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Nostrils flaring, he takes one step back, putting the space he needs between us again. He doesn’t like this. My rage. He doesn’t know how to handle me. ‘I went because it was easier.’ He takes another step back. ‘Callum was driving. What the hell is wrong with you?’
‘I’ve been suspended,’ I declare evenly.
His forehead wrinkles. ‘What?’
Taking a deep breath, I repeat myself, though I know he heard me just fine. ‘I’ve been suspended from my job because the man who you held at gunpoint last night has lodged a complaint, not just with the hospital, but with the police, too.’
Theo laughs a little under his breath. He actually laughs. Lord, give me strength before I lose the plot. ‘He can’t prove that I held a gun to his head.’
‘He hasn’t mentioned the gun in his statement, and he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t have a gunshot wound,’ I tell him, my jaw aching from tenseness. ‘But he does have countless broken bones.’
Theo recoils. ‘Say what?’
‘How could you?’ I ask, forcing my voice not to shake with the anger bubbling up. ‘I told you to leave him, but you still went right ahead and—’
He seizes me by the tops of my arms, and I jump, yet I don’t break free from his hold. It’s too firm. His face, tight with frustration, comes right up close to mine. ‘I never laid a finger on him.’
‘Liar,’ I spit back. ‘You conveniently left us in the car for a few minutes. Where did you go?’
‘To pay for the parking.’
‘You sure?’ I ask, wrenching myself free from Theo’s hold with some serious effort. ‘Because Sugden’s injuries suggest otherwise.’
‘What fucking injuries?’
‘Broken jaw, nose, arm. He’s reported it to the police, Theo. You’ll be arrested, I’ll lose my job, and probably be arrested, too, as a damn accomplice.’ I raise my hand in anger and panic, forgetting myself for a moment, and launch it at his shoulder. It’s a stupid move, fuelled only by hopelessness.
He catches my arm by the wrist without even looking, his eyes developing an edge of lunacy, and I withdraw my body, wary, my wrist still stuck in his viselike grip. His lip curls. ‘He’s made a statement saying I kicked the shit out of him?’
I nod, not daring to speak. He looks homicidal.
His nostrils flare, and he releases my wrist, looking down at it when I start to rub away the slight pain from his squeeze. Gently this time, he reclaims my arm and takes over rubbing before bringing it to his mouth and kissing it sweetly, closing his eyes and breathing in a long, calming inhale. ‘I’m not fucking standing for this.’ He drops my arm and strides off down the road towards the hospital.
I stare at his back, letting the last few moments sink in. He’s not standing for it? Then what does he think he can do? I look at his car on the roadside and dip to get Callum in my view when the window lowers. He’s watching Theo walk off. ‘You’d better get in or any hope you have of keeping your job will be lost,’ Callum says, shaking his head. It’s a sign of dread, and it has me straightening and finding Theo again. He’s at the bottom of the street already, his long legs eating up the distance in no time.
‘Izzy, get in the fucking car.’
Callum’s demand has me moving quickly, and I jump into the car in a panic. As soon as I’ve pulled the door closed, he speeds off down the road. Before I know it, he’s swinging into the hospital grounds. The barrier takes an age to lift, to the point Callum starts cursing his impatience, and once he has just enough room, he puts his foot down, forcing a few pedestrians to jump from our path.
‘For the record,’ Callum says as the Bentley skids to a stop, ‘he really was paying for parking. Wait there.’ He jumps out, shutting the door and breaking into a sprint across the car park towards the entrance. I watch him pelt away, my mind a haze, trying to catch up. He really was just paying for parking? Theo’s not standing for this? So, again, what’s he going to do?
‘ “Wait here”?’ I say to myself, seeing Callum disappear through the doors of the hospital in pursuit of my rankled boyfriend. ‘I don’t bloody think so.’ I let myself out of the car and chase after him. Not fast enough, though. I lose sight of Callum, getting caught up in a crowd of people at the hospital entrance. ‘Excuse me,’ I shout, fighting my way through, knocking people out of the way as I go.
By the time I make it to my ward, I’m out of breath and sweating, my lungs burning. I pull to a slow jog near the entrance, trying to calm my breathing and my frantic state.
