Chapter 13
Hospital
Sam knew that smell. He knew the sounds too. But still he crossed his fingers and kept his eyes shut.
Please let me be wrong, he thought. Please don’t let me be in hospital.
Slowly, Sam opened his eyes. He wasn’t wrong. He lay in a hospital bed, and beside him were his mum and dad.
Sam closed his eyes again. That was that, then. So much for his first – and his last – school trip. He pulled the oxygen mask off his face.
“I suppose you’ll never let me out of your sight again,” he said.
“Hello to you too!” Mum said, and raised her eyebrows.
“For now, we just want you to focus on getting well,” Dad chipped in. “So put your mask back on.”
“There’ll be plenty of time to discuss all this when we get home,” said Mum.
Sam looked from his mum to his dad and back again. “No. I want to discuss it now.”
“Sam …” Dad said.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Sam said as he struggled to sit up. The drip running into his right arm and the pump and tube attached to his left arm made it difficult for him to move.
“Sam, I really think …” Mum began.
“Mum, it wasn’t my fault,” Sam said. “We got lost and Brandon fell in the river and I had to help him. That’s why I got ill. It wasn’t the rain or the wind or anything. It’s because I got cold in the river.”
“Yes, I know, dear,” Mum said. “Now just lie back.” Mum was gentle but insistent as she made Sam lie back on his pillows.
“You’re not listening to me,” Sam realised as his hopes of explaining faded.
“We heard every word,” Mum said with a smile. “You’re the one not listening to us. I just told you that we know all about it. Jack, Mrs Tritton and your friend Brandon have told us all about how you saved them. We’ve even had the local newspapers asking us if they can interview you.”
Sam stared at his mum. He was stunned. He didn’t understand a lot of what she’d just said. “I didn’t save anyone,” Sam told her.
Dad smiled and said, “That’s not what your friend here said.”
“Pardon?” Sam replied.
Dad stepped to one side so that Sam could see who was in the next bed. It was Brandon, grinning at him.
“Hi, Sam,” Brandon said. “How’re you feeling now?”
“What … what’re you doing here?” Sam asked.
“I’ve got exposure and mild hypothermia,” Brandon told Sam. “I should be able to leave the day after tomorrow.” Brandon shrugged. “Do you know how long you’ll be stuck in here for?”
“No idea,” Sam said, and shook his head. “But I feel fine now.”
Sam couldn’t take it in. Mum and Dad kept calling Brandon his friend, and Brandon wasn’t arguing. Maybe Sam should correct them, but he was reluctant to do so.
“What about Tayo and Jack and Mrs Tritton?” Sam asked. “Are they all OK?”
“They’re fine,” Brandon assured him. “But we’re all in big trouble. Mrs Jenkins has said that as soon as we’re all back at school she wants to talk to us – and you know what that means. Mrs Jenkins’ talks can last for days.”
Sam wondered if Mrs Jenkins’ “us” meant Sam as well. He hoped so. He really hoped so.
“I think you’re going to be in trouble for not telling Mrs Jenkins what the rest of us were up to,” Brandon said.
Sam smiled to show his relief. Brandon smiled back.
“You OK?” Sam asked.
“I’m fine,” Brandon said. He lay back in the bed, his face looking tired in spite of his words. “Oh, and Sam?”
“Yes?” Sam said.
“Thanks for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well done, Sam,” said Dad. “You were very brave.”
“I collapsed before help arrived,” Sam sighed.
“But you were fantastic,” Mum said. “Everyone’s told us so. You did great.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Sam agreed.
His mum and dad started laughing at that.
Sam smiled and added, “If the next school trip is as action-packed as this one, I’m going to have a great time.”
“Er, Sam,” Mum said. “If the next school trip looks like being as … busy as this one, promise me something.”
“What?” Sam asked.
“That you’ll write us a postcard warning your dad and me first!” Mum said.
Sam decided to take the chance to tell his parents something else. “When I get back to school, I think I’ll try out for the football team,” Sam said. “I’m a pretty good goalie.”
“You’ll get selected – no trouble,” Dad said.
Sam held his breath as he looked at his mum, waiting for her answer.
“Go get ’em!” Mum said.
“I will,” Sam laughed. “You just watch me!”
And in that moment Sam knew that everything was going to be OK. He still had sickle-cell anaemia, and it wasn’t going to go away. But it wasn’t going to stop him from doing the things he wanted to do any longer.
“This has been the best school trip ever,” Sam sighed as he settled back down on his pillows. “Because now I know for sure there isn’t a thing in this world I can’t do if I try.”
“What’s he talking about?” Brandon asked.
“He’s just wittering,” Mum said, and shook her head. “He’s had too much river water, I think.”
And that was the last thing Sam heard before he fell asleep.
