Chapter 8

Billy

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Billy woke up to the sound of beeping. The environment for him was very familiar. He was in a hospital room. Trying to sit up, he felt a tag on his left hand. Seeing there was a butterfly needle connected to the back of his hand, he laid back down. Also on his chest, some electrodes attached to a heart monitor. The door to his room was wide open. People were walking up and down the corridor, mostly nurses and doctors in white uniforms. He could hear talking just outside the room.

“Nurse water, please?” he tried to call out with a faint sound.

A nurse walked into the room, walking to the side of the bed. Taking Billy’s hand, she commenced reading his blood pressure. Once she had finished, he asked again.

“Can I have some water, please?”

“Oh, you poor thing, your mouth must be dry from the anaesthetic,” the nurse stated.

With a remote control, the nurse pressed some buttons, making the upper side of the bed to rise, putting Billy in a sitting position. The nurse gave him some water to drink through a straw. Before leaving the room, the nurse fixed the pillows for Billy to be more comfortable.

Billy laid there looking out of the large rectangular window. It was different from the windows at Woodland Manor. There weren’t any bars running vertically down the window, distracting the view. But what fascinated him was all the tall buildings dispersed everywhere, compared to the look of the forest he knew.

“Good morning Billy.” He turned to see a man with a stethoscope around his neck. Billy knew that he was a doctor.

“Billy very dizzy, doctor,” his whispered. His voice was barely coming out.

“It’s from the anaesthetic Billy. You had a lot of injuries. You had a rough night last night. You get a good night’s sleep. You will feel a lot better tomorrow.”

After giving Billy a quick check, he left the nurse to provide Billy with his medication.

Next day Billy was feeling much better. The dizziness had gone. He had some pain on his chest, but not like the pain he had a few nights ago. The doctor reassured him the discomfort would go in a few weeks.

He had some visitors after the doctor left. A tall policeman came to visit him. He stood, looking down at Billy for a few moments. He was too scared to say anything to the policeman. He thought he was in trouble for leaving Woodland Manor.

The policeman smiled at him, he said. “My name is inspector Grey. You’re an incredible young man Billy. You saved that nurse’s life, by helping her to stop the bleeding. Also, the young girl from Max.”

Billy recognised him. It was the policeman the girl ran too. “Is the girl ok,” he asked with concern.

“She’s ok Billy,” he comforted him. Rubbing and patting Billy’s shoulder.

“Why is this man here. He should be in a padded cell in Woodland Manor. He tried to escape!” It was Professor Khan. He marched into the room screaming and yelling.

“I’m sorry sir, you are?” the inspector asked calmly.

“My name is Professor Khan, this patient of the hospital tried to trap me in a cage so that he could escape. He should be locked up!” the professor protested with his voice raised.

“Billy not bad didn’t trap professor in the cage.” Billy tried to defend himself. “My tracksuit bottoms, Billy needs his tracksuit bottoms.”