If you enjoy this site which is free and relies on donations please donate at the address below.
http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Life's Illusions - Chapter 9 - Don't Go My Friend, We Need You.
Best laid plans sometimes just went out of the window.
Josh met with Lenny and I several times and we managed to put the ghosts firmly behind us.
Knowing Josh as well as I did I instinctively knew there was something he wasn't telling us.
I managed to weasel out of him that he had finally met someone and allowed himself to enjoy the company, he told us it had only been a couple of months and they'd had only a few dates so it was early days yet, but he found himself wishing for and waiting excitedly for the next date so maybe that was a good sign.
His name was Bryan, he worked for Woodruff in New York as Assistant Head, Front of House, he was 22, in fact 23 in another month and Josh planned to make his birthday spectacular.
I reminded him the last time he planned a birthday party it hadn't gone so well and we both laughed which was a testament to the fact we could bring up the past without demons.
He agreed to join us in Torremolinas for the Christmas Holidays and hopefully bring Bryan, we warned him, by then we would be coping with two babies so it may be a little traumatic but there was no putting him off.
We'd planned 1 week in New York and a further week in Washington but that turned into an extra week in both cities before we moved on to London.
A few days before we left for London we had a wonderful evening out with Billy and Julia.
Billy talked about his Aunt Catherine who I'd known as we grew up, he surprised us with a folder which he asked that we give serious consideration too, it contained details on several properties belonging to his aunt who, since his Uncles death 5 years earlier, had taken up permanent residence in her Barbados home and wanted to rid herself of several properties.
One of the properties caught my attention immediately, I'd stayed there several times while Billy and I were growing up and I knew straight away Lenny would be over the moon with it.
Lenny was intrigued as soon as she saw the address, Kensington SW8.
Lenny had done her homework, SW8 was the No1 prime location in her London search area.
The sale details described the property as : Large Period Town House in Phillimore Gardens Kensington W8. 9 Bedrooms with substantial staff accommodation. Small private garden with access to larger communal gardens. Sale price £19.5 million clear and free, £20.5 million to include a set of furniture purpose built and installed at the inception of the property build.
Billy was managing his aunts portfolio and would be the one negotiating any sale, I said I would guarantee £21 million if his aunt took only what was of sentimental value and left everything else, I remembered all the beautiful furniture and I was sure most of it would be sold off so it made sense to retain as much as possible and only dispose of the excess once Lenny finished the inevitable remodelling.
Billy and I shook on the deal, now I only had to sell the property to Lenny which I knew would be a breeze, it was a dream house.
Billy suggested that we stay at the house when we arrived in London, it had a staff and could be made ready to receive us if we gave the word so we agreed.
Arriving in London Ben had arranged a large limousine to take us to Kensington, the driver was Casey White an American of around our age, Leo seemed particularly interested in us getting to know Casey and when we arrived at Phillimore Gardens in Kensington we were welcomed into the house by the Housekeeper and her husband, Mr and Mrs Albright.
Mrs Albright informed us that all 9 bedrooms had been aired and were available for use.
She surprised us when she added the staff quarters have been made ready also.
Lenny asked what the staff quarters consisted of and Mrs Albright explained there was a small 1 bedroom flat with a lounge, kitchenette and bathroom on the 4th floor which she and her husband occupied, plus 2 further servants bedrooms.
Lenny looked really pleased saying "Well that's a pleasant surprise, I didn't expect that much extra space".
Mrs Albright was full of surprises when she added with a smile, "In that case Mam you won't be expecting the 5 servant bedrooms on the attic floor above either.
Lenny was laughing now, "No Mrs Albright I didn't expect that either and if you call me Mam again I'll move you to the attic floor just for the hell of it, it's Lenny or in certain circumstances Mrs Thorn".
Mrs Albright had quite obviously taken an instant shine to Lenny and was on a roll, "You could do that Mrs Thorn, but remember if I'm really tired from climbing all those stairs I might make a mistake with the herbs I add to your dinner and use Roden (rat poison) instead". Lenny was positively bubbling with laughter.
We congregated in the first floor lounge (The Salon), Mrs Albright had 2 young girls bring in tea with sandwiches and cakes which were so welcome after our travels. Lenny asked Mrs Albright to join us for tea and she seemed very nervous, she shared with us that she had never taken tea with her employer which we knew happened but it was a foreign concept to us.
I could tell immediately that Lenny liked Mrs Albright as did I, Lenny asked for a tour of the house and was completely knocked back when Mrs Albright told her that could wait until tomorrow.
"Mrs Thorn this is a really big old house, you're heavily pregnant, you've been traveling all day and it's getting late, have a little nap before dinner and I promise I'll give you the full tour whenever you're ready tomorrow, of course you could over rule me and instruct my husband to show you around, it might be interesting to see which of us he obeys but my money's on him being more frightened of me than you, now, up those stairs and rest".
Lenny smiled, "Ok you win, this time, but I've got your number old woman, you're a softie really". And so we went to our rooms and rested as instructed before dinner.
'Dinner' was a massive understatement in description for the meal we enjoyed, by the time we got to anticipating what could possibly be served as desert to top out the previous courses Philipe's was chomping at the bit to meet our Chef because as he put it, "Whoever created this feast is going to work with me if I have to abduct him and tie him up".
At the end of the meal Philipe disappeared down to the kitchen and 10 minutes later reappeared into the dining room clapping his hands to attract our attention, "Ladies and Gentlemen I think you will all agree that the meal we just enjoyed was of an excellent quality, I for one would rate it as one of the best I have ever experienced anywhere in the world and so I had to find out who our Chef is, and now I ask you to show your appreciation to", Philipe made a grand show of opening the dining room door to reveal a nervous looking Mrs Albright.
Lenny was the first on her feet hugging Mrs Albright, "I have been cooked for by Master Chefs around the world more times than I can count and never once has anything I've been served come even remotely close to the quality of that meal, you are an absolute treasure, thank you".
We all added our thanks and Philipe vowed he would be speaking to Mrs Albright tomorrow.
We convinced Mrs Albright to join us for coffee and drinks after dinner in the Salon where we chatted amongst ourselves and listened to her telling us the names of celebrities who had visited and stayed here in the past when Billy's Aunt and Uncle had entertained.
The following morning Lenny had gone down to the kitchen on the basement level and chatted with Mrs Albright, pottering around and generally helping out while she was preparing breakfast, when she reappeared she was on a high, "PJ we need this house it is everything I described in my search info, but I need to completely remodel it so understand it's going to be expensive".
I laughed and told her I liked the change in attitude, she was now telling me what she intended to do not asking for permission and if it made her happy it would be classed as a good investment.
We'd arranged to speak with Mr and Mrs Albright at 11am.
At 10.55am precisely tea and biscuits were delivered to the salon and 5 minutes later there was a knock at the door and Mr and Mrs Albright entered.
They stood waiting to be invited to join us and Lenny suddenly realised they were old school they didn't know quite how to act around us and this could be a problem so as usual she leapt into action, "Come in you guys, sit down, have some of these biscuits and tea after all you live here not us".
I could see Lenny had already thrown them off track, they weren't sure what her game was.
"You may not know yet but we, or rather PJ, has already negotiated a purchase price for this house and we expect to be taking possession quite soon".
We could see the start of tears in both of their eyes when Mr Albright spoke, "When do you want us to vacate the house Mrs Thorn?".
We were both taken aback, they had assumed we would want rid of them and they were clearly upset to think they had to leave this their home for more than 20 years.
I jumped in here, "You misunderstand us, we don't want to see you leave, we had hoped you would stay on and look after us and this house the way you always have, that's if you want to of course, would you consider staying on?".
Their faces gave us the answer well before Mr Albright, after receiving a nod from his wife, answered us, "We would love to stay on, this house has been our home for much of our married life, we came here 6 months after we were wed and we've always been happy here, but we're not getting any younger, could you perhaps outline what you would want from us?".
Lenny took up the reigns from there, "First off nothing would make us happier than to know you will stay on and yes there will be some changes but I hope you will agree they will all be for the good".
We explained that they would be more management than workers, we would expect them to be guardians of the house and appoint staff to undertake the day to day running of the house which was met with approval.
Going on she explained, "For a start I'm going to be remodelling pretty much the whole interior of the house and I'll need input from both of you on that, to understand if what I propose will work or if you feel there is a better way to do it, don't be afraid to step in and voice your opinion it's what we want and expect".
She went further explaining, whilst looking over the basement floor earlier she could see it was far too big to be used for just a kitchen, it was almost as it would have been when the house was first built and was designed to have a staff of around 10 working there with all of the usual additional little rooms like the boot room the butlers pantry, private sitting rooms for the butler and housekeeper and so on.
Lenny was against them living up on the 4th floor when a large part of their day was spent in the lower or main region of the house, it meant constant trips up and down stairs and wasn't practical.
She explained her first priority would be to open up the basement completely to create a state of the art kitchen and utility area but also to create a purpose built apartment for them with access to the house but a separate entrance from outside as well.
She also told Mrs Albright that she would be receiving a proposal from Philipe who had confided to us that he wanted Mrs Albright to oversee the 'creation of ambience' as he called it in the UK SPECTRUM sites.
I left them discussing Lenny's vision for the house.
Leo, Ramon and I had an appointment with the General Managers of all UK properties at the London Woodruff to bring them up to date on the changes we intended to implement.
In relation to SPECTRUM, Ramon had decided that for now our UK presence would be limited to London at the Fielding Presidential Hotel in Knightsbridge, he explained he was intending to create the same type of media storm as Torremolinas had, thus creating the market ahead of any further sites opening in the UK, I marvelled at his sharp business sense.
Ramon had already planned and implemented a carefully coordinated campaign with the help of my IT Techies, Twin Brothers Gareth and Gerard McConnel.
UK TV Channels were running short adverts advising 'SPECTRUM IS COMING TO LONDON ARE YOU READY?'.
Ramon, Leo, Lenny and Philipe would be going to the Fielding Presidential later in the day for a visual of the location before we had a general meeting to plan how we thought the restaurant should look and what its theme should be plus when it would open.
After dinner that evening once Reya and Raul had said their goodnights and been tucked in we started the usual discussion on how we felt the London SPECTRUM should look, the ideas went round and round with Ramon taking a judgmental decision on each, after an hour we were getting nowhere.
Mrs Albright interrupted us to ask would anyone like a hot drink before she retired for the evening and Lenny opted for a hot chocolate. When she returned with Lenny's drink she asked if she could be of any further help to which Ramon answered, "Not unless you can come up with a theme we can all agree on".
Mrs Albright responded without missing a beat, "You're in a city which is home to the most famous Royal House in the world why would you need to look any further than that?".
At that she left us, stunned, she'd hit the nail on the head, it had to be Regal, Royal, Imposing, dripping with luxury, fit for a queen and Ramon was beaming and nodding his head in agreement, so there was Lenny's brief, give us a palace.
Whilst in London I had a conference call into a Woodruff board meeting.
I broached the topic of regional and national CEO's.
Josh was a little skeptical at first, based on the fact that the only time we previously tried it was in Spain and that turned into a total disaster.
I agreed that Spain had been a disaster but I attributed much of that to my fathers poor judgment and lack of business sense in appointing a rotten apple.
I told them I had faith in a system where we had overall management controllers reporting back to us because we had grown too large and were spread too thinly to be effective and another bad performance like North America or Spain could have the potential to severely damage us.
It was agreed we would trial the concept of CEO's in Europe and after 6 months we would revisit the subject.
North America Operations would be scouting out prospects for CEO roles in Regions of North America if Europe proved successful.
Once I had appointed my CEOs for Europe there would be a CEO from each country reporting to me which should cut down the amount of jetting around I needed to undertake as an essential and allow me to choose when and where I conducted my audit visits.
At last we settled all of our commitments in London and were on our way home to Torremolinas.
Life had settled into a pleasant routine, Lenny would reach 8 months in a few days and I was getting nervous, she had still not made up her mind where the little guys were to be born, here in Spain or back in The States but little did we know that decision would be made for us.
I'd been up a little over an hour, we'd had a light breakfast and Lenny was readying herself for a shopping trip with Rosa when Pip rang me to say she had Gramps on the line but it was what she added that concerned me, "PJ he's upset I can tell, he's crying".
She passed his call through and he didn't waste time, "PJ its Josh, he was in a bad RTA, he's critical, he keeps calling for you".
I went into auto mode, "Gramps, I won't waste time, I'll speak to you once we're airborne, if you get the chance tell him I'm coming".
Almost in a trance I called Leo and filled him in, he said he would deal with the plane and crew while I got Lenny sorted and in just 50 minutes we were lifting out of Malaga headed for New York.
As soon as we cleared Malaga and reached our cruising altitude I placed a call to Gramps, he was at the hospital and he was clearly upset and although I didn't want to cause him more upset I desperately needed to know how Josh was.
He told me Josh was still in surgery so he didn't know at this stage how he was doing.
Gramps explained that Josh's limo had slowed as it approached a bottleneck on the Interstate but it was rear ended full force by a double trailer truck and pushed under another truck, Josh had been working on his laptop as usual between meetings and wasn't wearing his seatbelt and the traffic police think this actually saved his life because the back passenger compartment was crushed in and down flat to the chassis, Josh had been cannonballed into and right through the glass privacy screen, he'd come to rest on top of his driver Dennis who was killed outright.
Josh was in a really bad way, his injuries were so extensive, he had been cut out of the wreckage and in surgery for over 2 hours already and the senior surgeon had indicated the chances of survival were extremely low.
Gramps had seen him before they took him to theatre and in moments of lucidity he kept calling my name.
By now I was crying openly and I felt a sobbing Lenny's arm around me as I told Gramps we were about 6 hours away, I'd call him back in an hour or if anything changed to call me.
Then it struck me, no one had mentioned Bryan, did he know, had anyone spoken to him. I called the New York Woodruff and asked to be connected to the front desk, when they answered, I asked if Bryan was on duty and he was so I asked to be put through to him.
When Bryan answered I knew straight away he hadn't heard the news, he was putting out a happy and confident response, "Bryan it's PJ Thorn, I have some really bad news, Josh was in a RTA earlier today, he's seriously injured, we're on our way in from Europe now and we should be there shortly". I could hear him sobbing, I turned to Leo and whispered, "Car to the Hotel now, get him to the hospital pronto".
"Bryan get your things together and you should find a car waiting outside for you, it will take you straight to the hospital, we should be there soon, hang tough see you shortly".
I'd called several times during the flight and Ben had been back into the cabin to tell us we were making good time and should be into Teterboro in about 90 minutes.
I'd seen Leo making a series of calls which at one point appeared to get heated, on the last call his language and attitude changed to really hard when he ended the call with, "You will possibly regret that decision because my next call is to the big man in Washington and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when he calls your boss, go have a nice day you prick".
I heard him now ending another call with "Thanks Stan this means a lot to us, right now just a few minutes saved could be precious, we owe you".
I looked at Leo and he gave me the details, "I just got word we have a police cruiser and outrider escort waiting at Teterboro, customs will board as soon as we stop rolling and the escort will take us from the plane direct to the hospital, that means we can avoid the Paps, apparently they know we're coming into Teterboro and they've all but besieged the terminal".
Ben came back again at that point, "Jeez Leo you sure have some powerful connections, the tower has racked and stacked every incoming flight and all outbound flights are being held on taxiways to give us a direct descent and land, customs are waiting just off runway and so is your ride with full blues and twos escort, arranged apparently on instructions from The White House no less, we should be wheels down in about 10 minutes so get yourselves strapped in guys. Lenny and I just stared in amazement, Leo just shrugged, "What can I say, I've got friends who owe me".
The moment we had wheels down we didn't slow like usual we seemed to hurtle much further down the runway, Bens voice came over the PA system to tell us not to panic we were aiming for the emergency overshoot slot where everyone was waiting, he told us to have our passports out and ready for inspection.
At last we slowed and swung round onto a section of taxiway that had red lights surrounding it. As soon as Ben killed the engines Leo opened the cabin door and the steps folded out and down, immediately 2 uniformed officers entered the cabin, the first speaking loudly, "Please have your passports ready and we should be able to clear you through customs in record time, leave your luggage we'll see to that with your pilots and have it delivered to your apartment".
True to their word we were processed, out of the plane and into the car in about 6 minutes, as soon as the car door closed the escort moved off, a police cruiser at the front and rear with motorcycle outriders, 2 at the front and 2 at the back escorting us across the airfield and out of a side access gate which took us directly to the interstate on ramp.
As we neared the city the motorcycle outriders went leapfrogging ahead 2 at a time to clear a path through intersections and before we knew it we were screaming to a halt in front of the hospital where hoards of press were camped out.
A police guard ushered us into the hospital and an orderly guided us to the ICU waiting area.
As soon as we entered we saw Gramps with his arms around a distraught and sobbing young man who we immediately knew was Bryan.
Lenny and I joined in hugging him and Gramps saying, "Stay strong Bryan he's a tough bugger".
Gramps brought us up to date, Josh was still in theatre which was going on for 10 hours now and they had been updated several times, non of the news had been good.
Another 2 hours elapsed before a group of tired looking surgeons came into the waiting room. After introducing themselves they sat amongst us and the lead surgeon gave us as much as he could in what had happened to Josh and what they had faced.
Throughout Bryan was softly sobbing.
"In all of my years in surgery neither I nor any of the team of gifted surgeons who battled with me today have ever had so critical or so badly injured a patient before us. In answer to what were his injuries I would say if it exists as an injury from a RTA incident he has it and most likely some injuries which have never been seen before, if it's possible to break it he has broken it, if it's possible to rupture it he's ruptured it. His body is so badly traumatised I can't give any prognosis other than its in the hands of the gods now, but as a glimmer of hope out of a bad situation, although his heart stopped 11 times during the last 12 hours he is still alive and I believe fighting".
"He will be in a separate cubicle within ICU, he is in a coma, and we will be holding him in that coma until we see some stability, I would ask you to consider the other seriously ill patients in the unit when you visit, but I need you all, in whatever way you can, to connect with him, talk to him, engage his mind, make him think, make him use his mind, this is the most important thing you can do for him right now.
The only prognosis I can give you is, if he makes it through the next 48 hours he has a chance, though what quality of life he would enjoy I cannot say, we will need to take that a day at a time when and if he starts to improve".
For the next 12 hours we were told there was no access to Josh, he was so unstable a simple mistake could end his life so the whole of ICU was on a no visitor lock down.
We retreated to the apartment thankful that Lenny had almost completed renovations, the only remaining work was on the staff apartment below us and even there it was really only cosmetic.
She had created 9 bedrooms as well as the usual apartment within an apartment for Leo, Rosa and Reya. Below us was a 3 bedroom apartment which she had linked to our apartment with a small elevator, though for security, on Leo's advice the elevator opened into the main lobby with further security checks required to enter the main apartment.
We had brought Bryan home with us mainly because he was a mess, he was devastated.
Between bouts of tears he told us today was his birthday and tonight he had been meant to move in with Josh, his apartment had been surrendered this morning so he was homeless. On top of that he'd been fired by his manager for leaving his post without permission earlier.
He actually did manage a smile when he summed the day up, "Josh promised me a day to remember and boy did he make good on his promise", then he lapsed into crying again.
We had reassured Bryan he wasn't homeless, he now lived here until Josh was better so he should get used to it.
As for his job Leo pulled me aside and after whispering "Now watch that temper", he filled me in on Bryan's history, I was angry with several people but I controlled it and asked Leo to accompany me on a visit to the Woodruff following breakfast next morning as we were en route to the hospital.
We were all up early and breakfast was a quick affair before we left for the hospital, stopping on the way at the Woodruff.
When we arrived I asked Bryan to wait in the car until I rang him then went straight to the concierge desk and asked for Bryan, obviously he wouldn't be here I'd just left him sitting in my car.
The young woman who was attending to us apologised that regrettably Bryan no longer worked here and she seemed genuinely to regret having to make that statement though she assured us her name was Abigail and she would try to be as helpful as Bryan had trained her to be.
I asked if her manager was on duty, when she confirmed he was I asked to see him because I was not happy that Bryan was not on duty. She disappeared and a few minutes later she reappeared minus any sign of her manager. She was full of apologies but her manager had declined to speak with us and she'd been unable to persuade him otherwise.
"I told her to watch and learn, both Leo and I pulled out our mobiles, he dialled the head of security and requested his presence with backup in the Lobby. I dialled the Hotel Directors Office and when the phone was answered I announced, "This is PJ Thorn, I'm in the Lobby join me here immediately".
Within minutes there were 3 security personnel and 2 General Managers standing before me, I put my finger to my lips to indicate I wanted no conversation then turned back to Abigail behind the desk.
"Would you be so kind as to ask your manager again if I could speak with him please", she left us and again returned minus her manager, "Ok what's the reply this time, and I'd like to have it verbatim please".
She was obviously embarrassed and stumbled over her response, "He said to tell you he's already answered you and if you continue to make a nuisance of yourself he will have security remove you".
I turned to the General Managers, "Do you condone this sort of behaviour ?". In unison they both answered 'No' so I continued, "Well you seem not to know how your staff are performing so let's play this out and see how rude your staff are prepared to be shall we?".
I indicated for the whole group to move to the side slightly so they weren't in direct sight when the duty manager finally came out of his office as I knew he would.
I turned back again to Abigail, "Ok you're up again Abigail only this time lets ramp it up a little, tell him I insist on speaking to him or I will have him removed from his post, oh, and don't reveal who I am, I want the response which would be afforded any other guest".
She once again returned only this time Bryan was standing beside me as I'd called him to come in and join me, she smiled at Bryan but didn't have chance to speak because a blustering ill dressed older gentleman exited the management office and directed a tirade of abuse towards both Bryan and myself.
"What are you doing back here you pathetic fag, get out before I have you arrested for trespass, you just earned yourself the worst reference ever issued". He then centred on me, "Whoever do you think you are to threaten to have me removed, I've called security and they'll be removing you from the premises shortly so I suggest you get out now".
I smiled and asked, "Did it ever occur to you whilst you were being blatantly rude and lazy to ask exactly who I am?".
He looked puzzled so I beckoned the group out into the open.
"I expect that your General Managers would like to know why you are addressing the President European Operations Woodruff Hotels in this manner, or for that matter why you feel qualified to fire the Partner of the President North American Operations Woodruff Hotels, you take your time thinking about that one because I'd say your going to have plenty of time to dwell on it, of course it will be your own time because you won't be working here".
I turned to the General Managers, "I sincerely hope you took note of my last sentence there, he will not be working here or at any other Woodruff. You are possibly already aware that your President was seriously injured in a RTA yesterday so for the foreseeable future I will be taking up his role. The performance of this employee gives me no confidence in your abilities, I will see you both and your 3rd manager tomorrow at 10am in your office, and I would suggest that young Brian here is reinstated immediately otherwise when he sues for wrongful dismissal both your careers are down the pan, are we clear?".
Both nodded and we left them to deal with the idiot.
On the way to the hospital Bryan opened up a little, "Thank you PJ, with everything that's happened I sort of went into meltdown, I'm surprised you still want me working for you after my behaviour over the past few hours, I feel like a complete failure".
We were just pulling into the hospital parking lot so once we parked I asked Leo to give us a few minutes.
"Bryan, we all have times when things get a little too much, I certainly have and I'm not foolish enough to deny the possibility I may have more, but I happen to know that you are a hardworking, honest, capable employee who will pull yourself together and succeed because you won't willingly let down your employer, friends or family, oh and besides, Billy Fielding and Josh would have my balls on a platter if they knew you'd been fired from Woodruff". At that I started laughing and Bryan smiled, "When did you find out?.
I didn't, you can thank Leo for that, he runs a check on anyone who comes close to us, he knew weeks ago, as soon as there was a possibility you were coming to us for Christmas, but here's the best part, Leo is such an ethical and honest man, he only informs me of his findings if it's relevant to us as a family, otherwise his findings are completely confidential, but last night he came to me and revealed what he knew, only because he felt you were basically a good person who had been badly treated, he knew I had the ability to right that wrong, now you have to know that Leo is definitely no pushover, if he decides you're a good person then you are a good person, end of story, are we clear?".
Bryan nodded, "Thanks PJ I'll try my best to earn that trust Leo placed in me".
So we jumped out of the car and went to find Josh.
My heart was in my mouth when we finally got to see him, or rather saw the mummy that lay lifeless before us.
We'd been briefed on what we could and should do for Josh but more importantly we had been warned strongly of what not to do and the biggest No No was touching, it was strongly impressed on us that so many bones were broken a simple gesture like moving his hand could be causing him untold damage and possible pain.
We were urged to let him know we were there, talk to him, tell him about current events, joke with him, anything except subjects which would cause him stress.
Tubes and wires sprouted from all over his body and a bank of machines monitored his every second, his every move.
Bryan looked visibly shaken when we first walked into the cubicle, but I watched him shake that off, I saw the resolve come surging to the fore, he walked over to the bed and leaned in close to Josh's ear talking softly for over half an hour.
Bryan looked over to me and held out his hand drawing me close.
"PJs here Josh, my god he must love you, he got here from Spain before you came out of theatre, he's looking after me until you get better Josh. I'm going to leave you with PJ for a while so I can get a coffee and you guys can chat, be back soon my love".
Bryan pushed me closer smiling as he walked out of the cubicle, I could have believed his act of strength if I didn't see his shoulders shudder and hear him sob as he left.
For over half an hour I talked, surprising myself when I realised how long I'd been talking.
I told him again that Bryan was staying with us and he would be looked after as family until Josh was better and even then we planned for Josh to come and recuperate with us so the sooner he got better the sooner we could all enjoy a nice holiday. With tears in my eyes and genuine feeling I told him, "Don't go and leave us my friend, we need you".
Bryan came back in with his strong and confident persona firmly in place. I relinquished my place at the bedside as Bryan once again started chatting away in Josh's ear.
The surgeon we'd seen last night came in and with a simple hand gesture told us to ignore him and carry on as he examined Josh's charts. He pressed something on the myriad of monitors and a section of graph paper rolled out which he ripped of and folded up. Quietly he attracted our attention, "Sorry to be the bad doctor but I think that's plenty for today so if you would say your goodnights I'll see you both outside".
We both said our goodnights and Bryan told him he loved him and he wanted to kiss him goodnight, he couldn't yet but he was waiting for the day when he could so hurry back to us.
Outside the cubicle the surgeon beckoned us to follow him and we followed him into a small office where he closed the door.
"Sorry it sometimes comes across that we're being too strict but honestly some of our patients desperately need peace and quiet, a calm and stable environment".
"I expected your visit to have some effect and I know we have more than just our patients to consider in order to get the results we need so I wanted to give you something to show how vital your interactions are as well as our looking after Josh.
This graph I printed out is brain activity patterns, it starts 30 minutes before you arrived and I wanted to show you what happened, you see here (he was pointing at a particular point on the chart) we have low level responses to peripheral noise but here's where you arrived.
I was amazed, the graph showed an immediate spike and thereafter a series of peaks for the entire time we were there. The graph showed exactly where Bryan and I changed places by peaking again each time. The surgeon said something which troubled me, "Looks like he loves and needs both of you so keep doing whatever you were doing its good for him".
I realised Bryan was looking at me and I felt guilty, he was Josh's partner I was just a friend now, I hoped he didn't resent me for needing to have time with Josh, needing to keep him close and see him well again.
When we left the hospital Leo was waiting for us, he'd stayed in reception for the 2 hours we had been with Josh, he ushered us to the limo and opened the rear door for us.
I knew immediately what Leo was doing, he'd dismissed the driver and would chauffeur us himself.
Once we were seated in the rear he took the drivers seat and closed the privacy screen, silence reigned for what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes. I started to say I was sorry, I'd taken up precious time he should have had with Josh but Bryan cut me off.
"PJ, thanks to Josh's honesty and insistence I came into this relationship with every single scrap of information I could possibly have and a lot I didn't want.
Josh told me about the two of you, in every detail, warts and all, I know how much you love him PJ, I know how much he loves you, I know what he did, how he hurt you and how much he regrets that, even now, but that's not a threat to me, just as its not a threat to Lenny, the two of you have a history that no one can erase, not even the two of you, though god knows you tried.
I love him PJ, like I never thought or dreamed possible and I believe him when he tells me he feels the same way.
I have you to thank for that, because you bore the pain that taught Josh the most painful and costly lesson of all time, when you hold someone's heart in your hands, you cant just set it aside while you play around, the minute you stop holding and protecting that heart its damaged, it's damaged beyond repair because of what you did, and going forward for all time you pay the price for your stupidity".
I didn't know what to say but it didn't matter Bryan wasn't finished.
"Do you know what hurt him the most PJ, it was thinking that you hated him and didn't love him, he stopped feeling for a long time but once he knew you didn't hate him, then he could allow himself to feel again.
When you told him you could be friends, he knew he could not just feel but live, he dared to hope there might be a future, you two as lovers were history but he could at last open his heart again and hope there may be another chance".
I glanced sideways, he was crying but he was determined to go on.
"I'm not sure I have the right to ask this, until yesterday you only knew of me as a name, but if need be I'll beg PJ, I'll pledge my soul, help me PJ, help me bring him back, I need him like I never thought I'd need anyone, he completes me but I don't know if I'm strong enough to do this alone".
I was crying with him, I knew so well how he felt, "Whatever it takes we'll get him back Bryan, that I promise, you will be able to kiss him again and we'll both slap him for putting us through this".
Back at the apartment Lenny brought up Dennis, Josh's chauffeur. Dennis had been Josh's driver and a good friend for over 5 years, I'd known both Dennis and his family. He was 49, ex military with advanced driving skills which made it so much more awful that even Dennis had no chance to avoid that fatal collision.
Dennis left behind a wife Joanne, two sons and a daughter.
Lenny had already called Pip and asked her to liaise with Josh's PA Angela, we needed details of Dennis's contract package, because Lenny pointed out his family had just lost the main breadwinner, we needed to cushion them from any further hardship.
A little after we got home Angela rang with the details we'd asked for and some I hadn't expected. Dennis's contract gave the usual medical and retirement benefits and an insurance policy which would give his family a 10 year annual salary lump sum, all of the benefits covered Dennis, his spouse and offspring and would continue for the period covered in his salary settlement meaning the medical expense coverage would continue for 10 years. A widows pension would also be paid to Dennis's wife for life. I wanted to call on Dennis's family to pay our respects and to make them aware of the benefits they were due to receive, as Lenny said they needed to know that Dennis had left them secure financially, one less worry for them.
Angela gave me some other details which really surprised me and I wasn't sure if they would cause difficulties for us but I resolved to deal with that later.
After dinner we drove out to the neat middle class housing division where Dennis had lived with his family. I knocked and a young boy of around 12 or 13 answered the door, we introduced ourselves and asked for his mother. I was impressed by his excellent manners, he gave us his name, William, and invited us into the hallway to wait for his mother.
Joanne, Dennis's wife or widow now, ushered us into the lounge and offered us seats, Lenny asked if she could have a dinning chair as she would have great difficulty getting in or out of a soft armchair.
We talked for over an hour, met all 3 children Dennis Jnr 16, William 13 who we'd already met and a beautiful but shy Jennifer 10.
I asked Joanne if she had given any thought to their future yet and she teared up, "I don't know what we'll do now, how can I earn enough to make the mortgage payments on this house alone, then there's the kids school fees and college, how can I even hope to get any job that will give me a quarter of what we're going to need, I'm not even sure if we have insurance to cover the funeral, Dennis did all that, I don't know where to start". She was sobbing now.
Lenny moved her chair closer, put her arm round Joanne and took over, "Dennis must have been a wonderful husband and father, it's not often you find a man who's been so careful to make sure his family will be secure if anything happens to him but Dennis did, that's one of the things we came to see you for to reassure you. Dennis had a really good safeguard package with Josh so you don't have any money worries nor will the children, right through college".
Joanne suddenly remembered, "Oh my god I forgot to ask how Josh is, is he going to be alright?". I explained about Josh's condition and she was weeping, "I hope he gets better I really like Josh he's always been so good to us, Dennis says............". She couldn't go on it was all too much the sudden realisation yet again that Dennis was gone.
I told her I would assign someone to help her with all the decisions and legal stuff and I'd provide a driver for all of the running around, I'd have them come over at 10am the following morning.
On the way home I called Pip and filled her in on all of the days developments, she suggested a woman from Legal who had done this sort of thing before for us when we lost an employee in a bungled robbery, she said to leave it with her and she'd keep us up to date.
Lenny was squirming in her seat most of the way home, she said she couldn't get comfortable the little buggers kept moving around they wouldn't settle. I thought maybe we could settle the matter of where the boys would be born so I bought it up and got the shock of my life when she looked defeated. Lenny admitted she'd been putting it off, trying not to think about it, but she knew it was close now, so we really needed to get something organised, we'd be here for some time and she was only 1 week away from her due date. I bit the bullet and told her, " I booked a suite at Mount Sinai Medical Centre, just on the off chance we might need it, don't be angry please, if you want somewhere else I'll get on it I promise".
There was an awful silence, I realised I was holding my breath, then she turned toward me, "If I booked somewhere else you would have just cancelled, paid the charges and never told me, right?". I nodded, not sure if she was angry or not.
"PJ, one day I might figure out what I did to deserve you, it never ceases to amaze me, you know what I need when even I don't, no one before ever had the balls to make decisions for me, but you do, and I know it scares you because you think I might go ballistic, but you do it anyway, and that's what amazes me, you'll risk my wrath just to keep me safe from my own stupidity and I am so grateful, I love you PJ, and yes it will do just fine, and if the signs are right it won't be long now". I was beaming with happiness, nothing could put a damper on my day, or so I thought.
We arrived home to be met by Leo waiting for us in the foyer before we had a chance to enter the apartment. "Bryan's really upset PJ, he took a call from Josh's attorney he told Bryan that you hold power of attorney for Josh and he feels you only brought him here to keep him quiet, I tried to reason with him but he's not being rational right now". I reassured Leo I would deal with it. I got Lenny settled and went to find Bryan. He was sitting on a chair close to the window staring out into the darkness. "Bryan, I didn't know about the power of attorney until earlier this evening, I promise you.
Before Josh and I broke up we had power of attorney for each other, I changed mine when Lenny and I married but I'm guessing Josh didn't do anything about his. I don't want you to think it reflects on you Bryan he just didn't have a chance to get it sorted but if you'll just trust me until morning I'll make it right I promise. Please Bryan talk to me".
He turned toward me, the tears were rolling down his cheeks, "How PJ, how are you going to make it right?".
"I'm going to transfer power of attorney to you, the rightful person to look out for Josh while he's incapacitated".
I could see him genuinely confused, "You'd do that, but why, it's not what Josh wanted, he wanted you, he trusts you, not me".
I knew what he was feeling, "Bryan, that power of attorney was, is, years old, put in place when Josh and I believed we had a future, but all that changed and Josh just didn't get around to putting it right, that's all. I admit I know Josh probably better than anyone else and I can guarantee from what he's told me about you and what you've told me about the two of you, he would have done this anyway so I'm only doing what he would have done sooner or later. It's not just trust Bryan it's love, he loves you, I'm certain of that and you've told me how much you love him so I know I'm doing the right thing, in fact let's wager $100 as soon as he is awake he'll have kittens that he didn't do this earlier, you up for the wager?".
Bryan nodded.
I took out my cellphone and called Josh's lawyer, "Michael, I'm sorry to be calling so late but I was made aware earlier that I still hold power of attorney for Josh and I need you to make some changes, there's a clause in the documentation that allows for a change and I'm nominating Bryan Fielding as his power of attorney, can you get the papers drawn up and bring them to me in the morning".
Michael agreed he could get the changes filed first thing and would bring the completed paperwork over to us by around 10am. We weren't allowed to visit Josh until after 11am so the timeline was good.
Now, how about you join Lenny and me for a nightcap.
So another problem solved, now maybe we could have a little quiet time while we waited for Josh to improve.
Yeh that would have been the dream but not the reality, Life's Illusions maybe !.
TBC
Constructive comments, good or bad to cfgw2000@aol.com please, headed "Life's Illusions" in the subject box. Thanks for giving your time to read this.
Author ARB