There was a beep.

Then another beep.

Then another beep.

Then another beep.

That was odd. Things didn’t go beep in Mashal.

Very slowly, George became aware that he was awake and listening to this beep. The next thing he became aware of was that his body ached all over. He felt like he had been squeezed through a meat grinder, scooped up and strapped to a plane for a flight around the world, then slapped around by a couple of heavyweight boxing champions. He remembered feeling like this once before, when he had woken up in a pit in Shul. He hoped to the One True King that he wasn’t back there again.

With an effort he opened his eyes. They seemed to be bruised. He immediately had to blink, which was painful too. Wherever he was, it was very white. Eventually he got his eyes properly open and they started to focus. The first thing that came into focus was a wall with a sign on it that said “INTENSIVE CARE UNIT ROOM 7”.

Ah, then I’m in a hospital, he thought.

Slowly something clicked into place.

A hospital! So he must be back in his own world!

The beeping sound became a little more frequent. It turned out to be coming from a nearby machine that appeared to be monitoring his heartbeat. He was attached to it by various tubes and wires. There was the machine, his bed, a table and an empty chair in the room.

There was also a red cord hanging down by the side of his bed. To the end of it was attached a handle and a little notice that said PULL FOR ASSISSTANCE.

George reached over to grab the cord with his right hand but then discovered that he couldn’t because his arm was in a cast. It must be broken. He took hold of it with his left hand instead.

Within seconds a nurse hurried into the room. She looked anxiously at the machine, then seemed to calm down. “Oh, you’re awake!” she said. “How are you feeling?”

“...bit freaked out, but I’m OK…” George managed. He must be on lots of painkillers.

“There’s no reason to worry, sweetheart,” said the nurse. “You had a bit of an accident and you’re in hospital. But you’ve stabilised now and everything’s going to be alright. Let me see if I can go and find your father.”

She left George by himself again for a few minutes to listen to the beep of the machine.

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After some time, George’s father came in. He was wearing his business suit, but with the top button of his shirt undone and his tie loose, which George had never seen before. He was unshaven, his hair was greasy and he had red rings around his eyes.

“Hello, Dad,” said George weakly.

“Hello, George,” said his Dad. Instead of doing anything else, he just stood stiff by the bed, and glared.

“Aren’t you going to greet me properly?”

His Dad looked down at the floor for a moment, then up again.

“I’m very angry with you, George. How could you have got yourself into this mess? What were you doing running around in the road by yourself? Why weren’t you at the College Open Day like you were supposed to be?”

Even despite his condition and the powerful painkillers which he must be on, George felt a hot wave rising in his chest. How dare his father respond to his accident like this? How could he be so horrible and cruel? George was about to shout at him, to argue back, to tell him what a nasty piece of work he was.

But then, he took a deep breath

He wasn’t in Shul any more. He wasn’t a dragon any more. He wasn’t going to hate his father any more. He let himself feel the anger, the pain, the injustice, and then looked further beyond them. With an immense effort that was actually no effort at all, he looked inside himself and found some forgiveness for his father. He found it for his own sake as much as for anyone else’s.

“I’m sorry, father.”

His father seemed taken aback. He clearly had not been expecting this response. Their conversations did not usually go like this. Or at least not straight away.

“I shouldn’t have snuck out of the open day,” said George. “I was texting on my phone and a homeless man ran up to me and stole it. I was chasing after him when I got hit by the bus.”

For a moment, his father didn’t seem to know what to say. “Well…that’s…I mean…er…” Then he seemed to recover himself, falling back into his familiar routine. “It was completely irresponsible, George! You’re lucky to be alive! If you hadn’t snuck out of the Open Day, you wouldn’t have had your phone stolen, and then you wouldn’t have had to chase after the man, and then you wouldn’t have been hit by the bus! You’ve only got yourself to blame!”

His father stared George down, still a few paces away from the bed. For a moment they just looked at each other, the word “blame” still seeming to echo in the air in between them. George’s father’s brow was locked into a frown. George felt a choice open up before him, two different realities branching off from one another, depending on how he acted in this moment. He pondered his options for some time as the silence stretched out like a barrier between them.

“I love you, Dad,” said George. It was the most difficult thing that he had ever said.

Something appeared to break in his father. He came closer to the bed and embraced George in a hug. This was a first as well. Or at least it had not happened in a very long time. George felt water on the side of his cheek.

Still hugging him, George heard his Dad whisper, “I love you too, son. I’m sorry too. I was scared. I didn’t want to lose you like we lost your mother. I miss her so much and I was afraid of losing you too. I’ve been too harsh on you lately. That’s going to stop now. We’re going to spend more time together and I’m not going to push you so hard. Everything’s going to be alright.”

The nurse had been right. Everything was going to be alright.