Chapter 83
“I got him, Eli,” Danny said earnestly, no trace of the usual joviality. “‘E ain’t fuckin’ off and leavin’ me. Ain’t allowed. I got ‘im, yeah?”
Eli’s chest unlocked, and he squeezed Danny’s wrist hard in his bloodied palm.
“Text me the minute you know anything,” Eli said, and pushed Danny in the direction of the ambulance. “Don’t let him go fucking anywhere!”
Danny saluted—and then he was swinging up into the back of the ambulance, the rear door was slamming shut, and—
And Rob was gone. 25
It was nearly forty minutes before Eli got to the hospital.
They’d had to call another ambulance. Eli was shaking too much to drive, and Jenny—of course, because the universe was fucking like that, wasn’t it—had gone into labour. Her waters had broken in the car, and it took a policeman and another paramedic to get her out of it and into an ambulance.
“You best go with her, son, you might need a look-over yourself,” one of the cops said kindly.
Eli cast a look back at the abandoned Suzuki—with its headlights still on and music still blaring inappropriately—and shivered.
“The cars…”
“We’ll take them in. They’ll be safe enough. G’wan. Get your girl there seen to.”
“M’sister,” Eli mumbled numbly, but allowed himself to be pulled up into the back of the ambulance with her.
They didn’t speak, Jenny too focused on the baby and Eli too focused on the blood smeared into his hands and fingernails. Rob’s blood. He’d never really gotten blood on his hands before, not like this, and the thick, almost fuzzy texture as it dried was both fascinating and unpleasant.
“He won’t die, right?” he asked the technician, who simply eyed him before returning to giving Jenny instructions on relaxing and breathing.
Rob wouldn’t die. Eli was—well, no, he wasn’t sure of it, but…he’d still been conscious when they’d taken him away. And Danny was with him. Danny wouldn’t let Rob go.
Right?
The hospital had no such cares for Eli’s shock—they dealt with this sort of crap every day. They whisked Jenny away in a wheelchair, and pushed Eli to sit on a hard plastic chair with a cup of water.
“One of the nurses’ll nab you in a minute, mate,” the technician said before disappearing.
Eli clutched the water, the blood dried enough it didn’t stain, and watched it ripple as his fingers shook. Somewhere Rob was here. And Danny. Maybe Danny was still slapping him and swearing, or maybe they’d been sep—
Eli screwed his eyes stuck against the fearful, knee-jerk terror that rose up in the back of his head at the thought that Rob and Danny might have already been separated. It was stupid to think Rob might die because Danny wasn’t allowed to be with him, but…but the thought was there all the time.
“Sir? Are you alright, sir?”
Eli shook off the hand that clasped his arm, fumbling his coat pocket for his phone. He had to—someone. Call someone. Jenny would want Mum. Or…where’d she left Flora? Was Flora with the babysitter? Or—
The cold wash of air at the hospital entrance was a welcome slap to the face, and Eli took what felt like the first breath he’d managed in days. His fingers still shook as they dialled. He had to close his eyes and sink down the cold, concrete wall to the floor, dampness seeping into his jacket, as the sky spun above him dizzyingly.
“Eli? I’m at—”
“Dad.”
His own voice sounded very hollow and far away; Dad’s, tinny-sounding and even further, paused.
“What’s happened?”
“I—” Eli whispered, and tipped his head back against the concrete. “You…you and Mum…someone…”
“Eli? What’s the matter, love?”
Love. An endearment Eli rarely heard from his father, and one he usually hated. It wasn’t a term for men. It was a term for your daughters, not your sons. And yet, in the cold dark outside the hospital entrance, it was like a warm blanket around the shoulders.
“Hospital,” he croaked. “I…Jenny and I…we’re at the Northern General. She’s—shit, Dad, you have to…you or Mum have to get here—”
Something banged on Dad’s end, but his voice—a copper’s voice, deep and calm no matter what he was hearing—remained steady. “What’s happened, Eli? Are you and Jenny alright?”
“Jenny’s having the baby,” Eli coughed. He ground the heel of his hand into his eyes. “I went—I went to pick her up, and these kids—and Rob came, and—shit, Dad, Rob’s…I don’t know if he’s going to be okay—”
“Eli, love, I’m at work,” Dad interrupted, still speaking so maddeningly calmly. “I just got on shift, I’ll have to find cover, but I will be there as soon as I can. Your mother’s at home, I’ll send her a message, and she can come right up—”
“Jenny’ll need Mum,” Eli said numbly, then cracked. “Fuck, Dad, Rob’s been stabbed. He’s been stabbed, I don’t—there was blood everywhere and I don’t know if he’s going to be okay—”
“Eli!” Dad’s voice was suddenly sharp. “Eli, I’m sorry, but I need to go and get cover sorted, and then I will be right with you. Alright? I’ll ring your mother. You stay with Jenny, alright? You stick with Jenny, don’t you worry about Rob, and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
Eli scrambled at the instructions, grasping them with greedy hands. Stay with Jenny. He couldn’t not worry about Rob, but Mum and Dad were coming to look after Jenny, and then he could…then he could find Danny, and wait with him. Danny was with Rob. Rob would…Rob would be alright if Danny was with him. They’d always been that way, and they’d be that way now.