Chapter 8 - 8. Sensational
There were not many things Magnus was scared of. But his angry mom was an exception. This was on his mind as he was immediately taken to the trauma centre to be given first aid.
"It'll be all right, sweety, we will contact your parents soon and they will be here." A nurse sweet-talked with him.
Magnus was not in pain and he wasn't even trying to hide it. But these doctors had forced him to lay on his belly on the bed as they thought he was burned on the back.
He didn't have a problem with that, but at the moment, clothes from his back were burnt and he could feel the air on his back and ass. It was wide open for the view.
"Actually, my mom works here. Also, can you please put some cover on me? I feel cold." He asked nicely.
The nurse didn't seem very smart as she put the blanket on him. She shouldn't have done it because if he was really burnt then it would have irritated the wounds.
"What's your mom's name? I'll tell her to come then." She asked kindly.
"Her name is Grace Grant, she's a heart surgeon." He reveals.
"Oh, you're Ma'am Grant's son. I'll go and call her quickly." She got up and left.
Meanwhile, Magnus quickly rubbed his back on the blanket and wiped it all clean so that the normal colour of his skin could be seen.
He then laid straight instead of on his belly and looked around. Soon he noticed Bobby was there too, eating an ice-cream. So he called him.
"I thought you weren't injured." Magnus inquired.
"I wasn't. But they still brought me here. I was about to call home and go away when I saw them giving free ice-cream. So I stayed. *Lick*" Bobby replied.
"Hehe, bring me one too. Ah... I'm hurt... I can't move..." Magnus acted.
Bobby got alerted, "Just wait here, mate."
Soon, the two bros were seen happily eating ice cream.
"Magnus... Thanks... If it weren't for you... none of would be seeing the light again." Bobby suddenly said.
Magnus was surprised by Bobby's sudden change of tone. He patted Bobby's shoulder.
"I did it for myself too, Bobby. I didn't want to get burned either." Magnus calmed him down.
But Bobby suddenly frowned and looked where Magnus patted him.
"Dammit, you wiped your hand on me..." He complained, making Magnus laugh.
After they had eaten, Bobby asked Magnus something that made him serious.
"Hey, Mag. What happens when you die? I saw what happened to the bus driver... I... he was laughing not long ago when we were getting on the bus and then suddenly he... I feel weird." Bobby shared his thoughts. He was just 9 years old, these thoughts were common to arise.
Bobby may act silly and funny, but he was still a smart boy. He was good at his studies too because his parents had taught him that if he doesn't like living in near-poverty then work hard and try to change the situation. That was Bobby's motivation.
Magnus took a long breath. He also wasn't sure what happened.
"Bobby, I feel that we are too young to talk about such things. It was frightening seeing him like that. I was honestly a bit scared, thinking that my end would be like that. That was why I tried so hard to break the window.
"But it also opened my eyes. We are so... weak... so easy to break. Our bodies are like glass." Magnus said.
Bobby nodded. "What should we do to get strong then?"
"I don't know... Exercise maybe? A lot of it and keep ourselves prepared for any worse situation. That's all I can think of." Magnus thought loudly.
"Hmm," Bobby stayed quiet after that. He was a bit shaken.
They were sitting silently when suddenly a figure rushed to him. It was, of course, his mom. She was frightened already. First, the fever had kept her scared and now this. It was bad for her health.
"MAGNUS..." she reached his hand and held it.
"How are you? Are you hurt?" She asked.
"No mom, nothing happened to me. Just got my clothes burned, I'm as good as you saw me in the morning." Magnus tried to clarify before any misunderstandings arose.
"Didn't any doctor see you yet?" She asked and looked around. She saw a captain ranked doctor checking other kid's injuries.
"Captain, where is my son's file?" She asked. She herself was a lieutenant colonel.
The doctor turned to Grace and recognised her, "Ma'am, we have not checked him yet. Let me get the records from paramedics."
He quickly brought a file and looked for Magnus' name. His brows furrowed when he saw it. It stated severe burns on the back but Magnus seemed fine,
"Magnus, can you show me your back? I need to check if there are any burns." He said.
Magnus happily showed him as this also reduced his headache. When the doctor saw him fine, he immediately crossed the report.
"Magnus is fine, Ma'am, you can take him home." He declared and went to treat other kids who were severely injured.
Grace turned back to Magnus and stared daggers at him. But she didn't say anything and just checked his temperature by placing her hand on his forehead.
To her worries, he was still as warm as before.
"Magnus, your mum will grow old early if I keep on worrying so much." She said.
"Mummy, it's all fine. I am healthy and uninjured. Maybe, I am just special... or weird." Magnus tried to calm her down.
"I hope you are right. Okay, you rest here, I will finish my work and we will go home together. I will call your dad too. Bobby, is your mum coming?" She inquired.
"I haven't called home yet," Bobby replied as he ate his 3rd ice-cream.
"Call them and tell them that I will drop you off. Stay here with Magnus until then." She suggested and went back to her department to work. She had to do some minor surgeries today.
Bobby was happy with this arrangement. There wasn't anything to do at his home anyway and he liked spending time with Magnus, or at his home because his family had a colour T.V. and they would watch Tom & Jerry, Scooby-Doo or some movie. T.Vs had become common in those days but still cost a decent amount of money.
They just passed their time, talking and waiting till the evening. But then a policeman came to talk to Magnus.
Surprising to Magnus, the policeman was actually Tom, the constable who had found Magnus when he was lost. Tom was also a bit surprised but not much. He specifically came to look for Magnus and he had a hunch that this was the same kid.
"Hello, kid. How are you? I'm here to get your statement. Do you have a guardian here? I need them to oversee." Tom said. He was being professional at the moment because this incident was not a small matter. The journalists were already roaming around the hospital, trying to smell some sensational detail or something else.
"Yes, my mummy works here. But she is busy. Why do you want to talk to me anyway?" Magnus asked with interest.
Constable Tom smiled and patted Magnus' head, "Magnus, I am proud of you. Don't act so humble now. I recorded statements from your teacher and other kids. All of them said that you saved them. You even saved your teacher's life from imminent death. I'm sure the police will reward you later for your bravery."
Magnus scratched his head in nervousness. "Ummm... is there any way to not spread the news about me? I'll be grounded if my parents find out that I acted so dumbly. It's brave for the world but for them, it would be stupid."
"Haha, I understand, Magnus. But I'm afraid, this matter is out of my hands now. An official investigation will be launched soon, and this accident involved children, it's a sensitive matter, so the police, as well as the city government, will be taking this very seriously." Tom explained.
In defeat, he sighed. But then he looked at Bobby and had an idea, ~Yes, when will he be of use?~
"Bobby, are you hurt a lot?" Magnus asked.
Bobby stared back with a questioning gaze, "No, it's just a little bump."
"Good, then for the next 5 days, you should come to my place after going home today. We shall play and watch movies." Magnus proposed. His plan was simple, that his parents wouldn't be able to say anything to him with Bobby around.
"REALLY? wicked, I shall come then. My mummy never says no to visiting you." Bobby was happy.
But Magnus had no idea how much this whole thing was going to explode soon. A 9 years old kid, saving all his classmates and the teacher, that was a story straight out of superhero comics. It was a piece of perfectly sensational news that the masses would enjoy reading, so, how could the various news houses not capitalise on it?
The newspaper and television news-media was already on the rise so nothing could stay ignored for too long.
Soon, Magnus' mom came and he gave the vague statement to Tom, trying not to let his mother know much. He told everything he did, omitting the fact that he was able to heat the metal to bend it.
After that, they headed home after dropping Bobby at his home. By the time they reached home, it was 8 PM.
Adam had already come home and had cooked dinner for them. They washed up and sat down at the dinner table to eat. In the background, the television was showing BBC1 channel that was showing news at the moment.
[NEWS: Today, a tragic accident occurred when a school bus collided with a dumper, causing a fire in the bus. The driver died on the spot, but all the 30 children and the teacher were able to reach to safety, all thanks to the heroic 9 years old, 5th grader, Magnus Grant. When the emergency door did not open due to being stuck, Little Magnus broke the window, bent the safety bar and helped everyone get out, not just that, he saved his teacher, who had passed out due to smoke as she had asthma. His heroic deed is being talked about all across....]
Magnus had frozen in his place, the spoon just hovered in front of his mouth as he was about to eat. His parents were also frozen, but they turned their heads back towards Magnus.
Magnus felt a bit nervous, thinking that a scolding was going to come soon. But, to his shock, his mum and dad got up, came to his side and hugged him tightly.
His mum left a kiss on his cheek. His dad patted his back while repeating, "I'm proud of you, son."
"Sweetie, you did the right thing... but be careful from now on. Okay?" His mum added.
A big smile crept onto Magnus' face. ~*sigh* I was worried for nothing.~
*Knock Knock*
*Doorbell*
Suddenly, someone knocked and rang the bell. It was night time so they were confused about who it could be.
Adam went to check it out. But he was left shocked. There were about 10 people in front of his house, and 4 policemen were trying to move them away as they flashed their bulky cameras and clicked photos.
[You can see Magnus' parents on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]
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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely*
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