Payback Time 14 ( Meltdown)

Paul Fletcher entered Queens Hospital in Romford; he had a lot on his mind.

His number two had gone all soft on him, there was a time, not that long ago, when Ross would have wanted to go and hurt someone, anyone, just to show people who was boss. Not now though, now he thought they should hide, tuck themselves away somewhere, maybe it was time he was replaced, he could move one of the other boys up, maybe John or Tony, they were good boys, they’d jump at the chance. His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He looked at the name that came up; it was “Jenny” his wife. He answered it.

“Yeh?”

“Oh that’s nice, haven’t heard from you in four days and all you can say is Yeh!”

“What do you want me to fucking say?”

“How about, how are you? How are the girls?What’s the weather like? That would be a start.”

“Ok, how are you? How are the girls? What’s the weather like?”

“Fuck you.”

She hung up, even quicker than he could.

He took the lift up to the third floor, then pushed the buzzer to get into the ward. He put sanitizing gel on his hands and made his way along the corridor towards Kathy’s room. He could see a lot of commotion, people seemed to be running in all directions, he could sense urgency, even panic. He started to walk faster until he was running; something was wrong, very wrong. He heard a voice.

“Mister Fletcher, Mister Fletcher, you can’t go in there.”

Paul stood frozen facing Kathy’s door, as much as he wanted to go inside, something deep inside him told him not to. He turned to face the voice.

“Mister Fletcher, Kathy condition has worsened; they’re doing all they can.”

He stood still, for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do, he sat down on a seat outside the room. He looked up at the Doctor.

“She can’t die, I’m Paul Fletcher.”

“As I said sir, they’re doing all they can.”

The Doctor returned to Kathy’s room. Paul sat there with his head in his hands, a thousand thoughts going through his head, none of them making any sense, he couldn’t seem to put anything in order, he couldn’t prioritise what he needed to do next. He should call Ross, yeh, Ross would know what to do. Before he could dial the number, he noticed there was a man in a white coat standing in front of him, he seemed to be saying something, but Paul couldn’t make sense of it. He closed his eyes and shook his head as though he was clearing his head of all thoughts and confusion. That was better, he could hear the man now. Then he heard the words being said.

“I’m so sorry Mister Fletcher, we did all we could but….”

He didn’t hear anymore, he just put his head back in his hands and started to cry.

He stood up, he needed to get out of there, he needed to be somewhere else, he needed to escape. He pulled the phone from his pocket and called Ross.

It rang, no answer, he called it again, still no answer. Fuck it where is that cunt.

He wiped his face with his hands.

“Mister Fletcher are you okay?”

The man in the white coat was still there.

“Err yes, just need to get some air”

“I understand sir, take your time, can I call anyone for you?”

Paul was already at the end of the corridor as the Doctor’s last words were spoken; he pressed the buzzer and headed towards the lift. There were a crowd of people outside the lift, he couldn’t wait so he headed for the stairs, he raced down the six flights and entered the main reception, from there he ran out into the fresh air. He gasped and drank in the fresh air trying to catch his breath. Ross, he had to call Ross.
It rang, no answer, he rang again, no answer. Where the fuck is he.

He called Tony who should be in the Range Rover outside the house along with John. Tony answered.

“Yes boss?”

“I’m at Queens, main entrance, come and get me.”

“What about the house?”

“Fuck the house, just come and get me!”

“Okay, I’ll leave John here, I’m on my way.”

Paul sat down on one of the benches outside the main entrance, his world was in bits, he’d never known such pain in his life, things were getting out of control, he needed to think, sort things out, make plans. Murphy had to be taken out and fast, once that was done he’d deal with the Irish cunts. He just needed Ross, where the fuck was he?

Within ten minutes Tony pulled up outside the hospital, he could see Paul Fletcher clearly, sitting on a bench, he pressed down hard on the horn, everyone looked at him except Paul, he was still looking down at the floor. He pushed the horn again, still no reaction. He got out of the cab and walked over to Paul.

“Boss, it’s me, Tony, let’s go.”

Paul looked up at him with an almost vacant look.

“Tony?”

“Yes boss, come on let’s go.”

Paul stood up and walked slowly to the Range Rover, Tony opened the door for him and he slumped onto the back seat.

“You okay boss?”

“Yeh just take me home.”

Pauls phone rang, he looked at the name. It was Ross. Paul smiled, relieved. He took a deep breath and got back into character.

“Where the fuck have you been you cunt, been trying to get hold of you for ages.”

“Paul, it’s me, Cornwell.”

“Cornwell? Where’s Ross? Been arrested or something, I’ll kill that cunt when I get hold of him.”

“Someone’s beaten you to it Paul, he’s dead, Ross is dead.”