THE TROUBLE WITH DECEIT

Part 15 Consequences

The four of them of them climbed into the hostels' minibus, Tom, Derek, Peter, and Rani.  Peter had already jumped into the driver's seat and seemed quite at home driving the large vehicle, whilst Tom was already cobbling together a plan of action.   Addressing the driver he said, "Peter we need to head into a quiet area where we might find a young man alone, can you think of anywhere?"  chipping in, Derek said, "surely a young lady would be better and will certainly offer less resistance."  Pulling a face he replied, "you are right of course, but a young lady will scream her head off and we could well find ourselves in the middle of a circus!"  Rani spoke up then, surprising them all, "could we pull over for one minute, please, I think I know where you can get your blood without kidnapping anybody."   Although bemused  by her statement Peter pulled over into the next layby and told her, "you have our undivided attention, Rani,  please tell us what you have in mind."  Hesitantly, she said, "I'm not prepared to go into details but I think I can find you a young man who will freely donate to you some of his blood."  Frowning Derek Howard said grumpily, "why do I get the distinct impression that this is connected to our two errant students?  Very well, Rani, it sounds a safer bet, you had best direct my brother to this mystery benefactor."    Breathing a sigh of relief she began directing him to the little clothing store, so that they would be able to track down Kip and his mysterious friend, that she knew lived close by, and hopefully convince him to donate his all-important blood. 

"He's still breathing!"  Fey announced, "Oh please hurry up ambulance!" a frantic Kip prayed.  Suddenly they heard a large vehicle pulling up, and Kip looking up was amazed to note that the four people who had jumped out of it included his head teacher Mr. Howard and Rani.  Without wasting a moment on explanations Tom Arnold dropped to one knee beside the prone figure of Reece, and from his pocket, he produced a torch and asked Rani to shine it on the body for him.  Once he got a good look at Reece he made a snap decision.  Barking orders to the two brothers he said, "Get him into the back seat of the bus, hurry! I will stay with him and try to keep him alive. Peter, drive us to the portal.  Beckoning Rani over to him he asked her "does she know anything?"  Seeing her negative head shake he told her, stay with her for a while, spin her some tale that will keep her quiet for the time being, and as soon as you can, get yourself back to the hostel."    Nodding she said,  "ok Sir."  Moments later the bus pulled away with all onboard apart from herself and Mary.  Slipping her arm through the shocked shopkeepers she steered her back inside the shop, telling her, "he will be alright now, it's lucky those off duty paramedics were on their way home, or god knows how long we might have waited for an ambulance.  Do you think you could ring the ambulance service again for me right away, as I need to make them aware that he has lost a large amount of blood."  Looking doubtful Mary said, "they didn't look like doctors!"  Trying to sound reassuring Rani said, "it's ok they were, they had finished their shift at the hospital and were on their way home, lucky for us they were willing to sacrifice their own time to help him."  Reassured Mary rang the number and passed the phone to Rani. As soon as she heard the dialing tone she whispered to Mary, "please make us both a hot drink, I think we both need one."  As Mary disappeared into the kitchen an operator answered, saying, "what is your emergency please!"   Speaking quietly but clearly, Rani told the man,  "I apologise deeply but the call-out  that you recently received to no. 5 Georges street was a prank call by a drunken bunch of our own students, Please disregard that call, and rest assured I shall be dealing with the culprits myself when they have sobered up.  We at the college take a very dim view of this kind of thing."

Mary came in carrying a small tray holding two teas and a small plate of biscuits. "What did they say about Reece? do they know anything yet? is~is he going to die? I can't believe this is happening! is it because of that boy! Kip?"  Sitting down beside the distraught woman Rani said, "it was nothing to do with Kip, it was a grudge he had against Reece because he had thwarted an attempt by him to rob your shop while you were away.  Is Reece related to you? I can see you are very close to him."  Sadly shaking her head Mary said, no we are not actually blood relatives but Reece is the son that I never had"  Leaning over and hugging her Rani told her, "they will do their best for him you can be sure of that."  Wiping the tears from her eyes Mary said: "I must find out where they have taken him and go there right away!"   "Wait, wait! Mary, you sit there quietly for a moment and I will ring them for you."  Walking to the far side of the room she rang Dev and speaking to him in their own language she softly appraised him of the situation, then she beckoned Mary over and handed her the phone while whispering," its the hospital on the line, you can ask them about him yourself."  Gratefully Mary took the proffered phone and listened as Dev, posing as a hospital doctor, explained to her that he was in a very critical condition and was in intensive care, he could have no visitors at all for the next forty-eight hours.  However, she could ring on this same number at nine in the morning and they would let her know how he was doing, and if anything changed they would ring her.  She hung up the phone and related to Rani what the 'hospital' had told her. "Do you think I should call the police," she asked her,  "oh no,"  retorted Rani, I wouldn't say anything to them until after you have spoken to Reece, you really need to know what he tells them first."  Feeling reasonably sure that she had convinced Mary she finally left her and the shop, and rang the hostel for a ride back.