Higher Stakes [Strings: Part 1]

Chapter 27: Broken Past

That night was still fresh in his mind. More than the accident itself. His numb fingers were nothing compared to the fear he felt the moment the deadly steel knife jutted against him. The man’s voice was rough and eerie and the notion laid out before them made Bradley realized that he had gone way too deep. He wanted to get out of it as soon as possible but first he needs to get out of this hospital. When the ladies went out of the ward to freshen up – which he was glad that they did – he called his good friend, David Henrie, to the scene. Only him Bradley could count on like telling him what happened last night.

“The fuck was that about?” Henrie let out, shocked to hear what Bradley had said. He then headed to the door, shut it tight and went back to the bed. “That douche was here? Trying to kill you? Dude, you gotta get out of here, like right now. What if he comes back and just… you know… go all Cannibal on you.”

“Mate, I need a clearance if I wanna get out.” The Brit speak up. “That doctor not even here yet.”

“Ok.” Henrie paused for a moment, trying to think. “Ok-“ he started. “I go get him, perhaps bribe him a little, you know, and uh… we try to get through this without any distraction or some folks up in here.” He headed back to the door. “If you can, you might as well start to pack up, kid.” The Brit nodded. Once Henrie went out the door, Bradley pulled the bed sheet off, the oxygen mask off and walked the room trying to find his clothes. He did found his duffel bag his mother must’ve brought the other than. God bless that woman. He pulled out his blue and white plaid shirt and a pair of new pants; he rushed over to the bathroom and freshens up. So far so good. He managed to put on his pants but the challenge was how to put on his shirt with that bulky ugly cast in the way. Well, he did manage that one task out of the way. “Mister Watson?” he froze.

A nurse was standing in the ward, about to do her daily inspection. She stood there between the bed and the door that lead to the bathroom and looked rather suspicious. “Brigid.” The Brit let out. He went out of the room and towards her. “Hey. Look I need to get out of here. See, I’m fine.” He cringed on the last thing he said as he felt the weight on his broken arm heightened. “I’m fine.” He assured.

“You’re not fine, Mr. Watson. Do sit down.” The nurse insisted, reaching out for his not-broken arm and lead him back to the bed. “The doctor will be here in any minute.”

“You don’t understand, I gotta get out of here, please.”

“Calm down.”

“Please, let me out.”

“Mr. Watson, I know what happened is nothing like you’ve ever experienced but you need to stay for your own good.”

“Leaving is also for my own good.” Just when Bradley turned in his feet over to the door, the nurse stopped him from behind by putting her arms around his midsection, pulling him back. “Gerroff me! Get off!!!!” But she was holding him tightly, not showing any sign of letting go.

“I think he’ll be fine, doctor. I know that little rascal more than anyone else; he can get on his feet despite what happened. Beside I saw him earlier on, he’s definitely moving alright. Just gonna, you know, strap his arm up, that’s all.” Henrie tried to persuade the doctor in charge of his good friend’s well being.

The doctor sternly replied, “I’ll be the judge of that, Mr. Henrie. Just because you and Mr. Watson are celebrities doesn’t mean you have special treatment in my hospital. He needs to stay. It’s the protocol.”

“But I can assure—“

“Let me assure it myself.” The doctor replied. Clasping his clipboard to his side, he then quickened his paces towards that familiar corridor over to the ward where Bradley stayed. Behind him, Henrie was getting anxious and worried. In his mind, he really want his friend to get out there fast and if necessarily get on to this mysterious SUV who hit him that day. Just as the doctor opened the door, the nurse who were inside the ward stood at the doorway and whispered something to the doctor. “Is that so?” he murmured. The nurse nodded. To Henrie’s shock, right there in front of him; Bradley was sitting at the edge of the bed with his free hand tied to the bed. He sat there trying to break free. ‘We’re screwed.’ Henrie thought. “Care to what’s going on, Mr. Watson, like why you wanna get out?”

“It’s nothing.” Bradley replied.

“Listen,” the doctor lowered his head and continued, “I promise your mom that I would take care of you. Whether you like it or not. You been here before, kid, with some other issues. This got to stop… whatever this is… don’t spare your life like it’s some kind of game—“

Bradley shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. That bastard was gone… for a long time now. You cannot just bring it up to make a point.”

“Well, it is necessary now.” The doctor interrupted. “Can you see it? This accident… is far beyond anything you’ve done in the past. You need to stop it.”

“I did.” Bradley hissed, glaring at the doctor angrily. “This was not my fault. It was an accident, like you said it was. I just want to go home and get away from this place, that’s all. I did what you told me to do… ‘Stay out of trouble’… which I did splendidly. My sisters can assure you that. They’ve been around me all the time… and you can count on me mate, David, too.”

The doctor sighed. It was really hard to process, really. There’s one thing you should know about Bradley. His past. Before being who he was today, he was a rebel. He likes all things that could hurt him. Stunts like parkour, daredevil activities and life threatening moments were his cup of tea. He was an avid visitor to the hospital until that one day when he was intervened by his family. Just his family. His friends were only responsible on keeping it on the down low. David was one of them. He’d been loyal to the Watson and feel that it was his duty to keep Bradley out of troubles. “You got to trust me, sir.” Bradley calmed down. “Please, let me out in peace. That’s all I ask.”

The doctor turned to his nurse and gestured her to untie the strap, which she somehow sort of hesitated at first but eventually gave in. “Just promise me one thing.” Bradley nodded at the doctor. “Stay out of trouble and keep yourself out of my hospital, I don’t want to hear any broken limbs coming from you ever again. Ok?”

“Of course. I promise.” The young Brit gave his honor to the doctor. Once that was settle, with bag packed with his belonging and a brand new black colored strap pulling his broken forearm to his chest; Bradley and David went out of the hospital and rushed over to the SUV parked not far from the entrance. Inside at the front seats, they both stared at each other. There was silence. Until Bradley broke it off by saying, “What are we gonna do now, mate?”

Henrie started the engine and said, “I think we need to make the stakes higher. Make him pay… besides, I have some people working on it behind the scene… that son of a bitch will know the fact that no one messes with us. You just wait.”