Virgin Fix Pt. 04

It was one of those moments as both boys stopped talking at the same time and those around them went quiet. Neither Angela nor Sally could believe their ears at the utter nonsense these idiots were spouting. Corinne and Darlene couldn't understand how anyone could talk like that to another person, yet here were two nincompoops passing crap out of their mouths. The silence stretched to a minute and the two boys were getting pissed off that the girls were not rushing to submit. Dale reached out and grabbed Angela's arm and was pulling on it to get her to follow him, becoming more pissed off that she was resisting.

Trent went on speaking, "Sally, come on now. Stop wasting time. We made sure your little friend was out of the way tonight, so you have no excuse to ignore me any longer."

He too tried to grab Sally by the arm which she eluded by lifting it out of his way, and incidentally moving over to be closer to Angela and hold onto her. Her movement got her two friends to join her as they stayed together to help.

Sally stared daggers at Trent as she angrily spat out her question, "What do you mean by that, arsehole? What did you do to Chris?"

The smiles she saw on the boys' faces made her blood run cold. She dreaded hearing anything further as she was now worried about the reason Chris hadn't shown up tonight. It was at that moment when a number of things happened. Other kids at the party had become witness to the boys bullying the girls and closed in around them. As this was happening a number of people exited out the back door of the house. Darlene's dad stepped out followed by two police constables, then her mother. Dad looked very serious and her mum had that worried look mothers get in times of strife. Once in the yard and seeing the group, one officer spoke into his radio for a moment then joined his partner.

Dale, being a bit taller than most others around him, noticed the newcomers and especially the police uniforms. He turned white as the blood left his face. He let go of Angela's arm and was attempting to back away. Trent and the other two guys with them saw Dale and where he was looking, then after following his stare they too turned pale and all four began moving away. They were hindered by the rest of the kids who had closed ranks around them trying to help the girls. A few seconds later the police identified themselves and were moving with determination to the centre of the group. Most kids were quick to get out of their way once realising who the new arrivals were.

Dale did turn and push through those around him, but was stalled by a few words from the closer police officer. Resigned to his fate he stopped moving then he and the other three guys were escorted back to the house by the police. The party goers were shocked at the intrusion and subsequent activity. A low rumbling sound started as everyone whispered to the those nearby wondering what was happening. A minute later two different police officers came out to talk with those at the party.

Sally was becoming distraught as her imagination had gone into overdrive at what might have happened to Chris. Darlene and Corinne held her between them as she was crying, almost losing control of herself. A police woman approached and gently took her and her friends into the house so any hysterics from the girl would not make their job harder outside. As Sally was taken into the lounge room she looked out the window and saw the four boys being put into a police van out in the street. There seemed to be flashing lights everywhere as though it was a riot out there. More police were entering the house to join the others in the backyard.

-24-

Sunday morning radio news report: "At 5pm yesterday a fight in the delivery dock area at Candle Hill Shopping Centre was reported to police. Security at the mall intervened and four males were seen fleeing the area. One male was found unconscious with several injuries at the scene. Paramedics were called and stabilised him before transporting him by ambulance to the emergency room at General Public Hospital. He is reported to now be in a serious but stable condition. We have not been told officially, but we understand he received injuries from a heavy beating and a possible knife attack.

"Witnesses reported that five males, about eighteen years old, had been jostling in the mall earlier in what appeared to be one being victimised by the others. Last night police had taken four males in for questioning in regards to this matter. Word is that charges will soon be forthcoming once the investigation is complete.

"This delivery area at the mall has been subjected to many instances of vandalism and fighting. There have also been reports of illegal drug use and dealing. The mall owners, in an attempt to reduce the problems had recently installed surveillance cameras in the area. Police were able to use this to identify the persons allegedly involved in the fight.

"We are waiting for the police to release the identity of the alleged victim for what appears was an alleged assault. We have not been advised of identities for the other four allegedly involved. We believe they may all be students attending a local high school college.

"We are not certain if drugs are involved, or if this is another case of an organised school children fight that went wrong. The only items found at the scene were a number of unused condoms spread over the ground. Apparently these might have been purchased at the mall earlier by one of those involved. We are not certain of the relevance of the condoms in the fight. We will report further details as they come available."

-25-

Sunday morning Sally was up early without having had much sleep. Her parents heard the girl moving about and joined her in the kitchen. She had told them as much as she knew the night before after being were allowed to leave the party. She had found out that Chris had been hurt and was in hospital. She could only assume the four idiot guys had something to do with this, but the police were tight lipped about any details. They only gave out enough to get relevant information for her and the others at the party. June and Peter kept silent knowing Sally would talk more about it if and when she needed to, and would ask for help when required. Staying around the house in silent support of their daughter. They had planned to go out in the afternoon, but contacted their friends early and cancelled the outing. They knew they would need to wait for late morning when the hospital visiting hours started before taking Sally to see Chris.

Peter went into his study for some privacy and contacted Chris' parents to get any information on the lad's condition. Harry answered the phone.

"Hello Harry, this is Peter Mason, Sally's dad."

"Hello Mr Mason. How are you this morning?"

This question set Peter back a moment as he didn't expect to get a standard response like this together with the formal name. He had expected they would be at the hospital with their son and had only rung in the hope to catch them if he was lucky.

"I'm well Mr Carpenter. I am calling to find out if you have heard how Chris is doing this morning. We were going to see him later and hoped he would be up to having visitors."

"I'm not certain Mr Mason. We are not at all amused at him getting into fights like a common hooligan. You must agree, that type of behaviour is not to be tolerated. We cannot understand how he could do this to us. It reflects very poorly on us as his parents, wouldn't you agree. I am trying to work out how he could have become such a terrible citizen. He has always been such a quiet boy. I guess we can never know what goes on inside their heads."

This floored Peter. He had only known Chris for a relatively short time, but the way his own father was describing him made him think the boy was a hardened criminal. Doing things just to embarrass his parents. He tried talking more, "I'm not sure what you mean Mr Carpenter. I understand he was attacked by four other boys and severely injured. I hadn't heard he was to blame for the fight, he was the victim and it was unprovoked on his part."

"Well Mr Mason. Never smoke without fire, is there. I cannot see how he could be in a fight without his prior involvement. We shall just have to wait for the police to finish their investigation, until then I am not pleased with him at all. It is unseemly behaviour to fight. To top it off he had finally done really well in the club swims making us proud to be his parents that he had finally made the team properly. That is all of course now for nothing. We have been leading that club and now he won't even be able to swim with them. We will have to resign from the club committee I guess, as we could never face anyone there with the knowledge he was involved in police trouble."

"I am not certain you are seeing it properly, there is no way the Chris we know could ever do anything wrong like this, let alone anything illegal to get police involvement."

"Well, he has done something to get the police involved. They even arrived at our house and questioned us, it really upset Mrs Carpenter a lot. It gave us the feeling they thought we were bad parents, and I couldn't take that. We did everything we could for him, and now the police are coming here about him. Mrs Carpenter and I are not sure we could have him back in our house again. We would not feel safe sleeping at night with him here. Having gotten into fights and police troubles we don't know what could possibly happen from there. There is no way we could have undesirables anywhere near the house or us. We will leave him on our hospital cover until he gets better, then he might need to find other accommodations. We will have to suffer our good name being brought up in the news reports. It is going to be so embarrassing to have to face our friends and business associates when they know of what he has done. We could likely turn into the laughing stock of the town.

"I am certain you understand and agree with what we're doing. It goes without saying that, of course, you must ban him from seeing your lovely daughter. I cannot think of how this is affecting you and Mrs Mason. We are most embarrassed. Your little girl must be so distraught to have been associated with a degenerate like that boy turned out to be. His actions have forced us to make this choice, as regrettable and distasteful as it is. Give my best to your lovely wife. Good day to you Mr Mason, and thank you for calling."

Mr Carpenter hung up before Peter could even start thinking of how to respond or continue the conversation. Sally's dad sat there staring out the study window at the back yard, stunned. For possibly the first time he could recall, he was speechless. In all his business dealings, how they required fast thinking during discussions, he had never been found wanting in any negotiation. He didn't even realise his view was in the rough direction to where Chris' house was located. A while later June joined him, looking curious as to why he hadn't come out of his room. Then worried when she saw he was motionless, deep in thought, staring out the window, without any reaction to her entry or voice. Knowing her husband would work through whatever it was, she sat across the desk from him and patiently waited. She knew it had to be really bad to have affected him like this. She had seen him in some really tough situations before without him even showing more than a slightly concerned face.

It took him a short time to get to grips with the phone call, but he did eventually turn to his wife. Before he spoke he actually had tears falling, which startled her into action, racing around the desk to be with him. Kneeling in front of her husband with her arms holding him tightly. Her brain was working hard to determine what could possibly have upset him so badly. The only thing that came to mind was that someone had died. Considering the purpose of him making a call in here she jumped to the conclusion it was Chris.

With her stomach clamping she started crying as she held onto her husband, "Oh no, Peter. It can't be Chris, please tell me it's not that. Not him, oh god. He's such a sweet lad, so loving and giving. It couldn't be him. He couldn't have been injured enough to kill..."

Before she finished her sentence Peter spoke up, "Sshh dear. Chris is okay, well at least alive as far as I know. What I just heard was almost as dire as that news would have been. I don't understand what I was just told, from a parent no less. Give me a moment to try and let you know what was said."

He could only pass on the gist of the conversation as the actual words were too painful for him to repeat. June was devastated for Chris, and for her daughter, by the implications of what uncaring people can do to their own flesh and blood. He knew one reason why he loved his wife with her immediate reaction, which confirmed that she was such a remarkable person.

"What can we do for Chris. He is going to be devastated. All alone in his final year of school. How could they do that to their own child. We have to do something, he can live here unless he has other family to help him. Although I won't hold much hope on that happening if his own parents can be like that. How are we going to tell Sally. God, that poor kid is lying in hospital beaten and injured with no-one to be there for him."

Peter smiled for the first time in a little while, "We're here for him. We have to be up front with Sal, just like we always have been. She needs to know, and if I know her at all I can't see her being upset at Chris living under the same roof."

June laughed at his words, "You got that right. Okay, let's go tell her. Then we are going to the hospital as quickly as we can get there."

Sally, still in her sleepwear, was sitting at the kitchen bench looking through news items on her phone hoping there was an update about Chris. Peter told her what was going on in regards to his phone conversation. As they expected she was really upset for Chris, and sobbed in her mother's arms.

Then when June asked, "Now Chris may not have anywhere else he can go to on short notice, so we wondered if it would be alright with you if we asked him to live here. At least till he could sort himself out."

Sally stared at her mum with mouth wide open as though she had farted in three languages. Then, like a starting gun had sounded, she was off running to her bedroom to get dressed. They heard, "Yes, yes yes. Hurry up mum, dad. We have to get going. I can't wait to see Chris."

The drive to the hospital felt like the longest trip ever to Sally as she sat in the back seat alone. She wasn't idle though, as she messaged her friends with her news. The incoming message sounds were like a computer game as her phone beeped with each arrival. Only the sniffles and occasional nose blowing from the back seat occupant testified to her being emotionally distressed.

+++

Sally got frustrated as the duty nurse at the post-op care ward would not allow them to see Chris or even provide information on his condition. Her reason was that only family members were allowed. Sally was about to blow a gasket at being shut out when her mother pulled her aside, standing so her back was to the nurse. As she talked June was surreptitiously working away at her fingers on her left hand.

Getting her daughters attention she ordered her to calm and be quiet, "Quiet Sal, losing your temper will not help anyone," then she took hold of Sally's left hand, "Here put this on and act like you were too worried to think clearly. Tell her you are his fiancee of just two weeks and it is all so new to you that you forgot while flustered. Wave your hand around so the diamond flashes in the lights. Not sure if this will work, but it is worth trying. Now, take a deep breath dear and be calm and be sure of yourself. You can do this," then with a louder voice so she was heard, "It'll be okay dear. Take a deep breath and stay calm."

It was a much calmer young woman who returned to the nurses station, "I apologise nurse. I was so worried about my fiance I lost my mind. Thanks mum for calming me down. We have only been engaged for a very short time and still getting used to it."

She flashed her hand around so the ring could be seen by the nurse.

"Okay, sorry for that. I didn't realise he was engaged. I will need some details from you for our records and some photo ID, then you will be able to visit him whenever you like. You will just need to tell them your name at this desk in future. If you could fill in this form and I'll make sure it gets into the system straight away. My sympathy to you at a time like this. It is always horrible when your loved ones are injured," she looked over the completed form and the driver's licence Sally provided, "Ahh good.

"He had fairly extensive bruising to a lot of his body. When you see him try not to show any negative response, like cringing, about the bruising, swelling and cuts. This can make patients feel really bad if others see them as horrible looking, like they are now monsters. He did receive knife wounds to his body and arms, but the doctors have done what they could for these and any bleeding was stopped. He was in surgery last night and is resting now, although he is still sedated and unlikely to know you are there. It doesn't look like he has too much internal damage, but he is healthy so he should get better soon. We expect him to be awake this afternoon, although still groggy for the rest of the day. This is all I can say at the moment. I believe the doctor in charge of his case will probably want to talk to you, once he knows someone is here for him. He hasn't had any other visitors, does he have other family nearby? Okay, if you go through down that corridor you will arrive at his room, it's second on the left. Best wishes for your fiance's speedy recovery."

The Carpenter family followed the directions with Sally supported by her parents. She may not really be his fiancee, but her grief and emotions were those of a bride-to-be. Sally did almost break down at the sight of her boyfriend, and her parents were not far from the same response. He looked ghastly with his face swollen, bruised and broken. He had a stitches where the beating had broken his skin in a few places. The machines around him beeped consistently as his vitals were measured and liquids and drugs were drained into him. Sally reached out and very gently touched the sheet over his body, but withdrew it quickly as she worried it might hurt him. Her tears were flowing as they helped her take a seat beside him.

Her parents left her alone with Chris to wait in the nearby visitor's lounge. With a last look back at the young man lying there, Peter silently vowed to make sure he was properly looked after. June looked over at her husband when she detected his movement and he could tell from her expression that she knew what he was thinking and she totally agreed with him. Peter also vowed to make sure those responsible paid for doing this to someone he saw as his own family.

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No characters were actually injured, harmed or hurt during the writing of this story.

Not sure when I can continue. Yes, I left it hanging.

Hope you enjoyed this.

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