“I’m not a prisoner, am I?”
“Of course not,” the nurse scoffed.
Thomas tried to catch his eye. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is, I’m trying to go for a piss and you’re stopping me.”
Scott denied him eye contact.
“There’s individual toilets twenty metres down the corridor” – the nurse pointed which way to go – “you’ll see the signs.”
“Thank you,” Scott whispered.
Thomas still hadn’t released him.
“Thomas…”
Scott suspected it was the crack in his voice that made Thomas let go.
“I’ll be right back,” Scott said brightly, before leaving the cubicle.
He swayed on his feet at the bright lights and the flurry of movement as people rushed up and down the corridor. So many people were talking, and their murmurs droned in Scott’s head. He pushed into the first available toilet cubicle, locked the door and sat down on the seat. It was the lock, the walls around him, and the solid floor-to-ceiling door that allowed him to break down.
He touched his head for the first time, running his finger over his scalp, before twisting it around a lock of hair Warren had missed. He bit his lip to catch a sob.
It felt horrible, tatty, rough.
Knuckles rapped against the door. “Let me in.”
Scott slumped. He should’ve known Thomas would follow him.
He bit his lip. “I’m fine, go check on Tim –”
“Tim was discharged hours ago. Carly came to get him.”
It had taken a long time for Scott to be assessed, then stitched and bandaged. The doctor hadn’t decided whether he wanted Scott to stay in overnight thanks to the concussion, which Scott wanted to hard pass on if the option came his way.
“Scott…”
“I’m… I’m too tired.”
“I’ll get the doctor.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m… I’m too tired to keep it up.” He scrubbed his face, wiping his fingers against his lower lashes before tears could fall.
“Keep what up?”
Scott gestured to the fake smile despite Thomas not being able to see. “The…the mask.”
“Let me in.”
“But —”
“Please,Scott, you don’t need to lock yourself away to lick your wounds, especially when I’d lick them for you.”
Scott snorted. “That’s gross.”
“I know.”
