry said as a new face appeared around the corner.

“William… Hello Mate, I thought your passport was running out, and you couldn’t travel,” I said as my good mate rushed to my bedside, and wrapped me in a tight hug. “I missed you, and I am so glad that you are alright. It turns out that my passport has just over six months left on it, so I was able to travel here with your Aunt Sophia, who is at the hotel resting” William said to me.

“Ok, now Sebastian, you have been cleared to be discharged from this hospital, with all fees and charges being paid in full, so let’s all leave the room so he can get dressed and ready to leave,” the nurse said to everyone in the room. “Can William stay and help me please, I still feel a little weak,” I said nervously, as I saw William smile and nod his head, and he ushered everyone out and closed the door.

“I am sorry at how I behaved on the day you left your home, I… I was jealous, and I didn’t react very nicely as a result of that. Jordon told me what you both did, and we have done that too a few times, but we can talk about that another time in private,” Willliam said to me, as he began to assist me out of bed. After going to the toilet, I decided to take a shower, and William took good care to make sure I was nice and clean, before helping me to dress in clothes that Henry and organised for me.

“There you both are, what took so long?” Henry said when William wheeled me out of my hospital room in a wheelchair, and I blushed a little. “He had to deal with toileting and having a shower before I could assist with getting him dressed,” William responded on my behalf, and Henry nodded in understanding, as we headed out of the hospital.

A limo was waiting for us at the front of the hospital, and William helped me into the back, before following me in with Henry last to climb in. “Where are we going now?” I asked, “To the Grand Hyatt hotel in the city, which is over a one-hour ride from here. Our flight to Australia leaves tomorrow night,” Henry replied.

“Your Aunty Sophia explained that she and your Dad inherited old money, and that is why you live and travel so well, which I think is awesome that I get to experience it,” William said to me, and I chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Yes, it is a good way to travel eh,” I replied, as I leaned back and closed my eyes.

“Wake up sleepy head, we are at the hotel, and you and I are sharing a huge two-bedroom suite,” William said to me, as I opened my eyes, and noticed that we had stopped moving. It was not long before I was in the hotel suite, which was very luxurious, and William showed me to my bedroom. “Have a nap if you are still tired, and I will wake you up when it is time for lunch,” my good friend said to me.

It wasn’t long before I was fast asleep in a very comfy king-size bed, and sometime later the memory of me turning on hearing a screeching noise from a car about to hit me came to mind, and I woke up gasping, and I was soaked with sweat, as William came dashing in. “Are you ok, I heard you yell, did you have a bad dream?” William asked me in concern.

“Yes, I remembered the car coming towards me, just before it hit me, then I woke up,” I replied, “Come on, let's get you in the shower and changed into fresh clothes, lunch will be arriving soon,” William said to me, “I smiled at this comment, “Your just want to see me naked again!” I commented, and William chuckled, “Yes, but this time, I will be too, if that is ok with you?” he replied and I just smiled broadly, as he assisted me out of bed, and into the adjoining huge bathroom.

Once we had finished showering and dressed we entered the lounge area of our suite, where there was knocking on the door, and William helped me to sit on the lounge before going to answer the door. “What took you so long?” Aunty Sophia asked as she walked into the suite, “I was busy assisting my friend to have a shower, Aunty,” William replied, which caught me by surprise at how he addressed her. “I see, as long as you are both squeaky clean now, that is the main thing,” Aunty Sophia replied, which had me gasp in surprise.

“Oh, don’t be so shocked nephew, I’m not that old to realise what is going on, and I am glad that you two have found each other,” she said to me smiling. “Are we still going shopping after lunch Aunty?” William asked, “Yes dear, so come along, lunch is in my suite next door, and Henry is complaining that he is starving,” Aunty Sophia commented.

“Anything else apart from shopping?” I asked, “Yes, Aunty has a heap of things lined up for us to see while we are here, it is going to be awesome,” William said with excitement, and for the next few hours, we checked out the viewing level of the Petronas Towers, the Petronas Park, the Bird Park, the Butterfly Park, the National Palace and the Sunken Garden and lots more.

I was very tired and worn out by the end of the afternoon, and I only had a light meal for dinner, before collapsing onto my bed and falling asleep. When I woke up during the night, I was surprised to find William asleep beside me, and I smiled as I headed to the bathroom and returned to bed, without disturbing him, and fell asleep again.

Later the next day, we were on a flight to Australia, and instead of flying to Sydney or Melbourne, we were on our way to Darwin with a six-hour layover in Singapore, before taking off again and landing in Darwin just under five hours later. I wondered why we were going this way back to Tasmania, but decided not to ask my Aunt, as I knew she would tell me eventually.

After going through customs and quarantine, we stepped out into the arrivals hall, and after a brief look around, my eyes locked onto two smiling teenagers, “What the… ok, what is going on here? Aunty, why are my two good mates from Tassie, doing here in Darwin instead of Tasmania? I asked my Aunt just before I was swamped by Nicholas and Simon in a group hug, that William decided to join in too.

“Hey William, good to see you again mate,” Simon said, “Yeah, welcome ‘Down Under’ Mate,” Nicholas added, and I just groaned, which made the lads laugh, as they stepped back to let me breathe. “Ok, seriously, what are you guys doing here?” I asked. “Well, our dads have retired from Diplomatic Service from our respective countries, and taken up establishing an International Business and Trade Consultancy Company together,” Simon explained, and I saw the two lads smiling proudly.

“Which means, we are now permanent residents in Australia, and our Dads have set up business here in Darwin, as it is closer to Australian trade in Asia,” Nicholas announced, “Wow!” I said shocked, as I turned to my Aunt. “Your mum wanted to change of scenery too, so she and your dad invested in some property here, and this is where we will be staying for your holidays,” my Aunt announced to me. “As I said, Wow!”, I commented, and it was then that Mum appeared in front of me, and I rushed into her arms.

“Hello, son. It is great to see you again. I hope you don’t mind the change of venue?” Mum said to me, “Well, I have never been to Darwin before so I can’t complain,” I replied, as Mum hugged me, “Thanks for bringing my son safely back to Australia, Sophia,” Mum said to my Aunt, “Any time dear, I am just sorry that I wasn’t available for the first part of the trip which ended in disaster,” Aunt Sophia said sadly.

“You will love your new Aussie home, it is so cool, and we both live in the same suburb as you do, so we are close by,” Simon said to me excitedly, as we followed them out of the terminal, where the tropical heat hit me hard, “Wow, that is going to take a bit of getting used to,” I said, “You bet, that is way different than home eh,” William added, as Mum and the lads chuckled at our reactions.

“Wait until the Buildup and Wet season, then you will really know what it is like,” Mum said to us, “I thought Kuala Lumpur was bad, this is way worse,” William responded, and I nodded my head in agreement. A few minutes later, we were in two vehicles, heading away from the airport, and towards the city. We were informed that Mum’s house is located in the suburb of Larrakeyah, within the Cullan Bay Marina.

Fifteen minutes later we entered the suburb of Larrakeyah, on the outskirts of the city, before we crossed a small bridge over a canal, then immediately turned left into a driveway. where we parked inside the double garage, “Welcome to your new Australian home son, I hope you like it,” Mum said to me, as she stepped out of the car and started to retrieve the luggage, and headed through a corner door.

“This is only a three-bedroom plus study home, so you can share a room or William you can sleep in the study, I will leave that up to you to decide, both rooms are here on the ground floor, where there is an additional bathroom, laundry, kitchen, lounge and patio, plus the swimming pool. Upstairs there is my master bedroom, the guest bedroom, and the games room above the garage,” Mum said as she pointed out the rooms on the ground floor, before turning to face Aunt Sophia.

“We have an elevator in the house, so no need for you to be going up and down a lot of stairs all the time,” Mum said to Aunt Sophia, “Don’t fuss dear, I will be just fine, I’m just a little tired from all the travelling, that is all,” she responded, as she followed Mum into the elevator. “Hey, where did the lads go?” William asked me as he looked around the lobby area, and I just shrugged my shoulders before heading to the bedroom.

“We decided to share the bedroom, which has a nice big queen-size bed in it, and an adjoining ensuite bathroom, which was great, and we took our time unpacking our luggage. “How long are you and Aunt Sophia staying for?” I asked William. “Only a week, that is all the time my parents would let me stay for,” William replied sounding disappointed. “Is Aunt Sophia travelling back with you?” I asked, “Yes, that was the one condition that I could come, that I have an adult travelling with me the whole distance here and back,” William replied.