Wait.
What?
Why is James Royce troubled?
Okay. I can’t think about that now, I’ve got to talk him through my code. I glance at the time on my screen—10 a.m. I’ve only been in the office an hour, and this is already turning into the worst day I’ve had at work by a country mile.
Chapter 2
James
The sunlight is blinding when my eyes blink open, and I’m lying on something hard. But God, this is amazing! I’ve died and gone to heaven. Hitting the ground? I don’t even remember it! Not even painful. Who knew this would be so easy? I stare up at a beautiful sky.Wow. Fluffy white clouds. I’ve never seen a sky so blue. A gorgeous azure cleanliness that you never see in New York City … I heave in a huge gulp of air, relief streaming through me. Something dark and square looms in my peripheral vision, and I frown.
That looks remarkably like the entrance to the stairwell on our roof.
I turn my head.
Fuck.
My fingers wrap around something in my hand, and when I raise it to take a look, whatever it is slips suddenly, and pain blooms hot and hard across my cheek. Someone lets out a bloodcurdling yell.Christ.I curl into a ball on my side, holding my face as my stomach revolts. Vomit bubbles up my throat and out all over the concrete. A thin, pale liquid running over the surface in little rivulets and soaking in. Wet seeps into my hair, my scalp. A throb pulses in my cheekbone, on and on and on, and I touch my face, butOh Jesus!… Another loud yelp shoots out of me. When I bring my hand away, all I can see is blood and, fuck, glass, in the red.
Jesus.
Jesus.
Burning prickles under my skin. The ache in my cheek coils and tightens. I groan.Injuries.Hospitals.I fucking hate them. Isn’t Jo’s friend a doctor? Kate, that’s her, with her tattooed boyfriend who Des had a crush on.
Why am I on the roof of my apartment building? What the hell happened last night? Out of the corner of my eye, a plane is leaving a contrail in the blue. La Guardia? JFK?
Oh, Christ.
The new boyfriend turned up.
So we could be “introduced.”
Like that’s something you expect from the girl you were going to marry.
Kevin. He’s staying in our apartment. With her. In our bedroom, or her bedroom now, because I moved into the spare room a couple of months ago. It’s like a horror movie. I can’t stay there one more night listening to Kevin and watching Jane make eyes at him. Goddammit, Jane can’t find me in this state either.
I try to move, but the excruciating pain in my face makes more vomit rise in my throat. A sharp spasm shoots up my leg, and I gag as more runny liquid spills from my mouth.
What the fuck do I do now? Who could I even call? Jane and I have been a couple for so long that I don’t have any friends who aren’t hers, too. I close my eyes. Just rest here for a bit, take some time to pull yourself together. You’ve had a nasty shock. You can lie here for a minute or two while your stomach calms down.
An unsteady sigh escapes me as sunlight dances on the insides of my eyelids, but I don’t see the sun climbing slowly up in the sky.
The next thing I know, a soft hand is moving my chin, and my eyes blink open to a concerned face and blond curls.
“Des, what the hell are you doing here?” My voice is like sandpaper.
“Is he okay?” someone says from behind Des. Is that Pat, our janitor? Whythe fuck is he up here? The NO ACCESS sign skitters across my mind. I groan. Somehow, I’m on my back again. I start to roll onto my side, but the stabbing pain in my body takes my breath away as Des’s hand lands on my chest.
“Stay still,” he says, then, “You’ve got a nasty gash on your face, and you’ve done something to your leg. Pat, if you can help me move him downstairs, I can take him to the hospital.”
I’ve done something to my leg?I guess the agony you’re in would be a reliable indicator of that, Sherlock. But I’m not going to any hospital.
“I only checked up here because the alarm on the roof door was triggered last night,” Pat starts. “I’d forgotten all about it. It does that in high winds sometimes, so I don’t usually bother. When you called me this morning, I thought I should take a look.”
“It’s fine. Thank you for checking,” Des says.
