Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2003 00:58:27 -0500
From: TgrPaw@gmail.com
Subject: can-you-spare-a-quarter - 13

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Can You Spare a Quarter?
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Dedicated to "D":

   We didn't meet this way, it probably wouldn't have been anything like
   this if we had met this way, but if we had, I hope it might have been
   something like this.   {{{{ hugs }}}}

Disclaimer:

   Names of people, places, companies, and so forth are completely
   fictional.  While this story draws inspiration from real events which
   involved real people, it is nonetheless a complete work of fiction.

Copyright:

   2002; All rights reserved.

Comments:

   Email can be sent to TgrPaw@gmail.com

   Flames, hate mail, and similar things will be ignored.

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13. Fight for Life

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Graham's legs turned to jelly and he fell to his knees as he looked down
at Jamie's crumpled body laying on the carpeted hallway just outside of
the apartment door.  Jamie had managed to drag himself there with the last
of his strength, but now was laying there motionless.  There was wet and
dried blood on Jamie's swollen face where he'd clearly been beaten and
his nose was bent to one side.  Graham reached down and tried to lift
Jamie up but pulled his hands back in horror as he suddenly realized that
Jamie's shirt and jeans were soaked with blood as well.  Clutched tightly
in Jamie's left hand was a very old and beaten up backpack.  Graham felt
like time had frozen, but in only a second or two he found his voice.

"Call an ambulance!" screamed Graham.

Even as Graham shouted Frank was already running for the phone.

Graham frantically felt along Jamie's throat for a pulse and eventually
found it, though it was very weak.  Jamie's breath was faint and shallow
and Graham looked up at Frank who had returned from the phone.

"Wha ... What can we do?" asked Graham shakily as he tried to brush the
blood-encrusted hair away from Jamie's forehead.

"I don't know exactly," replied Frank uneasily.  "But let's move him
inside the apartment.  Until we know what's going on we don't need to
have someone open their door and find us like this in the hallway."

Frank moved next to Graham and they both carefully took hold of Jamie
and carried him gently from the hallway to just inside the apartment.
Laying him back down on the floor they both knelt on opposite sides
of Jamie.

"Jamie, can you hear me?" asked Graham gently bending his head down
towards Jamie's.

Jamie stirred slightly and weakly said, "I'm sorry ...".

"You've nothing to be sorry for," said Frank gently.

"He ... he caught me," said Jamie barely above a whisper.

"Who caught you, Jamie?" replied Graham.  "Who did this to you?"

"He ... found me," said Jamie struggling.  "Couldn't get away from him.
My ...".

Jamie fainted as he tried to get out the final words and Graham and
Frank looked at each other with tears in their eyes.

Frank spoke first, "Did you make out what he said there?"

"I'm not sure," replied Graham.  "Did it sound like a 'D' to you?"

"I didn't want to say it, but that's what I thought too," said Frank.
"Do you think he meant 'Dad'?"

"His father," said Graham with venom in his voice.  "I'll lay odds that's
who did this.  Jamie's told me he's hurt him plenty of other times."

"If that's who it was he's going to regret it," said Frank darkly.
Glancing down at Jamie's backpack, Frank spotted a tag and turned it
over and looked at it.  Seeing that Graham was concentrating on Jamie,
Frank yanked the tag off with a quick jerk and pocketed it.

"I'll go down and lead them in," said Frank getting up as he heard the
distant wail of an approaching siren.

A minute later Graham looked up to the banging of feet as the ambulance
crew led by Frank burst through the door of the apartment.  Frank moved
Graham back so that the paramedics could work and they began to assess
the situation professionally.

"What happened here?" demanded one of them with suspicion in his voice.

"The boy dragged himself here after being beaten," said Frank seeing
Graham wasn't able to speak.  "We were waiting here for him when we
heard something at the door.  When we opened it we found him like this.
We just moved him in from the hallway."

"Did you call the police?" asked the paramedic clearly unconvinced.

"At the same time we called you," replied Frank hearing a second siren
approaching.  "They should be here in a moment."

The paramedics worked quickly trying to stabilize Jamie and prepare him
for transport.  At the same time Graham and Frank rapidly explained the
situation to the police who had arrived by then.  Fortunately one of the
officers recognized Jamie and also knew Matty and a fast phone call soon
resolved their worries that Graham or Frank might have been responsible.

"Please I have to go with you," said Graham as the paramedics made ready
to leave.

"We don't normally allow that," said one of them.

"But he needs to have someone with him that he knows and trusts,"
pleaded Graham.

Seeing a nod from one of the officers the paramedic relented and said,
"All right, but keep out of the way and don't interfere.  If he gets into
trouble on the way I might have to do some things that could upset you."

"Don't worry I won't cause any problems," replied Graham.

"All right, let's move it then," said the lead paramedic as they headed
out the apartment door pushing Jamie along on the stretcher ahead of them.

"Give me the keys to the place Graham," said Frank as Graham followed
the paramedics out.  "I need to check on something first.  Then I'll
take care of Cindy and meet you at the hospital."

Graham threw the keys to Frank and ran after the paramedics.  Frank
watched until they left and answered a few final questions for the
police officers.

"Do you know who did this?" asked one of the officers.

"No, I'm afraid I don't," replied Frank.  "I know Jamie's father has
beat him quite often though."

"Yes that's my understanding too," said the officer that had recognized
Jamie.  "We've never been able to get anything on the father though.
Every time we've had him downtown for a talk, he's been the image
of sweet innocence.  'The boy is a problem, he keeps running away'.
You know how it goes."

"Perhaps you need to go see the father at his place instead of having
him come downtown," suggested Frank.

"I think that's a good idea," replied the officer.  "We'll head to the
hospital now so we can get more details on how bad things are and what
exactly happened, and then one of the detectives will probably want to
go pay the father a visit after that.  I sure hope the kid's going to
make it, he doesn't look so good."

"I'll see you at the hospital in a bit after I close up here.  Thanks for
all your help," said Frank offering his hand to the officers.

"We'll see you shortly," the officers replied and they headed out
the door.

Frank went over to the bookcase at the side of the room and pulled out
the phonebook.  After quickly looking in it, Frank picked up the phone
and dialed.

"Dave, that you?" asked Frank.

"Yes, what's up?" came Dave's voice over the phone.

"Something's happened to Jamie," said Frank.  "Looks like his father
caught him and he's been beaten up pretty bad.  The ambulance just took
him to the hospital."

"Oh no!" gasped Dave.  "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes," replied Frank.  "I need you to get over here fast.  Cindy is with
us, and I need you to take her back to the island for me.  We're not
going to be able to handle having her here now with all this happening."

"No problem at all, I can be there in about twenty minutes," said Dave.

"Make it as quick as you can," said Frank.  "When you get back to the
island Jason can look after her until we get back."

"Alright Frank," said Dave.  "I'll be there as quick as I can be."

Frank put down the phone.  Took a couple of deep breaths and then picked
it up again and dialed.

"Kathy?" asked Frank.

"What's wrong Frank, something's happened.  I can tell from your voice,"
came Frank's wives voice urgently over the phone.

"It's Jamie," said Frank slowly.  "His father caught him and ... well
the ambulance just left for the hospital."

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Kathy in a scared voice.

"He looked really bad - there was blood everywhere," replied Frank.
"I think you'd better say something to Jason.  Jamie didn't look good
at all."

"Are you doing to be staying there?" asked Kathy.

"I'm not going to leave until I know what happened," said Frank.
"Then I'm going to the hospital and I'll stay there with Graham and Jamie.
I've called Dave and he's coming to pick up Cindy and bring her back to
the island.  Jason can look after her while we're here."

"Frank ..." began Kathy with a note of warning in her voice.  "Don't you
do anything you're going to regret."

"It'll be ok," said Frank.  "I'm just going to see what I can find out."

"Please be careful," said Kathy hearing something unsettling in Frank's
tone of voice.  "Jason and I need you."

"Don't worry," said Frank.  "I'm coming back, but not until Jamie is
able to come back too.  I have to go now.  Tell Jason I love him, and
I love you too."

"We love you," said Kathy.  "Please come back to us soon."

After putting down the phone Frank moved about the apartment quickly
and located an old pair of leather gloves that belonged to Graham and
put them on.  Then clutching the tag he'd pocketed earlier from Jamie's
backpack he headed out the door with Cindy and locked it behind him.

Frank went down to Graham's car and first pulled the street map from the
glovebox and laid it on the hood of the small car.  Frank located Graham's
apartment on the map and then referring to the tag he'd taken from Jamie's
backpack determined the quickest route to the address that was written
on it.  As Frank was looking the map over, Dave drove up in his car.

"Hi Frank," said Dave as he got out of the car.  "Any news?"

"No, but it hasn't been long," replied Frank.  "Thanks for taking Cindy.
I called Kathy and she's going to talk to Jason.  He'll pick her up when
you get to the island."

Dave noticed the map laying on the hood of the car and said, "You're
not going to do what I think you're going to do are you?"

"I can't let this happen again," said Frank simply avoiding Dave's eyes.

"You're not going to be able to live with yourself if you do," warned
Dave.

"It won't be anything that permanent," said Frank.  "He's not worth it.
But I'm going to make sure Jamie is safe from now on."

"Need any help?" asked Dave.

Frank looked up at Dave with surprise and replied, "No, I can manage."

"OK," said Dave.  "Later after it's over, if you need to get it off your
chest remember I'm a good listener."

"Thanks buddy," said Frank.  "I will probably need that."

"Anytime you need to talk just let me know," said Dave as he opened his
car door to let Cindy jump in.

Dave started the car's engine and he and Cindy headed back onto the
street and soon disappeared.  Frank took one final look at the map and
then tossed it into the back of Graham's car and was shortly exiting the
parking lot.  Frank headed directly west while quickly turning from one
side street into the next.  Watching the house numbers, Frank finally
stopped one block short of the address on the tag in his pocket, parked
the car, and shut off the engine.  Closing the door, Frank then moved
to the sidewalk on the wrong side of the street and walked slowly in
the direction of the address.

As he approached from the wrong side of the street Frank discretely looked
at the house.  It was an old rundown bungalow that desperately needed a
coat of paint not to mention a number of repairs.  Looking about Frank
checked that no one was around, and then walked up to the end of the
block, crossed the street and then headed back down toward the house,
this time on the correct side of the street.

Just as he approached the house Frank saw a path that went down the
side of it towards the back of the place.  Checking that he wasn't
being observed, Frank quietly slipped along the side of the house.
Approaching an open window, Frank peered in and saw what was had to be
a boy's bedroom.  There was a bed that was messed up, a couple of torn
posters on the wall, and clothes strewn randomly about on the floor.
Frank's eyes then noticed the dark stains on the bedclothes which were
smeared along the floor.  The same stains also appeared on the sill of
the window he was looking through.  Frank realized that almost certainly
this was Jamie's room, and that the stains were a trail of dried blood
which marked Jamie's escape route.

Frank pushed the partially open window up in the old wooden frame
carefully so as not to make any noise and then climbed up and into the
bedroom while trying to avoid putting his gloved hands on the blood
stains on the window sill.  Frank quickly looked about and saw Jamie's
name on a few scraps of paper laying on an old TV table, confirming that
this was definitely Jamie's room.  Moving quietly to the bedroom door,
Frank slowly turned the doorknob and pushed it open slightly and peered
out.  Loud snoring sounds could be heard coming from the next room.
Frank pushed the door open further and could see a man's head leaning
off to one side from a reclining chair in the living room.  An empty
bottle laid on the floor next to the arm that dangled down from the chair.

Moving carefully so as not to make any noise, Frank moved into the living
room area and the odour of alcohol assaulted his nose.  Surmising the man
would be out for a while, Frank decided to do a quick survey of the rest
of the house.  A brief inspection of what had to be the man's bedroom
yielded what Frank was hoping he wouldn't find, but felt certain that
he would.

In the closet in the master bedroom was box after box of video tapes,
as well as a number of CDs, all of them labeled in black felt pen with
the same crude handwriting.  Frank didn't want to look, but he knew he
had to in order to be sure.  Moving over to the computer that sat to
one side in the bedroom, Frank popped one of the CDs into the machine
and quickly had a list of files displayed.  They were all image files.
Clicking the mouse a couple more times, Frank had his fears confirmed.
The CDs were of Jamie.  The face in the pictures wasn't smiling in the
couple of images that Frank checked, but there was no doubt as to the
identify of the boy they showed.

Returning the CD to where he had found it, Frank pulled out one of the
video tapes at random and inserted it into the VCR located next to the
desk that the computer was resting on.  Turning the sound down to zero
and then switching on the TV above the VCR, Frank pressed fast forward
for a minute and then hit play.  Frank felt his stomach begin to heave
and he quickly stopped the tape.  Rewinding it and then removing it from
the VCR Frank returned it back where he had found it in the closet.

Standing up, Frank walked to the doorway in the bedroom which led back to
the sleeping figure in the living room and then stopped and took several
deep breaths.  Finally with his eyes dark with anger he pushed the door
open and moved into the living room.

                               *** *** *** ***

As the ambulance arrived at the emergency entrance to the hospital, Graham
was pushed aside by the paramedics in order to get Jamie's stretcher
moving quickly.  As soon as the stretcher was through the doors of the
hospital the emergency room personnel took over from the paramedics.
One glance at Jamie was all they needed and he was rushed into the first
available emergency treatment room.  Graham attempted to follow along
behind but found his path quickly cut off by a polite but firm nurse
wearing a tag with the name 'Melody Schrader R.N.' engraved on it.

"I'm sorry sir but you will have to wait out here," said Melody in a
serious tone.

"But I need to be in there," pleaded Graham.  "He'll be afraid if there
isn't someone that he recognizes near him."

"The doctors will do everything they can," replied Melody as she
escorted Graham out and into the corridor and then went back into the
treatment room.  One look at the boy laying on the stretcher told
the Melody that the incoming patient was in no condition to be scared
or anything else.  She kept to herself her worries that this might all
be over in a matter of a few minutes.

Graham knew the nurse was right and that there wasn't anything he
could do.  Nonetheless Graham began to pace back and forth just outside
the door to the treatment room and couldn't help overhearing the urgent
orders coming from inside.

"His blood pressure is way down from the blood loss.  Type and cross-match
and hang two units of O-negative right away."

"Christ, where's it all coming from?  It's everywhere!"

"Respiratory arrest!  Intubate and get an airway going.  Bag him,
pure oxygen!"

"No not like that - increase the flow rate!"

"Jesus!  Look down here, it's just pouring out of him.  Hang another
unit!"

"Get me an OR, he's got to go in NOW or we're going to loose him!"

"What about the arm?"

"It looks like clean break, we'll worry about it later."

"We'd better do a head series."

"I said 'Later' Damn It!  We've got to get that haemorrhaging under
control or the only X-rays he's going to need will be for the autopsy
report!"

"Look at his back.  Are those ... geez some of them look fresh."

Graham finally couldn't take listening any longer and moved away from
the doorway and back towards the admitting desk.  Police were arriving
and starting to swarm the area and Graham was shortly doing his best to
try and explain the situation.  Eventually however, the duty nurse had
them move out of the way and into a nearby waiting room so they wouldn't
block the area in case there were other emergencies.

Graham paced back and forth while answering questions for the police
and briefly considered the advantages of being a patient so he could
avoid the questions.  It was a ridiculous thought, but Graham's mind was
trying its best to cope with a situation that was almost unmanageable.
Glancing out at the treatment room that Jamie was in every few minutes,
Graham saw nurses running in and out of the room almost constantly.
Either extra equipment was going in, or they were rushing out with a
sample of something and heading towards the lab.  Graham could see that
the level of activity wasn't diminishing and his fears only grew.

A few minutes later the doors to the treatment room burst open and a
nurse ran all the way to the end of the corridor to call the elevator
while a stretcher bearing Jamie followed rapidly along right behind her.
Jamie lay on the stretcher, his lower body was covered by a sheet that
showed bloody stains in places, his upper body was bare but was also
bloody and bruised.  Jamie's face was almost completely obscured by a
ventilator with two hoses leading away from it, and both arms had tubes
going into them that were attached to IV bags full of blood.  A monitor
hooked up to Jamie was sitting between his partially spread legs and
beeped slowly.

Graham tried to follow, but was intercepted by the emergency
room doctor.

"You're the boy's father?" inquired the doctor as he gently took Graham
by the arm to lead him back into the waiting room.

"No, I'm Graham Holt," replied Graham.  "Just this morning I was
officially made Jamie's guardian."

"Do you know what exactly has happened to Jamie?" asked the doctor gently.

"Not precisely," said Graham slowly.  "But I've got a rough idea."

"There is no kind way to tell you what I need to," began the doctor, "So
I'm just going to have to say it.  Jamie has been raped and beaten, and
very severely so.  That however, is not the worst of it.  The bruising,
the broken arm, nose, at least one of his ribs ... everything that you can
see with your eyes, none of it is life threatening even though it looks
bad.  If there's time, we can fix those things and he'll heal eventually."

"What do you mean by 'if there's time'?" asked Graham picking up on the
significant undercurrent in the doctor's tone.

"Jamie is suffering from massive internal haemorrhaging," continued the
doctor.  "His colon has been torn open and to be frank, it's a miracle
he even made it to the hospital.  We tried putting more blood into him
but it was almost pointless as it immediately began to flow out again."

"Is he going to ..." gasped Graham unable to finish the sentence.

"I'm sorry to have to say this," replied the doctor, "but I think that
if there is anyone that should be notified you need get in touch with
them right away.  His chances of survival are not at all good."

Graham's face turned white and he began to tremble.  The doctor reached
out quickly to steady Graham and led him to a chair to sit down.  One of
the police officers who had been sitting nearby and listening to the
details handed Graham a glass of water.

After a minute Graham managed to collect himself and asked weakly,
"There's no chance at all?"

"There's always a chance," said the doctor with kindness.  "For Jamie
to have made it this far is amazing.  I'm not going to deceive you about
the danger but people sometimes can fight back against incredible odds.
I hope as you do that he'll make it, but I wanted to be honest with you
about the situation.  It's always worse if we tell you a happy story
and then later have to give you bad news."

"I appreciate the honesty doctor," said Graham.  "I guess this is the
part of your job that's the lousiest."

"Almost," replied the doctor sadly.  "But I think the worst is seeing
a youngster who's been brutalized like that.  Do you know who did it?"

"I'm pretty sure it was his father," said Graham with anger.

The doctor shook his head and stood up, "Well when they find him,
we'll have no end of evidence to provide the Crown Prosecutor with.
It'll be impossible for anyone to wiggle out of this."

"Are you sure?" asked Graham.

"Oh yes, the DNA evidence that we collected will be conclusive even
if Jamie is unable to testify," said the doctor.  "I have to go now,
but I promise you that I or the emergency surgeon will let you know
immediately when there is any news to give you."

"Thank you very much doctor," said Graham as the doctor shook his hand
and left heading quickly for the same elevator that Jamie had only just
gone into.

Graham slumped back in the chair and cradled his head in his hands.
The police continued to mill about and converse quietly but gave Graham
a respite from their questioning; they too had heard the doctors bleak
prognosis.  After a few minutes, Graham got up and went to the officer
that had first arrived at the apartment.

"Excuse me ... Constable Murphy," said Graham reading from the officer's
name tag.

"Logan," replied the policeman.  "Call me Logan."

"Logan," began Graham again.  "I think we need to notify the Ministry
of Social Services.  The lady to get in touch with is Matty ... Madeline
Thompson"

"We already have," said Logan gently.  "She should be here any time now."

Graham went and sat back down.  He tried drinking from the glass of
water that was sitting in front of him and choked on it sending water
spraying in all directions.  No one laughed.  Most of the men had sons
or daughters of their own and each was lost in thought considering how
well they would be handling the situation if it had been them instead
of Graham.

Graham tried looking through an ancient National Geographic magazine
laying on a side table.  He also tried an issue of Time from two years
ago but he wasn't really reading them.  The minutes stretched like hours
and Graham felt certain that at any moment the doctor was going to come
through the door with the news that would destroy him.

Graham heard running footsteps and looked up as someone ran up to him.
Graham breathed a sigh of relief and stood up - it was Matty.

"Have you heard anything?" she asked breathlessly as she skidded to a
halt and then gave Graham a supportive hug just before they both sat down.

"Not a thing since they took him up for surgery," replied Graham.
"It's been a bit over an hour now."

"Waiting is always the worst part isn't it?" said Matty.

"It's killing me," answered Graham.  "If only I had insisted he not go
by himself.  Stopped him somehow."

"You can't blame yourself," said Matty.  "This isn't your fault.
There'll be time later to deal with whomever did this."

Just then a doctor, still wearing his green scrubs, arrived and stood
in the doorway of the waiting room looked around and then began to walk
towards Graham.  Graham's stomach twisted into knots and he tried to read
the doctor's face to determine what the news was.  The doctor however,
kept his face clear of all signs and Graham was unable to guess what
the news was going to be.

"You're Jamie's guardian?" asked the doctor.

"Yes," said Graham hesitantly.  "Is he ..."

"He's alive," replied the doctor with a tired sigh.  "I didn't think he'd
make it through the surgery but somehow he did.  His heart stopped twice
and we revived him both times.  As far as the injuries are concerned,
his colon was torn open badly.  It took over a hundred stitches to
put everything back together more or less.  If he hangs in there and
stabilizes we're going to go back in later and tidy things up, right
now though we've just tried to deal with the worst of it.  He also
has extensive bruising over his abdominal area and head, a fracture of
the left arm, broken nose, two broken ribs, and a hairline fracture of
the skull.  The latter of those injuries while very graphic sounding
are not life threatening.  The major concerns we have now are shock, the
massive loss of blood, and of course peritonitis.  The next twenty-four
to forty-eight hours are going to be critical.  He's in ICU now and
under constant watch."

The words detailing the injuries each impacted upon Graham like body
blows.  He looked up into the eyes of the doctor wanting to see hope in
them, but found none.

"Do you think he'll make it?" asked Graham quietly and looking down again.

"I would like to remain optimistic," replied the doctor carefully.
"However, the injuries are so severe and the blood loss so great that
the chances are not in his favour."

"Can I see him?" asked Graham.

"Not just yet," replied the doctor.  "In a few hours if he remains stable
we can allow you in for just a minute, but no more than that."

The doctor rose from the chair he was sitting in and Graham thanked him
for helping Jamie.  Shaking Graham's hand the doctor headed away down
the corridor and Graham slumped back into his chair.  Eventually Matty
suggested that they go to the cafeteria and have a cup of tea.

Several cups of tea and a few hours later found Graham and Matty pushing
the crumbs from a half-eaten muffin back and forth across the table
absentmindedly.  Melody walked into the cafeteria, spotted Graham,
and came and sat down next to him.

"If you would like you can come and see Jamie for just a minute now,"
said the Melody with a smile.

"How is he doing?" asked Graham.

"He's very weak and still critical but he's holding on," replied Melody
trying to cheer up Graham.  "He must be a very determined young man.
Most people wouldn't have gotten this far."

"He's strong deep down inside where it counts," said Graham with
conviction.

Melody led Graham and Matty to the intensive care unit which was located
several floors up.  In the observation room, Melody assisted Graham as he
donned a gown and mask before being allowed inside the restricted area.
Matty waited outside and watched through the glass as Graham and Melody
went inside.

Graham followed Melody past a number of beds, each of them an individual
tragedy for some family, but Graham eyes were full and not focusing
clearly.  Graham almost missed Jamie's bed because he didn't recognize
him with all of the tubes, wires, and bandages sticking out of and
covering Jamie.

"Has there been any change?" said Melody to the nurse standing next to
and watching Jamie.

"There's been no change at all," replied the nurse evenly.

"You can stay just for a minute," said Melody as she backed off slightly
to give Graham a sense of privacy while remaining in fact only a few feet
away.  The nurse watching Jamie didn't move at all and continued to check
Jamie and the slowly beeping monitors on the wall above him regularly.

Graham approached the bed and looked down at Jamie.  Jamie's eyes were
closed.  There were tubes going into his arms supplying him with blood,
most of his face was still covered by a ventilator, and there were
bandages seemingly everywhere.  Graham was no doctor but even he could
read the overhead monitors that beeped slowly and knew that Jamie was in
terrible shape.  Graham collected himself and gently touched Jamie's hand.

"It's me Jamie," said Graham softly.  "It's Graham.  You're safe and
the doctor's have fixed you all up.  You beat him.  You made it."

Jamie didn't move or react at all.  Graham knew that Jamie probably
couldn't even hear him, but despite knowing that Graham took a deep
breath and kept going.

"You're going to get better soon," continued Graham.  "When you're
back on your feet we'll go back to the island and you can have fun with
Jason again.  You'll be able to go fishing and go for walks with Cindy.
I have the custody papers now and you won't ever have to come back to
town if you don't want to.  Everything is going to be fine, you'll see.
You just need to be strong right now and hang on.  Please hang on."

Graham's lips moved, but he found he couldn't say anything more and
looked up helplessly at the nurse watching Jamie and she tried to smile
back at Graham but failed.  There hadn't been a single visible reaction
on Jamie's part to Graham's presence or his words.  Melody moved back
beside Graham, and taking his elbow led him out of the ICU and back into
the observation room.

"How is he?" asked Matty anxiously when Graham came through the doors.

"It's like he's completely lifeless," said Graham fighting back tears.
"He didn't blink, he didn't move a finger, absolutely nothing."

"That's to be expected at this point," explained Melody gently.
"He's so weak right now that what seems like something very minor to you
and I, like moving a hand or his eyes is completely beyond his ability.
It's unlikely that we will see any reaction on Jamie's part for at least
twenty-four hours.  My recommendation would be for you to go home and
rest and come back in the morning."

"But I need to be here just in case," protested Graham.

"Really there's no chance at all of him coming around for a number of
hours," said Melody persuasively.

"I'm not leaving," said Graham defiantly.  "I'm going to wait right here
no matter how long it takes."

Seeing Graham's determination Melody led Graham and Matty back down to
the waiting room.  Graham's reaction wasn't unusual in a situation like
this and Melody understood.  In order to retain her objectivity it was
necessary to try and remain at least partially detached from each of
the individual tragedies that passed through the emergency department.
Despite knowing this however, Melody knew that Jamie was one patient she
was not going to be able to forget anytime soon.  What she had seen in
the treatment and then the operating rooms wasn't soon forgotten.

"I should go to the office," said Matty.  "There are a number of reports
I need to file about this so that we can get the right people in motion.
The police talking with the Crown Counsel's office, get statements from
the doctors, and so on."

"Thanks for coming," said Graham.  "I really appreciate it.  It's good
to know that someone cares."

"I always do," said Matty.  "It's just too bad that sometimes things go
badly before we find out or can get them fixed up."

Graham shook Matty's hand and watched her head out.  Graham pinched a
doughnut from a box that had materialized in the middle of the table in
the waiting room.  Graham hadn't noticed when it came in and mused wryly
to himself that there was definitely some sort of deep-seated symbiosis
between policemen and doughnuts.  After eating it, Graham then walked
over and stretched out on a couch in the waiting room and tried to
get a little sleep.  Graham managed to doze fitfully for about an hour
and a half but then came instantly wide awake when he heard footsteps
approaching and found Frank standing in front of him.

"How is he?" asked Frank as he sat down heavily next to Graham.

"Just barely alive," replied Graham.  "They let me see him for just a
minute an hour or two ago."

"How bad was it?" asked Frank.

"Broken nose, broken arm, broken ribs, a fracture in his head, cuts,
bruises ..." began Graham.

"And ...?" asked Frank slowly.

"The bastard tore him open inside!" said Graham breaking down completely.

As he was describing the situation to Frank, Graham suddenly noticed
Franks hands.  They were cut and swollen.  Then Graham looked at Frank
more closely and saw a large bruise on the side of his face.

"What ... what happened to you?" asked Graham quietly so the police
wouldn't hear.

"Can I see Jamie," asked Frank quickly changing the subject.

"I don't know," said Graham realizing that Frank didn't want to discuss
the subject.  "But I can ask.  I don't know if they'll let you or not."

"Tell them I'm his long lost uncle," joked Frank with a poor attempt
at humour.

Graham went to the admissions desk and asked the duty nurse if he could
speak to Melody again.  Graham then went back to the waiting room and
about ten minutes later Melody came in and sat down next to Graham
and Frank.

"I hear that Jamie's 'uncle' wants to see him," said Melody with a
small grin.

"Please if it's at all possible," said Frank standing up.

"We usually only allow immediate family," said Melody completely
unintimidated by the towering bulk of Frank.

"I am immediate family," said Frank.  "We live right next door to
Graham and my boy will never forgive me if I don't see Jamie.  It's very
important that I see him.  And I have something I have to tell him."

"He's still non-responsive," said Melody still unconvinced.

"I have to see him," pressed Frank.

"All right, but only for a minute," said Melody giving way.

Melody led Frank from the waiting room up the elevator and towards the
intensive care unit.  When they arrived in the observation room Frank
quickly dressed in the required gown and mask.  Melody led Frank into
the restricted area and down to Jamie's bed.  A quick visual inspection
told Melody that nothing had changed in the past two hours since she
and Graham had come to see Jamie.

"Jamie's 'uncle'," said Melody in reply to the unspoken question in the
eyes of the nurse watching over Jamie.

Melody saw the nurse's eyebrows rise and smiled back, Frank wasn't fooling
either of them but they understood.  Both of them stood by as they saw
the large frame of Frank move ever so carefully alongside Jamie's bed.
Frank placed his hand next to Jamie's and leaned over him.

"Jamie, it's Frank," said the large man with surprising gentleness.
"I want you to know you're safe now.  He'll never hurt you again.
I've made certain of it.  It's over for good and it'll never happen again.
Get strong and you'll soon be out of here."

Frank raised his head back up and then quickly looked down as he felt
something brush against his hand.  Both nurses followed Frank's sudden
glance and they all looked on astonished as they saw Jamie's hand move
ever so slowly and finally come to a rest on top of Frank's.

[to be continued]