Page 31 - EAMMV3

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
changed Roger’s life.
“I don't think you belong here,” the man said.
Those words cracked Roger open like an egg. He'd
said it to himself a hundred times. His hard shell was
broken and his gentle heart was revealed.
Liam was a paramedic. “I don’t know why I spoke
to him. I’d seen him a few times and he just didn’t fit
in; I just knew he needed help.”
They talked over coffee, and Liam learned that
Roger had a son in Preston, less than 30 miles away.
They hadn’t spoken in 4 years: Roger was too
ashamed. Liam got Roger a room for the night in a
shelter and offered to meet him at the bus station and
buy him a ticket to Preston the next day.
After some persuading, Roger gave Liam
permission to call his son Andy. Liam contacted Andy
and told him the plan.
“Life was never easy with dad.” Andy told Liam.
“He was a respected physics professor at Lancashire U.
I used to idolize him but his obsession with work got
him addicted to prescription pills and eventually I felt
ashamed and angry. Mum left; I left, and he lost the
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