Love Lost and Found

Chapter 4/?

//I have to find him! He must be there! He has to! I don’t know where else to look for him… I cannot be wrong!// was all Viggo could think as he ran towards the river. Small twigs and branches brushed past him and scratched his skin but he didn’t care, he just kept on running as fast as he could. //I have to be on time! I have to!//
Finally he stumbled into the clearing and looked frantically around him. “No!” he groaned.
No sign of Orlando anywhere. //I have been wrong… I failed him… if he dies, it’s my fault//.
Sobbing Viggo fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands. He could not believe what had happened. Suddenly he saw something reflect the light somewhere to his left. At once he got up and approached the place where he had seen the light.
“No!” screaming he ran towards Orlando, who was leaning against the trunk of a tree, his head had rolled to the side and a bloody gash marred his throat. “Heavens, no…” whispered Viggo as he saw the hunting-knife in Orlando’s hand. “Please…” Shocked he stared at the blood that was still flowing from the wound. A choked sob escaped his lips as he rushed forward and gathered Orlando into his arms, feeling for a pulse. //Please!// he prayed //Please let there be a pulse! His heart has to beat! He cannot die like this… please don’t let him!//
Desperately he tried to stop the bleeding, pressing his fingers onto the wound trying to push it closed. //Help… I have to get help… a doctor… maybe… if they get him to hospital…//
Still shocked Viggo took out his cell-phone and dialled the emergency-number. It seemed like an eternity to him till the man on the other end of the line finally understood what had happened and where Viggo was. He promised to send an ambulance at once.
With a sigh of relief Viggo let the phone fall to the ground and once again concentrated on Orlando. The wound was still bleeding but he had the impression that the bleeding wasn’t as bad as it had been when he had found him. //I hope that’s a good sign… but what if it isn’t? He has lost so much blood already…maybe there just isn’t anymore in him…//
“No!” he said aloud “You have to stop thinking like that! He’s going to be alright… he has to… Where the fuck is that ambulance?” He had screamed the last sentence, still on his knees with Orlando in his arms. //They have to get him in time…// Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he thought of what would happen if Orlando died. //No… think positive! He’s going to live! Just keep on thinking of that! He’s going to live… he’s going to live…//
He made it his mantra, repeating the phrase in his thoughts over and over again till the ambulance finally arrived.
Helplessly he stood back and watched as the paramedics treated Orlando’s wound and carried him into the ambulance, never leaving Orlando’s side. //Why? How could you? What made you do this?// were the question that kept spinning round his head as he sat in the ambulance, the streets flying past them in the flashing of the blue emergency-light and the squeal of the siren. He was even more worried as he noticed how pale Orlando was. Almost as pale as the sheets he lay on.
“…should keep you in, too?” “What?!?” snapped Viggo as he suddenly noticed that the paramedic had been talking to him for quite some time now. “You seem to have a shock, Sir,” the paramedic repeated cautiously “I merely suggested that it might be better if we took you in for observation and” “No!” Viggo stated firmly. “I’m alright…” he gulped as he felt a lump forming in his throat “It’s just that… well… I… I don’t understand… how could anyone want to… I mean… he… I thought I knew him and now…” with a broken sob he trailed off and averted his face as the paramedic tried to look at him, trying to smile gratefully as the man patted his hand encouragingly. “We’ll be at the hospital soon,” he said “we’re almost there. He’s going to be alright, you’ll see…”
“I hope so…” whispered Viggo, staring at Orlando’s limp form again. “Dear god, I hope he will be…”

Viggo hated hospitals. He always had and every time he had to go to a hospital his dislike intensified. For more than an hour he had been pacing the waiting room, not caring if his hectic walking and muttering disturbed the other patients in the room. The doctor had said something about sewing, maybe even surgery. With every minute that passed, Viggo was becoming more and more agitated.
He spun around as the door opened and a doctor and two policemen entered the room. He frowned. //Police? What are they here for?//
“Who of you is” the doctor started and then consulted the clip-board he was holding “Ah yes, Mr Mortensen?”
“I am.” Replied Viggo and took a few steps towards the doctor. “You’re the one who’s treating Orlando? How is he? Will he live?”
“All in time, Mr Mortensen,” the doctor admonished. “I am doctor Stein. Frank N. Stein. I’m the one who’s treating Orlando. If you’d please follow me to my office? We can talk there.”
Viggo hadn’t even time to nod his approval before doctor Stein turned around and marched out of the room. Dazed he followed him, worried as he noticed that the two policemen were at once at his heels.

“Have a seat, Mr Mortensen.” Doctor Stein said and gestured at one of the chairs. “This are Officer McLac and and Sergeant Goodie. They have been assigned to this case.”
“What do you mean “assigned to this case”?” asked Viggo.
“Well, you see, Mr Mortensen,” Officer MacLachlan said “We have to make sure that this was indeed a suicide-attempt and not an attack..”
“Attack?!?” repeated Viggo incredulously “What do you mean, attack? Who should want to attack Orlando?”
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to find out, Mr Mortensen.” Sergeant Goodie chimed in. “You were the one who found him?”
“Yes but..”
“How did you know where to look for him?” Officer MacLachlan asked at once.
“I wanted to visit him…” Viggo recalled “I got worried when I noticed that his front door was open. I searched for him but he wasn’t at home. And then I found the letter.”
“Which letter?”
“It was some sort of good-bye, I think… I was afraid he might do something stupid and so I went to search for him…”
“The paramedics we questioned said that you were down by the river with him.” Officer MacLachlan stared at his notebook intently. “You said you were in his house… how did you know where to search for him?”
“I found a photo…”
“Ah yes, a photo. And this photo told you to go to the river?”
“Yes!”
“You must admit Mr Mortensen that this sounds rather… well, unbelievable…”
“Unbelievable? I am the one who called the ambulance! “ Viggo yelled “Would I have done that if I had attacked him?”
“You might have, if you had been sure that he wouldn’t survive…” Sent Gnt Goodie looked at Viggo speculatively.
“That’s enough!” Doctor Stein interjected. “According to the paramedics Mr Mortensen is himself somewhat in shock. I think it’d be better, Officer, Sergeant, if you left now and continued this at a more appropriate time!”
“Of course, doctor.” Officer MacLachlan said. “We will.” And with that the two left.
“Thanks doctor.” Viggo said quietly.
“You’re welcome Mr Mortensen.” The elderly man replied “I gathered from your behaviour that you’re really worried about your friend, so I decided to help you.”
“Then I am even more in your debt. How is he?”
Doctor Stein sighed. “It doesn’t look too good. We have sewn the wound and stilled the bleeding but he is still unconscious and we do not know if he will wake again. He has lost a lot of blood. You’re a friend of his, do you know if his family is here?”
“No,” Viggo shook his head “His mother and his sister are still in England, I can give you their phone-er ier if you want.”
“That would be great. I understand you are both part of a film-crew?”
“Yes, yes we are. Why?”
“He hasn’t regained consciousness yet, Mr Mortensen, and I don’t know if he ever will. The director has to be informed. I’d like to ask you to do this. We’ll keep him here for the time being. We may be only a small hospital but we are well enough equipped to care for your friend.”
“Thanks doctor.” Viggo said, his throat suddenly dry “I will inform the directors. Please…”
“Yes?”
“Would you call me if his situation improves? May I visit him?”
“But of course,” doctor Stein smiled “it might help if he hears a voice he is used to. Till your visit then, Mr Mortensen. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye, Doctor.” Viggo replied and left the office, heading straight for the nearest telephone-booth while trying to think of a way to explain the evening’s events to Peter Jackson.

Tbc…