Including where to find him when he didn’t want to be found.
“How did you find me?”
“How do you think?” Reg countered.
And Leo’s thoughts came full circle again, rinse and repeat. “You saw it in my file.”
“Yes, though it didn’t say exactly where your favourite tree was—just that you often retreated to the woods when things got bad at home.”
“But it’s not bad at home, is it? Everything’s fucking perfect in your world.”
“Nothing’s perfect, Leo. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy.”
“You’re wrong.” Leo tipped his head back on the tree trunk and closed his eyes. “I can’t be happy, but Lila can. You’ll help her, won’t you?”
“We want to help you both.”
Leo said nothing. If not for Reg’s hand on his arm, he’d have found the sleep dancing in front of him and sunk into the oblivion he so desperately craved.
Reg shook him gently. “Leo, we need to make some progress here, even if you don’t want to come home. You can’t stay here forever.”
Leo sighed. Why the hell not? The coldhurt, but he’d felt worse pain, and there was no point in moving just yet anyway. Not until Reg left and he could drift to the train station in peace.
Like he’d read Leo’s mind, Reg shook him again. “There’s nowhere to run from here, son. The police will pick you up the moment you get on a train or a bus.”
“I’m not your son.”
“I know, and I’m not trying to force you to come with me. I’m simply offering you a lift to wherever you want to go. You owe me nothing, but I can’t go home to Kate and Lila and tell them that I left you cold and bleeding in the woods.”
Leo opened his eyes and glanced at his arm. In the dark, it was shiny and swollen, the blood darkly vivid, like congealed rust. The sight of it frightened him, shock and horror breaking through the apathy that had kept him on the cold, muddy ground for so long. “It hurts.”
Reg nodded. “There’s an A and E department a few miles from here. Do you think you can walk that far? Or do you want to come with me now so I can drive you? Whatever you want. It’s your decision.”
That was bullshit, and they both knew it. The world would end before he left Leo in the woods to fend for himself, because Reg was a universe away from Dennis.
Perspective hit Leo like a train, but he still couldn’t find the words to acquiesce. He closed his eyes and thought of Charlie. He’d somehow detached himself from the knowledge that Charlie was likely a stone’s throw away, sat in Reg’s parked car outside the old house. He’d said good-bye already, even if Charlie hadn’t heard him. Could he do it again?
Leo was too tired to decide, and Reg took advantage of his silence by gently tugging him to his feet. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll drop you at the entrance, if that’s honestly what you want. The police will catch up with you eventually, but not through me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to. Just get in the car—I’ll do the rest.”
“Just get in the car—we’ll do the rest.”Kate’s words, so long ago at a house on the other side of the city, echoed in Leo’s chaotic brain. He hadn’t believed her then, and he didn’t believe Reg now, and the hopelessness that overwhelmed him was the same too. His legs wobbled, and Reg’s arm was like a snake around his waist.
“Come on,” Reg repeated. “You’re not going to get very far like this. You don’t want our help? To be part of our family? That’s fine, but at least let me take you to the hospital to get that arm looked at.”
Family.Away from Lila, and maybe Charlie too, the word didn’t mean much to Leo, but as Reg’s earnest gaze drilled holes in what was left of him, his remaining resolve evaporated. Desperate, he chased it down, fighting his battered body as it slumped into Reg’s supporting hold.No. I don’t want to—
But there was no end to that sentence, because Leo had nothing left. He clung to Reg’s waist and buried his face in his chest.I need help.
Reg rubbed his back, and then led him slowly through the woods and out into the street Leo had called home for most of his life. The car was parked a little way down the road. Leo stared at it, and wondered why it called to him so strongly.I don’t want to get in the car.But then one of the back doors opened and a hooded figure climbed out.Charlie . . . he’s here.
Somehow, Leo had forgotten. He stumbled. Reg caught him again, and called to Charlie. “Get in the car, son. We’re coming.”
Charlie obeyed. The car engine gunned like an F1 car, and Reg swore. “Damn it, Fliss. How many times have I told her about that heavy right foot, eh?”
Leo turned his face towards Reg as the light from the car illuminated them both. “One of your headlights doesn’t work. It hasn’t since you first took me and Lila to your house.”
