Chapter 22

I looked at Cal open-mouthed. Her. My brother. What the fuck was going on?

“Cal,” I blurted out, “why?”

Then I ran. I bolted for the door and was through it and off down the drive, running. I didn’t know where I was headed, I didn’t care where I was headed, I just ran.

I ran for ten minutes, thirty, an hour I have no idea how far or how long I ran, then it stopped. I felt a sudden searing pain in my left side and the world went black.

There was a light, bright, very bright, a long way away and an indistinct hum of conversation in the background. Just a buzz, no words, like the sounds of a crowd, but soft, very indistinct. I must have been walking or something because the light was coming towards me, and at the same time, the murmur of voices was becoming louder.

My eyes flickered a few times, then stayed open. I was in a room, on a bed, and there were three people I didn’t know with me.

“Welcome back to the land of the living David,” one of them, a man wearing a white coat with a stethoscope in the pocket. A doctor. The other two were both female, in blue dresses, nurses. I was in a hospital.

“Where am I?” I croaked. I ached all over.

“Pontefract General Infirmary,” the doctor replied.

“Why?” I asked again.

“You had an argument with a bus. The bus won.”

“I hurt,” I said.

“Where?” he asked.

“All over.”

“Believe it or not, that’s a good sign. Now you’re back with us, we need to do some tests, but apart from a lot of bruises, and a hairline crack in your skull, you seem to have got away with it. You were lucky. You ran into the side of the moving bus, and it had only just set off. If it had been moving at road speed, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation. But before we start messing you about, you have visitors.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Your parents,” he replied, “there are a few others who wanted to come but we restricted it to just your parents for now.”

“Thanks,” I said, “how long was I out?”

“Four days,” he replied.

“What?” I yelled. I would have sat up if I’d been able.

“We put you into an induced coma to give your brain time to recover, there’s some bruising in there, and swelling. So be still, be quiet or we may have to put you back under. Meanwhile, we three will withdraw and let your parents in. Just for a few minutes.”

They went out and a few seconds later my parents walked in.

“How are you feeling son?” My Dad asked, “Better than you look I hope?”

“I don’t know, how do I look?” I asked.

“Battered and bruised, not your usual handsome self.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Don’t you remember?” Mum asked.

“No,” I replied, “I remember finishing dinner and Pip and I cleared the kitchen up, but after that it’s just, I don’t know, sort of foggy.”

“Well, do you remember your brother was dressed to go out on a date?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, “I think so.”

“Do you remember Cal going upstairs?”

“No,” I replied, “I don’t.”

“So, you don’t remember her coming downstairs, dressed to go out and asking him if he was ready?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head, which was a big mistake.

“Why would she do that?” I asked, “she’s my girlfriend.”

“David,” my dad said, sounding concerned, “how much do you remember before Sunday? Do you remember you and I going to Manchester on Saturday?”

“Yes,” I said, “the audition. What are we doing about that?”

“At the moment we’re waiting for the council to give a permit for you to do it. The doctor says that subject to the results of the tests he wants to do, you’ll be all right. Read throughs start in four weeks, the three weeks of rehearsals then filming.”

“Oh good,” I said, “but, what about Andy and Cal?”

“Do you remember Munich?” Dad asked.

“Vaguely,” I said, “I remember finishing early in LA and deciding to fly there and surprise Cal.”

“That’s right,” Dad said, “and when you got there?”

“She was out,” I said, “her room mate said she was at a disco in the student union. I went off with another student to find her.”

“That’s right,” Dad prompted.

“And, I don’t know, it’s hazy,” I said, “almost as if I don’t want to remember.”

“Son,” my Dad said, “I think we need to go speak to your doctor, we’ll just be outside, and we’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

Ten minutes later my Dad came in with the doctor.

“Now David,” the doctor whose name was Grimm, said, “your parents tell me that you’re having some trouble remembering some things, is that right?”

“Yes, they’re hazy, as if I know that there’s something there, but I can’t remember what. It’s as if I’m looking at something through a fog.”

“That’s quite normal after a severe bang on the head like you’ve had, but could we try something to see if we can jog those memories.”

“Yes, of course, what is it?”

“I want to bring Miss Warner, Cal, in to tell you about Munich, and see if that jogs your memory. Your mother’s gone to fetch her.”

“I’m not sure I want to see her,” I said, “she was going out with my brother.”

I felt tears rolling down my cheeks.

“My girlfriend was going out on a date with my brother,” I moaned, “how could the two of them do that?”

“David,” my Dad said, his voice soothing, “let us bring Cal in, and let her tell you about Munich, then your memories might come back. Please. It’ll be all right, I promise. I’ll stay with you if you want.”

“All right Dad,” I said, reluctantly, “but I’ll want to know why she was going out with Andy, and I’ll want to know what he thought he was playing at too.”

The doctor left us and my Dad sat down at the side of my bed.

“What’s going on Dad?” I asked.

“It’s better if I don’t tell you son, much better for you to remember it all yourself.”

“OK, but you should know that I’m pissed off at Cal for agreeing to go out with Andy, and even more at him for asking her.”

“It will all be clearer after you talk to Cal,” he said, although he didn’t sound convinced.

We talked about nothing much for twenty minutes until Mum walked into the room.

“Cal’s outside,” she said as she reached my bedside, “I want you to promise me that you’ll hear her out. Hopefully that will bring your memories back.”

“OK Mum, I’ll talk to her,” I said, “But I still want to know what she was thinking of.”

Mum and Dad left the room and Cal came in, sheepishly.

“Hi,” she said softly, “how are you feeling?”

“I hurt, Cal,” I replied, “all over, but mostly inside. How could you?”

“Your Mum told me that you only have shaky memories of Munich,” she answered, “maybe I’d better fill them in for you.”

“Okay,” I said.

“What do you remember?”

“I remember finishing early in LA, and deciding to come and surprise you in Munich,” I told her, “I went to your hostel, and your room mate told me you were out at the Mensa did she call it?”

She nodded.

“One of the other students took me there I think, and got me in, then it all becomes hazy. I know you were there, and I know I came home the next day, but I don’t remember any of what happened.”

“I was there when you arrived, but I was with someone,” she said.

“That’s right, a boy, well a man really, William? Walter?” I said.

“Wolfgang. I came over and told you that it wasn’t what it looked like, and you asked me to leave with you and tell you what it was, then he came over.”

“Yes, I remember now, he called you ‘liebling’. But you didn’t come with me, you went back to the table with him.”

“Then when I came home, you told me you still loved me, and I thought it was all going to be all right.”

“You were sleeping with him weren’t you?”

“Yes,” she replied, “I couldn’t deny it if I wanted to, you saw my STI test, and the positive for Gonorrhoea.”

“You have Gonorrhoea?”

“Not any more, but I knew you hadn’t given it to me, so I must have got it in Germany. You saw the test result. Oh, and the HIV result came back negative, and my retest for Gonorrhoea did too.”

“Then you said we were finished, that you couldn’t be with me any more because you could no longer trust me. I understand that, I just wanted a chance to prove that you could.”

“So, to prove I could trust you, you decide to date my brother.”

“Well, yes and no. That was Andy’s idea, he thought that if you thought I was going out with someone else, you might get jealous and do something about it. We didn’t expect you to react the way you did, I really am sorry. I never wanted you to get hurt.”

“If you hadn’t wanted me to get hurt,” I spat, “you should have kept your knickers on in Germany.”

She reacted as though I’d slapped her hard across the face.

“I deserved that,” she said when she recovered her composure, “and you didn’t deserve what I did. I’m sorry David, I’ll leave.”

She stood up and turned towards the door.

“Cal,” I said softly, “don’t go, please.”

She turned and smiled at me.

“I’ll be back later,” she said, “I have some things I need to do.”

Mum and Dad came back in as she left.

“The doctor says we have to leave you to rest now” Mum said, “but we’ll be back this evening.”

“Andy asked if it was all right for him to come as well,” Dad added, “I think he’s feeling guilty.”

“That’s OK Dad,” I told him, “he’s in no danger.”

“Not from you at any rate,” he replied.

I looked at him quizzically, but he just used his eyes to gesture at Mum. I nodded, an action that made an already bad headache even worse.

“When you come back, can you bring my school bag?” I asked, “I can use the time to catch up.”

I’ll ask the doctor if it’s all right,” Mum said.

I was about to object when my Dad put his finger to his lips.

They left and I was alone, but after a few minutes my solitude was interrupted by a very cute young trainee nurse.

“Hello,” she said, “are you hungry?”

“I’ll say,” I replied, “nobody’s bothered to feed me since Sunday tea time.”

“Oh,” she said, “that can’t be right. I’ll go see if I can find something for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling, “I ought to tell you in fairness, that I have been unconscious since Sunday tea time, so there wouldn’t have been any point.”

“Oh, you,” she said then turned and walked out.

Five minutes later she came back with a bowl of tomato soup and two slices of bread and butter.

“Best I could do,” she said as she arranged the bed-table so that I could sit up in bed and eat it. I devoured the soup and bread, eating as if I hadn’t eaten in days, which I hadn’t, but as I’d been unconscious throughout that period, I didn’t think I needed to replenish too much energy. Still it was good, even though it was only tinned soup.

I thanked her when I finished, and she cleared away the bowl, then came back, moved the table away and adjusted my bed again so that I was sitting up properly.

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