The Reunion- A Waterloo Road Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen

Eddie picked up the text from Kim as he entered Bolton's hospital room. "Any news on Bolton?". It was a welcome distraction from looking at all the tubes and monitors attached to his former student. In a way, he was glad Rachel wasn't here. He knew she was strong, but he didn't think she'd be able to handle seeing Bolton like this.

The Nurse hadn't told him much about how Bolton was. The only thing she had said was that his condition was critical, but stable. Eddie assumed that no news or updates was a good sign, but it wasn't much information to give Kim to report back to Rachel, who he knew was worrying. Kim wouldn't have texted him otherwise.

"Mr Lawson?"

Eddie looked up to see a male Doctor walking into the room. He smiled politely.

"Yes, that's me" Eddie answered, returning a smile

"I'm Doctor Ryan. I'm in charge of Bolton's care"

Eddie shook the man's hand.

"How is he doing?" Eddie asked, looking at Bolton

"For now, he's stable. He has a lot of injuries of course, but they should heal with no complications. We are just waiting for him to wake up, but that's up to him" Doctor Ryan explained

Eddie nodded quietly.

"Mr Lawson, how well do you know Bolton?"

"I knew him and taught him until he was seventeen" He explained

"And was tonight the first time you'd seen him in a few years?"

"Yes" Eddie answered, frowning at the odd questions

"We're just trying to make sense of what led up to this, in terms of Bolton's mental state. As you're aware, this was a suicide attempt and we are just trying to understand what events led up to it" Doctor Ryan explained

"I'm afraid I can't help you there. Myself and my colleague, Rachel, who was with him when it happened, haven't seen or been in touch with him for a few years now"

Doctor Ryan nodded.

"When he wakes up, he will be assessed by a psychologist and we will go from there. Is your colleague, Rachel, available to speak to?"

"She's actually on the labour ward about to give birth to her baby. As soon as she's able she'll be willing to talk to you though" Eddie explained

"Ah, I see. I'll speak to her once she is more settled"

"If you're looking for information, you're best to call Bolton's Mum, Candice Smilie. She's his next of kin. Rachel has tried to get in touch with her, but hasn't been successful" Eddie told him

"We still haven't be able to get in touch with her either, but we will keep trying"

Eddie nodded.

"Can I sit with him for a bit?" he asked

"Yes of course. Take a seat, I'll come and check on him later"

Eddie sat in the chair next to Bolton as Doctor Ryan exited the room. He sighed painfully as he looked at the teenager in the bed, hooked up to a dozen machines, monitors and IV's. His body was covered in bruises, scrapes and stitched up cuts. His right cheek and top lip were starting to swell, and his left leg had been placed in a cast. Eddie couldn't help but sigh as he watched his shallow breaths. This wasn't right. Bolton was twenty years old. His life had only just started. He should be in his first real job, or at University. He should be out socialising, travelling and having fun, and living life to the full. Instead, he was in hospital after jumping off a roof in an attempt to end his life. He was starting to ask the same question Rachel had asked him earlier. Where and how had it gone so wrong for him?

Eddie knew it wasn't uncommon for some of the former students of Waterloo Road to go off the rails once they'd left school. Being in school was all they had known. To suddenly go from having a set routine, to doing homework and seeing friends every day, to losing all of things was a huge change. You went from being stable, to unstable and lost in just a few months. Since Rachel had started working at Waterloo Road, he'd seen it happen less and less. The majority of the students he'd worked with whilst she was there all left with some kind of plan, and if they didn't have a plan, there was someone they could go to for help, like Rachel or himself. Rachel refused to leave any student in the lurch, with a bleak and uncertain future ahead of them. She had been in that situation herself when she was 17 years old, and it was the worst time of her life, she refused to let it happen to another child.

Bolton was the last person Eddie had expected to go off the rails. Maybe once he would have thought so. From the moment he'd met Bolton on his first day at Waterloo Road, he knew the teenager was trouble. He was aggressive with a bad attitude and had a dozen ASBO's on his record. The teacher's had given up trying with him, as had his Mother. Eventually, Eddie had started to give up too. He seemed to be beyond help.

But, once he had started in Year 11 and Rachel had finally managed to get through to him, his behaviour had turned around completely. He'd started getting good grades and even passed his GCSE's and, before Eddie had left, was in his first year of A-levels. He'd gone from being a bad boy to a kind, respectful teenager. The boy had promise and potential that he knew Rachel would have nurtured all the way up until he left school. She would have made sure he left school with a plan of some kind. So where had it all gone wrong? What was so bad in his life that he couldn't find a reason to carry on living? Eddie didn't know, and he wasn't sure if he would ever find out the answer. But if Bolton did wake up, he promised himself he would try and support him in whatever way he could. He knew Rachel was more than willing to, so maybe they could come up with a plan together to get him back on his feet.

He watched as Bolton's chest continued to rise and fall. As he did, he thought of Candice. Why wasn't she answering her phone? He could understand her missing one call, but Rachel had attempted to contact her a few times, as had the hospital. They had both left voicemails. Had she listened to them? Did she have a new number? Something didn't make sense with that, but he just didn't know what. He hoped if Bolton woke up, he'd be able to give them the correct information and either Rachel or the hospital would be able to get in touch with Candice to tell her what had happened.

Eddie pulled the chair closer to Bolton's bed, taking his limp hand into his own. It was awkward at first, but he wanted Bolton to know that he had someone with him.

"Don't worry, mate. We'll get you sorted, ok? You're not on your own"