Takin Over the Asylum once more!

Chapter 21

Campbell skipped down the corridors of the psychiatric wing in a jolly manner, greeting everyone who passed by in a spritely manner- "Mornin, nurse Andrews. I think I'll play ya somethin by Adele today. Ya like er, I've heard. Rita, happy birthday! How're the kids? Think I'll play ya a special ditty...Anythin ya like!  Dr. Wycliffe, I'm gonna play ya some Cliff Richards today since yer always requestin for it." 
The musical genius that he was, he'd successfully bribed his way into their hearts through frequent song requests which they later hummed when treating their patients, who'd grown equally affectionate of the RJ and his radio station. They showed signs of hale health ever since the introduction of the room at the end of the hallway that belted out their favorite tunes. He didn't have to sneak around much either, since the staff had promised to do everything in their power to keep his presence a secret from the admin, in return for him to continue doing what he was doing. " Hullo, Stuart." he mumbled in a glum manner, as he turned a corner and bumped into the orderly who was twice as creepy that day. His colorful converse (to match his jacket) made a squeaky noise on the clean linoleum floor as he skidded to a stop.
"Oh, it's you again!" Stuart scowled on seeing him. "Ever so nice to see ya too, Stuart. Did I mention ya cheer everyone up with that feel good bedside manner?" Campbell resumed his greeting, returning to his usual happy and teasing self just to annoy the orderly who was allergic to even the teensiest smile. Campbell had often wondered whether some untimely, terrible event had occurred during lil Stu's childhood that'd turned him that way!
"Oi, don't act all smart with me, kay?! I know you've got somethin up that multicolored sleeve like ya always do...an' I'm watchin ya. I looked through a bunch o' charts, by the way. The last anorexic was discharged just a week ago. So, why are ya still ere, eh?" Campbell was taken by surprise as the orderly lost his temper with him and pinned him against the wall when no-one was looking. "I came to, uh...uh, see my wife! There she is! Yvonne! Love! Yoohoo...!" Campbell stammered, heaving a sigh of relief as he called out to his wife who hurried past just then, surprisingly ignoring the two men as she hurried by. "Honestly, Stuart, let the man go. Can't a fella see his wife once in a while, mate?" Dr. Andrews came to his rescue too, popping by just then with clipboard in hand. "Thanks, doctor." Campbell acknowledged, adjusting his shirt once Stuart had let go of him hesitantly. Stuart, with that scowl permanently fixed to his face, walked away, continuously staring coldly at Campbell as he did so.
"Honestly, the quality o' greetings has gone down round ere. Does Stuart always manhandle everyone, it is it just me for whom he harbors feelings? Funny fella, that Stuart!" Campbell joked once he'd shaken off the uneasiness, looking over the railing at his wife who was sitting by herself in the unused stairwell. She didn't chuckle at his lame joke like she usually did and he could hear her sniffle into her hanky. She was crying? She was usually so composed. Unlike him, she wasn't manic, bipolar or any of it. Not really prone to emotional outbursts like he was...or maybe it was the mood swings which came with the pregnancy. Anyway, it was really unlike Ivy to break down at her workplace like that.
  "Yvonne? Babe, ya ok? Ivy? Love...? What's wrong?" he enquired, sitting beside her on suspecting something amiss, squeezing her shoulder lovingly as he spoke. "Ya know that young boy I was treatin. The one with depression? Tim Hillard?" she reminded, drying her teary eyes as she addressed his question."Aye. Ya said he was makin progress, I believe? What bout im, love?" Campbell recalled. The family liked talking about their respective days at home so they were pretty much close knit. Campbell ensured that they wouldn't drift apart since he himself had spent much of his growing up years locked up and away from his own family and from his own dad especially. "His mum just called. Said he'd taken his own life...!" Yvonne replied, unable to continue further as she cried buckets into his colorful jacket.  "I should've been around more for im, ya know? It feels like...feels like I didn't do enough, ya know...to stop im. I failed im, that young boy...That poor young boy!" she blamed herself in a muffled voice, sobbing while Campbell held her.
  "Love, ya did all ya could." he began to comfort, embracing her as he spoke. "I mean I've pulled many a depressed soul outta that abyss...but, Tim....Tim was just so young...An' now he's gone!" she whimpered, finding it unbelievable that such a youthful creature had slipped away from her. He was quite attached to her and she to him, maybe cuz of the fact that he reminded her of her own late brother who'd succumbed to depression in his teens when she was at college. She tried hard not to get attached to her patients, but it was different with Tim.
"I shouldn't keep ya waitin. Yer probably gonna want to start yer show." she whispered hoarsely, pulling back from the wet mess she'd left behind on his jacket. "No, it's alright. Kris an' Jase can hold the fort. I'm ere for ya as long as ya like. I could make a coffee run, if ya like? I hardly drink the stuff, but ya look like ya need it." Campbell suggested, acting like the supportive hubby as he gently squeezed her hand. "That'd be nice, I guess." a mourning Ivy agreed. A wicked grin spread across clever Campbell's face as he spotted Stuart descending the stairwell for his snack break, oblivious to the couple's presence there. "Brilliant. Stuart, be a lamb an' fetch us some coffee, would ya? There's a good lad!" he called out, startling the orderly! He stared hard from husband to wife, finally sighing in exasperation since his job description required him to follow all the doctors' orders and cater to their every whim like a good orderly! He grumbled as he made his way up the stairs again.
Later that day, Campbell played a special song -Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers- dedicated to young Tim at the end of his show, his own way of ensuring some sort of closure for the nurses, inmates and everyone who was close to Tim and who were part of his adopted family at St. Dymphna's.