Dr. Maggie dialed through to the Bond home, and waited. After a few rings, Jenny picked up the phone. “Hello, Bond residence.”

“Mrs. Bond?” asked the doctor.

“Yes, may I ask who is calling, please?”

“This is Dr. Maggie McArthur, I'm here with Juliette and we are calling about Drew. Is Mr. Bond there as well?”

“No he's not!” snapped Jenny anxiously “What's the matter with Drew?!”

“Well, I am afraid he's had a mental collapse and right now I have him here in the hospital under sedation. For reasons I have yet to find out, he has been pretending to be a girl named Gaby the whole time he has been here, with the complicity of the chaperones I might add, and it appears that the strain of being Gaby the whole time has been too much for him. Coupled with his worry about you and being away from you at this time he has pretty much shut right down for the moment.Juliette has told me that he was occasionally Gaby at home, usually at the manipulation or coercion of others, herself included, but has never gone this long as Gaby ever. I wanted to discuss short term and long term treatment options with you, Mr. Bond, and Juliette, so that I can make a competent referral to someone in the UK when he gets home”

“Oh my God “cried Jenny, “what have we all done to him! Was he talking at all when he was brought in? Will he recover? How long before you know anything?”

“Mrs. Bond!” Dr. Maggie cut her off sharply, “right now he is under sedation and will be asleep for 12 to 14 hours; as for his recovery, that is up to him and all of you – that is why I wanted a family conference. And it's why I also need to know the WHOLE story.”

" Mum” sobbed Jules, “when I found him, he was just saying over and over ‘Who is Drew? Who is Gaby? Who am I?' and rocking back and forth. I've never seen him like this before and I'm scared mum.”

“Hang on Jules, we'll be there as soon as we can. Dr. can you keep him under for a few extra hours until we can get a flight and get there? I will get hold of my husband and we will make travel arrangements as soon as we can and will advise you and Jules when we will get there.”

“Well, Mrs. Bond”started Dr. Maggie.

“Jenny, please Dr.” interjected Jenny.

“Well then, Jenny, when he wakes up I will assess him again then, but I can assure you he will not be released from this hospital until you get here. I have a couple of concerns however.”

“And what are those?” asked Jenny.

“Well, it would help if you can bring all of Drew's medical records with you, so we can do a complete physical assessment as well; and I am concerned that if you have had surgery so recently that you may not physically be able to travel yourself yet. Not that I think I could stop you from swimming the Atlantic to get to Drew, but it does concern me”

“Well” laughed Jenny “It's true that I would walk through the fires to get to my kids, but it happens I have been cleared for travel as of 2 days ago. As for Drew's medical records, as soon as I talk to Dave to get the arrangements underway, I will phone his doctor and get them to fax everything to you directly. As Drew has seen a couple of specialists in the last year, you may get information from a few sources. Jules?” said Jenny “I will phone you on the mobile once I know when we are leaving, and you can let Dr. Maggie know. Now, if she tells you to go home and sleep for a while, you go back to the Walters' and do that. You don't need to be ill from worry, and we'll be there soon.”

“But mum, I don't want Drew to wake up alone. The doctor can put a bed in there for me to sleep on or something. I'm not leaving” Jules stated.

“All right Jules, you work that out with the doctor” said Jenny. At this point Jenny began to describe how Drew became Gaby to start with, and the times that Jenny knew about Gaby appearing and why. Jules also contributed what she knew firsthand, and also added that the one pushing Drew the most to be Gaby was his girlfriend Maddy. And that Drew was so eager to please everyone, he allowed himself to be talked into cheer squad; and when they arrived and upon finding out that Brit and Deb's olds didn't know Drew was a boy, allowed himself to get talked into that too.

“But” Jules said “What I couldn't completely figure out was why Drew had so many of his Gaby clothes with him, until I realized it was Maddy who did most of his packing.”

“Well” said Dr. Maggie “that gives me something to work with until I can talk to the others, and until you get here Jenny. I will ask you both to not mention to anyone that you are coming. I want to see what the others will tell me if they don't believe you are coming”

“Thank you Dr. Maggie, we will see you as soon as possible, and Jules will let you know what the plans are as soon as possible. Goodbye for now” said Jenny, and with that she hung up the phone.

As soon as she had hung up the phone from Dr. Maggie, Jenny immediately dialed her husband. As soon as Dave picked up the phone, Jenny said “Dave, something's happened to Drew, get home right away – we've got to get to him. You know we were due to go over with the team for the promo tour at the end of the week – I'll ring George right away and see if he can get us out on a plane today.”

“Jenny, slow down!” exclaimed Dave “And tell me what's happened.”

As Jenny then went over her conversation with Jules and Dr. Maggie, Dave became angrier and angrier. “The chaperones knew?!!” he shouted. “I'll be having a chat with Mr. Wood on the way home to find out what that's all about. And it may end up with a chat with our solicitors if I don't like what I find out! Let me talk to Frank, and I'll be home as soon as I can. Call me after you've talked to George.”

“Alright” answered Jenny “ but calm down before you start to drive, I want you here in one piece.”

“Right luv, see you soon.” Replied Dave and he hung up the phone.

Dave went and told Frank there was a medical emergency with Drew in America, and that he had to go and wasn't sure how soon he could be back. Then he headed for the car park so he could get home as soon as possible. He remembered what Jenny had said about calming down, and thought “well, I had best have my conversation with Mr. Wood before I get on the road”. With that, he dialed the school, and asked for the Headmaster.

“Michael Wood here, how can I help you Dave?”

“Well, let's make a list shall we?” Dave answered sarcastically. “Let's start with why my SON is pretending to be a girl in America, with the full knowledge of the chaperones, and obviously yourself. Then, let's ask why he is in hospital, sedated after having what appears to be a nervous breakdown, after having to be ‘Gaby' for so long. And how about telling me why no one saw fit to inform Jenny or myself. Let's start with those. And, oh yes, tell me why I shouldn't phone my solicitor and start legal proceedings against the school, you, Miss Cowlishaw and Mr. Pilling; and why I shouldn't phone the Ministry of Education and have the lot of you sacked and your bloody school shut down! Because right now, that is exactly what I feel like doing, and may yet do.”

Mr. Wood was stunned – he didn't know what to say. “Mr. Bond – Dave – I am not sure what to tell you. We needed Drew on the Cheer Team, but we offered him the choice….and he didn't have to be Gaby all of the time.”

“Bollocks!” snarled Dave “You bloody well made the choice such that you knew he wouldn't refuse you, didn't you? And ‘needed ‘ him for the Cheer Team? If you were thinking about him, you'd have gotten someone else, or withdrawn the team from competition when he didn't want to do it. And how would you have explained to everyone in America that Gaby was only there for the cheer competitions and disappeared the rest of the time. You knew damn well he would end up having to be Gaby the whole time! Of all the self aggrandizing, self rationalizing answers…I hope you're bloody happy now! My son is now catatonic in a hospital thanks to everyone that put him through this. I suggest you contact the Ministry and the school's solicitors, because you are going to need them” and he hung up the phone.

Mr. Wood sat at his desk and contemplated everything Dave had just said to him. And he began reviewing the ‘Gaby incidents' in his mind. Unfortunately for himself and the school, Dave Bond was right. They had talked Drew round into being Gaby and worded everything such that they knew Drew wouldn't refuse. The modeling, Sports Day and the badminton, Cheer Squad, and this trip to America. His mind reeled – they could be held financially liable, certainly be sacked, and perhaps even criminally liable for endangering the health and well being of a minor. He needed time to think.

After calming down somewhat, Dave headed home as quickly as he could. When he got there, Jenny was waiting outside with packed suitcases. As he got out of the car, she said to him “Load these in right away Dave, I've packed for you. There's an American Airlines flight leaving Manchester at 11:55am. I know it's an hour from here, but we should be able to make it in time to clear security and board. We have 3 tickets on it.”

Dave begins loading the luggage, and realizes what she said. “Three? Who else is going?”

“I phoned Carol and convinced her to come as well, because of Maddy's involvement and because of how she feels about Drew. This could tip her over the edge, and we don't need another breakdown.” replied Jenny.

“Right, we'd best get a wiggle on then.”

After picking up Carol, they headed for Manchester at the best speed possible. Not much was said in the car, which was likely just as well, because Dave began to think about Maddy's involvement, and thought it best to keep quiet. Carol and Jenny were deep in their own thoughts, about their children, and the future. Jenny wondering if Drew would be alright, and whether he would trust any of them again; Carol wondering what part Maddy played in all of this, and how she would react to Drew being hospitalized; and what part she herself played in encouraging ‘Gaby'….like on Halloween when she essentially guilted Drew into becoming Gaby because Maddy was having a tantrum - the poor lad had tried to be himself, and she didn't let him.

They reached the car park at Manchester airport at 10:12am….Dave was very happy that they hadn't seen any ‘blue lights' along the way….he'd have been for it if they had. Jenny and Carol were started out of their reverie when he parked the car.

Jenny looked at the time - “Dave, exactly how bloody fast were you going? On second thought, don't answer that; but thank you for getting us her so fast luv.”

They quickly got their luggage and headed for the departures terminal, where they checked in and were told to go through security immediately and head for their departure gate. When they got to their gate, Jenny took out her mobile and dialed Drew's number.

After 2 rings, Jules picked up. “Hello, mum?”

“Yes, Jules it's me. We are catching the 11:55am flight out of Manchester and will arrive in Washington, D.C. just after 5pm Washington time. And Aunt Carol is coming too, but don't tell Maddy right now. Can you tell Dr. Maggie, and see if she can arrange to have someone come and pick us up?”

“Yes mum, I'll tell her right away, and we'll make sure we're there to get you. Dr. Maggie said she could make Drew sleep for a while longer if she needed to so you could be here when he woke up.”

“Right then Jules….we love you and we'll be there soon. They're calling for boarding now, so I have to go.”

“Love you mum, bye” said Jules and she broke the connection. Jules looked up at Dr. Maggie and told her of the conversation.

“Right, I'll organize a driver Jules to pick up your parents and aunt. You should go as well. I'll get Drew moved to a private room for now, and out of emergency. You have a nap on my couch, and as soon as I get him moved I'll come and get you. Then I will start talking to everyone that is out in the waiting room.”

Kate Hart 21.06.06 © 2006
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