Rise and Fall (14 page)

Jamie couldn’t praise the doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital enough. They had whisked Gary off into an operating theatre on arrival at the hospital and had operated into the early hours of the morning, desperately fighting to save his life. That night had been the scariest of Jamie’s life. He had paced the corridor outside the theatre, not knowing what to do with himself, until the doctors had finally told him that the bullet had missed Gary’s vital organs and they had stopped his blood loss. Gary was a lucky man. Under the doctor’s orders Gary was to take it easy for a while and build his strength back up. 

It had been just over two weeks since the shooting and Jamie was just thankful that Gary had, against the odds, pulled through. The thought of losing his friend had been too much for him to bear.

“Right you are, then,” Jamie agreed, helping Gary to sit up and twist his legs around to face the edge of the bed; seeing him grimace, Jamie was aware that Gary was still in a lot of pain.

Jamie figured that it would do Gary no harm to come and eat in the kitchen. The doctors had encouraged him to gradually introduce Gary to slow movements, such as walking short distances, as it would help Gary to build up his core muscles, and Jamie thought that while Gary ate he would also get the chance to get into his bedroom and strip all the bedding off and put some clean sheets on. Gary hated him faffing about, but Jamie wanted Gary to be as clean and comfortable as he could make him.

Matching Gary’s slow pace and keeping him steady as they walked to the kitchen, Jamie helped him to sit in a chair. 

Gary tried to stifle a groan, as pain seared through his stomach, but he hadn’t managed to keep it from Jamie, who was looking at him worriedly. 

“Don’t you go stressing yourself out about my little aches and pains, Jamie lad.” Gary shook his head dismissively at Jamie’s concerned glance. “I was creakier than a barn door even before this happened.” 

Gary had a habit of shrugging things off, and Jamie knew a man in pain when he saw one. Realising that Gary wouldn’t appreciate him making a fuss he got on with preparing a feast.

“Scrambled eggs; bacon; hash browns; tomatoes; mushrooms: how does that grab ya?” Jamie whisked the eggs as Gary watched him, smiling.

“You know, Jamie, you’re a star doing all of this for me.” Gary was truly grateful for all Jamie’s help the past two weeks; the boy had been constantly at his side, fetching his painkillers, even helping bathe and dress him. Gary would have been lost without him.

“It’s only bloody bacon and eggs, Gary, hardly à la carte, it’s no trouble at all, mate.” Jamie chuckled. He enjoyed looking after Gary, and knowing that his help was appreciated and that he was genuinely needed made it more than worth his while, and he had really got used to having a bit of company himself for a change. 

“Nah, you wally. I’m not talking about the breakfast, although you do make a mean fry-up. I mean this – all of it. You’ve really helped me get back on my feet, you know, son.”

Jamie felt a swell of pride at the word 'son'. Gary had called him it for years, and Jamie had accepted it as a term of endearment, as they had been close for a long time. But when Gary said it lately, it had more meaning. Jamie was aware that their bond had become even stronger because of what had happened, and he had been surprised at the secure feeling Gary gave him. Jamie had always thought it was a bit of a cliché that bad things brought people closer, but it was true in this case. Jamie couldn’t begin to think about what would have happened if Gary hadn’t made it.

Seeing his boss go all teary-eyed and sentimental, Jamie shrugged it off. “Don’t be soft, mate. Honest Gary, it was nothing, you’d do the same for me, and you know you would! Anyway, if it weren’t for me insisting that we go in there all guns blazing to sort that Jerell out, you wouldn’t be in this sorry state right now.” 

Jamie busied himself making tea and buttering toast. The last thing Gary needed right now was him getting all het up about Jerell.  

Gary watched him. Jamie was a good boy, a bloody diamond. He had always known that, and now he loved him like the son he had never had. Gary didn’t have any family. The only thing he had loved in the past was his business. From day one, it had been his baby. Years ago, when he had first started up, his garage had meant everything to him, and he had never met a woman who measured up to it. Gary knew there wasn’t a woman on this Earth that would be happy playing second fiddle to his work. His hours were long, and there was too much at stake with the people he dealt with to have a woman hanging around.

Sitting here now, watching Jamie whistle to himself as he cooked, made Gary realise what he could have had. He deeply regretted his priorities then. 

As he sat and watched Jamie prance around the kitchen, acting out an exaggerated Jamie Oliver impersonation, Gary laughed, but the tears creeping out of his eyes, which he hastily wiped away, were not ones of mirth. Ever since he had turned fifty, he had started to think about never settling down and having a family and the shooting had put things into perspective. He was past having kids now, he knew that. Jamie was the nearest to a son he would ever have.  

As Jamie was plating up the bacon, the doorbell rang. The two men looked at each other. “Les!” they chimed in chorus. Les had turned up at the house at the crack of dawn every day since Gary had come home. The first few days Jamie had hinted to Les that he should go home and get some sleep just to get rid of the annoying bugger, as he had turned up on the day that Gary had got back from hospital and stayed for almost twelve hours, but Jamie knew, as irritating at Les was, he meant well. He cared about Gary as much as Jamie did, and Jamie knew that he wanted to be there for him too.

Jamie grinned, as he put an extra placemat on the table. “Why do you think I cooked extra bacon, huh? I swear that bloke only comes round this early so he can get fed some proper grub.”

Jamie opened the door. “You alright, Les?” he asked, as Les stepped into the house.

“Just thought I’d pop in and see how the patient’s doing,” Les said, as he followed Jamie through to the kitchen.

Les wasn’t happy that Jamie was the one looking after Gary; it had put his nose out of joint. As Jamie had taken on the role of Gary’s carer without consulting him, Les had taken it upon himself to do the next best thing and spend as much time as possible visiting the patient.

“Fancy some brekkie, Les?” Gary winked at Jamie.

Seeing his boss sitting in the kitchen, able to eat at the table with them, Les perked up, chuffed to see Gary with a bit of colour in his cheeks once more.

“Only if there’s some going spare, I don’t want to put you out or anything,” Les said, as he sat at the table. He noted that Jamie had already set a place for him next to Gary, and again felt irked that Jamie was forever one step ahead of him. “I was just going to grab something later, you know, but if you’re sure that there’s enough to go around?” Les added, seeing the two men exchange amused glances.

Jamie rolled his eyes, and Gary let out the chuckle that he had tried to conceal.

“What?” Les felt he was missing out on a joke.

“Nothing, Les,” Jamie put a plate of food in front of Les and said: “Get that down ya.”

Having fed the others, Jamie tucked into his own breakfast. He had been eating better since he had been staying with Gary; he guessed that was because he was making proper meals to help Gary build his strength back up and so had started eating properly himself. If he had been at home, he might cook pasta or something, but it barely seemed worth the effort of cooking a big meal if it was just him that was eating.

“You alright keeping an eye on Gary this morning, Les, if I just nip out in a bit and see how the boys are doing down at the garage?” Jamie finished his last mouthful, his stomach full now. Les could keep Gary company while Jamie changed the bed sheets, then he needed to go out. He wanted to pop in and see how Gavin and Shay were getting on down at the garage. Jamie didn’t want to leave everything down to them. They were more than capable of doing all the day-to-day stuff, and they had been able to keep the orders in check while Gary had been out of action, but Jamie always liked to be the one in control, so he wanted to get down there and make sure everything was running smoothly; the less Gary had to think about at the moment the better.

“Of course I can, I was going to pop in later myself. Maybe now you’re looking a bit better, Gary, I should get back to work.” Les looked at Gary to see what he thought. They were all well aware that there wasn’t enough work for them all now that they had lost the main contract. Shay and Gavin had only been in there doing legit MOTs and a few services this week. They had just been keeping the diary in order so at least there wouldn’t be a backlog to deal with; if they didn’t stay on top of things, they would lose the little trade that they had coming in. 

As Gary was looking perkier today, Les felt that he could he could finally broach the subject of work. He didn’t want to stress the man out after all he had been through, but he was worried that he might end up out of a job.

“I think that’s a good idea, Les, you get yourself back down there and hopefully in a week or two I’ll be feeling like me old self again.” Gary smiled, optimistic for the first time since the shooting that he was going to be alright. He was still in pain, but it was milder than it had been. “And Jamie, while we’re talking about the garage, I think it would be a good idea if you take over for a bit for me.” 

Jamie couldn’t mask his surprise at Gary’s words. He could sense Les’ hackles rise. 

“It’s going to take a while for me to get myself back to a hundred percent; I’m going to have to take it easy for quite a while,” Gary explained, “and when I am better, I want to take a step back from it all, anyway. It’s time for me to think about handing over the reins. Just for a while, and see how it goes, eh?”

Jamie had assumed that Gary would be back in the garage before he knew it; the thought of running the place himself had never entered his head. Trying not to sound as overwhelmed as he felt, he said: “Of course I'll look after the garage for you, Gary; it'll be a pleasure. You know I’ll do a good job. I learnt from the best, after all.” 

Knowing that Les was seething, Gary turned to address him, hoping that he would understand. He had wanted to say his bit in front of him, so that he didn’t feel excluded. “Is that alright with you, Les?” 

Les felt sick. First Jamie had moved in with Gary to look after him, now he had been given the garage. Gary clearly had no use for him anymore.

“You know this is the right thing to do, Les,” Gary said. Les was prone to hissy fits, and Gary wanted to get how he was feeling out in the open in the hope that Les would then just get on with it. “Jamie is younger and stronger than us both; you and I know that. There’ll always be a place there for you, Les, as long as you want it, yeah?”

Reluctantly, Les nodded. He was miffed that Jamie was being handed the responsibility of the garage after all the years that Les had put in, but he really did hope that Gary meant it, and that all his hard work hadn’t been in vain.

“Well, Jamie can’t do it all on his own, can he? He’s going to need your help, just like I always have. I want the pair of you to put your differences aside and start bloody getting along.” Gary’s voice was stern. He was more than aware of the constant rivalry between the two men, even if it was often from Les’ side.

Trying to avoid looking at Jamie, Les said that he would do what Gary asked, for his sake and for the garage’s. But there was no way in hell he was going to get along with Jamie Finch: that was never going to happen. 

“Whatever you say, mate. You just get yourself better, and me and Jamie will look after everything.” 

Gavin was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his cheeks. Shay was a legend.

They were in the office; Gavin was slouched in Gary’s comfortable leather chair, his long legs stretched out on the desk, Shay opposite him, tipping back and forth on a chair. They had only had two cars booked in for that day and had sorted them out by ten thirty. Other than the cleaning up, they had nothing to do and so had decided while it was quiet that they would have a joint and a chat.

“And then she said... ‘What sort of girl do you bloody take me for, Shay?’ and got all stroppy, started stomping around the bedroom gathering all her clothes up, you know what women are like when they’re bloody on one. So I just told her, ‘That wasn’t what you said last night when I had my cock up your arse.’”

Gavin was roaring with laughter. “She never let you give it to her up the arse?” 

This latest bird of Shay’s sounded like a nightmare. Gavin had met the girl on a few occasions when they had passed in the hallway at the flat, and she had seemed like a right snotty cow. She was way too up stuck up for the likes of Shay, Gavin had thought, and he was finding it hilarious that Shay had managed to ditch her, in the true Shay style that his friend was fast becoming notorious for.

“No, she didn’t.” Shay grinned. “Chance would have been a fine thing. But she was so drunk last night, we both were, and after her getting all mardy with me, the look on her face when I made out that she had was bloody priceless. She probably went home to check her arsehole was still intact.” 

Gavin shook his head in wonder, trying to picture Shay wiping the hoity-toity look off the poor girl’s face; he almost felt sorry for her. 

Shay was terrible when it came to relationships; the only time that he didn’t have a bird on the go was when he was in hiding, avoiding one. Gavin was always amazed at the amount of girls Shay attracted, and even more baffling was how many of them turned into stalkers once they were with him. The phrase ‘treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen’ clearly worked a treat; they must see Shay as the ultimate challenge. Gavin himself had had the misfortune of having to deal with countless teary phone calls to the flat, often while Shay was sitting next to him, encouraging Gavin to say whatever it took to stop the girl from calling him again.

 “So you’re officially a free man again then, huh?” Gavin was glad that he would have his pulling partner back in time for the weekend. He fancied going out and seeing if he could meet a nice bird and get laid himself. He didn’t manage to get the girls as easily as Shay. Shay had a cheeky schoolboy charm about him; girls just couldn’t get enough of his ‘little boy lost’ routine. Gavin didn’t have the patience for that kind of thing. If girls didn’t like him the way he was, that was their loss. He didn’t put on airs and graces for anyone.