NB New Direction - 7. NB ND Chapter 7

“How long this time doctor?” I asked, quite a long time, we were starting to get worried, as we tried to get you to wake up over a week ago, and you have been in a coma for 9 weeks” Mr Jarvis said to me, “Nine weeks, I have been unconscious that long? what is going on, why is this happening to me?” I asked my doctor, “Unfortunately there has been some complications, after we managed to get your temperature under control, we attempted to put the top of your skull back into place, but it became infected, and we had to remove it again, and we have replaced the top of the skull with a titanium plate, which is permanent unfortunately.

Later on, we hope to do some skin grafting, to cover the plate, so you can grow some hair back again, but that is some way off yet, we are hoping that there will be no more problems, and if so, maybe in a week, we can transfer you back to Bethesda, to complete your recovery” Mr Jarvis announced.

I was in shock at what I had been told, and my doctor and the nurse left me to rest, and I soon fell asleep again, and when I woke up next time the machine that beeps had been removed, and I saw Annette sitting in the chair reading a book.

“Hi Rev, how long have you been here?” I asked her in a croaky voice, about three hours after I was told that you had come out of your coma, and that was about two hours ago, how are you feeling dear, do you need anything?” Annette asked me, “Just a small drink of water please” I replied, and Annette helped me to sit up a little so I could drink, before I lay back down again.

“Does the family know I am awake again?” I asked, “Yes, they do, but they are staying away, as the twins have a cold, so they are not allowed to come anywhere near you, is there anything you want me to ask them?” Annette informed me and asked. “Maybe ask if Seb can call me, so he can update me on what is happening” I replied, “He was planning to do that tomorrow anyway. Kyle sends his best wishes, and tells you to get better real soon” Annette said and soon after that I closed my eyes and fell asleep again.

When Sebastian called me the next day, about half an hour after lunch, he informed me that he had decided not to go ahead with building on the property on Freshwater Parade, and that he has sold the two houses and the apartment blocks opposite the primary school, with a small profit. I was happy that he had done that, considering all the trouble the primary school opposite had caused.

Seb also informed me that the two Business buildings on Freshwater Parade, are almost completed, and demolition work on the Retail and Exhibition buildings on Ashton Ave, have started, plus the ten units on Queenslea Drive are now all vacant, and ready for demolition.

Over the next week, I received a visit from Annette every second day, and she informed me that the parishioners had set up a prayer group, especially for healing prayer for me, which I thought was very touching, and I asked Annette to thank everyone at the Toodyay church for their thoughts and prayers for my recovery. What shocked me was what Annette said next, she informed me that it wasn’t just the parishioners from St Stephen’s Anglican Church, but also from Toodyay Baptist and St Johns Catholic Church as well.

Every Thursday evening, an inter church prayer service is held at alternating churches, to prayer for me, and others who are ill in hospital. Annette produced a news clipping from the local newspaper, and handed it to me, “Local born young man currently in hospital recovering from Encephalitis, has inspired the establishment of a weekly inter-church prayer service, held on Thursday evenings at alternating churches.

Nineteen-year old Huon Davenport, lost his parents in an overseas accident, just short of his 18^th birthday, and since then he has been supported and looked after by an older cousin, a wealthy Swiss businessman, who we believe sponsored an overseas holiday for Reverend Davies and her son Kyle, last Christmas, plus an Independent-Schools, inter-school kayak race on the upper Avon river. We wish Mr Devonport a speedy recovery, and hope to see him back in Toodyay soon”.

“Wow, that is amazing, has Sebastian seen this?” I stated after I finished reading the article. “Yes, he has, and at first, he wasn’t too pleased about it, but thankfully it didn’t reach the mainstream newspapers, well not yet anyway” Annette replied. “By the way, what has happened with the boy’s education, since that big who-ha that happened earlier” I asked Annette, “Well they are still using the old fire station, but I think they will be using the new buildings on Freshwater Parade, once they are completed” Annette replied.

When Sebastian had finally recovered from the flu, which he caught off the twins, he came to the hospital to visit me, and by that time I was out of ICU but still at the QE2 Hospital. “About time you came to visit me” I said when he arrived, carrying some freshly made lunch from Mrs Cooper. “Mrs C made enough for me too, so I could eat and talk to you, while your eating” Sebastian said with a big grin. “Rev tells me, you are planning to use the new buildings on Freshwater Parade for your little school” I said, ignoring Seb’s cheeky comment, as he laid out lunch for both of us.

“Yes, it’s going to become known officially as the International Independent School of Claremont or IISC for short, the parents have already got me teaching languages part time, not just French, but Italian and German as well. We have a School board already, with two staff, and 6 parents, we don’t have a principal or headmaster, as we all work together as a team, and we have three full-time and three part-time teachers, including myself.

Plus, we have one full-time and one part-time administration staff, we decided to keep the student numbers at a maximum of twenty-eight for now, till we can employ a few more teachers, so we have an average of 8 students per class at the moment. It was decided by the board, to never allow the student to teacher ratio, get any higher than 12/1, to guarantee each student gets a good quality education.

We have a waiting list of 42 students at the moment, some of them from the local primary school, but also from other western suburb schools, who have heard of us through the wine-vine, I think you say it” Sebastian said to me, and when I realised he meant grape-vine instead of wine-vine, I burst out laughing, and it took me some time to calm down, before I could inform Seb of his little error.

I asked Seb about the building projects, and he informed me that demolition on Queenslea Drive is complete, and all the rubble has been carted away, and demolition of the Ashton Avenue property has just commenced. Seb also said that the first business building, which will house the new HQ – headquarters for Wagner International Investments, was completed, with just the lift and security access systems to be installed.

The second building nearly finished, will have an education centre layout, with the ground floor having an entry lobby, staff lounge, 4 good sized lecture class rooms, bathrooms, plus stairs and a lift to upstairs. On the upper level there will be two staff offices, a storage room, bathrooms, and four more lecture classrooms. Seb said he was hoping that it will be ready for the start of last term of the year, so the students can get settled into a more permanent school environment.

A few days later, I was transferred back to Bethesda, which I was pleased about, as the food would be a lot better, and I settled into the same private room I had before, and was soon happily asleep. When I woke the next morning, I was pleased to see that some fresh flowers had been delivered, and when the nurse came in, she read the card for me, “Get well soon, we are all praying for your speedy recovery, regards the Toodyay Combined Churches Prayer Group” and I smiled.

“Apparently, I have become a home town hero in a small way” I explained to the nurse, just as my breakfast arrived, which was delicious. About an hour later, I was pleased to see Sebastian arrive, and he handed me a folder, which I cautiously opened. Inside were plans of the business centre, including the new WII HQ, the retail & exhibition centre, and main exhibition centre, plus the single and double building – education centres.

I took my time to look at each of the plans carefully, and when I had done, I looked up at my cousin and smiled, “This is awesome, Sebastian, I like the adjusted designs to suit the needs for different situations, and I was thinking that maybe the ground level of the business centre, could be used for administration for the school” I said to my cousin, “I agree with you on that, I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about administration, but you have the solution” Seb replied.

“Does that mean you are going to be the school administrator, as well as running Wagner International Investments?” I asked Seb, “Yep, it looks that way, but at least it will keep me busy” Seb replied with a big grin. “Have you had a look inside our new headquarters yet?” I asked. “I had a feeling you would ask me that, so I took heaps of photos for you, we just finished furnishing the whole building just yesterday, and it looks great” Seb replied, as he handed over his mobile, so I could see the photos.

After looking at all the photos, I handed the phone back to Seb, and I wished that I could get out of hospital, so I could have a look for myself, instead of having to rely on plans and photos, but for now all I could do is rest and recover, and hope I will be released soon.

The following day, the twins arrived at lunch time to see me, with Mrs Cooper bringing them, and it was good to see them again, and we chatted for about half an hour, before Mrs Cooper announced that it was time to take the twins back to school, so I hugged the boy’s goodbye, and they reluctantly left the room, after Mrs Cooper said that Seb would be calling in at about 3pm.

A few days later, soon after breakfast, Sebastian came in looking very happy, and I wondered what that meant, “Hi Cousin, I have two surprises for you, the first is…” he said and he turned back to the door, where a nurse arrived with a wheelchair, “you have been granted a day out of hospital, but you must remain in the wheelchair at all times” Seb said, as he approached me and helped me to get dressed, and get seated into the wheelchair.

“What is the second surprise?” I asked, “that the business centre was completed and fully operational, and we are about to go and check it out” Sebastian replied, as he began to push me out of the room and down the passageway, and once outside, I saw Mrs Cooper standing by the car, with the door open.

A very short while later, we arrived outside the new Business Centre, which looked amazing, with five parking bays at the front, with some landscaping, and a limestone wall at the front, with 4 steps and a ramp for wheelchairs, making the building one metre higher than the road. Seb pushed me up the ramp and through the front door, which Mrs Cooper opened for us.

When I stepped into the ground floor business centre, I was blown away, the décor was great, and the reception area was spacey. Over the next half an hour, I was shown the reception office, administration work office, the administrator’s office, the staff room, the meeting room and the school board conference room. Next, we went up to the upper level, via the working elevator, to check out the new headquarters for Wagner International Investments, and once again I was blown away by how great it looks.

Sebastian showed me how to use the security access cards and codes, before we entered the heart of the company, which was very flash, including two executive offices, a small staff lounge, a reception office, two business workrooms, and four backup offices, in case the staff from Switzerland come to visit. Heading back downstairs, Seb steered my wheelchair towards home, where Mrs Cooper had morning tea prepared.

“I was so excited to see the new business centre, I forget to look across the road at the education centre” I said, as we sat around the dining table, with my chair moved to make way for my wheelchair, and Seb just chuckled, “That is our next stop after morning tea” Seb stated, and I smiled. “So, is it finished as well?” I asked. “The parents have been informed of the new location for the school, and that when the school holidays end in just under three-week’s time, there will be a lot of school children around.

We have a school board meeting tonight, at the school’s new administration centre, so they will get to tour the new facilities tonight, and all the teachers and staff will be in attendance” Seb added, and less than half an hour later, Seb and I were in front of the new school building, which has five car parking bays at the front, a small sign read – “Freshwater Education Centre - International Independent School of Claremont - 25 Freshwater Parade, Claremont”, and below this in smaller writing, it read - “IISC Administration, located on ground floor of number 24 Freshwater Parade - Across the Road”.

“Whoa, wait a minute, this building has three levels, I didn’t see any plans for an extra level?” I said to Sebastian, when I noticed the extra building height, “Yes, I managed to get Council approval for an extra level, which has two octagonal shaped activity rooms, and a long multi-purpose room between them, plus there is an outdoor space on the roof” Sebastian announced, as we headed to the front door of the school.

After a full tour of the facility, we headed back to the house, where Mrs Cooper was finishing lunch preparations, so we washed up and sat at the table. “I bet the teachers and board members are going to be very impressed when they see all of this tonight, shame I won’t be here to see it” I said, as we received our meals. “Just be thankful that you got some time out of the hospital for today” Mrs Cooper said to me.

“I must remember to cover that sign before tonight, so the board members don’t see it before the official opening, I think it will be a very exciting evening for all in attendance. By the way Huon, I was meaning to tell you, number 44 and 42 on 2^nd Avenue, have come up for sale, so I have bought them both, which means with three blocks together, I can build another business centre there” Sebastian said to me.