“Walk, Lola. Walk…” She fell down, hitting the grass with a crunch. Spurned on by adrenaline, I grabbed her. I hooked my arms under her armpits and pulled with everything I had.
“Push with your feet!” I begged as I desperately tried to get to the car. It was the only cover I could reach. Once behind, I let her rest. Those sirens were taking too fucking long to get here. I ripped off my cardigan and folded it, pressing it against her wound.
“Maia, look at me! Stay awake, okay?”
“I’m cold.”
“It’s just shock, remember? We were going to get a milkshake.” I began to laugh. She’d been joking about the car getting damaged. The crushed car now stuck on its side next to us.
The colour was draining from her face.
I heard the screech of tires as a car drove away.
Was it over? Were they gone?
Her eyes were closing and I felt a scream rip out of my throat.
“Don’t! Don’t! Maia!”
I heard a footstep behind me and I turned, expecting help but instead, seeing a masked man peering at me with a pair of eyes I didn’t recognise. He lifted his leg and his foot connecting my head was the last thing I remembered before darkness took me.
Thirty-Six
The light was too bright. So was the pain. Bright pain everywhere. I tried to count it but it came from too many parts of my body to make sense of it all.
My head thudded, it hurt to breathe, there was a sharp scratch in my hand. I coughed. That was worse. One cough and it felt like my chest was going to rip apart.
I didn’t want to wake up but the pain forced me to open my eyes and acknowledge it.
I opened my eyes. I was in a bed, there was a blanket over my legs and a pale blue curtain surrounded me. Machines beeped…machines that were attached to me.
Hospital. I was in the hospital. How? The last thing I remembered was that man. That man with the balaclava on.
And Maia. She was shot.
I tried to move and cried out in pain. It was only then I noticedhim.
Of course he was there. Alfie Tell. Sitting in a blue plastic chair, pristine as always, except his suit jacket was missing. My clothing was gone altogether. I could feel the gown, so much gentler on my skin than my jeans.
He was watching me, his eyes glued to my face so he didn’t miss when I woke up. I didn’t need to talk, he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. I coughed again and he helped me drink a sip of water, wiping away the spill with care.
“Where’s your jacket?” Of all the questions I had, I don’t know why that one came first.
“Your feet were cold. I couldn’t find another blanket. It’s busy in the hospital. Friday night.” Alfie was pale, shadows around his eyes. He looked like he’d aged a decade. “They had to cut your clothes off. You were a mess when I got here. I dressed you myself. Told them to fuck off if they thought I was going to leave you half-naked.”
“You can’t talk to medical staff like that.” I winced as the words scraped over my throat. The noise of my own voice pounded in my head.
“I know. I’ve apologised.”
I closed my eyes for a moment. All I wanted was to go back to sleep but there was too much to do, too many answers I needed. Alfie wasn’t alright. Tension radiated from him and despite everything that was happening, despite my own pain, I needed to make sure he was okay.
“Don’t blame yourself. Alfie, please.” His hand was in mine and I did my best to squeeze it. Just that touch alone hurt me but I didn’t want him to let go. I took as deep a breath as I could, trying to focus my spinning thoughts. “Maia…is she okay?”
“She’s in surgery. That’s all I know right now. I’m not family, they said I can’t know more.”
“Wow. Someone told you you can’t do something and you actually listened.”
“I’m having someone from my team access the hospital system. I’ll get an update when they fill out her notes.”
