“This is absurd,” he lamented, and swiftly got up from the couch, and walked to the netted window. Then, he leaned on the sill and admired the island from the tenth floor of a fifteen-story building, as if that would solve his problem. To an extent, it did because an idea occurred to him.
“I can give his deputy a call,” he reasoned. At once, he returned to the couch, and dialed Dr. Livingston's line, and he picked instantly. Now, Murphy was relieved.
“Hello, Mr. Abel,” he greeted with a desolate voice. At that point, Murphy's heart skipped a beat, and he prayed secretly for their safety.
“Hello, Dr. Livingston. It is good to hear from you,” he greeted with a forced cheer, and avoided questions. The deputy thought that he was aware of the explosive, and Dr. Parker's accident, and had called to commiserate with him. So, he waited for his commiseration.
“I'm delighted to hear from you, too. I hope that you are good,” he inquired while waiting for his question.
“I am good. Thank you for your interest.”
“It is my pleasure,” Dr. Livingston responded. Now, Murphy had run out of patience, and went straight to the point.
“I wish to speak with the Head of the Government, but his phone had been off.”
“It is expected. He didn't escape the inferno with his phone yesterday?”
“Escape! What happened?”
“Oh! I thought you were aware.”
“Aware of what, please.”
Now, Dr. Livingston got the clear picture, and narrated how the Head of the Government escaped from the bombed Government House, and how he was rushed to the hospital.
“This is serious. I read from the online news that someone was rescued from the collapsed building, but I never believed that it could have been him because he ought to have been off work at that time.”
“You thought rightly. We visited the Government Hospital at Cord with some visitors from Kent, and returned late. We were on our home, but he stayed behind to write a report.”
“Oh my God. So, how is he? I hope that he is responding to treatment.”
“Well,” he remarked.
“Talk to me, Dr. Livingston. I am aware that your medical team is on their toes,” Murphy played along based on the reports he got from Dr. Parker, and the disbursements in that regard. Now, the deputy was in a fix. He was aware of the games that Dr. Parker had been playing with the United Nations. Although, he was against him, but based on their fraternity, and the oath of allegiance, he played along. Now, discarding his devotion to the oath seemed imperative.
“I'm sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Abel. The medical system in Zingcord is in shambles.”
“Shambles? I got a report from him that he visited a government hospital yesterday to felicitate with the patients. And when he discovered a critical case, he sent him abroad for treatment,” Murphy pointed out hastily, and he listened attentively. At the end, he confessed their deeds, and asked for mercy.
A Week Later.
At the Clinic.
Kenny was almost recovered, and could walk with crutches or a wheelchair. Although, Denise had given him a hug, but he had one immediate need. The promotion of the concert in Zingcord was on a top gear, and he wished to attend. He wondered how a foreigner from Kent would be allowed to hold a concert in the National Square. And that would also give him the opportunity to see the young Superstar.
“I can complete my treatment at home now the head of the government had remembered the hospital,” he thought.
At Zingcord
Due to poor medical attention, Dr. Parker’s recovery was slow. The humanitarian, who doubled as a patient and a medical doctor, was doing his best. The deputy head of the government ensured that the food bank at Dr. Parker’s house was opened, through the aid of his wife, who was against his administration, and there was enough to eat in the hospital. His wife visited him regularly, but he was oblivious of her presence.
Nevertheless, with the jingle of the Peace Concert coming up the following week, Dr. Livingstone wondered about the event. The organizers were publicizing the event as though they owned the country. To avoid more mistakes, Dr. Livingstone, asked, “The organizers had not contacted us, what do we do?” He asked his aid on one occasion.
“From my understanding, the concert is on peace and reconciliation,” the aid pointed out.
“You are right. They thought that there was truly a war.”
“That is it. I suggest that we contact them through the contact in the jingle.”
“I think that is a good idea. What do we tell them?” He asked, and gave the aid a demanding look. The aid looked at him for a few seconds, and proposed, “We can tell them that we would be pleased to welcome them to our country.”
“That is a good idea, but what about asking them to inform us officially?”
“I doubt that they would be willing to. Otherwise, they would have done that earlier before the jingle.”
“You are right. From the look of things, we cannot stop them, and all eyes are on us.”
“You got it, boss. The least we will do is to play dumb, and cast our pride aside, and support them.”
“That is the right thing to do. You can get across to them.”
“Consider it done, boss,”
At Dover
After they returned from Zingcord, Olivia, and Jude had been busy with the planning of the event. Due to its nature, they got more sponsors than they ever got, mostly in the areas of clothing, and nutritional food for children. Nevertheless, some producers of dairy products, who were unaware of the relationship between the organizers and Mr. Brown’s dairy product, felt it was time to outsmart him by associating with the event. They accommodated them, but the jingle only displayed where Daniel was feeding the children with his uncle’s products. Howbeit, he increased the supply of the dairy products to five million since the beneficiaries could always store them.
At the United Nation’s Headquarters
After Murphy returned to his office, and gave his report, the house concluded that Dr. Parker would be arrested, whether dead or alive and charged for genocide. Presently, they worked with the deputy, who conduct had exonerated him from all accusations. He had proved that he was only loyal to the Head of the government. After Dr. Livingstone’s aid contacted Jude over the concert, and they reached a consensus, he informed Mr. Abel, and he consented to it.
“It is better than sponsoring ammunition suppliers,” he made clear.
“You are right, Mr. Abel,” the deputy consented.
At last, the UN paid the bills for the concert and Olivia was richer.
On the D-Day,
The team moved to Zingcord a few days to the event, while Olivia stayed with her parents in-law. Kenny was glad that he could make it. His recovery rate was encouraging, and he moved around with crutches. During the event, Jude made himself known, and expressed his disapproval of war. He narrated his pathetic story of how he suffered, and omitted the criminal aspect, before Denise rescued him. While he was narrating his story, the few citizens of Zingcord, who could make it to the National Square, were close to tears. Dr. Parker, who watched the event from his hospital bed, was ashamed of himself and his only wish was to die instead of facing the wrath of the law.
“How may we compensate you for all that you went through?” Mr. Abel asked Jude after his story. Jude only looked on, and could not think of any compensation. Then, he continued, “The organization would think of a suitable compensation for your trouble.”
“I am greatly honored,” Jude appreciated.
The event was a resourceful and uniting one. Denise succeeded in defending his title, and The UN added more caps to his feathers as the sole supplier of ammunition to any country in need. The videos of the event went viral and Stephen was shocked when he saw the video, “What! So, Jude is not dead?” he exclaimed when he saw a transformed Jude. He could only identify him through his name and story.
After he secured his family's land, they returned to Kent while Kenny stayed behind, and helped in rebuilding his country as much as he could.