Night shift - Completed

Chapter 70

Calum's POV

"Oh come on, Cal, don't be like that!" Dave called out after me as I set off to the hospital on foot. I didn't care about paps, fans or anything. I just had one thing on my mind and that was Poppy. She'd left a message with Jack because she thought she would die and now that's all I could think of. I needed to see her whether it was for the last time or not. I had trust in the hospital and their staff but they can only play the hand they are dealt. If this man had stabbed her and punctured something huge, they may not have been able to save her. She was a nurse, she'd know what looked good and what didn't. She worked in busy wards that took people from A&E when it was full. She would diagnose, treat and discharge patients. She would be able to assess her own situation and she felt so strongly that it was negative that she passed on a message to me. I couldn't bear for it to end that way. Why did I keep talking about her in the past tense? Why did I keep saying it would end? I needed to look positively for both of us.

"Cal!" I heard Dave shout once more before the vans engine came to life and he slammed the door shut, slowly driving to catch me up and then dawdle beside me. "Come on Cal, I'm sorry." I laughed flatly as I glared through the passenger window at Dave driving.

"Sorry you said what you truly felt?" I said snidely.

"No, sorry I lost my temper." Dave sighed softly. "Sorry I let my emotions cloud my judgment. Sorry I took it out on you." I looked ahead of me as I kept walking, Dave crawling beside me in the van.

"Well it's done now. You've said your bit and I'm going by myself. Just leave me alone." I said unimpressed as I kept walking, pretending Dave wasn't there.

"Just get in the van and let me explain. I'll drive you to the hospital." Dave said defeatedly. He didn't want to fight with me and clearly something was going on behind the scenes that he wanted to talk to me about. Would it be so bad? It's only a five minute car journey, surely he can't upset me too much in that time. I stopped in my tracks and Dave slammed the brakes on to stop beside me. I grabbed the handle and opened the passenger door slowly, making sure he knew this wasn't what I wanted to do but I was willing to help. I sat in there and did my seatbelt, Dave pulling away without another word. There was a good chunk of silence between us on the journey before he started speaking.

"Diego made a mistake." He said quickly. My eyes stayed on the road ahead of us. I just wanted answers. "He should never have let people split up. After the show, Poppy should have met you all backstage and you all would have got in the van. That's protocol. To let Poppy make her own way was one mistake but to let you go was another. That's an offence they can fire someone on. He then called code red without you and left you and Poppy when he knew there was a man wielding a knife. I had to prepare him for a management meeting later where I'm sure they'll fire him. It just got to me. Then I thought back to how Poppy had helped pretty much every other person we know yet there was nothing we could do to help her... it reminded me of Karen." My eyebrows furrowed as I finally looked over at him. He seemed grateful to know I was even listening to him, let alone reacting to his words.

"Karen?" I questioned, knowing this was a name I'd never heard before.

"One of my first cases when I was in post. Karen hired me as a bodyguard to protect her from her abusive stalker. She'd tried to go to the police but they wouldn't take it seriously without more evidence. She saw him everywhere she went, hiding out and watching her. She was so scared she took to getting protection... but even I couldn't help. She went to a party and I lost her in the crowd, next thing I heard was a scream and as I ran to where it was, Karen was laying there in a pool of her own blood. I called an ambulance but she died a few days later in hospital from complications. We never found out who the guy was." Dave let out an almighty sigh, as if he'd just lifted the weight on his shoulders for the first time. He put a hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. "Believe it or not, Cal, but none of what I said was meant to hurt you or insult Poppy. There is just so much going on in my head I can't even function properly." I hesitated for a second as I took it all in. How comes we'd never heard about that story before? Why has he kept it from us?

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." I managed to muster. Silence fell once again as Dave continued the journey, I merely just stared out of the windows and watched everyone pass us by. Finally, he pulled into a space in the car park and switched off the engine. I went to open the door but Dave held me back for a second, his tone and body language soft.

"Calum, just know whatever is going on in there and whatever you see, Jack and I will always be here for you. It's probably going to be frightening, scary and a lot for you to take in but we are here with you." I nodded in response as I pulled on the door handle and opened it, stepping out onto the car park tarmac and feeling the cold wind hit me.

"She's okay." I said in a way where I wasn't sure if I was convincing Dave or myself. I stood and looked up at the large hospital and took a deep breath in and out. Whatever goes on in here will probably stay with me forever. I just hope and pray there are some good memories laced into that.