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Chapter Fourteen
ALBERT
I’ve never seen Rosey like this. She’s always so strong and composed, but right now, as she buries her face into her hands, sobbing so hard she wretches, I see how vulnerable she is. I sit on the floor behind her, wrapping my arms around her weak body and whispering words of comfort. “I’ve got the number for Ollie’s social worker here,” Mav says. “We’ll call and ask them to explain.”
“What’s the point? He’s already gone,” Rosey sobs.
Meli and Hadley crouch in front of her, each taking one of Rosey’s hands. “Get up off the floor, Rosey,” Meli says firmly. “You can’t fight battles from down here.” They tug her to stand, and I follow. “We need a plan, but first, you need to eat and get cleaned up.” They lead her away from me.
“Let’s call this social worker,” Mav says, slapping me on the shoulder. “Find out what the fuck we’re dealing with.”
We go to his office, and he calls the number. When she answers, he explains he’s Ollie’s half-brother, but she insists on coming to see Rosey tomorrow rather than talk over the telephone, much to Mav’s annoyance.
Mav then calls church, but I’m in no mood to go over the shit load of crap we know so far, so I head up in search of Rosey.
Hadley is on the bed, and Meli is blow drying Rosey’s wet hair. I take the hairdryer from Meli, and the twins slip out of the room. Running my fingers through her hair, I continue what Meli started. After a few minutes, she turns to face me, taking it from me and turning it off. “Tell me everything.”
I sit on the bed. “I spotted Ollie skipping school a couple weeks ago and passed it to Mav. He went to see you and found you out of it. He wanted to get you to the clubhouse, so we came back for you, only you told us to leave.” She frowns. “Don’t you remember?” She shakes her head. “We watched your place until Dougie left and we came back for you, Red. You were naked, and you didn’t even stir when we carried you out of there.”
“The pills are anti-depressants,” she says.
“No, they’re sleeping tablets. So strong, Doc says they’re enough to put you out for twelve hours straight. They’re not even prescribed in this country. They’re foreign, and we’re not convinced they’re for human consumption.”
“Mum said . . .” She shakes her head, still looking confused. “I just wanted to forget,” she adds in a whisper.
I stroke a thumb down her cheek, cupping her jaw. “Archer?”
She shakes her head and mumbles, “You.”
I close my eyes briefly as her words cut me. “Did you eat?”
“What happened to me?” she asks. “When I was out of it?”
I take her hand and pull her to stand. “Doc reckons that shit won’t be fully out your system for a few days. Rest.” I lead her to the bed and pull the sheets back.
“Albert, I need to know if anything happened.”
I shrug. “I don’t know, Red. You’ll need Doc to exam you.”
“Get him here now. I need to know.”
Doc arrives within minutes, telling me he was already on his way to see how Rosey was doing. I show him to the room, and I’m about to leave when she takes my hand. “Please, stay.”
Doc glances up from his bag. “It’s quite personal, Rosey. Maybe he should wait outside.”
“I want him here,” she says firmly, and I nod. I won’t leave her when she’s asking me to stay, so I pull up a chair while she removes her bottoms and climbs into bed. Doc places a sheet over her stomach to her parted knees, and I take her hand again. “Ollie didn’t want to go with them,” she whispers, her eyes full of pain.
“I know,” I say. “We’ll get him back.”
“Why would they take him from me?” she asks. “Mum gave me the tablets. She said they’d help.”
“I think she knew they weren’t helping, Red.”
“You think she was doing it on purpose?” I nod. “Why?”
“Who rang social services? Who applied for the emergency care order? When Mav came by to check on you, she was reluctant to let him in. She didn’t want him to see you like that because she knew he’d realise the truth.”
Doc takes off his gloves. “All done. We’ll get those swabs sent off to the lab, but I don’t see any bruising down there, which is a good sign.”
