by Elouise East
He indicated for Casey, who had not left the room, and Angie to help move him. “If you can steady his left arm, Casey, to minimise movement while I investigate what we’re working with. On three. One, two, three.” They lifted Craig to his side, amid groans from him, and Alex got the first view of his back. “Fuck,” he mouthed as he saw the whole of Craig’s spine littered with the redness of initial bruising, the same as it had been the first time he’d been in A&E. He made a quick check of the head wound while Craig was moved.
“Right, let’s lay back down on three. One, two, three.” Craig was laid flat again, his breathing uneven through the exertion.
Alex swallowed before continuing his audio description. “Severe initial bruising the length of the spine and all surrounding areas.” He couldn’t say anymore, he was…he didn’t know. He wiped a hand over his face.
A nurse came in. “CT is available now if you wish to take him?”
Alex nodded. “Thanks. Can you send in an orderly, please?”
The nurse nodded and retreated again.
He stumbled over to Casey. “Holy fuck, Casey.” He tried to keep calm when all he wanted to do was burst into tears for Craig’s sake. He wished the anger would come streaming through his body again. He needed to keep his cool, and crying wouldn’t help anything.
Casey gripped the back of his neck. “Keep it together. I have a call to make, but I will be back shortly, alright?”
Alex nodded and watched Casey exit the room, leaving the beeping of the machines, Angie’s movements and everyone’s breathing sounding loud in the quiet.
“Alex?”
He quickly moved over to Craig’s side. “Hey.”
“I’m tired.” His voice was soft, the whisper seemingly coming easier than normal vocals.
“I know. I need you to stay awake for a little while longer, alright? We’re going to take you for a CT scan, and then we will be able to figure out what other pain relief we can give you.” Alex wanted to touch him but didn’t want to create any unnecessary pain.
Craig didn’t respond, but Alex could see he was watching him. As close as they were, Alex couldn’t miss when a tear left the corner of Craig’s eye and slid into his hairline.
His heart broke. He gently grasped Craig’s hand of his uninjured arm. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.” They stared at each other for a split second before a throat clearing took Alex’s attention.
The orderly went to the opposite side of the bed, nodded a greeting to Craig and unstrapped some of the equipment. Alex took the file from Angie and headed out with them to the scan. Alex didn’t want Craig to be out of sight at all, although he knew that wouldn’t be possible. His mind was all over the place, and the thought which kept him sane was that Darren had been arrested, something Casey had divulged when they’d initially entered the room.
The scan didn’t take long, and soon they were back in the treatment room, Craig being hooked up the equipment again; they needed to keep an eye on his blood pressure and his oxygen levels. Once the orderly left, Alex collected what he needed to wash Craig; he had blood all over his face, which had yet to be cleaned properly.
“Right, Craig. Let’s get you cleaned up.” He readied a wet cloth. Carefully washing the areas he believed would be the least sore, he gently swiped across the skin to clean the blood, taking the cloth back to the basin to rinse and repeat until all that was left were his nose and eyes. “This might be slightly uncomfortable now. I’m going to try and clear up your nose.”
Alex wiped as gently as he could, taking note of every wince and groan and wishing he could alleviate all the pain Craig had. It wasn’t his job to clean him up, but Alex couldn’t bear to see him bloody for longer than he had to; it was selfish of him, but he needed something to help keep everything locked away. Otherwise, he’d be on the floor, rocking in a corner from everything he was feeling.
When Craig’s features were once again visible, Alex took in his injuries. “You don’t seem to have a broken nose. I’m going to press it gently to check if there is something I can’t see. I’m sorry to hurt you again.” He palpated his nose, not feeling any broken bones, thankfully. “No, you’re all good there. Your eyes are possibly bruised from the knock to your nose, but we will have more information when your results come back.”
Alex didn’t know why he was talking; Craig probably wanted to rest in silence, but he couldn’t help it. Alex wanted Craig to realise he wasn’t alone anymore. It helped to keep Craig awake until the CT results come back. Once there were confirmed, Alex would know the next course of action.
“Can you tell me what colour the sky is?” Alex cleaned Craig’s hands.
There was silence. “Purple.”
Alex gawked at Craig, relaxing when he saw the small tilt to one corner of his mouth. “Ha, ha, very funny.” He returned to cleaning, a few superficial scratches catching his attention.
There was a knock at the door, and Alex called out for them to enter, whoever it was. Casey popped his head around the doorframe, smiled, and came in, closing the door behind him again.
“Hey, how’s the patient?” Casey looked down at Craig.
“Cocky.” Alex grinned.
Casey glanced over at him, then returned to Craig. “Good for you. Don’t listen if he starts telling jokes; pretend you’re asleep. They’re awful.”
“Hey!” Alex was not in the least bit upset.
“What? It’s true!” Casey argued.
“If they’re bad, why do you laugh over and over at them, eh?” Alex countered.
Casey laughed and winked at Craig, moving away from the bed, signalling with his head for them to move. He lowered his voice. “The police are here.”
Alex nodded slowly. “I don’t know if he’s ready to talk to them, but we can see.”
“I called my brother and asked if he would be able to take the case. He’s arrived; therefore, I’m assuming he has. He’ll sort it out. I promise.” Casey appeared solemn.
“Thanks, Casey. I appreciate it.” Alex reached up and squeezed Casey’s shoulder. Wandering back over to Craig, he leaned over him. “Hey, Craig. The police are here to talk to you.” Craig’s eyes widened. “Are you ready to speak to them?”
Craig hesitated, closing his eyes and opening them again the little he could. “Okay.”
Alex nodded at Casey, who left the room and re-entered a few seconds later, followed by a guy and a woman, who he was acquainted with from previous cases in A&E.
“Craig, this is Detective Sergeant Logan Taylor and Police Constable Ava Walker. Logan is my brother, you’re in good hands. Right, I’m going to head out. I’ll see you all later.” He shut the door behind him as he left.
Alex leaned over Craig, making eye contact. “I’ll be right outside, alright? I won’t go far. Shout me if you need me.” He stood up and took a step to the door before Craig’s voice interrupted his exit.
“Stay.”
Chapter 11
Craig
He didn’t know why he wanted Alex to stay, but he knew he didn’t want to do this on his own. Lying flat on his back to alleviate the strain on his spine, he couldn’t see if any looks were shared in the silence that ensued, but Alex moved back to his side.
“Are you sure?” Alex asked.
“Yes.” He caught movement, and a guy came to a standstill on the opposite side of the bed to Alex.
“My name’s Logan. The woman at the end of the bed is Ava.” Logan was built. There was no other word for it. Craig couldn’t be sure whether Darren or Logan would win in a fistfight between them; they were similar in muscle mass. He had a barely-there moustache and “chin beard” as Craig called it, softening his Roman features some. And Logan had crinkles next to his eyes and mouth, indicating a love of laughter which eased Craig’s mind. Logan pulled out a notepad and pen. “Firstly, I want to let you know Darren Corrigan has been arrested and is being held for the moment. I will let you know more information as soon as I have it. I will not keep you in the dark wi
th this.”
Craig said nothing. He didn’t know how to feel towards Darren at that point. He was coming around to the idea that he should be a bit more upset about what had been happening to him, but it was difficult to connect everything together. It was likely in part to the concussion as well.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Logan asked.
“Take it easy, Craig, and let me know if your throat begins to hurt too bad,” Alex remarked.
Craig gathered his thoughts, which were scrambled all over the place. “I was cooking dinner when Darren arrived home.” He swallowed against the uncomfortable sensation of a sore throat. “He was angry. He accused me of cheating on him. I’m not. He didn’t believe me.”
He was silent again, trying to place the screenshot of information floating around his head. “He punched me, and when I fell to the floor, kicked me.” He paused again. “I can’t remember everything he said, but I remember my head banging on the floor, Darren choking me and Casey’s voice.”
Wincing against the pain in his throat, he tried to figure out what else to tell them.
“What time did Darren arrive home?” Logan asked.
“Um…I didn’t check the clock, but he is always punctual, so I assumed it was his normal time of 5 o’clock.” Craig nearly shrugged but thought better of it.
“Thank you. Did anything else happen that day? Any other visitors? Any other conversations?”
Craig hesitated. If he told them about what Darren said about the neighbour, it might get Alex into trouble.
“It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant you might think it is,” Logan prodded.
Craig peeked at Alex, hoping the apology could be seen on his face. “I do remember Darren telling me he had spoken with a neighbour as he’d parked on the driveway.”
“Okay. Do you know what the conversation was about?”
Craig nodded but flinched. “Darren said the neighbour had asked how I was after the argument I was in the other week.”
Logan’s eyebrows rose. “Can you tell me who the argument was with?”
Craig glanced at Alex again, seeing the understanding dawn in his widening eyes. He watched as Alex closed his eyes and dropped his head back for a few seconds before refocusing on him.
“It’s fine, Craig.”
He cleared his throat. “It was with Alex.”
Logan glanced at Alex then back at Craig. “Do you want Alex to leave while we continue?”
“No!” He was adamant about that for some reason.
“Alright. What was the argument about?”
“Alex said I wasn’t taking care of myself properly and needed to rest. I pushed back, saying I had work to do.”
“Was that the first time Alex had made a house call to you?”
Logan was firing on all cylinders Craig would give him that. “No. He’d visited the week before after I’d been brought into A&E with a dislocated shoulder.”
“And Darren wasn’t aware of these visits prior to today that you are aware of?”
Craig shook his head. “No. I didn’t tell him.”
“Why not?”
He was silent again. He could think of one sole reason why he didn’t tell Darren about Alex’s visit. “Because I didn’t want to get Alex into trouble.”
“Why would telling Darren get Alex into trouble?” Ava asked.
“Darren would’ve complained about the house call, saying it was an invasion of privacy and would’ve caused trouble for Alex. I didn’t want him to get fired.”
“That’s noble of you, Craig.” Logan peered at his notepad. “Has anything else happened over the last few weeks?”
Craig explained about his first A&E visit and his subsequent one, following it with an admission of a few tirades over the past couple of weeks. He was beginning to understand where everyone was coming from with the abuse. It was difficult for him to acknowledge it because it was his life…had been his life for a long time, he wasn’t sure what to think. It all felt like it was happening to someone else.
“Alright. Thank you for what you’ve given us so far. We’re going to let you rest up now, but we will be back again later to see if you have any more information for us. Is that alright?”
“That’s fine.”
“Alex. Can we speak with you, please?”
“I’ll be out in a few minutes. I want to check his vitals before I leave.” Alex nodded.
“Sure. See you soon, Craig.” Logan and Ava left.
He watched as Alex checked his file in silence. “Good news. Your results are back, and everything appears straightforward. I’m going to give you some more pain relief to allow you to rest.” Alex busied around, checking his blood pressure and whatever else was on the list.
Craig was worried Alex wasn’t happy with him for telling the police about his visits. “I’m sorry.” His voice quiet.
Alex stilled and gaped at him. “Whatever for?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything about your visits.”
Alex sobered and shook his head. “No, you’re fine. If you hadn’t have told them, I would’ve when I spoke to them. I’m not at all bothered about it. Rest easy.”
Craig felt marginally better now that he knew Alex wasn’t angry with him.
“Alright. You’re all set. I’ll administer the pain relief, and you’ll be able to rest. But be warned, the nurses—and me—will be in regularly to check your vitals and will, likely, wake you up. You may not feel as rested afterwards as you would like. You have time, Craig. Get some sleep. You did good.”
He had closed his eyes as Alex had been talking, and he felt fingers brush across his forehead before Alex stepped away. Craig wanted to call him back, but a powerful need to sleep came over him.
He’d deal with the repercussions when he woke.
****
Craig woke, his heart trying to beat out of his chest, him panting for breath with his hands gripping the sheets under him. For a few seconds, he tried to figure out where he was, relaxing as he recognised the hospital room. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing but opened them quickly when the remnants of the dream ricocheted around his brain.
Craig was excited. This was his first proper night out in years, and Darren had taken him to a Chinese restaurant to meet a couple of his work friends. They had been together over a year now, and Craig was glad to finally be able to meet them. They sat in a booth large enough to comfortably seat six people and enclosed on three sides, allowing them muted chatter from other customers, instead of ear-splittingly loud. Craig gazed around, taking in the layout, excited to be able to choose cuisine he’d never tried before.
“Let’s get some food,” Darren said, getting up from the booth and letting Craig slide out.
“Yeah, I’m starving,” Craig replied.
They trailed around the offerings which were laid out before them in warmed dishes on a buffet table. Craig had never seen so much food before. He followed Darren’s lead and chose some items to fill his plate—it was an all you can eat buffet. He knew he didn’t have to worry about taking too much.
Finished before Darren had, he took his food back to the table. One of the other guys, Nelson, had already sat and was gorging on a mountain set before him.
“It tastes delicious,” Nelson said, smiling.
“It certainly smells it.” Craig grinned back, lifting his fork to dig in.
Darren sat heavily next to him, nudging his arm hard enough to knock the food from his cutlery. Craig laughed.
“Are you hungry?” he said, smiling at Darren.
Darren huffed, not saying a word, and started eating.
Craig returned to his food, frowning. He had no idea what Darren was upset about. They all chatted while they ate, Darren less than before. Craig talked more to make up for it, not wanting to be rude. After they’d eaten their fill, they sat nursing their cups for a while.
A hand slid across his shoulder and up into his hair, gripping tightly to the strands, ensurin
g Craig couldn’t move. He kept the smile on his face as Darren’s friends talked about something which had happened at work that day.
Craig felt Darren lean in and whisper in his ear, “We’re going for a bathroom break.” Craig couldn’t nod but didn’t refute anything.
“Excuse us, gentlemen. We will be back in a few moments,” Darren said when their story had finished, and he’d let go of Craig’s hair.
They left the booth and headed to the bathroom. Upon entering, Darren pointed to a stall and followed Craig in.
“What’s wro—” All the air was expelled from his lungs as a punch was delivered to his stomach, and his recently devoured food threatened to reappear.
Darren leaned close as Craig tried to recover. “Do you think I didn’t see you flirting with Nelson? What? Are you trying to get rid of me already? Trying to get a better model, is that it?” Craig shook his head and tried to speak, but Darren spoke over him. “You don’t realise how lucky you are to have me, do you?”
“I do! And I’m sorry! I wasn’t flirting. I thought you wanted me to speak with them!” Craig felt light-headed; tears were escaping from his eyes.
“I want you to keep your flirting to yourself. Stop showing me up and start acting like a boyfriend,” Darren spat.
“I will. I promise. I’m sorry.” If Darren had seen him do it, he must have been. It wasn’t a conscious decision.
“Clean your face. I’ll wait for you outside the bathroom.” Darren opened the cubicle door and exited, leaving Craig cradling his stomach, trying to stem the nausea and retain the air he needed.
He stumbled forward to the sink, bracing his hands on the edge while he checked his reflection. His face was blotchy, but nothing a cold flannel couldn’t reduce. He pulled some hand towels from the dispenser and wet them, resting them against his overheated skin. Once he was as natural as he could get, he exited the bathroom and trekked back to the booth.
The other guys nudged and catcalled Darren, insinuating what had happened in the bathroom was sexual in nature. Craig said nothing, eyes downcast as he slid back in. Darren picked up the conversation with his friends while Craig picked at his food. He answered questions when asked, but apart from those, he focused his attention on Darren, not his friends.
