Who's to Blame part I

"You'll be speaking to my lawyer" said Mr Wright. His voice was so loud I held the receiver away from my ear. "I'm only a nurse, I don't want to speak to a lawyer. I'm the person trying to help your son, Mr Wright." I struggled not to rush my words, struggled to stay calm. "My son could have died, and you let this happen, you know what these kids get up to, and don't do anything to prevent it. It's a disgrace, no, it's criminal."

At the age of fifteen, Jeremy was already a veteran of boarding schools. The last eight years of his life had been spent in a boarding school because his father was an oil man, and went wherever the huge multinational corporation sent him. He was a good kid, but he, along with his father, was guilty of the most common crime here at this school. It just wasn't quite time to tell him this yet.

I tried to change topic a little, move away from confrontation. "Perhaps you should come and see your son, he'll be in hospital a few days. It would help..." I never got to finish the sentence. "Help who? My son or you. I'm a busy man, I can't get away from work. Just do your job. I hold you personally responsible for making sure my son gets well." I found it strange the way he threatens me with lawyers, then expects me to patch up his sick son and holds me responsible. It was time to play hardball.

"Mr Wright, it would be easier if you were here because the Police will probably like to speak to you. To clear up some details." It wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't far off. Jeremy had taken ecstasy and been found unconscious outside a night club. He seemed to be making a full recovery, but it could very easily have turned out fatal. The police had actually been the first people to find Jeremy lying on the sidewalk.

"No, no, no, you'll have to take care of that. They don't need me there. Why do they want to speak to me?" I could sense the worry, the doubt. "I'm not sure, but Jeremy is only fifteen, not old enough to book a hotel on his own. You did tell the school that he was staying with an Uncle" I replied. The school only let students leave the campus overnight if they had parental permission that they would be staying with family.

"We are helping how we can, but he was your responsibility. I understand you are worried about your son, but we can't look after children when you don't tell us the whole story. There wasn't any uncle, there wasn't any adult supervision." There was silence on the other end of the line.