WestFiction- "Out in the Cold" by Sue

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OUT IN THE COLD

by Susan

It was quiet in the hotel suite. In the largest bedroom Nicky and Shane were fast asleep in the twin beds. Kian was snoring in the sofa bed. In the other bedroom Bryan was smiling in his sleep, no doubt dreaming of Kerry. In the other bed Mark was wide awake. It was too quiet for him to sleep. Usually he would have the single room and fall asleep with the television blaring. However, a mix-up with the bookings meant they had to take what the already full hotel could offer them. Anto was sleeping on the couch in the living area and Fran and Paul were down the hall in a tiny room with bunk beds.

They had been travelling all day and were exhausted. Mark had tried using his headphones but his ear was really sore from the infection that had started yesterday. He was feeling very hot and restless. He got out of bed and tip-toed out into the living room. Anto was snoring loudly.

Mark got himself a glass of water. He hated it when he couldn’t sleep. Thoughts of home invaded his head and his homesickness re-surfaced.

He wiped his face as the sweat poured down it. He was just so hot. Maybe a walk would cool him down, he thought. He crept back to the bedroom and fished about in the dark for his tracksuit and runners. He cursed softly as he stubbed his toe. He quickly got dressed and let himself out of the suite. As he waited for the lift he realised that he should have left a note. Oh well, he thought shrugging his shoulders, I’ll be back before anybody wakes up.

He walked past the surprised receptionist and made his way out into the cool night air. He shivered and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He debated for a second about going back for his jacket but decided against it. He really needed to cool down. Wiping his face he started walking towards the shops, stopping every now and then to look in the windows. After about half an hour he came to a small park. He was feeling a bit peculiar so he went to a bench and sat down. His ear was throbbing. He put his hand over it and looked around. There was nobody about. He smiled ruefully. Most sane people were tucked up in their beds, he thought. After about 15 minutes he had to get up. He was cold now. His flimsy tracksuit offered no protection against the biting wind that had sprung up. He swayed a little as he stood up. He cupped his hand to his ear again. The infection was affecting his balance. He cursed his own stupidity as pain lanced through the side of his head and his vision blurred. He grabbed hold of the back of the bench for support as he staggered. Another bolt of pain shot through his ear and he sank to the ground. His vision darkened and he passed out.

The alarm went off at 6:30 beside Anto and he got up stiffly. Sleeping on the couch was not a good idea!

He went in to the first bedroom and woke Shane, Nicky and Kian. Yawning loudly he went to wake the others. He stopped in the doorway. Mark was not in bed. He smiled to himself. Perhaps a miracle had occurred and Mark had got up early for once. He woke Bryan and went to see if Mark was in the bathroom. There was no sign of him. He called the others and told them that Mark was missing. They were all puzzled. Where could Mark have gone? Bryan checked their room and reported that his clothes were gone.

Shane picked up the phone and dialled Mark’s mobile. It rang and rang for ages.

In the park Mark slowly opened his eyes. He could hear a noise and he finally realised that his phone was ringing. He lifted his head and pain engulfed him. Sweat poured off him and he threw up. Slowly he moved his arm and fumbled about in his pocket for the phone. He was cold and stiff and finding it hard to concentrate. He blinked rapidly to try and clear his vision. The pain in his head and ear was unbearable.

He pressed the answer key.

“Where the hell are you Mark?” Shane yelled.

Mark tried to think clearly but he felt so ill.

“ Cold Shay” he mumbled. “I, I feel bad.”

“Mark? Where are you?” Shane repeated very worried.

“Don’t know” Mark replied weakly. “I’m gonna be sick”

Shane could clearly hear Mark being sick. He quickly told Anto what Mark had said. Anto grabbed the phone.

“Mark?” he said “Mark? Can you hear me?”

“Um” Mark mumbled.

“O.k. Mark” said Anto “Try and look around you. Is there anything that could tell us where you are?”

Mark lifted his head carefully and narrowed his eyes trying to make out his surroundings. He couldn’t think straight. He was really hot but really cold at the same time. His head felt like it was on fire. He started to panic.

“A bench” he said “Park. I, I don’t know. So hot.”

Anto was confused. Just now Mark told Shane he was cold, now he was hot. He thought hard.

“When you left the hotel which way did you go?” he asked.

“Please Anto” Mark said crying softly “Help me.”

Anto swallowed hard. Mark sounded really bad.

“Mark?” he said “Which way did you go?”

There was no reply.

“Mark! Answer me!” Anto yelled panicking.

“Sorry.”Mark mumbled “Tired. Want to sleep.”

“No Mark!” Anto yelled again. “Try and stay awake.”

“Try.”Mark said weakly.

Anto looked at the others. They were trying not to panic. He gave the phone to Shane.

“Keep him talking!” he said “I’m going to get a map.”

Anto rushed off.

“Marky?” said Shane “It’s alright. We’ll find you. Just don’t go to sleep o.k?”

“ Hurts Shay” Mark said “ Feel funny.”

“What sort of funny?” Shane asked fearfully.

“Cold, no, hot” Mark said “ Please, so tired.”

“No!” shouted Shane “Not until you’re in your bed. You can’t sleep out there. It’s too cold and hard.”

“Shay?” Mark whispered. “I’m scared.”

Shane choked back his tears. He had to stay strong.

“Why did you go out in the first place Marky?” he said

Mark sighed deeply.

“ Couldn’t sleep,too hot” he said “ Please don’t be mad.”

Shane listened sadly as Mark started to cry again.

“Nobody is mad at you Mark” Shane said “We are just worried about you. Are you sure there is nothing you can see to help us find you?”

There was no reply.

“Mark? Mark?” Shane said desperately “Can you hear me?”

There was still no reply.

“Oh God!” Shane said “Something has happened. He’s not answering me!”

Kian rushed off to get Anto. Shane continued to call Mark.

Anto came in with Fran and Paul. He had a map in his hands.

“I spoke to the receptionist” he said “She said Mark left the hotel about 1am”

“But that means he’s been out there for nearly six hours!” said Bryan.

Anto nodded.

“I know” he said “I called the police but it will be quicker if we look for him ourselves.”

The others nodded. They were all very scared.

“Right” Anto said “There are 2 parks in this area. They are both fairly close, no more than three quarters of an hour away. I am assuming he couldn’t have walked any further. We’ll split into 2 and search them both. Shane, you stay here and keep trying to get him to answer you. Nicky and Kian, you go with Paul and Bryan and I will go with Fran.”

They ran to quickly throw on some clothes and grabbed some blankets. They didn’t wait for the lift. They ran down the stairs. They rushed past the receptionist and out into the street. The cold hit them.

“Oh God” said Kian “It’s so cold out here.”

“We have to find him quickly” said Anto.

They split into 2 and set off.

Nicky’s group reached their park first. It was fairly large and they looked round in dismay.

“How the hell will we find him in here?” asked Kian “He could be anywhere.”

“He said he was by a bench” said Nicky “There are some over there. Let’s go”

They ran to the benches but Mark wasn’t there. They scanned the park.

“Over there” said Paul pointing to another group of seats.

They set off across the park.

Meanwhile the others were nearly at their park. This was a smaller one with a few trees scattered about and lots of flowers. Bryan pointed to a bench near the entrance.

“There’s something under it!” he shouted running over.

It was Mark. He was curled up on his side. Carefully Fran pulled him clear and turned him onto his back. His eyes were closed and he didn’t respond when Anto called his name. Fran tried shaking him and he groaned. Something nasty was slowly oozing out of his bright red ear. Anto felt his forehead. It was very hot.

He called an ambulance while Bryan called the others. Fran wrapped Mark in the blanket and gently held him. Mark’s eyelashes fluttered and he groaned again.

“It’s alright Mark” said Anto “Your safe now. We’ll soon have you in bed.”

“C-cold” Mark managed to say.

Bryan looked at him.

“How can he be cold when he’s burning up?” he said.

Anto shrugged.

“I don’t know” he said “But it’s not good.”

The ambulance arrived and Bryan went with Mark. Fran and Anto went back to the hotel to collect the others and then went to the hospital.

They had been there for an hour when the doctor finally came in. Everybody got to their feet.

“Please sit down” said the doctor and they did.

“Could you tell me what happened?” he said “What was Mark doing out in the first place?”

“He said he was hot and couldn’t sleep.”

“Well”, said the doctor. “ If you hadn’t found him when you did he would have probably died.”

Everybody was shocked.

“His temperature is very high” continued the doctor. “His ear is very badly infected and the inflammation has spread to his brain. We are doing everything we can but Mark is very ill.”

“I don’t understand” said Kian “He seemed alright earlier.”

The doctor shook his head.

“Mark must have shown some symptoms before now. He can’t have got this ill that quickly, although being out in the freezing cold for 6 hours hasn’t helped!”

They all looked at each other.

“He said he had an earache yesterday” said Nicky. “I told him to tell Anto about it and to see the doctor.”

“Well he didn’t” said Anto “This is the first I’ve heard of an earache.”

Shane sighed.

“You know Mark” he said “He doesn’t like fuss. I’m surprised he told you Nix.”

“He didn’t have any choice” Nicky said “I caught him holding his ear. He was close to tears. I should have made sure he did something about it!”

Nicky started to cry and Shane put his arm round him.

“I noticed he was tossing and turning at bedtime” said Bryan “I just thought he was restless because he didn’t have the t.v. to get him to sleep. I should have checked on him.”

“Stop it!” said Anto “It’s no good trying to claim the blame now. We all know how good Mark is at hiding things. All that matters now is that he gets better.”

They all looked at the doctor.

“We’ve given him all the medication we can” he said “We have to wait for his fever to break. Unfortunately, the longer it goes on the more likely there is that there could be some damage.”

“Damage!” said Shane “What do you mean?”

The doctor sighed.

“As I said, Mark’s brain is inflammed. It is causing pressure and if that pressure is not released soon then some damage could occur either to his brain or his hearing , or both. I’m sorry I can’t be more positive but I think you would want me to tell you how it is.”

Anto nodded.

“Yes, thankyou” he said “Can we see him?”

The doctor nodded and they all filed out of the room.

5 minutes later they were standing outside intensive care.

“I’m afraid space is fairly limited” said the doctor “I can only let 4 of you in at once.”

“You boys go in” said Anto and they followed the doctor in.

Mark was propped up in bed. He had drips coming out of his arms and several machines connected to him. He was still sweating and he looked dreadful. There was still stuff oozing from his ear.

“Can he hear us?” asked Shane

“It’s possible” said the doctor. “We can’t be sure.”

Shane took a deep breath.

“Hey Mark” he said “Look what you’ve done to yourself ya deutz.”

There was no response.

“Come on Mark” said Nicky “You haven’t got time to lay there. We’ve got performances to do!”

Kian started to cry. He couldn’t bear to see one of his best friends so ill. Bryan approached the bed.

“Why Mark?” he said “Why didn’t you tell us you were ill?”

Mark moaned softly. His hand lifted off the bed slightly and Shane gripped it.

“It’s alright Mark” he said “We’re all here for you. You just have to get better now.”

Mark moved his head restlessly from side to side. He tried to push the covers off.

“ Hot” he muttered as Shane held the covers in place.

“I know mate” Shane said “But you’ve been out in the cold too. You have to keep warm.”

Mark struggled. He mumbled something incoherent. Sweat poured down his face and Shane gently wiped it away. The doctor checked some of the equipment and noted things down on Mark’s chart.

“At the moment he’s not responding very well to the medication” he said quietly.

They looked at each other, fear etched on their faces.

“Do his parents know?” the doctor said.

“I think Anto called Louis” said Bryan. “He’s going to get them here as soon as possible.”

The doctor nodded. He didn’t think it would help to tell them that Mark might not last that long if his temperature didn’t come down soon.

Anto popped his head round the door.

“I’m sorry” he said “I just wanted to say that Louis phoned. He and Mark’s parents are on the plane now.”

“Thanks Anto” said Nicky. “Do you want to come in and see Mark?”

Anto hesitated. He felt really bad. He should have spotted that there was something wrong with Mark. He was supposed to take care of them.

Shane looked at him.

“I know what you’re thinking Anto” he said “We have been around him 24/7 and apart from Nicky we didn’t notice anything either. You can’t blame yourself. You know how Mark is, he never complains about being ill.”

Anto swallowed hard. He came into the room and went over to the bed. He looked at Mark who was still trying to get out of the bed..

“You stubborn eejit” he whispered as he watched Mark try and push off his covers again.

Shane held on to them and Mark opened his eyes and stared wildly at him. His eyes were glazed and not focussing.

“Let me go” he said “I’m hot”.”

He struggled to get out of bed. The doctor pushed him back down. He fetched some restraints and tied Mark’s wrists to the sides of the bed.

The others were shocked.

“Is that really necessary?” asked Shane.

The doctor nodded.

“Yes” he said “He doesn’t know what he’s doing. If he did somehow manage to get out of the bed he could hurt himself.”

They watched in tears as Mark struggled furiously, trying to pull his hands free.

“No!” he shouted “Let me go!”

Shane leant over him.

“Please Mark” he said “Try and rest. You can’t get out of bed.”

Mark didn’t respond. He continued to try and free himself. His breathing was coming in gasps.

“I think you had better make yourselves comfortable” said the doctor indicating some chairs. “This could go on for some time.”

The boys sat down and Anto left the room to see to cancelling the interview they were supposed to have done this morning. The boys took it in turns to go to the canteen to get some breakfast although none of them felt much like eating.

Several hours passed. Mark had finally stopped struggling and he was now shifting restlessly about mumbling to himself. His wrists were still in the restraints and they were red and bruised.

Every so often the doctor returned and checked his vitals. He would shake his head and leave the room.

The boys were scared. Things were looking bad for Mark.

Bryan was finding it very hard to cope. He felt useless just sitting there although he didn’t know what else he could do. He stood up.

“I need to go for a walk” he said

Nicky looked at him.

“O.k Bry” he said “But don’t go too far will you?”

Bryan shook his head.

“I’ll only go out into the hospital garden” he said “I won’t be long”

Kian stood up.

“Would you mind if I came too?” he said.

Bryan shook his head and the 2 of them left the room.

Shane turned to look at Nicky.

“What if he dies, Nix?” he said quietly.

Nicky put his arm round Shane.

“You musn’t think like that Shay” he said “You know Mark, he’s as tough as old boots!”

Shane started to cry.

“But he’s really sick “ he said “Even the doctor thinks he could die!”

Nicky sighed.

“We have to stay positive” he said “I know it’s hard.”

Shane tried to wipe his eyes.

“Me and Kian have known him for 10 years” he said “He’s always been around, you know, even though he wasn’t in my year at school, he was in all the productions and stuff. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like not to have him close.”

Nicky nodded. Although he and Bryan had only known Mark for about 3 years they had all become really close. He loved Mark like a brother and he knew Bryan felt the same.

Kian and Bryan found a bench in the garden and sat down.

“Sorry Ki” Bryan said “But I just had to get out of there for a minute. I can’t stand seeing Mark so ill. He’s always so full of life and up to mischief. Always cracking his silly jokes.”

Kian put his arm round Bryan.

“Except in the mornings!” he said trying to ease the tension.

Bryan smiled weakly and the 2 friends sat in silence for a while, each conjuring up their own memories of Mark.

Bryan stood up.

“Come on”he said “We’d better get back.”

Together they made their way back to intensive care.

Shane and Nicky were outside watching anxiously through the glass.

“What’s happened?” asked Kian.

Shane turned to them.

“He just started screaming” he said “Then he went quiet. The doctor told us to wait outside”

The 4 friends held on to each other, praying that Mark would be alright.

Finally the doctor emerged from the room. He looked at their worried faces and smiled.

“His fever has broken” he said “His temperature is still a little high but I expect that to return to normal soon. The infection is finally under control.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the tears they had been trying to keep at bay.

There was a commotion at the end of the corridor and Louis and Mark’s parents came running along it. The doctor ushered them inside and closed the door. The boys returned to the waiting room.

20 minutes later Louis came in.

“Well lads” he said “It seems Mark is going to be fine. The doctor wants to run a couple of tests to make sure but he is fairly certain that there has been no damage to his hearing.”

The boys were overjoyed. Louis told them that the doctor said Mark needed plenty of rest so they wouldn’t be allowed to visit for a while. They decided to return to the hotel but on the way out they went to intensive care and peeped throught he glass. Marie was sitting beside Mark holding his hand, tears running down her cheeks. Oliver sat the other side just watching his son as he slept. He looked up and saw the boys. He gave them the thumbs up and they nodded and left the hospital. They would go and see Mark later. He was in good hands.

Anto was waiting by the car.

“O.k. boys?” he said as they got in.

“Yeah Anto” said Shane “We are now.”

Anto nodded.

“Oh, by the way” Anto said “Are you all well, no headaches or earaches etc?”

Bryan looked strangely at Anto

“What?” he said “What are you on about?”

“Just checking” replied Anto “I will check every day from now on. You have Mark to thank for me bugging you. After this mornings antics I intend to keep a very close eye on you all.”

They all groaned. Mark had a lot to answer for!

They got into the van.

Bryan yawned loudly.

“Sorry guys” he said “I guess I need more sleep. At least I’ll have the room to myself for a while!”

Kian grinned.

“No way mate!” he said “If you think I’m sleeping on that sofa bed when there’s a bed going spare then you’re crazy. I’m coming in with you!”

Bryan sighed.

“Great!” he said “Now I get to listen to your snoring!”

“Hey!” replied Kian “I don’t snore!”

Shane laughed.

“Yes you do Ki” he said “Quite loudly in fact”

Nicky laughed.

“Yeah, you could snore for Ireland!” he said.

Kian stared at them.

“What is this?” he said “Get Kian day?”

“Well” said Shane “We can’t have a go at Mark at the moment so you’re next in line!”

Kian laughed.

“O.k” he said “But don’t forget we have to get Mark back for Anto’s close attentions!”

Bryan smiled.

“Oh don’t worry Ki” he said “We will think of something really nasty for him when he’s better!”

“Yeah” said Shane smiling “Until then we’ll just play it by ear!”

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